#live-performance

#live-performance

Surrounded by an orchestra and dozens of lights arranged in circles on the floor, EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami gave a more meditative, cinematic rendition of "Golden." The new version placed a greater emphasis on orchestration and the song's drama, particularly highlighting the warm harmonies that Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami sing beneath EJAE's towering melody. As they performed, the rings of lights beneath them began to glow with the song's galloping beat.

In 2025, we crammed rap and rock legends, instrumental virtuosos, Broadway musicals and, well, puppets and robots behind a desk in the NPR Music office. Never forget: Tiny Desk has the range. We published 115 (!) concerts this year. There's no way to encompass the scope of such a stellar and diverse roster Bad Bunny! Living Colour! Wiz Khalifa! PinkPantheress! so we asked the team that produces, films, engineers and edits these videos to share their favorite Tiny Desks of 2025, yearbook superlative style.

The late '90s saw the advent of new subgenres variously dubbed trip-hop, downtempo, electronica and chillwave. The overall style was exemplified by Massive Attack, Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, Morcheeba, Zero 7...and Thievery Corporation. Deeply hypnotic melodies, sophisticated arrangements, top-flight guest vocalists and an undeniably sexy vibe are among the hallmarks of the music. Decades later, it still sounds fresh. Thievery Corporation was and remains better than most in blending world music elements into the heady mix.

When Willie Nelson performs in and around New York, he parks his bus in Weehawken, New Jersey. While the band sleeps at a hotel in midtown Manhattan, he stays on board, playing dominoes, napping. Nelson keeps musician's hours. For exercise, he does sit-ups, arm rolls, and leg lifts. He jogs in place. "I'm in pretty good shape, physically, for ninety-two," he told me recently. "Woke up again this morning, so that's good."

Since their 2017 debut, the quartet, J.Seph, BM, Somin, and Jiwoo, has challenged industry norms by blending genders, genres, and perspectives, using contrast as a storytelling tool rather than a constraint. That bold, genre-bending identity, paired with their explosive live performances, keeps fans, affectionately known as Hidden KARD, coming back for more. That signature energy was on full display as the group emerged through a cloud of fog, striking a balance between hype and intimacy.

Kendrick Lamar made a surprise appearance at his former label Top Dawg Entertainment's 2025 Christmas Concert and Toy Drive in Los Angeles on Thursday, December 18th. During the show, the rapper joined his "Grand National" tourmate SZA to perform two of their recent collaborations. This included their worldwide No. 1 hit, "luther," from Lamar's latest album, , and "30 for 30," off SZA's SOS deluxe reissue, . Kendrick also performed his solo track "squabble up." Watch fan-shot footage below.

The song, in which a young woman confesses to being simply "a little much" for the people around her, is built around a steady, descending piano part that sounds more like the skeletal framework musicians use to teach each other chord changes than a fully fleshed-out song. Listening to it feels almost like sitting next to the singer as she's coming up with the song in real time, noodling away at the piano in the early morning hours,

Recently, in casual conversations, I've been asked for my opinion about the October report that "No Rap Songs Are in the Billboard Hot 100's Top 40 for the First Time Since 1990" more so than my thoughts on any particular rap album or song from this year. I never gave anyone the "Yeah, this rap shit is dead" answer they seemed to be looking for, but the question did make me have to think about what gets me excited about rap these days.

"the way these instruments are meant to sound."

All of the artists on the lineup for the second annual R&B Xmas Ball Dru Hill, Joe, Toni Braxton and Boyz II Men have Christmas albums from the last two decades, but rather than putting a twist on carols or crooner standards, this is an evening that merely uses Christmas as an excuse for a night out to hear earnest, heart-rending 90s R&B. Slow jam Joe. Photograph: Laura Rose/The Guardian Dru Hill deliver classic R&B in matching outfits, as their 2000s music videos as seen on kebab shop TVs nationwide play out behind them, while a set of mostly slow jams from Joe sets the stage for Braxton.

Larry Vuckovich celebrates his 89th year on the eve of his birthday, which is December 8! He will be playing with his favorite guitarist, Kai Lyons. Larry and Kai have been regularly expanding their diverse and wide-ranging repertoire. Besides the great jazz classics of top composers, they will cover seldom heard standards, great Latin and Brazilian pieces, World Music gems, and as always funky, boogaloo blues selections.

When the drums kick in on "Basil's Kite," singer Tim Kinsella, who is either moderately drunk or just extremely loose, immediately dives into the crowd. Suddenly, five crowd-surfers are joining him, their gum-soled shoes pointing upward like lopsided lightning rods. Kinsella, kept afloat by a small forest of his fans' arms, throws back his head as he howls the words.

