Oasis, Zach Bryan, Dua Lipa... These were the 16 best gigs of 2025
Oasis at Croke Park, and Dua Lipa at the Aviva feature among our list of best gigs in Ireland in 2025.
Pint-sized powerhouse Sabrina Carpenter brought two sold-out nights of her Short n Sweet tour to the 3Arena in Dublin in March. Described as “hedonistic and horny” by our reviewer, Carpenter mixed suggestive songs with a side-splitting sense of humour to delight Irish fans throughout a night of fun.
“Despite how obviously she is performing, it doesn't feel performative. It feels like a woman who is just owning the hedonistic side of being young and horny,” Nicole Glennon wrote. From earworm hits like Espresso and Please, Please, Please to lurid and explicit tracks like Juno, Carpenter proved she was in control of both the stage and her own sexuality.
Review here
The Flaming Lips have long had a reputation as an impressive live act, and they lived up their billing in April with a show that had Irish Examiner reviewer Pat Carty already claiming he had witnessed one of the gigs of the year. It’s a claim that’s still intact in December.
Tunes from Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002) can still rock a crowd, and the theatrical element was turned up to 11 with monster-shaped confetti, inflatable robots, and roadies dressed as giant eyeballs.
“A joyous, life-affirming, euphoric, and truly psychedelic experience,” wrote Carty.
Review: here
Better late than never. The Californian jazz saxophonist’s planned appearance at the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival the previous October had been scuppered by a back injury, but his two-hour performance in spring was definitely worth waiting for.
As well as the bandleader himself, he’d brought a superb six-piece ensemble that included ace turntablist Battlecat. As well as his own material, Washington has contributed to albums from the likes of Kendrick Lamar, and one of the highlights of night in Cork was a thrilling take on Nas classic NY State Of Mind (a tune itself created by DJ Premier from old jazz samples).
Review here
Who is Zach Bryan? Reviewer Tom Dunne quickly found out — and found himself converted — when the American country music superstar played a gig at Phoenix Park in Dublin in June.
Bryan has since announced two shows at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork followed by two nights at Boucher Road in Belfast next summer, and it sounds like fans are in for a treat.
“Something in the Orange, I Remember Everything, Pink Skies and Heading South sound like songs you’ve always known, beautiful, timeless, evocative. The audience know every word,” Dunne wrote. “He seems to have gone to the level Bruce [Springsteen] is at here without the intervening 40 years.”
Review here
Madness were a standout act that jaw-droppingly rich era for popular music in the early 1980s. Suggs and co arrived back then as part of a ska-revival that also featured The Specials and The Beat, and a sunny evening on Cork’s southside saw them prove that those skanktastic tunes still work so well today.
The Londoners kicked off with their debut single One Step Beyond, and finished with the Prince Buster cover that gave the band their name. In between, it was non-stop fun that would surely have converted the hefty contingent of youngsters dragged along by their mam or dad.
Review here
We are firmly in the era of strong women dominating pop as female alpha Dua Lipa further proved in Dublin last June.
The last European stop on the Radical Optimism tour saw the English and Albanian singer thrill a predominantly young audience with her own flavour of girl pop, belting out hit after hit to devoted fans.
Opening with Training Season, bringing it back to the Barbie movie with Dance The Night before wrapping up on Houdini, the global superstar also took a moment to pay tribute to iconic Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor with touching rendition of the late star’s anthem Nothing Compares 2 U.
Review here
Last-ever gig? Well, almost. The Wolfe Tones knocked it out of Thomond Park in July with what was to be their final show after six decades performing together. A night of emotion and pride, it saw 29,000 fans make the pilgrimage to see the rebel music band one last time.
On stage, Noel Nagle, Brian Warfield and Tommy Byrne were visibly emotional, and they delighted the crowd with some of their best-loved songs, including Come Out Ye Black And Tans and You’ll Never Beat The Irish. Now with two more nights lined up in Dublin due to fan demand, the 3Arena can likely expect another night of tears and joy. We'll see if retirement beckons after that.
Review here
Fans never thought they’d see it happen, but in August, Liam and Noel Gallagher shared the stage together as Oasis spent two nights in Dublin.
Selling out Croke Park with tickets that were both like gold dust and highly-priced, our reviewer Joe Dermody wrote that it was worth the high price tag for fans.
“This was an epic night, one that rose above the extortionate costs,” he said. “Maybe it's the fact that they've been off our radar for so long, but it does feel like we've not seen anything at once as visceral and as poetic as Oasis for the past 16 years.”
