The reunions, revivals, and "one more time" tours we're all pretending we can afford.
Last night at 2 AM, I watched my friend—a 38-year-old marketing director with a mortgage—frantically refresh Ticketmaster for Oasis tickets. She had three credit cards ready and a spreadsheet calculating exactly how many lunches she'd need to skip to justify the purchase. "It's not about the money," she said, typing her presale code for the fifth time. "It's about being seventeen again for two hours."
We're all doing this dance right now. Secretly checking StubHub during meetings, calculating whether we can expense a "client dinner" in the same city as that tour date, texting group chats about splitting an Airbnb in random cities. (Just know that these 8 behaviors will immediately out you as the old one in the crowd.)
The concerts we swore we were too mature for are suddenly the only thing we want to spend our 401k on...
1. Oasis (if you can survive the bloodbath)
The Gallagher brothers finally stopped fighting long enough to announce their 2025-2026 reunion tour, and every Millennial who wore out their copy of "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" is losing their mind. The UK dates sold out instantly, but they're still touring Australia, Asia, and South America through November 2025. Liam even teased more 2026 dates at Wembley, with rumors of a Knebworth 30th anniversary show.
The appeal of Oasis now: we all pretend we're above the drama, but we desperately want to witness it. Will Liam throw something at Noel? Will they make it through "Wonderwall" without an incident? The possibility of watching a band implode in real-time is weirdly part of the draw. Plus, singing "Champagne Supernova" with thousands of other people who also thought they'd be famous by now hits different in your thirties.
2. My Chemical Romance's Black Parade victory lap
MCR announced their Black Parade 2026 stadium tour, and suddenly everyone's inner emo kid awakened from a decade-long slumber. They're playing the entire album front to back, with theatrical production that makes Broadway look understated. The tour hits major stadiums with rotating openers like Franz Ferdinand, Modest Mouse, and Iggy Pop.
The prices are insane—some seats starting at $300—but we're justifying it because it's "basically a theater experience." We're not just seeing a band; we're processing fifteen years of suppressed teenage feelings while wearing business casual. Half of us will cry during "Cancer." The other half will pretend they're not crying during "Cancer."
3. Taylor Swift's inevitable 2026 return
She's releasing "The Life of a Showgirl" on October 3rd, 2025, and if history tells us anything, she'll be touring by spring 2026. The album features Sabrina Carpenter and marks her return to working with Max Martin and Shellback. Some sources suggest she's considering a Vegas residency at The Sphere, which would tie into the showgirl theme.
Look, we can pretend we're too sophisticated for Taylor now, but we all know at least ten of her songs word-for-word. The Millennials who mocked "Love Story" in college are now relating hard to "Anti-Hero." Plus, taking your kids to see Taylor Swift is basically the ultimate parenting flex—assuming you can afford the probable $500 ticket prices.
4. LCD Soundsystem at small venues (for the "real" fans)
James Murphy and company are playing intimate shows at NYC's Knockdown Center through December 2025. These aren't stadium shows; they're sweaty, cramped venues where you can actually see the band without binoculars. It's perfect for Millennials who want to feel superior about their music taste.
The beauty of LCD Soundsystem is that they make dance music for people who overthink dancing. Every song is about getting older, losing edge, and trying to stay relevant—basically our entire generation's internal monologue set to a sick beat. "All My Friends" hits different when all your friends actually are busy with kids' soccer practice.
5. Radiohead's European tour (that you're considering flying to)
Radiohead announced their first tour in seven years, but it's only in Europe—Madrid, Bologna, London, Copenhagen, and Berlin from November through December 2025. Every Millennial with accumulated vacation days is doing the math on whether they can justify a "European holiday" that happens to coincide with these dates.
We spent our twenties pretending to understand "Kid A" deeper than we actually did. Now we're in our thirties, still pretending, but with better credit limits. Flying to Copenhagen to see Radiohead isn't irresponsible; it's "investing in experiences." At least that's what we'll tell ourselves while eating ramen for three months afterward.
6. The emo/pop-punk festival circuit
When We Were Young already proved Millennials will pay $400 to relive 2005. Now every festival is trying to recreate that magic. MCR is headlining multiple 2026 festivals including Welcome to Rockville, Sonic Temple, and Louder Than Life. You know the undercard will be stacked with every band from your college playlist.
Fall Out Boy, Paramore, and Blink-182 haven't announced major 2025-2026 tours yet, but they're all "taking breaks" which in band-speak means "preparing for a lucrative nostalgia tour." When they inevitably announce, we'll all pretend we're going ironically, then scream every word to "Sugar, We're Goin Down" completely unironically.
7. Whatever supergroup emerges from the chaos
The inevitable festival supergroups and one-off collaborations are coming. Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem have history. Radiohead members do side projects. The emo bands all know each other. Someone's going to announce a "one night only" show that becomes the most expensive ticket of the year.
These aren't just concerts anymore; they're cultural events we can't afford to miss. We'll justify the expense by calling it "self-care" or "mental health investment." Our therapists will nod knowingly while we explain why seeing Thom Yorke perform is essential to our healing journey.
Final thoughts
The reality of being a Millennial at concerts now: we're caught between wanting to relive our youth and accepting we need lumbar support. We're googling setlists to know when we can hit the bathroom. We're buying VIP packages not for the meet-and-greet, but for the shorter lines and actual seats.
The beautiful part is we've stopped pretending we're above it. These aren't guilty pleasures anymore; they're just pleasures. We earned the right to spend too much money watching the Gallagher brothers hate each other in person. We've survived recessions, pandemics, and the death of social media platforms we actually understood. If we want to cry during "Black Parade" while wearing orthopedic insoles, that's our prerogative.
The real question isn't whether we'll go to these concerts. It's whether we'll admit how much we actually paid for tickets. (Spoiler: we won't. But we'll all know. And we'll all understand.)
But who knows? Maybe I'll see you in the crowd, where we'll all pretend we're not too old for this.
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