Summer 2025: Concert and Festival Reviews
Summer 2025 brought a lot of unforgettable musical moments—from massive festivals to personal and nostalgic live shows. In this roundup review, I want to share my impressions of the performances I was fortunate enough to witness this summer—from Charli xcx to Erreway and Fontaines D.C.
MARINA (Orange Warsaw Festival 2025)
Radiant as ever, confident and visibly energized by a crowd that gave her what the US audiences (yes, Coachella, looking at you) simply didn’t.
Her set was short and not the most varied, but kept a dynamic pace. With three new tracks from Princess of Power, including the questionable “Butterfly” and “Cuntissimo,” Marina took us through the different eras of her career, almost evenly split—except for Froot, which was only represented by a single song.
7/10
Chappell Roan (Orange Warsaw Festival 2025)
This was the debut outing of Chappell’s full summer show—and it looked absolutely stunning. The staging was bold, the energy explosive, and the crowd responded with pure love.
You can read a million takes on Chappell Roan and have very polarized feelings about her, but the second she steps on stage, none of that matters. What you witness is a born performer. There aren’t many artists from the past five years of pop culture (I can count three personally) who bring such a sense of freshness and curiosity.
Chappell performed her entire catalog. Yes, all of it. Could she have trimmed a few tracks for the sake of pacing? Maybe. But who am I to suggest less of an artist this exciting? It was a full-on vocal and visual delight—and one of the standout highlights of the entire summer festival season.
9/10
Jamie xx (Orange Warsaw Festival 2025)
He came, did exactly what he does best—play a DJ set—and left.
That was enough.
7/10
Loreen (Orange Warsaw Festival 2025)
She came, tried to do what she usually does best—perform—and left.
And this time, it wasn’t enough.
The aura was off. The reworked versions of her songs—especially the hits—bordered on unrecognizable.The lack of movement (she stayed in the exact same spot for the entire set), the awkward attempts at being mysterious, and the bizarre choreographic choices pulled more smirks than awe.
4/10
Charli xcx (Orange Warsaw Festival 2025)
The ultimate party girl of the music industry once again proved just how alive and one-of-a-kind her BRAT album truly is when experienced live.
And just how much Charli herself is enjoying the moment—and the long-overdue recognition. You could smell it in the air. The crowd was eating out of her hand, dancing in unison with such intensity that I’m pretty sure even the people who tried to stay out of the chaos ended up with bruised feet.
A perfectly curated setlist, brilliant camerawork, and blindingly powerful lighting (yes, I watched her set in sunglasses)—everything about this show felt like a full-on celebration of one of the best albums of the decade.
9/10
Erreway (Live from Athens)
Early 2000s. Belarus. My small hometown. I’m living a modest life with my parents and just starting primary school. Every evening, we play outside with the neighborhood kids—that’s where all the action is. But at exactly 8 PM, like clockwork, my mom would step out onto the porch and call me back home. Not because I had to come in earlier than anyone else—but because that was when Rebelde Way started on our one and only TV. No computer. No internet.
Cassette tapes, notebooks, bookmarks—I bought anything I could find at the local market that had anything to do with this Argentinian telenovela. And it was such a fleeting cultural moment—lasting only a couple of years. If you were just a few years older or younger, you probably missed it entirely. But for me, this was it. This was the beginning—my gateway into music, into musical projects. Before Star Factory, before Eurovision, before Glee—there was this wildly inappropriate (for a six-year-old) teen drama about a band called Erreway. I didn’t speak a word of Spanish (still don’t), but their songs are embedded in my DNA.
Twenty years later, Erreway announce a reunion world tour. Nostalgia is a strange thing—especially when you're a sentimental person. Of course I had to go. A flight from Warsaw to Athens, extreme heat (even by Greek standards), wildfire threats, and a show that was almost cancelled. But suddenly, I’m standing at the top of Lycabettus Hill, in a stunning open-air amphitheatre, face-to-face with my childhood heroes—this time not on a screen, but in real life.
