The 10 Best Concerts of 2024 (According to People Who Were There)
2024-09-23 · 5 min read
Concert reviews from critics are fine, but the best measure of a show is what the crowd says walking out. These ten concerts from 2024 were the ones people wouldn't shut up about for weeks afterward, based on fan consensus across social media, Reddit, and conversations with people who were actually in the room.
Beyonce's Renaissance World Tour stop at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles was a technical marvel. The staging, a rotating platform with video installations that changed every song, was the most ambitious concert production since her own Coachella performance. Three and a half hours of near-perfect execution.
Fred Again.. at Madison Square Garden proved that electronic music can fill arenas without losing intimacy. His set built from quiet bedroom-producer moments to full-venue euphoria, with the crowd singing along to sampled voice notes from strangers. It felt like a collective emotional release disguised as a DJ set.
Kendrick Lamar's Big Steppers Tour date at the Crypto.com Arena was a theatrical experience. Staged like a Shakespearean drama with multiple acts and a full-scale house set design, it was the most conceptually ambitious hip-hop tour in years. The performance of Mother I Sober reportedly left sections of the audience in tears.
Tyler the Creator's Camp Flog Gnaw festival in November delivered again. The Chromakopia tour preview set introduced new material in a festival context, with production values that rivaled arena headliners. Tyler's curation, mixing established acts with emerging artists, remains the festival's secret weapon.
Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood touring as The Smile delivered stripped-down intensity that proved you don't need spectacle to captivate. Other standouts included Andre 3000 playing live flute, Olivia Rodrigo's Guts tour, SZA's marathon festival sets, Charli XCX's Brat tour, and Mitski at Radio City Music Hall.
