The best shows of 2024

In 2024 I saw 22 live acts play in a venue. Among them there is no huge name filling the stadiums or even arenas, barring The Analogues playing The Beatles. Pre-Covid the number used to be substantially higher. Times have changed it seems. Yet, what I saw was nearly all very good and having the privilege to organise living room shows, is something extremely special. There is almost no describing what happens to a person when you're so close to an artist and most likely vice versa. Only a few weeks left to go and the first one of 2025 is planned with Timo de Jong. But let us first look back to the past year.

10. Nature Calls. The Stream live. Theater Ins Blau Leiden, Thursday 28 March 2024

A live show with chemistry experiments and physics explanations. The combination alone deserves a mention here, but so does the music. The Stream remains a fascinating band to follow.

9.  VanWyck live. Rotown, Rotterdam Friday 1 November 2024

Delicacy meets rock. VanWyck manages to touch on both sides successfully with her band, while she is standing her ground.

8. The Maureens Live. Haarlem, Saturday 7 September 2024

First the successful album release show earlier this year, but I prefer the intimacy of our own living room show. The Maureens should be so much more successful than they are. There are not that many bands releasing better pop songs in this country than The Maureens do.

7. Partytime! The Hackensaw Boys live. Wednesday 10 April 2024, Patronaat Haarlem

In 2024 I may only know David Sickmen, where in the past I used to friendly with most of the band, the impact of The Hackensaw Boys has not changed. The band rocked while playing a modern form of bluegrass. Partytime is  the right description. There may not be another band I have seen play so many times and always good.

6. Tramhaus live. Paradiso Amsterdam, Wednesday 2 October 2024

SPRINTS may have the song 'Up And Comer' in NL there is no other postpunk band deserving that title more than Tramhaus. The band is travelling around the world after the release of its long-awaited debut album 'The Final Exit'. The only fall show in NL was in Amsterdam, for a Rotterdam band, and was cooking. What a future this band should have.

5. Indiestad, CVC. Paradiso, Amsterdam Sunday 8 May 2024

I saw three bands but the one that I had never ever heard of played a fantastic show. What and energy, what a variation and what fun. I still haven't listened to the studio work. It can only disappoint most likely. Live CVC is unbeatable.

4. SPRINTS live. Saturday 24 February 2024 Paradiso Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam

With my personal album of the year under its belt, in February a serious option, today a certainty, the show could only go wrong if the band wasn't half as good as on record or had a terrible off day. SPRINTS was alive and kicking and played a fabulous show. Until next time!

3. Kaizers Orchestra live. Paradiso Amsterdam, Saturday 16 March 2024

Next up two bands with a musical kinship. The Kaizers were back after 11 years with a "greatest hits" show. That is the reason it is number 3 this year. There were no surprises, except for the fun of seeing the band again after all these years The guitarist nowadays step on the oil barrels and do not jump any more but for the rest the band played fantastic. Everything that makes Kaizers Orchestra so good, was on stage. The best songs are indestructible.

2. De Kift live. Patronaat Haarlem, donderdag 14 november 2024

With a great new album under their belt, DE Kift played a triumph of a release show. The new album may be far more subdued, it only shows the high level of musicianship this band has. The delicacy of 'Niemandsland' was presented in its full glory. Later on we got to party with 'Bal', and were sent off with the melancholy highlight of the evening 'Hoofdkaas', so only smiles here.

1. One and one and one is three. The Analogues live.

    Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam Friday 20 September 2024

    Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam Saturday 28 December  2024

Cheating? Yes, a little but who cares? The Analogues played its final shows this fall and early winter. The total triumph of the best pop music ever made. In the parting speech we were asked to applaud many people but in the end we applauded the four young men from Liverpool responsible for the music: The Beatles. The Analogues played three Ziggo Dome shows in three months. I could not go to the 'White Album' one, and missed 'Hey Jude' because of that, but being present at especially 'Abbey Road' is so special. The Analogues are no more as of 28 December 2024, we will always have the memories. If a project ever was a success, The Analogues qualify on all fronts.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

2024, the best albums 10 - 1

So here we are, with my ten personal favourite albums of this year. As I wrote yesterday, 2024 was a year with very good to a few exceptional albums. The coming years will tell how they or if they grow on me even more.

 

 

10. Kiss Your Friends. No Ninja Am I

Sander van Munster's solo project No Ninja Am I released a new album in 2024 and it may prove to be his best to date. Sixty years of pop music come together and blend into songs that strive to perfection. Mission accomplished as far as I'm concerned.

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/11/kiss-your-friends-no-ninja-am-i.html

9. Always Hungry. Soft Boy

An album that came to me by way of a independent label, Fons Records, from Belgium, by a band I had never heard of. Always Hungry was played a lot this year and deserves this spot fully. Pop and rock and some of that prickly moments Belgians bands are so good at for decades can be heard on Always Hungry.

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/03/almost-hungry-soft-boy.html

8. Romance. Fontaines DC

The big turnaround album of now Londoners, former Dubliners, Fontaines D.C. Gone is the postpunk, enter doomy and mysterious music. I do not exclude that Romance may turn into a masterpiece, far exceeding the previous three albums. There's just no way I can tell yet. The fact that I mention it is telling.

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/09/romance-fontaines-dc.html

7. Niemandsland. De Kift

Zo ingetogen en toch zo De Kift. Ook dit is een plaat waarvan de tijd gaat zeggen hoe goed hij echt is. Duidelijk is aan het begin van 2025, dat Niemandsland indrukwekkend is. De plaat maakt een diepe en droevige indruk. Van oude mensen en de dingen die voorbij gaan. De Kift en fans worden ouder en zien de wereld om ons heen met lede ogen aan. Gelukkig hebben we live 'Bal' nog.