It’s impossible to put the emotion into clear words—or even to compare this show with any of the countless others I’ve attended over the years. We never truly appreciate childhood when we have it, and we spend the rest of our lives trying to feel like that again. The fact that it’s even possible is kind of amazing.
Felipe Colombo, Camila Bordonaba, and Benjamín Rojas clearly feel the same wave of nostalgia. And during the show, it felt like we were all swept up into one shared current of energy—filled with joy, but with tears constantly threatening to spill. They delivered a full, proper set—the spark in their eyes was still there after all these years. The crowd got every hit they came for, plus some beautifully strange in-between moments—interactions, goofy skits, old-school choreography, and newly recorded visuals and interludes that gave the trio a few seconds to catch their breath. Because even after the sun goes down, Athens in July is brutally hot.
That night on Lycabettus Hill, I was six years old again. Except this time, instead of watching on an old TV screen, I was seeing my distant childhood heroes perform right in front of me—something I never expected or even dared to imagine would happen.
9/10
Louis Tomlinson (Lodz Summer Festival 2025)
One point for “Drag Me Down.” One point for “Night Changes.” One point for “Where Do Broken Hearts Go.” Not really, of course—but you get the idea.
Another point goes straight to the city of Łódź—for organizing a completely free (!) festival that honestly rivaled a solid three-day European event, with both local and international acts. And all of it just to celebrate City Day. Respect.
For the crowd, Louis Tomlinson simply stepping onto the stage was enough to spark wild excitement. And he did step out. But that’s more or less where the excitement plateaued.
There was minimal interaction with the audience, oddly curated visuals (which at times made the side screens practically unwatchable), and—most notably—the laziest vocals imaginable. Maybe he was sick or just having an off day (I’m only guessing), but the overall performance felt disjointed and flat. At times, it felt like there were more unfinished lines than completed ones. Still, in a few isolated moments, it didn’t sound half bad. And I did appreciate how genuinely excited he was to announce that his new material is ready and will be shared with us very soon. Maybe that’s worth another point.
5/10
MJ Lenderman (OFF Festival Katowice 2025)
One of the most pleasant discoveries of 2024 for me was MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks. So when I found out he was playing just a couple of hours away from home, I didn’t hesitate to make the trip.
This was a casual set in the best possible way. The crowd was small, and barely anyone was recording—apart from one or two moments caught by just a few people. That sense of quiet intimacy made it special. The band came out themselves to do their own soundcheck, and a few minutes later returned to the stage, pretending to see us for the first time.
The set itself was dynamic, heartfelt, and beautifully played. It was the kind of performance that makes even a passive listener stop and think—and maybe return to Lenderman’s music with fresh ears. And if you do that, you’ll most likely find a few new gems for your playlist.
8/10
Geordie Greep (OFF Festival Katowice 2025)
It was genuinely thrilling to witness Geordie Greep’s musical mastery live—the way he works the stage is unlike anything else.
That said, if I’m being honest, I personally connect more with what he used to do with Black Midi. At times, this solo set felt a bit too cerebral for me—if that makes sense. There were moments, particularly during those seemingly endless guitar solos, when I genuinely started questioning my own sanity.
Still, for a show that took place on the third most important stage of a relatively small festival, he managed to pull quite a crowd—and the audience was clearly loving it. It’s cool to see people show up and truly value performances like this.
7/10
Fontaines D.C. (OFF Festival Katowice 2025)
Thinking back to that idea of “three artists from the past five years” who’ve truly felt like breakthroughs to me—artists bringing something fresh, raw, and exciting—Fontaines D.C. are undeniably on that list.
Their album Romance won me over in 2024, and this live set in Katowice sealed the deal. The energy. The precision. The gritty elegance of Grian Chatten’s voice—when this band starts playing, it’s like nothing else matters.
And even though they spoke maybe ten words to the audience over the course of their hour-and-a-half set, it didn’t matter one bit. There was music. There was purpose. There was something epic happening.
Before this show, I was someone who occasionally stumbled upon their songs in playlists. After this show, I’m fully obsessed. And I’m grateful that bands like this still exist—brave, distinct, and fiercely creative. Artists who value their words, their roots, their platform, and the art they put into the world.
10/10