When Canadian band Foxwarren released its self-titled debut album in 2018, it won a Juno Award for alternative album of the year. Frontman Andy Shauf continued his solo career, band members moved to different cities, and then the pandemic made it impossible for Foxwarren to get together to record in the same room as they had for their first record.

The 59th Annual CMA Awards is ceremony shaping up to be quite iconic! New performers have been added to the show, including Kelsea Ballerini, Brandi Carlile, Kenny Chesney, Riley Green, Miranda Lambert, Patty Loveless, Old Dominion, The Red Clay Strays and Chris Stapleton. Other performers previously announced include BigXThaPlug, Luke Combs, Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, Shaboozey, Zach Top, Tucker Wetmore, Lainey Wilson and Stephen Wilson Jr.

At their San Francisco concert on Monday, Queens of the Stone Age had just finished performing the most obscure track ("Mosquito Song") off their most popular album ("Songs for the Deaf") beneath dense murder-red lights when a screeching burst of feedback punctured through the applause. Frontman Josh Homme laughed it off and remarked: "All these f-king vampires, you have to invite them into your opera house."

The packed crowd at Holocene on Sunday certainly enjoyed it, grooving and mesmerized, treated to a show that may very well be talked about for a long time. With a timeless, mystical blend of atmospheric soundscapes; driving, dark synth staccato melodies; snarling, bombastic industrial-strength guitars; monstrous drum beats; and powerful vocals that range from softly serene to fierce and animalistic, Chalk's music inhabits a unique space between worlds.

Lest you forget, Bill Murray isn't just the best Ghostbuster (and the second best Garfield.) No, the legendary actor is also something of a musician, and Bill Murray & His Blood Brothers are once more hitting the road. Get Bill Murray Tickets Here As of press time, the band have just a handful of dates for the rest of this year (i.e., November), including gigs with Dave Hill. Then, in 2026, there's yet another smattering of shows nationwide in January, February, and April.

"Sorry for fog, I feel self-conscious," Maria Manow of Bassvictim giggles in her slightly broken English, swirls of theatrical smoke obscuring her silvery blue hair, dark top, and thigh-high socks. Her bandmate, the producer Ike Clateman, is somewhere else onstage, cloaked in the haze. The galloping bass of the phonk tribute track "Canary Wharf Drift" kicks off, and a blitz of white lights flashes across hundreds of people jumping so hard the floor wobbles.

What began as casual rehearsals in a basement has evolved into a polished, high-energy sound that blends the city's grit with a fearless approach to experimentation. Pan Arcadia is a five-piece band that has grown from high school jam sessions to one of New York's most exciting rising acts. Hailing primarily from New York, with drummer Brian representing Connecticut, the group's members met in middle and high school and have been making music together ever since.

This new series, "The Hang," promises to explore the music of exciting artists and examine the music that inspired them to take it up. The first show features one of the Bay's best and most versatile saxophonists, Howard Wiley, who incorporates elements of funk and a whole lotta soul into his playing. Wiley has toured or played with a plethora of artists like Miss Lauryn Hill, Christian McBride, and Sheila E.

Big Thief performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night, breaking out the Double Infinity single " Grandmother." Backing the nonchalant trio were multiple percussionists on wind chimes, congas, shakers, and more, as well as backup singers, a bassist, and an additional guitarist. Watch a replay of the performance below. If that live rendition of "Grandmother" has you itching to see Big Thief live, then act soon. They're currently on tour in support of their new album.

On a Wednesday evening in September, about 6,000 people cross footbridges to reach Brown's Island, a bucolic park in the middle of the James River in Richmond, Virginia. They're here to see Turnstile, the Baltimore band who came from the hardcore punk underground but whose reach expands far outside that world. Turnstile take the stage to a shimmering swell of keyboards the intro from Never Enough, the title track from their new album. It's a slow song by Turnstile standards, a tender confession of self-doubt that builds into a cathartic singalong.

Tickets go on sale at 10 am unless otherwise noted. MUSIC Alan Doyle Aladdin Theater (May 16, 2026) On sale at noon Alice Phoebe Lou - Oblivion Tour Aladdin Theater (Apr 27, 2026) Atmosphere: Winter Carnival Tour Roseland Theater (Feb 16, 2026) Berner Hawthorne Theatre (Feb 19, 2026) Colony House - The 77 Tour Aladdin Theater (Mar 18, 2026) Del Water Gap - Chasing the Chimera World Tour Crystal Ballroom (Feb 11, 2026)

"With 'Artist In Residence,' Ms. Hill continues to push the boundaries of live performance, bringing her distinctive sound and uncompromising artistry to the stage with renewed force," reads a press statement. "The tour stands as a continuation of her evolution, an intimate and immersive experience that connects audiences across Canada through the unmistakable presence of one of music's most enduring voices."