The Year In Review: The Concerts of 2023
In unsurprising fashion … I’m over a month late on sharing this list — but I’d rather be tardy than not show up at all! The end of the calendar year means it’s time to review and remember all of the concerts I was lucky enough to go to in 2023. A long period of thought revealed that this past year was really similar to the year before it. While I didn’t top 2022’s tally of twenty-five shows, I did end up attending twenty, and additionally, while I may not have been able to go to a concert every month (sorry, January), I did go to at least one in each of the other eleven months. Like 2022, I ended the year seeing my all-time favorite band. Unlike 2022, 2023 featured the greatest concert I’ve seen yet (you can ponder which one). All twenty memorable shows are below:
#1: Maggie Rogers & Del Water Gap @ The Riverside Theater — 2/19/23
#2: Buckcherry & No Resolve @ The Castle Theatre — 3/13/23
#3: John Mellencamp @ Peoria Civic Center Theater — 4/19/23
#4: Avatar, Veil Of Maya, & Orbit Culture @ House of Blues (Chicago) — 5/15/23
#5: Taylor Swift, MUNA, & Gracie Abrams @ Soldier Field — 6/4/23
#6: Tailgate N’ Tallboys (Friday) feat. mike., Kane Brown, & Bailey Zimmerman @ Interstate Center — 6/16/23 / Tailgate N’ Tallboys (Saturday) feat. Nickelback & Jelly Roll @ Interstate Center — 6/17/23
#7: Summerfest feat. Zac Brown Band & Marcus King @ American Family Insurance Amphitheater — 6/23/23
#8: Drake, 21 Savage, OVO Noel, & Skillibeng @ United Center — 7/6/23
#9: Pitchfork Music Festival (Sunday) feat. Bon Iver, Koffee, illuminati hotties, Killer Mike, JPEGMAFIA, Soul Glo, & Jockstrap @ Union Park — 7/23/23
#10: Paramore, Foals, & The Linda Lindas @ Enterprise Center — 7/30/23
#11: P!nk & Pat Benatar + Neil Giraldo @ Wrigley Field — 8/12/23
#12: Charley Crockett & Nolan Taylor @ The Castle Theatre — 8/15/23
#13: Nickelback & Brantley Gilbert @ Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre — 8/18/23
#14: Margo Price & S.G. Goodman @ The Castle Theatre — 9/14/23
#15: Riot Fest (Saturday) feat. The Postal Service, Queens Of The Stone Age, Death Cab For Cutie, Death Grips, & Head Automatica @ Douglass Park — 9/16/23
#16: Avatar, Orbit Culture, & The Native Howl @ The Castle Theatre — 9/17/23
#17: Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, De La Soul, & DJ Scratch @ United Center — 10/8/23
#18: Men I Trust & TOPS @ Aragon Ballroom — 10/20/23
#19: The 1975 & Dora Jar @ Van Andel Arena — 11/22/23
#20: Sky Ferreira @ Metro — 12/6/23
For these twenty concerts, I traveled to four different states, attended sixteen different venues, and saw over fifty different individual acts. What will 2024 have in store? I already went to two shows in January and have four more lined up through November. I sure love a good live performance, whether I go by myself, with my family, or with friends. Going to concerts is the best part of my life. Will I see you at one this year? I hope so!
