One of the city's great hidden treasures, the Brussels music scene hosts some of the biggest and best up-and-coming artists and bands in the international, European and Belgian scene.
Every month, Europe's capital has no shortage of thrilling concerts – and it can be tough to pick out the best gigs. This is why we have decided to put together a guide to discover the best live acts in the city, perfect for new and old Brusseleirs alike.
Carefully selected by music journalist Simon Taylor, here are The Brussels Times' choices for the concerts and gigs that you and your friends should not miss throughout May 2024.
Best gigs in Brussels:
2 May
Melts
Ancienne Belgique, AB Club
While Ireland (and Dublin in particular) has been producing some of the best guitar bands from the English-speaking world over the last years, the scene has needed some variety, at least in terms of the bands that are successful outside of Ireland.
Melts. Credit: Gav Ovoca
Melts deliver something different with their blend of doomy post-punk, motoric and psychedelia. In April 2023, they once again confirmed their live show talents at Wilde Westen in Kortrijk. He’ll probably hate me for saying this, but lead singer Eoin Kenny has shades of Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and The National’s Matt Berninger.
3 May
Kacey Musgraves
Ancienne Belgique
Kacey Musgraves is the biggest country-pop star you’ve probably never heard of (unlike the other one). Texas-born Musgraves is touring her sixth studio album, Deeper Well, a record that charts her rebuilding her self-confidence after the end of her two-year marriage to fellow country singer, Ruston Kelly. Deeper Well is a metaphor, rather than a water source, in case you were wondering. This album has Musgraves drawing more on her folk-country roots and less than her last album, Star Crossed, which was more pop than Nashville.
Kacey Musgraves
Musgraves last played Belgium in 2018 in Leuven’s Het Depot. The audience lapped up her show, little able to believe that a Platinum-selling star would grace such a small venue. Live, Musgraves’ songwriting talents stand out (fans will hope she plays many of their favourites from her Grammy-winning 2018 album, Slow Burn) although she sometimes struggles to connect with her audience.
5 May
Erika de Casier
Botanique
De Casier is a Portuguese-born pop/RnB singer and writer from Denmark – who also has a Belgian mother. She has just released her third studio album, Still. Like lots of third-culture kids, de Casier grew up listening to 90’s US R’n’B artists like Brandy and Monica. Her look on the cover of Still channels the late lamented star Aaliyah in a full-length Matrix-style leather coat. She also namechecks British acts like Craig David, Tricky and Sade; influences that can all be heard in her distinctive songs.
Erika de Casier. Credit: Dennis Morton
De Casier's latest album also features some 2-step rhythms and jungle breakbeats which align her with the wave of new female artists like Pink Pantheress and Nia Archives who are introducing a new generation to these genres.
I first saw her in an underground car park at a music festival in Barcelona, where her intimate and personal live performance won over the crowd with great ease. The quality of her songwriting (and production from some of Denmark’s coolest artists) has seen her breakthrough in the US, the ultimate testing ground for non-US R’n’B artists, including a recent spot at this year’s Coachella festival and a multi-date US tour.
8 May
La Fève
Ancienne Belgique
French rapper La Fève has carved out his place at the summit of the French rap scene since breaking onto the scene in 2020. He is known for his distinct rapping style, coupled with finely crafted rhymes and production reminiscent of his US counterparts. Having released two albums, the rapper rocked the stages of Botanique and Les Ardentes festival (Belgium’s premier showcase for rap artists) in 2022.
La Fève
Two years later, La Fève is back to perform his new album "24," which features collaborations with American producer Zaytoven, and French beatmaker Tarik Azzouz, a name known in the US rap scene. La Fève is on his way to French rap's hall of fame. Ideal for anyone who wishes to discover the contemporary francophone rap scene – argued by many to be the second only to the US.