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/11/niemandsland-de-kift.html

6. Everyone Smiles. The Maureens

The Maureens' fourth album is, once again, a great pop album. Yet, I'm of the opinion that the songs are this much sharper, even more focused and better. As if everything came together for the band, making writing and playing perfect pop songs a natural habitat. This band should be so much better known than it is today. A household name!, is what I say.

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/01/everyone-smiles-maureens.html

5. The First Exit. Tramhaus

The First Exit is a debut album that feels like it isn't. As if the band released several albums already, instead of a few singles and an EP. With which it already toured the world. Rotterdam's best Tramhaus has released the perfect postpunk album, in which the inner tensions and the alternative meets pop all come together in a perfect storm. If this band manages to set a next step, it may become one of the biggest postpunk acts in the world.

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-first-exit-tramhaus.html

4. Cartoon Darkness. Amyl and The Sniffers

Snotty, is the right word here. Amy Taylor is more Johnny Rotten than John Lydon could be in 2024. The songs on Cartoon Darkness are addictive. There's no other word for it. Straight forward punk, some great guitar solos and a ballad or two that work as well. This album is a perfect blend but foremost punk as it's supposed to be.

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/10/cartoon-darkness-amyl-and-sniffers.html

3. Wild God. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

Speaking of being totally blown of my socks. That is what happened to me while listening to Wild God for the first time. Nick Cave reached for new heights and climbed there with so much ease. His career has soared accordingly, filling arenas with ease as well. Spiritual, gospel, religion, rock ballads, on Wild God it all comes together in a fantastic way.

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/09/wild-god-nick-cave-and-bad-seeds.html

2. Not God. Finom

From a Wild God to Not God is but a small step in this list. The duo Ohmme returned as Finom in 2024 with an even better album. The kind that just bounces through my room and makes me bounce along with it. Not God is played out within a very tight jacket but done so superbly that the relative lack of variation is overlooked/heared, because this is the way it should be.

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/05/not-god-finom.html

1. Letter To Self. SPRINTS

The album of the year was released on the first Friday of 2024. Nothing went over it and righteously so. SPRINTS catapulted itself onto the international stage with debut album Letter To Self. For me things started with the single 'Literary Mind'. A song that's totally addictive. I can listen to it all day long. Add 'Up And Comer' and I do not want to listen to anything else. Letter To Self matched the two songs and I was hooked. SPRINTS delivered my album of the year.

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/01/letter-to-self-sprints.html

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

2024, the best albums 30 to 11

2024 is over, so it is time to look back on the past year. Perhaps there were no truly spectacular new records that really put things upside down. This is brought to you with a caveat as I can't judge records of rappers, Chappell Roan of Charlie XCX. 2024 did bring a host of records I judge as extremely good. Records that I expect still to like a lot in the years to come. In fact, it was a tough job to cut down to thirty as there are several albums that deserved a spot in this list as well. Life is about making choices and that is what I did.

This list was down to thirty before I found I had forgotten one album. For this reason you find a number 31 with two records on it. In the final days while preparing for a five days international conference in the week before Christmas, I discovered two albums through contributions by Erwin Zijleman that I think I might come to find very good, but ran out of time judging them. So, here they are to put some attention on them any way. Both have not been reviewed by me.

31. Watch Me Drive Them Gods Wild. Merce Lemon

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/12/watch-me-drive-them-dogs-wild-merce.html

      The Clearwater Swimmers. The Clearwater Swimmers

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-clearwater-swimmers-clearwater.html

 

30. Guided Tour. High Vis

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/10/punk-garage-and-alternative-rock-high.html

29. Crime, Hysteria And Useless Information. Hood Rats

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/05/crime-hysteria-and-useless-information.html

28. How To Make Friends by Telephone. Librarians With Hickeys

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/11/how-to-make-friends-by-telephone.html

27. Lonely Mission. Jake Nicoll

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/05/lonely-mission-jake-nicoll.html

26. Uit Gewoonte En Bijgeloof. Boeije

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/11/uit-gewoonte-en-bijgeloof-boeije.html

25. Lonely Playground. Shooless

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/12/lonely-playgrounds-shooless.html

24. Sober Maal. De Mannenbroeders

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/10/sober-maal-de-mannen-broeders.html

23. Fat Brando. Fat Brando

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/10/fat-brando-fat-brando.html

22. Great Haunting. Earth Tongue

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/06/great-haunting-earth-tongue.html

21. Wake The Dead. Chuck Prophet feat ¿Qiensave?

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/12/wake-dead-chuck-prophet-feat-qiensave.html

20. Wall of Eyes / Cutouts. The Smile

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/02/wall-of-eyes-smile.html

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/10/cutouts-smile.html

19. News Of The Universe. La Luz

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/05/news-of-universe-la-luz.html

18. Still Willing. Personal Trainer

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/09/still-waiting-personal-trainer.html

17. Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me. Porridge Radio

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/10/clouds-in-sky-they-will-always-be-there.html

16. Reservoir. Brown Horse

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/02/reservoir-brown-horse.html

15. Bright Black Night. Mystery Waitress

 https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/08/bright-black-night-mystery-waitress.html

 

14.As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again. The Decemberists

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/06/as-it-ever-was-so-it-will-be-again.html

13. Small Changes. Michael Kiwanuka

Not reviewed (yet).

12. Audio Vertigo. Elbow

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/04/a-few-new-albums-catching-up-day-black.html

11. Big Swimmer. King Hannah

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/06/big-swimmer-king-hannah.html

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

Happy New Year !

On behalf of the WoNo Magazine team I wish you all a happy, prosperous but above all healthy 2025!

Wout de Natris - van der Borght