The 10 best live acts of the past 10 years
The Beatles originally skyrocketed to fame because they performed on The Ed Sullivan Show and everyone loved it, evidence of the raw power of a great gig.
There is something inherently special about a great live performance that extends beyond the music. When you go to a live show, you aren’t just listening to music you like, you are doing so in a room surrounded by people who equally love it and the act itself, and in turn, you form connections with strangers who surround you. It’s a beautiful thing, as Mac Miller once pronounced as a half-joke at his NPR Tiny Desk show, and something which I believe helps make music one of the most important art forms out there.
When we think of legendary live bands, it almost seems like a habit to cast our minds back to yesteryear, the stories of Jimi Hendrix setting his guitar on fire, or the initial headliners of Isle of Wight Festival and Woodstock, which sees us pine for a time that we weren’t around for, but focusing on the past too much can stop you from realising just how great the present is. The fact remains, there are plenty of amazing modern artists constantly performing to the masses, and all you need to do is go out there and find them.
So, for a list of some of these modern artists that we think could dare hold a candle to the legends that came before, here are ten of the greatest live acts from the past decade.
The 10 best live acts from the last decade:
Kendrick Lamar
Seeing Kendrick Lamar on his tour for Mr Morale & The Big Steppers temporarily ruined live music for me as I was sat in the gods at the O2, watching him and Baby Keem close out the show, twiddling thumbs and wondering how I’d ever be able to get excited about a gig again after experiencing something as breathtaking as this.
Lamar thought out every single second of this live show, with each track carrying its own story attached to it, backing dancers, effects, a light show, and Lamar himself assuming a new character depending on what he was rapping. When the curtain closed on that night, it felt as though the search was over, and I had just seen the best live show in the world: maybe I did.
Childish Gambino
It started with just a view of his back and the windchime introduction of ‘Me and Your Mama’. Gambino filmed himself leaving his dressing room and walking towards the stage, his bomber jacket taking up most of the screen, and occasional snippets of the secretive workings that happen backstage at a festival, and before you knew it, the crowd filled up those peripheral images, and Gambino was grabbing the mic.
This gig happened when the artist was arguably at his creative peak, his then most recent album was the critically acclaimed Awaken, My Love, and he had taken over the internet with the prolific ‘This Is America’. The night was one of songs young and old, of a big band, backing dancers and creative expression at its very best. I was depressed by the end of the third song because I knew what I was watching would eventually have to end, but my word, what a night!
CMAT
Everyone who has any reservations about CMAT finds themselves immediately won over the moment they see her perform live, as there is something hypnotic and enchanting about the way that she puts herself out there. Her voice is unlike anything else in music, powerful, emotive and dynamic, yet she pairs that brilliance with a fun, light-hearted mix of crowd interaction, jokes and choreography for something quite enthralling.
Go to one of her gigs and leave without a smile on your face, I dare you, which will have you crying at the sad songs, laughing along with the fun ones, and feeling the power of Thor burn within you during the cataclysmic release that comes during the outro to ‘Stay For Something’. Regardless of what you do, just get yourself down to one of these gigs for the time of your life.
Bob Vylan
Yes, Bob Vylan found themselves in hot water recently following comments at Glastonbury, which means that audiences are divided on their support for them, and I can already feel some readers rolling their eyes. Regardless of your political opinions, you can’t let them get in the way of judging a good live show, and that’s exactly what Bob Vylan deliver every time.
Earlier, I mentioned how I feared the magnitude of Kendrick Lamar’s performance had all but ruined live music for me, but then it was Bob Vylan who pulled me out of that performance slump. About four months after the O2 show, I saw Vylan in Omeara, London, and they gave one of the most energetic, passionate and fun hours of live music I’d ever seen, and suddenly, I had hope about gigs once again.
The show was the complete opposite of the Lamar performance; there were no backing dancers, the only live instrument being the drum kit, and it was happening in front of about one hundred people. However, all of those aspects came together to show me that a good live performance didn’t necessarily rely on scale or production. What these two lacked in pyrotechnics, they made up for in humility, energy, and raw passion for every second they played, and when paired with the fact of the crowd being one of the most fun and friendly I’ve ever been in, you have a recipe for a perfect show.