13 May
Corridor
Botanique
One of the lesser-known crimes of Britpop (as a media phenomenon) was that it snuffed out one of the most creative genres in British indie guitar music in the early 90s: shoegaze. While we had to put up with meat-and-two-veg bands like Oasis rehashing their favourite Beatles and T-Rex tracks, original artists and shoegaze pioneers like Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine were being mocked by the posers of the British music press ("the scene that celebrates itself") and starved of airplay and sales.
Corridor band. Credit: Dominic Berthiaume
Yet, like an underground river, the genre continues to wind its way along (Slowdive are playing Cirque Royal as part of a sell-out tour on 27 May) and inspired a new generation of bands who have stocked up on phaser and delay pedals for their Jaguar and Jazzmaster guitars. This time, Corridor are bringing their fourth studio album, Mimi, to Botanique’s Rotonde.
It’s an idle pursuit but it’s set me wondering how you would say shoegaze in French. Literally, "regarder-chaussure" but maybe it should be more like navel gazing ("nombrilisme") so chaussurisme? Corridor sing in French, in case you were wondering. It's well worth getting to the Corridor gig early to catch the Belgian support act, Chaton Laveur, who play a mix of motorik and post-punk. Their name is a pun on racoon (raton laveur) and chaton (kitten, or maybe pussy, depending on your imagination).
15 May
Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason
Bozar, Henry Le Boeuf Hall
You may be thinking “what the hell is The Brussels Times’ music writer doing covering classical music?” The answer is that I like all kinds of music – even if it needs to be written down for some musicians to be able to play it. Sheku and his sister Isata shot to mainstream fame in 2018 when they performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (but don’t let that put you off). Their first album featured narrations from actors Olivia Colman and Michael Morpurgo.
Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason. Credit: David Bazemore
Hailing from Nottingham, this brother and sister come from an amazingly talented family of seven children – all involved in music. Last Christmas, they invited the BBC into their homes for a documentary which showcased the kids breaking into unplanned multi-instrumental jams with each other.
Two of them will be in Brussels this month, with the cellist and his pianist sister set to play sonatas from Beethoven, French composer Gabriel Fauré and Poland’s Frédéric Chopin. According to Spotify, two of the sonatas are in the same key (G minor) so I hope they don’t sound too similar.
25 May
The Courettes
Botanique
More Danish artists (see Erika de Casier above). The spirit of rock and roll lives on — in the unlikely form of a Danish-Brazilian duo. The husband-and-wife team take their name from guitarist and singer Flávia Couri, adding the -ettes suffix of 60s bands like the Ronettes, Marvelettes, etc. The duo channel The Cramps, White Stripes and all the US garage bands you’ve ever known and loved (with a big dollop of surf guitar as well).
The Courettes. Credit: Jakob Hansen
Much to my annoyance, I missed them the last time they played in Belgium (at the Rock and Roses festival in Lessines in 2019) so this is one of the bands I’m most excited to see this year. Expect loud, feral rock and roll. I hope the audience enters into the spirit of The Courettes’ glorious retro vibe. Gents, grow your sideburns; ladies, stock up on hairspray so you can match Flávia’s beehive.
29 May
International Anthem presents Bex Burch + Ruth Goller’s ‘Skylla’ + Ibelisse G. Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly
Ancienne Belgique
AB is putting on another evening dedicated to a single record label’s artists. Previous evenings include one with Manchester-based musical polymath Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana records which featured Halsall’s own group and compositions plus Polish post-classical pianist and composer Hania Rani. International Anthem is a Chicago-based label for jazz artists and hosts some of the most exciting names in contemporary jazz including drummer Makaya McCraven.
AB’s night is showcasing some of the label’s less well-known acts including Bex Burch, a British percussionist whose xylophone-based compositions draw on Steve Reich’s minimalism.
Bass player Ruth Goller is one of those exciting experimental Italian artists who seem to have to move to London to find a scene in which to thrive (the other being drummer and percussionist Valentina Magaletti, the driving force behind Vanishing Twin and Holy Tongue). Rosaly and Ferragutti take their inspiration from Latin American and Brazilian music but add their own helping of free jazz and punk energy. Should be a night to remember.
