Best concerts of 2023
There are years when there are major tours. And then there is 2023.
Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Pink and Ed Sheeran stormed stadiums.
Bruce Springsteen, SZA, Duran Duran and Queen + Adam Lambert stuffed arenas.
Janet Jackson, Dave Matthews Band and Shania Twain persuaded fans to tolerate amphitheaters.
Garth Brooks, Kelly Clarkson and U2 staked their territory in the crazily expanding Las Vegas market.
And let’s not forget the Eagles kickstarted a multiyear farewell tour, Kiss finally packed away the face paint and platform boots (we won’t discuss those digital avatars) and Madonna resurrected from severe illness to once again exert her dominance.
Are you exhausted? We’re exhausted. But in a totally exhilarating way.
Live music roared this year – concert industry bible Pollstar reports a worldwide tour gross of $9.17 billion compared with $6.28 billion in 2022 – thanks to a convergence of these major names crisscrossing the country all year. Most of them impressed. But these 10 ruled.
10. Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin
The dynamic trio of Latin firebrands made the perfect Trilogy Tour, offering three distinctive sets that highlighted their individual charms. At their tour opener at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Oct. 14), Pitbull dazzled with his sass, style and zippy mélange of hip-hop spiked pop (“Don’t Stop the Party,” “Fireball”) in a showcase that oozed with positivity. Iglesias, the most subdued of the three, offered a bilingual feast of hits including “Bailamos,” the whispery “Hero” and “Cuando Me Enamoro” as he roamed the stage and catwalk to get closer to fans. Meanwhile, concert-closer Martin, a proficient showman who infuses fun (“She Bangs”), drama (“Vuelve”) and hipswiveling rhythm (“Shake Your BonBon”) into every step, romped through a feverish set full of sex and swagger. 9. The Cure
For their first U.S. tour since 2016, The Cure intermingled sleek with melancholy and sated both diehards and casual fans with a setlist focused as much on deep cuts as their signature New Wave goth favorites. At Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland (June 25), a barrage of spectacular lighting accompanied the lesser-heard “Burn,” while eternally sad prince Robert Smith and his (not-so) merry men led the crowd on a hand-clapping mission through “A Forest.” The Cure has teased its first new album since 2008 for more than a year, and while we still have no idea when it’s arriving, the band provided a preview with several new cuts, including the Pink Floyd-like “Alone” and expectedly bleak “Endsong.” According to Billboard Boxscore, the 35 sold-out Shows of a Lost World concerts set new attendance (547,000 tickets) and gross ($37.5 million) records for the band – an admirable feat four decades into a career and 30-plus years following their last major U.S. hits (“Friday I’m in Love” and “Lovesong” among them).
8. Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks
Though billed correctly as Two Icons, One Night, it still seemed a quizzical pairing. But the sardonic New Yorker and the mystical muse of ethereal pop proved an endearing double shot on a series of stadium dates that began in March and hopscotched throughout the year for shows through December (the April date in Arlington, Texas, was moved to March 9, currently the pair’s only 2024 joint appearance). While they barely shared a stage – Joel joined Nicks to duet on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” at each date, but she only made an appearance during his set at the Los Angeles opener on “And So it Goes” – they drew sellout crowds eager to revel in their ridiculously deep and enduring catalogs.
At Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field (June 16), Nicks’ poetic pop crafted as a solo star and with Fleetwood Mac – “Gypsy,” “If Anyone Falls,” “Stand Back” – arrived with elegance, storytelling and many twirls of a chiffon skirt. But it was her set-ending “Landslide” tribute to late bandmate and dear friend Christine McVie that infected your soul.
Joel, meanwhile, was sturdy as always, rolling through one of the greatest catalogs in modern music with his longtime ace band. Sometimes caustic (“The
Entertainer”), sometimes reflective (“Vienna”) but always engaging (“Scenes From an Italian Restaurant”), Joel effortlessly steered a singalong parade.
7. Ed Sheeran
Following a personally rough 2022, the earnest Sheeran channeled his grief and fears into his introspective sixth album, “Subtract.” Given that the emotionally significant songs on the release wouldn’t translate easily to his massive stadium production, Sheeran played two shows in many markets, a stripped theater performance spotlighting the ruminations on “Subtract” with the next night focused on his multitude of hits. It’s still amazing that one guy and a guitar with a looping pedal – though yes, he did have a band for segments of the show – can command a stadium on the strength of pop-rockers (“Shivers,” “Castle on the Hill”), swoony ballads (“Thinking Out Loud,” “Perfect”), rockets of pyro and boyish charm. In Philadelphia June 2-3 for shows at The Met and Lincoln Financial Field, it was a tale of two Eds, and both conquered mightily.
6. Madonna
The Madonna faithful held their breath over the summer as her longawaited Celebration Tour – the first to be deemed an official retrospective of her staggering career – was sidelined while she recovered from a bacterial infection serious enough to land her in the ICU for several days. But Madonna isn’t one to succumb, and by October she was on her feet and rolling through Europe before bringing her musical festivities stateside for a Dec. 13 debut at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. (She’s on the road through April.)
This triumphant commemoration of her ground-breaking career is stocked with nimble dancers, Broadway-worthy sets (the lighted carousel during “Like a Prayer” is breathtaking), a trove of standard-setting hits (“Open Your Heart,” “La Isla Bonita,” “Vogue”), a grateful Madonna (“No one is more surprised that I have made it this far than me,” she said) and much, much simulated sex. Fans wouldn’t want it any other way.
5. Måneskin
One of the most electrifying live acts in years, the Italian quartet sold out amphitheaters and arenas on their recently wrapped Rush! world tour, a testament to their live prowess honed from nearly nonstop performing the past few years. That Måneskin accomplished a U.S. takeover with a few rock hits – “Supermodel,” “The Loneliest,” “Honey (Are U Coming?)” – but no massive radio airplay is remarkable. But word of mouth about their insides-flipping concerts, driven by their feral rock and the charis