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 Brussels folk 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 January. Happy New Year!
Best gigs this month:
15 January
Colin Currie
Bozar
January is offering relatively slim pickings on the gig front so I am casting my net a little wider this month. Scot Colin Currie is one of the biggest names among classical percussionists.
Percussionist Colin Currie. Credit: James Glossop
For his concert at Bozar, he will be performing the beautiful Fratres by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt as well as Catfish Row from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and pieces by Dutch composer Louis Andriessen (Tapdance and Percussion concerto) and Julia Wolfe’s Body Language.
18 January
Pauline Oliveiros
Bozar
You may not have heard of Pauline Oliveros, but this Houston, Texas-born composer is one of the most important musical innovators of the 20th century. Oliveros, who died in 2016, pioneered a concept called "deep listening", which requires the audience to listen extremely closely to the music they are hearing and how it interacts with the environment in which the listener finds themselves.
Pauline Oliveros, the electronic composer
This advanced state of auditory engagement comes very close to meditation. Oliveros’ musical creations include using large underground cisterns to produce huge, deep sounds. At Bozar, an ensemble of 15 percussionists will perform Earth Ears.
23 January
Tom Skinner
Flagey
Skinner’s show is part of this year’s Flagey Jazz Festival, which has become a regular feast of some of the best jazz artists on the international scene. As in previous years, there is a heavy representation of artists from Chicago’s excellent International Anthem label. Unfortunately, many of the shows are sold out. Fortunately, there are still places for Tom Skinner.
Tom Skinner
Skinner is fast becoming what Ginger Baker was to a previous musical generation: the go-to drummer across a wide range of styles. He first came to prominence as a founding member of The Sons of Kemet, alongside saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, which combined ecstatic jazz improvisation and hard blowing with African polyrhythms courtesy of a two-drummer lineup (they also had the distinction of having the bass part played by a tuba). After The Sons of Kemet took a break, he went solo. In September last year, he released his latest album, Kaleidoscopic Visions, which finds him in a more mellow reflective mood than the hard-driving rhythms of his earlier solo projects.
26 January
Alfa Mist
Ancienne Belgique
Alfa Mist, born Alfa Sekitoleko, is from Newham in East London and is a pianist, keyboard player and producer who combines jazz, hip hop, soul and R’n’B. He released his first record back in 2015, Nocturne, and his first LP, Antiphon, in 2017. That record set the standard for the new generation of young British jazz-adjacent musicians such as Tom Misch, Jordan Rakei and Yussef Dayes, all of whom have collaborated with the keyboard player.
Alfa Mist
His latest release, Roulette, came out in October 2025 and is his strongest work in a while. The standout track is Always Be, which features bass player Kaya Thomas-Dyke on vocals. I would also recommend All Time with singer Tawiah.
26 January
Fennesz
Bozar
Christian Fennesz is an Austrian guitarist and electronic musician who has been releasing his own distinctive brand of ambient music since the mid-90s. His standout LPs are Venice, from 2004, and Cendre, an album he recorded with Japanese classical and electronic music master Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Fennesz. Credit: Carsten Nicolai
Unlike many ambient music composers, Fennesz features a lot more harmonic and melodic development which makes his pieces more engaging and less soporific than many of his contemporaries (I’m looking at you, Loscil). For his concert at Flagey, Fennesz will be marking the 25th anniversary of his breakout album, “Endless Summer”. For the show, he will be joined by visual effects artist Lillevan.
27 January
Nusantara Beat
Ancienne Belqique
Nusantara Beat is an Indonesian psychedelic funk band from Amsterdam (Indonesia was a Dutch colony until it gained independence in 1945). Singer Inda Duran's mystical Indonesian vocals are a modern take on traditional Balinese songs from the 20th century, updated with electronic beats.
Nusantara Beat
The group played at Ancienne Belgique’s Feeērieën festival last August. They also charmed audiences at Lowlands, Dekmantel, Le Guess Who? and Into The Great Wide Open. They are on the great Swiss label Bongo Joe and include a member of Amsterdam’s other great diaspora band, Altin Gün.
29 January
Katie Gregson-MacLeod
Botanique
Katie Gregson-MacLeod’s show at Botanique was a late addition to the bill and I have to confess that I had never heard of her. But, having a penchant for female singer-songwriters, I checked her out and was bowled over by her music. Gregson-MacLeod is 25 and was born and grew up in Inverness in the Scottish Highlands before moving to London in 2022. Her songs are personal tales of loves lived and lost.
Katie Gregson-MacLeod
She reminds me of some of the best current artists in her genre, including Phoebe Bridgers and Laura Marling, but also current stars such as Lizzie McAlpine and Jasmine Jethwa. Gregson-MacLeod’s music is elaborately picked acoustic guitar (with some strings accompaniment) and her soft voice that recounts intimate details from inside failed relationships. She broke through in 2022 thanks to a short clip of her song complex that she posted on TikTok. This should be a great show.
