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 that you should not miss with your friends throughout February.
Best gigs this month:
4 March
Meshell Ndegeocello
Bozar
Ndegeocello (the name means "free as a bird" in Swahili) is a bass player, songwriter and producer who has grown over her 30-year career to become one of the most creative artists on the US music scene. She started out playing bass with bands in Washington DC’s Go-Go scene, a heavily percussive form of funk. In 1993, she came to the fore as one of the first artists signed to Madonna’s Maverick label, releasing the seminal Plantation Lullabies. The album includes what is probably her best-known track, If He’s Your Boyfriend, He Wasn’t Last Night, a track (obviously) about infidelity.
Meshell Ndegeocello
Over the next 20 years, her creations grew in scope and ambition and included a tribute to another legendary black US woman musician, