End Of Year Top 5’s For 2025

2025 has been a big year with plenty touring of international artists as well as our favourite Australian and local acts as well. It has also delivered some great new album releases which we hope continues in 2026.

Some of our team has taken stock and looked back on the best album releases and gigs experienced this year… what are yours?

Rob Lyon

Top Ten Shows:

1. The Strokes/ The War On Drugs – Harvest Rock
2. Tool – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
3. Garbage – Thebarton Theatre
4. You Am I – Hindley Street Music Hall
5. Don Broco – Lion Arts Factory
6. PUP – Hindley Street Music Hall
7. Stone Temple Pilots – Hindley Street Music Hall
8. Fall Of Troy/ Hail The Sun – Max Watt’s, Melbourne
9. The Flaming Lips – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
10. Death From Above 1979 – The Gov

Top Ten Albums

1. Turnstile – Never Enough
2. The Hives – The Hives Forever, Forever The Hives
3. Franz Ferdinand – The Human Fear
4. Cheap Trick – All Washed Up
5. Sparks – Mad!
6. The Kooks – Never/Know
7. Sloan – Based on the Best Seller
8. The Living End – I Only Trust Rock ‘n Roll
9. PUP – Who Will Look After The Dogs?
10. Superheaven – Self Titled

Anita Kertes

Top Ten Shows

1. Tool – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
2. Katie Noonan – Hindley Street Music Hall
3. Mitch Tambo – Space Theatre
4. The Wombats – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
5. Cloud Control – Harvest Rock
6. Kylie Minogue – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
7. The Jungle Giants – Hindley Street Music Hall
8. Bean Magazine – Hindley Street Music Hall
9. Ministry of Sound Classical – Harvest Rock
10. Paul Dempsey – Thebarton Theatre
    

Top Ten Albums

1. Floodlights – Underneath
2. Chasing Ghosts – Therapy
3. BIG SPECIAL – NATIONAL AVERAGE.
4. Sunbeam Sound Machine – Double Magic
5. Bean Magazine – FOLLY
6. For Those I Love – Carving the Stone
7. Sophia Kourtesis – Volver
8. Mild Minds – Gemini
9. Antony Szmierek – Service Station at the End of the Universe
10. Folk Bitch Trio – Now Would Be A Good Time

Anastasia Lambis

Top Ten Shows:

1. Leon Bridges – Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne
2. Tony Hadley – The Gov, Adelaide
3. Brand New Heavies – Hamer Hall, Melbourne
4. Kylie Minogue – Madison Square Garden, New York
5. ACDC – MGC, Melbourne
6. Lenny Kravitz – John Cain Arena, Melbourne
7. Lenny Kravitz – Adelaide
8. Kendrick Lamar – AAMI Park, Melbourne
9. Lady Gaga – Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
10. Garbage – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide

Top Ten Albums:

1. Rosalia – Lux
2. Lady Gaga – Mayhem
3. Durand Jones and The Indications – Flowers
4. Wet Leg – Moisturizer
5. Panic Shack – Panic Shack
6. Madonna – Veronica Electronica
7. Kaytranada – Ain’t No Damn Way
8. Somber – I Barely Know Her
9. Lola Young – I’m Only Fucking Myself
10. Leon Thomas – Pholks

Geoff Jenke

Top Ten Shows:

1. Wilco – Royal Albert Hall, London
2. Primal Scream – Hindley Street Music Hall
3. Amigo the Devil – Hindley Street Music Hall
4. Tool – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
5. Ed Kuepper & Jim White – The Gov
6. Flaming Lips – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
7. Paul Kelly – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
8. Cowboy Junkies – Woodville Town Hall
9. Tod Rundgren – Hindley Street Music Hall
10. Fatboy Slim – Peter Lehmann Winery

Top Ten Albums:

1. Seawater – Mostly Autumn
2. After the Flood – Ed Kuepper & Jim White
3. More – Pulp
4. Alexandria Sunset – Ashley Naylor
5. More Acoustic Junk – Cowboy Junkies
6. The Revenge of Alice Cooper – Alice Cooper
7. This is Not a Drill – Roger Waters
8. Talking to the Trees – Neil Young
9. From the Pyre – The Last Dinner Dance
10. Through the Open Window – Bob Dylan

Andreas Heuer

Top Ten Shows:

1. Tool – Adelaide Entertainment Centre (Night 2)
2. Tool – Adelaide Entertainment Centre (Night 1)
3. The Flaming Lips – Adelaide Entertainment Centre (Night 2)
4. PJ Harvey – WOMAD
5. Sigur Ros – Adelaide Entertainment Centre (Night 2)
6. John Cale – Hindley Street Music Hall
7. Steven Wilson – Her Majesties Theatre
8. Gracie Abrams – Adelaide Entertainment Centre (Night 2)
9. The Cruel Sea – Adelaide Festival Centre
10. Kendrick Lamar – AAMI Park Melbourne // Good Things Festival Melbourne

Top Ten Albums:

1. Pulp – More
2. David Byrne – Who Is The Sky?
3. Swans – Birthing
4. Melvins – Thunderball
5. Big Thief – Double Infinity
6. Nine Inch Nails – Tron (Soundtrack)
7. Arcade Fire – Pink Elephant
8. Suede – Antidepressants
9. Garbage – Let all that we Imagine be the Light
10. Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH

Matt Eygenraam

Top Ten Shows:

1. PJ Harvey – WOMADelaide
2. Roisin Murphy – WOMADelaide
3. Durand Jones and the Indications – WOMADdelaide
4. Custard – Beer ‘n’ BBQ
5. Strokes – Harvest Rock
6. War on Drugs – Harvest Rock
7. Pennywise / Millencolin – Pirate Life 10th birthday
8. Southern River Band – Unibar

Top Ten Albums:

1. The Hives – The Hives Forever, Forever the Hives
2. Pup – Who Will Look After The Dogs?
3. Psychedelic P*rn Crumpets – Carpe Diem, Moonman
4. Swami John Reis – Time To Let You Down
5. Dinosaur Pile Up – I’ve Felt Better
6. Deftones – Private Music
7. Scowl – We Are All Angles
8. Folk Bitch Trio – Now Would Be A Good Time
9. Superheaven – Superheaven

Darren Leach

Top Ten Shows:

1. Nine Inch Nails – O2 Greenwich, London
2. Oasis – Wembley Stadium, London
3. Feeder – Koko, London
4. LCD Soundsystem – Brixton Academy, London (x2)
5. Manic Street Preachers – Shepherds Bush Empire, London
6. Hotline TNT – The Garage, London
7. High Vis – Brixton Electric, London
8. Jamiroquai – O2 Greenwich, London
9. Weezer – Vega, Copenhagen
10. Gene – Hammersmith Apollo, London

Top Ten Albums:

1. Red Lorry Yellow Lorry – Strange kind of Paradise
2. Missiles – Donington ‘87
3. The Chameleons – Arctic Moon
4. Ganser – Animal Hospital
5. White Lies – Night Light
6. The Living End – I Only Trust Rock n Roll
7. Coach Party – Caramel
8. Dave Lee & Maurissa Rose – London / Detroit
9. Dust – Sky is falling
10. Preoccupations – Ill at ease

Richard De Pizzol

Top Ten Shows:

1. Oasis – Manchester
2. ELO – Manchester
3. Alanis Morissette – Glasgow
4. The Motels – London
5. Pulp – London
6. Jean Michele Jarre – Brussels
7. Beyonce – London
8. FKA Twigs – Barcelona
9. Bonny Light Horseman – Womadelaide
10. PJ Harvey – Womadelaide

Top Ten Albums:

1. FKA Twigs – Eusexua
2. Momma – Welcome To My Blue Sky
3. Turnstile – Never Enough
4. Steven Wilson – The Overview
5. Melody Pool – Our Eternal Garden
6. Florist – Jellywish
7. Pulp – More
8. Folk Bitch Trio – Now Would Be a Good Time
9. Black Country, New Road – Forever Howlong
10. I’m With Her – Wild and Clear and Blue

Justin White

Top Ten Shows:

1. The Living End – On The Steps – Sydney Opera House
2. Slipknot – Adelaide EC
3. Tyler Childers – The Drive
4. Holy Holy – Hindley St Music Hall
5. City & Colour – AEC
6. Millencolin & Pennywise – Pirate Life
7. The Offspring & Simple Plan – AEC
8. Metallica – Adelaide Oval
9. The Used – 3 Nights – Hindley St Music Hall
10. AC/DC – Bp Adelaide Grand Final

Top Ten Albums

In no particular order

• Sam Fender – People Watching
• AFI – Silver Bleeds the Black Sun…
• Ghost – Skeletá
• Bliss n Eso – The Moon ( The Light Side )
• Landmvrks – The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been
• Sleep Token – Even In Arcadia
• Tyler Childers – Snipe Hunter
• Yellowcard – Better Days
• The Living End – I Only Trust Rock n Roll
• Paul Kelly – Seventy

Samuel Phillips

Top Ten Shows:

1. Erra – Lion Arts Factory
2. Malevolence – Jive
3. Bilmuri – LAF
4. Testament – The Gov
5. Stray From The Path – L ion Arts Factory
6. Don Broco – Lion Arts Factory
7. Letlive – Lion Arts Factory
8. The Ghost Inside/ Bleeding From Within – The Gov
9. TOOL – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
10. Machine Head – Good Things Festival

Top Ten Albums:

1. Callous Daoboys – I Don’t Want To See You In Heaven
2. Thornhill – BODIES
3. HEALTH – CONFLICT DLC
4. Deftones – private music
5. Paleface Swiss – CURSED
6. The Devil Wears Prada – Flowers
7. Whitechapel
- Hymns In Dissonance
8. Volumes – Minor Touch
9. Bleed From Within – Zenith
10. Wolves at the Gate – Wasteland

Elise De Simoni

Top Ten Shows

1. Amyl & The Sniffers – Hindley Street Music Hall
2. The Flaming Lips – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
3. Khruangbin – WOMADelaide
4. Kylie Minogue – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
5. You Am I – Hindley Street Music Hall
6. Dope Lemon – Hindley Street Music Hall
7. The Wombats – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
8. Ball Park Music – Hindley Street Music Hall
9. The Kooks – Hindley Street Music Hall
10. Slowdive – Hindley Street Music Hall