The Agganis Arena boasts a particularly promising spring, starting with an April 4 appearance from Colombian reggaeton star J Balvin , whose 2024 album, “Rayo,” bolstered his status as one of the best-selling Latin artists of all time. Heart fans who were disappointed to see the Wilson sisters withdraw from last year’s Fenway Park show with Def Leppard and Journey can catch the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers headlining the Agganis on April 13 . Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and St. Vincent pool their brooding alt-rock shortly thereafter, on April 15 , culling material from their respective 2024 albums, “Wild God” and “All Born Screaming.”
This year’s deluge has arrived right on time, with artists like Japanese Breakfast , Lucy Dacus , and FKA twigs unveiling North American tours that will stop in Boston, and local festival heavyweights such as Boston Calling and Green River Festival revealing their full lineups. Before temptation tugs at your wallet this winter — and it will — consult this rundown of highly-anticipated arena and stadium tours to map out your 2025 concert calendar.
If December is a time of merry indulgence, then January is an exercise in restraint. It takes a disciplined music fan to spend their money wisely amid the new year’s onslaught of show announcements, which tend to pile up faster than credit card bills from the holidays.
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AC/DC are scheduled to launch Gillette Stadium’s concert season on May 4, belatedly celebrating their 2020 record “POWER UP” on their first tour of the United States in nine years.
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On May 12, rapper Kendrick Lamar continues his seemingly unstoppable hot streak at the stadium, building upon an era that includes his November album “GNX,” a Super Bowl halftime show performance (coming next month), and the 1 billion streams behind his Drake diss track heard ‘round the world, “Not Like Us.” British pop-rock favorites Coldplay land in Foxborough with “Moon Music” from their 2024 album on July 15 and 16, marking the band’s first shows at the stadium since 2017.
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After a 2024 concert season that welcomed Fenway Park newcomers like Noah Kahan and Lana Del Rey, the historic ballpark will host Shakira on May 29 and My Chemical Romance on Sept. 7. Shakira was initially scheduled to perform at TD Garden this past December, but rescheduled her “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” world tour to include larger venues. The hype behind My Chemical Romance’s appearance is no less fervent; New Jersey’s emo royalty have visited Massachusetts only once since they publicly reunited in 2019.
Tyler, The Creator teased his “CHROMAKOPIA” tour in Boston last November with an intimate set at the Converse Lovejoy Wharf. The rapper will return on July 8 and 9 to reveal the full performance at TD Garden. Linkin Park, who recently added singer Emily Armstrong after the passing of frontman Chester Bennington, tout nu-metal and their new lineup with concerts on July 31 and Aug. 1. Pop chart-topper Dua Lipa follows suit with a duo of TD Garden shows supporting her 2024 album “Radical Optimism” on Sept. 9 and 10.
And while MGM Music Hall at Fenway isn’t an arena or stadium, it’d be Boston rock blasphemy not to mention Pixies’ pair of shows at the venue on July 18 and 19, which follow the band’s 2024 album, “The Night the Zombies Came.”
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On Friday, Boston singer-songwriter Kat Wallace reveals gentle Americana from her debut solo album, “Grand Design,” at Passim. Ryan Montbleau, whose decades as a folk troubadour trace back to his hometown of Peabody, enjoys an extended stay at the Cambridge club on Tuesday , Wednesday , and Thursday.
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Big Head Todd and The Monsters preemptively celebrate their 40th anniversary as a band at the Cabot with shows on Saturday and Sunday; the Colorado rock quartet formed in 1986 and most recently released their 12th studio album, “Her Way Out.”
Stereo MC’s and Boston’s Haasan Barclay — two innovative welders of hip-hop and electronica — make a perfect pair at The Sinclair on Saturday. Tall Heights’s “Softly Softly” tour brings the Massachusetts guitar and cello duo to their home turf on Sunday, while vocalist Dhruv swirls poppy R&B from his 2024 album, “Private Blizzard,” at the Harvard Square venue on Thursday.
British outfit Porridge Radio preview their February EP “Machine Starts To Sing” alongside their catalog of caustic alt-rock at Brighton Music Hall on Sunday. Matt Pond PA, a more subdued standout in indie rock, launches his East Coast tour on Wednesday at The Rockwell with his waltz-like new single, “Risky Business,” in tow.
Following a Tuesday appearance from “American Idol” season 9 winner Lee DeWyze, City Winery brims with a global palette of sound on Thursday, courtesy of pianist Omar Sosa, kora player Seckou Keita, and percussionist Gustavo Ovalles. The trio melds the essences of their birthplaces — Cuba, Senegal, and Venezuela, respectively — into a textured sonic tapestry, much like the songs from Sosa and Keita’s 2021 album, “Suba.”
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Rock icon Iggy Pop performs at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2023. Marc Ducet
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Iggy Pop, “Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2023.” Iggy Pop? Featured at a Swiss jazz festival? It’s more likely than you think. Performing at a sold-out Stravinski Auditorium, the impish rock icon barrels through his third-ever appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Across 17 tracks, Pop lends renewed swagger to everything from the scrappy “T.V. Eye” to solo standouts like “The Passenger.”
Massachusetts mainstays Guster enhance their 2024 album,