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 picking out the best gigs can be tough. This is why we have put together a monthly 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 December 2024.
Best gigs this month:
1 December
Sam Lee
Sound Box Fest, Coudenberg Palace
Sam Lee is an English folk singer and music researcher who has spent years discovering, learning and recording traditional folk songs, particularly those from England’s travelling community. His latest album, songdreaming, out in March this year, uses traditional acoustic instruments such as double bass and violin – but adds unfamiliar elements of electronic drones as well as instruments from other folk traditions. It was produced by Bernard Butler, one-time guitarist from Suede.
English folk singer Sam Lee will play at an unusual venue in Brussels. Credit: Andre Pattenden
The way in which Lee, who was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2012, combines the old and the modern, as well as his distinctive voice, recalls June Tabor, another English folk singer who has combined jazz elements into her singing and tackled modern classics such as Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart. Sam is appearing as part of the fourth edition of the Coudenberg Palace’s Sound Box Fest which brings together musicians playing traditional instruments to perform pieces from the modern and pre-18th century periods. The show also includes music from Noxwode, performed on viola de gamba, harpsichord and Baroque violin.
2 December
Desire
Museum, Botanique
If you miss Chromatics, the Portland, Oregon-band that kept alive the flame of 1980s synth pop and featured on the soundtrack of the movie, Drive, you should check out Desire. The Canadian group is the brainchild and musical vehicle of Johnny Jewel, formerly of Chromatics, and frontwoman Megan Louise.
Desire during a video shoot
Their track, Under Your Spell, was also on the Drive soundtrack. They follow Chromatics’ love of Giorgio Moroder-style retro synths and draw on Madonna, Amanda Lear and the kitsch heights (or depths) of the New York 70s disco scene. Desire released a new EP earlier this year, their first new material since their second album, Escape, in 2022.
4 December
Los Bitchos
Ancienne Belgique
Los Bitchos are an explosive all-woman band with members from Australia, Sweden and Uruguay who mix Latin American cumbia with Anatolian psychedelic funk and a whole mess of other styles. They are without doubt one of the most fun live bands around. Their music is infectious, eminently danceable and played with such evident joy that their gigs are a sure-fire recipe for enjoyment. Having played at Botanique in 2022, they are back this time in the main hall at Ancienne Belgique.
Los Bitchos are known for their lively shows
I’m curious to see whether they manage to fill such a big venue. The band is touring to promote their second album, Talkie Talkie, which came out earlier this year. While it was always going to be hard to top their first record Let the Festivities Begin, new numbers such as Let Me Cook You and Twist and Twirl stand out. This will definitely be one of the best pre-Christmas gigs in Brussels. Oh, and their name means "bugs" in Spanish – not the word you might assume.
5 December
The Bony King of Nowhere
Het Depot, Leuven
The Bony King of Nowhere is the stage name of Belgian singer-songwriter Bram Vanparys. The name comes from a Radiohead song called There, There (The Boney King of Nowhere), and Vanparys a clear big fan. His recent albums draw heavily on the Oxford band’s sound: he sings with the same slightly strained falsetto as Thom Yorke and the arrangements of his songs use lots of echo and sustain to create atmospheric backdrops.
Belgian artist Bony King of Nowhere took his name from a Radiohead song
Vanparys has been performing as The Bony King since 2009 and released his latest album, Everybody Knows in February this year. His earlier material was more influenced by singer-songwriters like Dylan and Townes van Zandt.
7 December
Isaac Roux
AB Box
I’m happy this month to be featuring many Belgian artists (see above and below). Isaac Roux, the stage name of singer-songwriter Louis De Roux, attended Paul McCartney’s Liverpool of Performing Arts. His songwriting and vocals display a polish that you might not expect in one so young, with a voice which ranges from a soft whisper to a falsetto that puts you in mind of Bon Iver on tracks like Brotherhood.
Isaac Roux is one of Belgium's rising music stars
Isaac will be launching his first album, Troubled Waters, at the Ancienne Belgique gig. He appeared at Werchter this year and has been featured on several international radio stations including Vienna’s cult FM4 and Deutschlandfunk (not a funk music station, in case anyone wondered). It's worth noting that Roux is another exciting artist from Kortrijk's Mayway Records, home to Leuven’s Aō and Liège’s Eosine, and which is establishing itself as THE Belgian label to watch for upcoming talent.
7 December
Autoreverse, Meryll Ampe and Muon S
Ateliers Claus, Saint-Gilles
Ateliers Claus, an arts and cultural centre down a side street off Rue Théodore Verhagen in Saint-Gilles, is the Brussels home for experimental and improvised music. Even though they have put on (relatively) well-known artists such as Thurston Moore (from Sonic Youth) and Wales' Cate Le Bon, the atelier is best known for artists and creators that don’t usually get a look in at Brussels’ better-known venues. This night is no exception.
Autoreverse are two Paris-based artists, Nina Garcia and Arnaud Rivière, who make sounds from electric guitar and non-musical objects and manipulate them with electronic effects. Meryll Ampe uses analogue electronic instruments to generate sounds that he warps and twists to produce disconcerting sound sculptures. Muon S uses the amplified sound of tap dancing, believe it or not.
12 December
Sprints
Orangerie, Botanique
Sprints are yet another band from Ireland’s very healthy alternative music scene. Sometimes as a Brit, I feel that Irish bands have stepped in (and up) to fill a hole left when Brexit made it much harder for British bands to play in the EU. Sprints formed in Dublin in 2019 and have released two EPs, Manifesto and A Modern Job, that met major acclaim.
Sprints are another band to come out of Ireland's buzzing music scene
Their debut LP, Letter to Self, came out this January. Led by frontwoman, Karla Chubb, the band channel the high-adrenaline pace of punk with the post-punk angst of the furrow that leads from Joy Division through Interpol to Editors. Expect a high-energy show, full of Brussels' large and vocal Irish community.
13 December
Lyra Pramuk
Bozar, Terarken Room
Pramuk describes her music as “futuristic folk” which only makes sense if you know that she is motivated to make music that is in harmony with nature and that depends on electronic treatment of her voice. Pramuk uses samplers and loops to turn her voice into the raw material out of which she conjures her ethereal and bewitching music.
Lyra Pramuk's futuristic folk will enchant Bozar
True to her desire to approach experience from a non-binary perspective, she pitch-shifts her vocals so that she can sound both male and female. Pramuk is appearing with Belgian-Angolan singer and performer Martha Da’ro as part of Bozar’s Love is Louder festival to accompany the exhibition of the same name.
19 December
Sylvie Kreusch
Ancienne Belgique
Kreusch was part of Belgian band Warhaus with Maarten Devoldere before striking out on her own solo career in 2021. She combines a very theatrical approach to music and performance that draws on the French Torch song tradition with frequent costume changes and stage presence where she adopts different personas.
Belgian singer Sylvie Kreusch was part of band Warhaus
Think St Vincent/Annie Clark. The music ranges in style to take in aggressive guitar riffs and attitude from artists such as PJ Harvey. She has been building up quite a following in Belgium thanks to her two solo LPs, including the latest, Comic Trip, which came out this year.
