The best pop concerts of 2024 according to the NRC reviewers

Inter Arma covers Neil Young
20/4, Roadburn festival, Tilburg

Frank Provoost: “HEY! HEY! MY! MY! ROCK! AND! ROLL! WILL! NEVER! THAT one!” You had to stand in line for it and brave the Tilburg cold, but then you also had something. It is tradition for metal bands to give a secret show at the Roadburn festival. Hidden on a skating rink, the American Inter Arma borrowed from the oeuvre of its founding father Neil Young. Uncle Neil’s uplifting sounding ‘Don’t Let It Bring You Down’ transformed into a devastating and chillingly screeched black metal trip. And never before did ‘Hey, Hey, My, My’ sound so terrifyingly slow. “OUT! OR! THE! BLUE! AND! INTO! THE! BLACK!”

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
27/9, Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam

Amanda Kuyper: Nick Cave, tormented gentleman with a heavy heart, literary songwriter full of biting mockery and dreamer of pitch-black fairy tales, is closer to his fans than ever after dark years. And with me.

I found Cave elusive for years. Difficult to gauge. Music of brilliant tragedy. But those thunder clouds. And feelings? A bourgeois concept. How he managed to rise above the grief in his family these years was incredible. Cave became more personal, honest and yes, sensitive. On his latest albums his music now penetrates me much more deeply. In the Ziggo Dome, people were enraptured by the full sound of the six-piece Bad Seeds and four singers and a possessed Cave in glowing-gritty rock soul climaxes. Breathtaking.

Karol G
14/6, Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam

Jonasz Dekkers: Hundreds of flags from almost all Spanish-speaking countries in the world, neon lights in every color and the most extravagant glitter outfits set an unrecognizable Ziggo Dome ablaze on that warm Friday evening. Not a word of English was heard on stage, but the radiant enthusiasm of the audience was too contagious not to ignite itself. Scream, scream. Unbelievable. And rightly so: the Colombian Grammy winner Karol G is a consummate entertainer, who wraps her audience around her fingers for three hours. What an experience. If the reggaeton queen visits our country again: don’t hesitate, go. You will dance, dance.

Raye
12/7, North Sea Jazz, Rotterdam

Peter van der Ploeg: I was not a Raye fan. Nice album, good story, but not my thing. I thought.

And then she appeared during North Sea Jazz. She let her voice curl, circling my head, through my hair, down my spine and back up to hit me around the ears. The combination of charm, her tragic, emotional lyrics about abuse and self-destruction, and then her humor, energy and – my god – that voice. This year I haven’t seen anything better than Raye in any of those areas, and I probably won’t again anytime soon.

LCD Sound System
5/7, Down the Rabbit Hole, Beuningen

Ralph-Hermen Huiskamp: “I’m losing my edge” frontman James Murphy bellows in exasperation in the show’s finale as he takes on a stage full of equipment and band members. „The kids are coming up from behind!” The band hasn’t released any new material in eight years and so has something to prove. But from the explosive dance climaxes to the countless references to music history (tonight extra with snippets of Kraftwerk and Suicide) and the crystal clear sound that gives even a subtle xylophone an emotional punch: LCD Soundsystem is still razor sharp.

Hannah Elsisi
9/11, Le Guess Who?, Utrecht

Leendert van der Valk: The best concert of 2024 lasted thirteen hours and was put together by historian Hannah Elsisi. During the Le Guess Who? festival the Egyptian-British was given ample opportunity to release her debut album Chromesthesia to launch. Dozens of musicians, DJs and dancers intertwine a thousand years of migration and music. Once inside, despite the enormous offering elsewhere at the festival, you were always drawn back to the main hall of TivoliVredenburg, to be surprised by Afrofuturist bands, Egyptian electro chaabi or loud Venezuelan clubhouse.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
27/9, Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam

Hester Carvalho: After many transformations, both personal and musical, Nick Cave was back this year with a new record and a new mood. Less vulnerable than before, but powerful. In a choreography of waving arms, legs and fluttering jackets and with an impeccably sleek hairstyle, he was a master of rapture. With a blend of carefully measured glockenspiel, organ, piano, percussion and buzzing bass tones, his musicians created their own genre on the spot: baroque.

Pulp
24/5, Afas Live, Amsterdam

Cécile van Wijnsberge: It’s been a while, but Britpop band Pulp sounded as fresh as ever in Afas Live. Their first concert in the Netherlands since the nineties was an ode to underdogs, with a ten-piece string orchestra and an energetic Jarvis Cocker at the helm, fascinatingly flamboyant and uncomfortable at the same time. He brought a room full of misfits into ecstasy with an energetic concert. It almost felt like a farewell tour, because of that set list full of hits. Fortunately, Pulp has also been playing new songs since this fall. Hopefully we’ll see them again soon.