Summer music heats up 2025

Summer is the time to kick back at concerts. Scroll through our gallery of some of 2025’s leading live acts, featuring images by CBS News photojournalist Jake Barlow and photographers Ed Spinelli and Kirstine Walton.  

Pictured: The Louisville rock band My Morning Jacket played at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, Wis., April 18, 2025. 

Chris Stapleton

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and musician Chris Stapleton played the Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, Ill., on Saturday, June 28, 2025, part of his “All-American Road Show.”

Queens of the Stone Age

Josh Homme, a founding member of the band Queens of the Stone Age, performs with the group at Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island in Chicago, June 21, 2025.

QOTSA’s set list included “I Sat By the Ocean,” “My God Is the Sun,” “Make It With Chu,” “No One Knows,” and “Little Sister.” 

The Kills

The rock duo The Kills (singer Alison Mosshart and guitarist Jamie Hince) were the opening act for Queens of the Stone Age at Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island in Chicago, June 21, 2025. Their setlist included “Future Starts Slow,” “U.R.A. Fever,” “Black Balloon,” and “Kissy Kissy.”

Pierce the Veil

The San Diego rock band Pierce the Veil brought their “I Can’t Hear You” world tour to the Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, Ill, on June 7, 2025. Pictured: Bassist Jaime Preciado.

Pierce the Veil

Lead guitarist Tony Perry of Pierce the Veil.

Among the songs they performed: “Pass the Nirvana,” “Emergency Contact,” “Death of an Executioner,” and “Bulls in the Bronx.” 

Pierce the Veil

Pierce the Veil said the 26,000 people who showed up for the sold-out show in Tinley Park, Ill., on June 7, was the band’s biggest show turnout ever. 

The Weeknd

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (a.k.a. The Weeknd) brought his “After Hours til Dawn” tour (which began three years ago) to Chicago’s Soldier Field on Saturday, May 31, 2025. The singer, wearing a mask with glowing eyes, opened with “The Abyss,” from his recent film “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” about a singer having a mental breakdown. It was the first of almost 40 songs performed. 

The Weeknd

Dancers on stage with The Weeknd at Soldier Field in Chicago, May 31, 2025. 

Sessanta

The touring heavy metal concert “Sessanta” is a collaboration of the bands Puscifer, Primus, and A Perfect Circle. They performed at the American Family Insurance Amphitheatre in Milwaukee on May 31, 2025, before heading to St. Paul, Minn., Omaha, Neb., and Washington State.

Pictured, clockwise from top left: Vocalist Maynard James Keenan, of A Perfect Circle and Puscifer; A Perfect Circle lead guitarist Billy Howerdel; Primus’ Les Claypool (lead vocals and bass); beneath the poodle mask is Josh Freese, a recent alumni of Foo Fighters who has rejoined A Perfect Circle; Puscifer vocalist Carina Round; and drummer John Hoffman of Primus, in a Batman mask. 

AC/DC

The Australian rock band AC/DC performed at Soldier Field in Chicago, Saturday, May 24, 2025.  Their set list included some of their most famous songs, including “Highway to Hell,” “You Shook Me All Night Long,” “Back in Black,” “Thunderstruck,” and “Let There Be Rock,” as well as “Demon Fire,” from “Power Up,” their 17th studio album, which went to #1 around the world upon its release in November 2020.

Pictured: Lead singer Brian Johnson, and co-founder Angus Young. 

Paul Simon

Paul Simon played the first of three shows at Chicago’s Symphony Center on May 23, 2025. Opening with songs from his most recent album, “Seven Psalms,” he performed selections with his wife, Edie Brickell. He also played songs from the Simon back catalog, from “Graceland” and “Homeward Bound,” to “Slip Slidin’ Away” and “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.”

Rival Sons

The rock band Rival Sons (featuring lead singer Jay Buchanan and guitarist Scott Holiday) played at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, Ill., on May 1, 2025, before heading off to Canada, and a European tour.

Their set list included “Nobody Wants to Die,” “Too Bad,” “Do Your Worst,” and “Shooting Stars.”

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds performed the first of two shows at the Salt Shed in Chicago on April 28, 2025 – stops on the group’s “The Wild God Tour.”

An actor and writer as well as a musician, Cave has recorded 18 studio albums with The Bad Seeds; their latest is “Wild God,” whose tracks include “Frogs,” “Joy,” “Song of the Lake” and “Long Dark Night.”  

Trivium

The heavy metal band Trivium performed at the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on April 26, 2025. It was one stop on their “Poisoned Ascendancy Tour,” which they are co-headlining with Bullet For My Valentine.

Trivium

Matt Heafy of Trivium. The heavy metal band is marking the 20th anniversary of their album “Ascendancy” by performing its songs live – for the last time. Their set list included “The End of Everything,” “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr,” “A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation,” and “Like Light to the Flies.”  

OK Go

Originally formed in Chicago, the rock band OK Go returned to the Windy City for a performance at the Riviera Theater on April 25, 2025. Their latest album is “And the Adjacent Possible.” 

My Morning Jacket

 My Morning Jacket played at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, Wis., April 18, 2025. Pictured (clockwise from top left): Vocalist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Koster.

After launching their 2025 tour on April 1 in Chattanooga, the group added summer and fall dates across the U.S. through November 1. 

Geoff Tate

Geoff Tate, a founding singer from Seattle’s heavy metal band Queensrÿche, performed at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, Ill., April 11, 2025.

Michael Monroe

Finnish singer Michael Monroe, who was a founding member of the ’80s rock band Hanoi Rocks, performed at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, Ill., on April 6, 2025.  The leadoff song of his set list was “Dead, Jail or Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

He also sang several Hanoi Rocks songs, including “Motorvatin’,” “Up Around the Bend,” “Malibu Beach Nightmare,” and “Don’t You Ever Leave Me.”

Kylie Minogue

Australian singer-songwriter Kylie Minogue arrived at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill, on April 2, 2025. 

Kylie Minogue

Minogue’s set, stretched across five acts, included “last night I dreamt I fell in love,” “Lights, Camera, Action,” “Edge of Saturday Night,” “Tension,” “Padam Padam,” “Timebomb” and “Get Outta My Way.” She also sang covers of music by Carole King, Pandora, and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. 

Deftones

Chino Moreno, the lead singer of Deftones, an alternative metal band hailing from Sacramento, Calif., performed at the United Center in Chicago, March 31, 2025. Their set list included “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away),” “Diamond Eyes,” “Hole in the Earth,” and “Swerve City.”

Bishop Briggs

The English singer-songwriter Bishop Briggs (touring for her new album, “Tell My Therapist I’m Fine”) stopped by Metro in Chicago on March 22, 2025. She performed “River,” “Wild Horses,” “Champion,” “White Flag,” and “My Seratonin.”

Deftones

A scintillating Deftones concert in Chicago.

      
For more info:

Photographer Jake Barlow (Instagram)

Photographer Ed Spinelli (Instagram)

Photographer Kirstine Walton (Instagram)

      
Edited by senior producer David Morgan.