In 2022, I traveled to Los Angeles to attend the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. I couldn’t resist because three of my all-time favorite artists were receiving honors and performing — The Eurythmics, Pat Benatar, and Duran Duran. In the past two years, those artists hit the road for some of the best concerts that I’ve seen in recent times. (Duran Duran made this best shows of the year list in 2022 and 2023, for example!)

As you’ll see on this list, Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics and Pat Benatar with husband and fellow Hall of Fame inductee Neil Giraldo both played in the DC area this year, qualifying them for spots on my list. I also was very much thrown back to my senior year of undergraduate school with some of the records that I revisited in concert this year.

Here are my Top 10 Concerts of 2024.

1 – Brigitte Calls Me Baby @ DC9 — 2/16/24 

It is beyond exciting to hear something new and great, and Brigitte Calls Me Baby checked both boxes in a thrilling show at DC9 early in the year. Brigitte Calls Me Baby succeeds wildly in their goal of combining the sounds of The Smiths with Roy Orbison. DC9 continues to prove invaluable as a live performance DC launchpad for great new artists.

2 – The The @ The Anthem — 10/14/24 

I never thought I would see The The perform live. Matt Johnson didn’t seem to have ambitions to cross the pond too much in recent years. But not only did he have those ambitions, he toured the USA with a stellar band doing incredible things. The DC performance of The The was engrossing, surefooted, and exciting. I was thoroughly expecting to love every note of Soulmining (1983) and also I was really taken by Dusk (1993). And The Anthem was the perfect place to hear these unforgettable tunes. Take a bow, Matt Johnson, and please come back again soon.

3 – Dave Stewart @ EagleBank Arena — 3/13/24 

Annie Lennox doesn’t want to tour (residency perhaps?), and so Dave Stewart took The Eurythmics Songbook on the road with an amazing and impressive band of women. Using several great singers (including Vanessa Amorosi) and a pack of showstopping instrumentalists (including Indiara Sfair on harmonica and Yasmin Ogilvie on saxophone), Stewart sizzled throughout a performance at EagleBank Arena.

4 – Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo @ Warner Theatre — 7/9/24 

I have always loved Pat Benatar, and her DC performances never let me down. She killed it in a great concert at Warner Theatre, her habitual home in DC city, with an incredible showcase of her unmatched voice. Her musical and life partner Neil Giraldo was also in very fine form. I was stunned to hear them play “My Clone Sleeps Alone,” speaking to a young Benatar’s playful and experimental side.

5 – Peter Hook & The Light @ 9:30 Club — 9/1/24 

Peter Hook sold out the 9:30 Club in his highly anticipated visit to DC on Sept. 1, and he sold it out quickly. Arriving to perform the greatest hits of both New Order and Joy Division, Hooky rocked and rolled through several hours of highly influential music with his signature sound and trademark style. Peter Hook & The Light have played DC in the past, but this time felt different: People truly couldn’t get enough.

6 – Sting @ MGM National Harbor — 10/15/24 

Sting configured his music for a power trio and hit the road as Sting 3.0 this year, landing at MGM National Harbor (capacity 3,000) for two sold-out shows. Usually when Sting visits the DMV, he sells out several nights at The Filene Center at Wolf Trap (capacity 7,000). So for Sting, these were relatively intimate shows. And his voice was in very much in top form, making everyone in the house feel close to the singer. Sting explored much of his career but gave particularly good focus to Ten Summoners Tales (1993), reigniting my admiration for that album.

7 – They Might Be Giants @ 9:30 Club — 12/9/24 

As proof of their enduring popularity, They Might Be Giants quickly sold out three nights in a row at 9:30 Club for end-of-year performances. Each show was different, and in the last of those three shows, They Might Be Giants spotlighted their significant and catchy album Apollo 18 (1992).

8 – Joe Jackson @ Lincoln Theatre — 6/10/24

Somehow, I never saw Joe Jackson live in concert, although he’s no stranger to DC, before this year. Boy, was that a mistake. Joe came to the Lincoln Theatre with two sets: a stripped down overview of his greatest hits and then a fully realized vaudevillian spectacle in support of his new album, What a Racket! Few musicians have the imagination of Joe Jackson, who was winning and breaking plenty of hearts with his striking cool guy at a piano performance as well as his smartly funny retro Max Campion persona.

9 – The Psychedelic Furs and The Jesus and Mary Chain @ The Anthem — 10/6/24

I can listen to Richard Butler sing all day — and also to his brother Tim play bass for just as long. For my money, few bands make better music than The Psychedelic Furs, who actually returned to the studio for the first time in decades for Made of Rain (2020). The Butler brothers are on the road a lot with the Psych Furs band but songs like “The Ghost in You,” “Love My Way,” and “Pretty in Pink” never get old for me. This time around, The Psychedelic Furs shared the stage with an equally impressive band of brothers — Jim and William Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain.

10 – Two Door Cinema Club @ The Anthem — 3/1/24 

Among the great albums of the 21st century so far stands Tourist History, the debut record of Northern Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club. The post-punk trio gave that album plenty of love in a sold-out performance at The Anthem, which proved to be their biggest headlining gig of their career to date as measured by attendees. Two Door Cinema Club’s clever songs and strong showmanship were testaments as to how they could sell out The Anthem.