Review here
Hot on the heels of Oasis, the ‘nicest narcissist’ Robbie Williams brought a night of pure entertainment to Croke Park in late August. Balancing energetic pop with deep personal connection, the star somehow made a 90,000 capacity venue feel like an intimate gig.
The ‘bad boy’ of boy bands was in Dublin with his Britpop tour and despite his swagger and bravado on stage it was an evening of genuine charm and joy. The crowd was deafening when he introduced some special guests and TikTok star and singer Garron Noone joined Williams for a rendition of Country Roads, with the Fiddling Farrells accompanying them.
Review here
From people of all ages wearing tricolour balaclavas to the mass chants and singalongs, Mo Chara and co combined fun with meaningful messages in one of the best sets of the weekend at Electric Picnic.
DJ Provai, Mo Chara, and Móglaí Bap ran rapidly through their catalogue over sixty sensational minutes. It was a full-circle moment for the rap group, who first played Electric Picnic in front of “about 16 people in the Pobaill na Gailge tent in the mid-2010s.”
Review here
The 30th anniversary of Rory Gallagher’s death was always going to be an occasion worth marking, but how would you do it?
Step forward the combined forces of the Gallagher family, promoter Peter Aiken, and Cork City Council for a series of events that served as a reminder of the guitarist’s genius, and an outlet for the thousands of people who have such warm memories of him.
Various exhibitions showed Gallagher-related material, and Joe Bonamassa provided a highpoint with three sold-out tribute gigs at Live At The Marquee. The American guitarist had stressed he wasn’t trying to imitate the Cork musician, but his more reserved style still hit the spot on a set mostly comprised of tunes from the epic live album, Irish Tour ’74.
Review here
A decent line-up at the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival was probably lacking a few stars from the genre that gives the 47-year-old event its name.
But none of that mattered on the final night at the Everyman when the London saxophonist mesmerised an audience with a performance that encapsulated all that is good about jazz.
Brilliant musicianship? Yes. A perfect mix of structure and free-flowing innovation that you know is unique to each concert? Defo. And greatly appreciated by an audience who wouldn’t all consider themselves jazz fans? You betcha.
Review here
Both veterans turned 80 in 2025, but they managed to turn back the years in what was arguably the best double bill in Ireland. First up, Van the Man, chirpy and chuckling (yes, really) as he rolled out a set that included Into the Mystic, Bright Side of the Road, and Gloria.
Next, the Canadian superstar with his Chrome Hearts, a backing band that includes Willy Nelson’s son Micah. Even the pouring rain failed to dampen spirits as fans sang along with such classics as The Needle and The Damage Done and Like a Hurricane.
Review here
It’s a brave band that takes to the stage after the gorgeous grooves of Chic, but Simon Le Bon and co never looked like an act who doubted in their own abilities. How right they were.
An incredible back catalogue provided no shortage of crowd-pleasers, and hits such as Rio, Save A Prayer and Wild Boys, were interspersed with tasty covers such as Psycho Killer by Talking Heads, and a stomping version of ELO’s Evil Woman.
It was almost enough to make you forgive the attempt at The Fields Of Athenry. The reactions of the female members of the crowd who used to have Duran Duran posters on their bedroom walls also suggested that Le Bon and co still have appeal that goes beyond the music. They put the HRT in heartthrob.
Review here
We’re still trying to work out if CMAT was just fortunate to ride the zeitgeist or whether she actually created the zeitgeist. Either way, 2025 saw Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson take several more steps on her seemingly unstoppable rise to the top.
Her songs got more radio play than ever, and she even had a hand in derailing Bertie Ahern’s presidential ambitions, but it was in the live arena that she shone brightest. “Nobody exits a CMAT show thinking she hasn't left it all on the stage,” purred Irish Examiner reviewer Eoghan O’Sullivan of a standout performance at the excellent festival in Co Waterford.
Review: here
Robert Zimmerman was another stalwart doing his bit for the concept of positive ageing. By now, fans realise the 84-year-old won’t be playing the guitar or belting out faithful renditions of his classic hits.
Or even saying anything to them as they sit there phoneless (all devices locked inside Yondr pouches). Instead, they just get to enjoy the magic he’s still able to regularly create on his own terms.
Over two nights in Kerry, Dylan played piano and left plenty of the heavy lifting to his brilliant band, as he delivered a set mostly comprised of songs from his 2020 album Rough and Rowdy Ways.
He departed with The Lakes of Ponchartrain — an old American folk song first popularised in this country by Planxty and Paul Brady. “Truly magnificent,” declared awe-struck Irish Examiner reviewer Joe Dermody.
Review here
