Over the course of the next few days, I’ll be sharing with you my top five films, books and gigs of 2025.
While there’s still time to fit in another book or film that could sneak their way into my list, my last gig was mid-December and so nothing is going to unfairly miss out if I share this as a little New Year’s Eve gift.
I’ve seen countless brilliant live acts this year at Glastonbury Festival and Neighbourhood Weekender but for the purposes of this list, I either had to see them at their own gig or they had to headline a stage, meaning the likes of Nile Rodgers and Chic, Pulp and Blossoms all miss out.
I have been spoiled for choice and there are some bands that narrowly missed out but I just didn’t feel like any of these could be left off the list:
Wolf Alice
Witnessing Wolf Alice live for the first time in 2022, on Glastonbury Festival’s Pyramid Stage, was a life-changing experience.
It catapulted them towards the top of my list of favourite bands and ever since, I’d been praying for them to tour again.
It just so happened that the next time they toured coincided with another Glastonbury and their 2025 set on the Other Stage, at golden hour, was immaculate vibes.
However, it’s been such a strong year for gigs that it may not have made my top five.
But by the time they took to the stage at the AO Arena just five months later, it was as if they’d gone to a whole new level.
Ellie Rowsell is a captivating performer and her voice was the best I’ve ever heard it. Her range is absolutely astonishing – from almost operatic high notes in places, to soft and tender and then even screams in some of their heavier songs, it was all incredible.
With a setlist that was heavy on tracks from The Clearing (my top album of 2025) but also plenty from their back catalogue, it never really let up and the sparkly staging actually gave it a bit of a magical feel, however ridiculous that seems.
Scissor Sisters
I’d heard mixed reviews of Scissor Sisters’ comeback, with negative comments about Jake Shears’ vocals and the lack of Ana Matronic but this ended up being the undisputed highlight of Glastonbury 2025.
It was incredibly camp and ludicrously fun, with huge mass sing-a-longs and lots of dancing that made it a perfect act for a Saturday night.
In true Glastonbury fashion, there were also special guests aplenty, with Jessie Ware, Beth Ditto and even (Bolton’s very own) Sir Ian McKellen popping up at different points throughout the set.
I couldn’t even get in the tent for it but it didn’t matter as the atmosphere was just that good and it just felt like a party.
Oasis
It wouldn’t feel like a true round up of 2025 if Oasis-mania didn’t get a mention.
After a traumatic day wasted on Ticketmaster the previous August, I did eventually manage to get hold of some tickets for the final Heaton Park gig on 20th July.
By the time it got to that day, peak fever pitch of the first weekend of Heaton Park shows had already passed and the weather was also absolutely grim, which wasn’t ideal.
But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there’s just not many better feelings than being stood in a field, with a cold drink, belting out some of your favourite songs with your mates.
The band sounded incredible, Liam was on top form, and I even managed to get onto some shoulders for ‘Half The World Away’.
I’m not going to stray into superlatives or hyperbole; it was just a proper good old-fashioned gig.
CMAT
It feels like 2025 was a real breakthrough year for CMAT.
After years of grafting away and making music, it felt like Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson (to use her full Sunday name) finally made it to the mainstream.
Considering she’s admitted to making music solely for “the girls and the gays” in the past, I’m not really in either of her target demographics but it’s impossible to deny how excellent a live performer she is.
I saw her and the Sexy CMAT band (as they’re officially known) three times in 2025, across Neighbourhood Weekender, Glastonbury Festival and her own headline gig at Manchester Academy.
Although her setlist didn’t change drastically across the three shows, each felt fresh and exciting – with her Glastonbury performance being met with near universal acclaim by music critics.
Ciara’s ability to blend her sense of humour and silliness with the heartbreaking subject matter of some of her songs is genuinely impressive and her vocals are phenomenal at times.
I feel very fortunate to have seen her perform at Academy (and Ritz a couple of years ago) because it won’t be long until she’s playing to arenas.
Arkayla
I agonised over this final choice.
The Royston Club came very close to making the list but I’ve already written about how big of a 2026 I think they’re going to have.
Instead, I’ve chosen a band who first came to my attention on TikTok at the back end of 2024 and have since released a handful of indie bangers.
Since picking them as one of my top five acts to watch out for at Neighbourhood Weekender, they’ve grown their monthly Spotify listeners from under 10,000 in March to 42,000 at the time of writing.
They impressed me at Neighbourhood but it was their sell-out headline gig at Academy 2, just before Christmas, that was extremely exciting.
From opening track ‘Falling Down’ to closer ‘Waste of Time’, every track that they’ve already released was sung back word for word and a couple of their unreleased songs they played sounded like favourites in the making.
The highlight of the show was probably August release ‘Doctor’ and I can already imagine how well it’s going to go down at festivals in 2026.