Little Simz
As I’ve gotten older, my group chats aren’t as active as they used to be, and when people do put something in them, it tends to surround a wholesome topic, like their new house, their pet, or something cute their baby has done, and respectfully, that’s boring. I’m at the point now where I glance at messages, maybe react with an emoji, but that’s about where my contribution starts and stops.
However, an exception to that rule came recently when it was confirmed that Little Simz will be headlining Cross The Tracks in 2026, where the baby pictures were swapped out for ones of the line-up, and the general responses of “Aww, he’s getting so big”, transformed into “Holy shit, we are fucking going!”
This is the Simz effect: anyone who has seen her live before most likely responded to that line-up in the same way, as her live shows leave such an impact that anytime you get the chance to see her afterwards, is a chance you have to take. Arguably the best rapper in the UK and one of the best rappers in the world, Simz doesn’t skimp out on her live shows, delivering a feast for the eyes and ears; this is rap music at its finest, and subsequently, live music too.
Viagra Boys
There is something endearing about a band that takes their music incredibly seriously but doesn’t apply that rule to themselves, and Viagra Boys are such a band. They’re experts when it comes to actually making music, delivering a blend of jazz and punk that takes years to master, teetering on the edge of chaos but never fully giving into it. However, when it comes to their performance, they play shows which are the absolute antithesis of seriousness.
Every second of a Viagra Boys show is a middle finger to grace and decorum: it’s messy, cool, and a lot of fun to bear witness. These are another band where it’s impossible to leave their shows without smiling, and the result is not just a great performance but also a great live environment. The crowd are all there for a good time, and people tend to be friendly, into the music, and most importantly, a laugh.
Amyl & The Sniffers
The anger which you hear in the early recordings of punk music from the ‘70s has been bottled up, shaken, and released into the world thanks to the exciting live shows of Amyl & The Sniffers. The distorted guitars, exuberant showmanship of frontwoman Amy Taylor, and a crowd ready to mosh and scream the words to every song mean that you best believe punk is well alive and kicking.
Perhaps the band’s live shows were put into context best by their guitarist, Declan Mehretens, who during an exclusive interview with Far Out revealed how he would describe the magnitude of an Amyl & The Sniffers gig: “Doing Amyl, doing poppers, is kind of like going to an Amyl and The Sniffers gig,” he said, “There’s definitely, like, a rush, maybe perhaps slight loss of consciousness, and then a headache.”
Jungle
Here is my manifesto, short and sweet: Let the people dance. Music can be a great source for all of our emotions and opinions; it can act as a release for frustration, within ourselves, at the world, and at that which exists around us. However, it can also be a celebration, and in focusing on the latter, when all is said and done, I declare one thing and one thing only: Let the people dance.
If there is one band out there who can deliver on this party promise, it’s Jungle. They have great versatility within their songs, sure, but they’re delivered in that infectious, disco-funk-like style, which is hard to call anything other than perfect and will never fail to get you up and grooving.
FKA Twigs
It is a warm summer night in Montreux that saw rainfall about 30 minutes ago, but it’s all dry now, with the rain on concrete smell lingering as the only evidence. It’s the only sense I’m picking up as the crowd are plunged into darkness. It’s silent, and the next time sound and light poke their head above the surface, both of them are being created by FKA Twigs, kicking off what I would call the greatest pop concert of all time.
Even if we limit this performance to music and music alone, it was great, as Twigs’s new album Eusexua is one of the best records released in 2025 by a country mile. However, we’re not just talking about sound here. We have a great album, but we also have a nightclub-esque light show, a stage flooded with excellent backing dancers, and a ballet-like narrative attached to the performance, all of which is transformative. This is less of a live show and more a full-blown theatrical performance, and one of the best out there for sure.
The Last Shadow Puppets
I’m talking specifically about The Last Shadow Puppets of 2016, who were touring following the release of their album Everything You’ve Come To Expect, standing evidence as a special band that had an amazing sound, undeniable vocals, a plethora of great songs and a live show that could have rivalled any other musical outfit out there.
The aspect of their show that set them apart from anyone else at the time was the theatrics of the act. While Alex Turner and Miles Kane might have been at their most flamboyant during this period, there was humour laced throughout everything they did, as they played into the speculations of their ‘romantic involvement’, and it provided a levity to the shows, which was great to be a part of, making it hard to think of any better gigs than these.
