The Live Music Experience

Honestly, is there better anything better than the live music experience?

I’m insanely excited to say that this time next week I’ll be on my way to good ole’ Tennessee for Bonnaroo. If you’re a festival junkie then you know that Bonnaroo is one of the meccas of the U.S. festival scene.

For those of you who aren’t in the loop, Bonnaroo is a 4 day camping fest full of good vibes, music, and food on a farm in the middle of nowhere Tennessee. The city of Manchester has only around 10,000 residents so it’s safe to say that Bonnaroo is the biggest event that happens there all year.

Attending music festivals is so efficient because you have the opportunity to see so many performances for a fixed price. And most major festivals always have at least 2-3 huge headliners who would probably cost over $100 to see in concert. If you want more of an intimate experience then check out the website of your local venues and see whose coming near you!

A few of the artists taking over the Bonnaroo stages this year are Kanye West, Arctic Monkeys, Ben Howard, Banks, and Chance the Rapper. I’m crazy excited to see The Head and the Heart, Banks, City and Colour, Sam Smith and James Blake. Low key I might cry (Update: James Blake and Banks were life changing).

Going to shows and hearing live music is one of my favorite things to do, there’s just something so special about seeing it play out before your eyes. While some people might collect ticket stubs from concerts, I just keep a note in my phone of the artists/bands that I’ve seen perform live. If you’ve never been to a concert, I challenge you to go to your first one before the year is over!

Sure, concerts can be expensive, but if you catch your favorite bands while they’re still small you can probably see them for less than $30. When I was back home in Houston I would go to a lot of shows, because there is a good amount of small venues and bars that host artists and the tickets were never more than $15.

With that said, not every show is going to leave you breathless, so I compiled my list into music genres and rated how good of a live performance it was from 1-5 (1 being the least) and n/a if I don’t remember it, which isn’t a good sign either. Most of the artists were seen at music festivals, SXSW, or on headlining tours with openers.

Updated September 5, 2022

Hip Hop/Rap/R&B 

• Drake = 5 
• 2 Chainz = 3
• J Cole = 4
• Mac Miller x2 = 5
• Chiddy Bang = 4
• XV = n/a
• Nicki Minaj = 4
• Meek Mill = n/a
• Waka Flocka = n/a
• Macklemore and Ryan Lewis = 5
• Shwayze = 5
• Kendrick Lamar x2 = 5
• Schoolboy Q = 5
• Ab-Soul = 5
• Chance the Rapper x2 = 5
• Riff Raff = 2
• KFlay = 4
• Danny Brown = 5 
• Tink = 5
• Lucki Eck$ = 5
• Lil Herb/Lil Durk/Lil Bibby = 3
• Earl Sweatshirt = 5
• Tyler the Creator = 5
• Sirah = 4
• Frank Ocean = 5
• Smino = 5
• Saba = 5
• Post Malone = n/a
• Saweetie = 3
• T-Pain = 5
• G-Eazy = 4
• SZA = 4
• Kehlani = 5
• The Weeknd = 3
• Doja Cat = 5
• Megan the Stallion = 4
• Brockhampton = 5
• Princess Nokia = 5
• Slow Thai = 5
• Tinashe = 4

Indie

• Daughter = 5
• Bear’s Den = 5
• Local Natives = 5
• Meese = 5
• Barcelona = 5
• Jack’s Mannequin = 5 
• Ben Howard = 5

Pop

• Kelly Clarkson = 5
• Dev = 4
• Fun. = 4
• Britney Spears = 4
• Justin Bieber = 4
• Selena Gomez = 3 
• Twenty One Pilots = 4
• Fifth Harmony = n/a
• Zendaya = 5
• Icona Pop = 5 
• Beyonce = 5
• Nina Nesbitt = 5
• Banks = 5
• Sylvan Esso = 5

Bands

• Red Jumpsuit Apparatus = 5
• The Pretty Reckless x2 = 5
• Runner Runner = 4
• Driver Friendly = 5
• Portugal. The Man = 5
• Emblem3 x2 = 5
• Paramore = 5
• No Doubt = 5
• Tegan and Sara = 5
• Kings of Leon = 5 
• Muse = 5 
• Sleigh Bells = 5 
• Desert Noises = 5 
• Leeland = 5
• The Afters = 5
• Meese = n/a

Country

• Lady Antebellum = 5
• Rascal Flatts = 5
• Leon Bridges = 5
• Carrie Underwood = 4
• Steve Nicks = 5

Electronic/DJ’s

• Passion Pit = 5
• Purity Ring = 4
• Yaeji = 5
• James Blake = 5
• Alt J = 5
• Illenium = 5
• Slander = 4
• Kascade = 5
• Alison Wonderland = n/a
• Skrillex = n/a
• G Jones x2 = 5

Who do you really want to see live? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading and stay hungry to learn, create and grow!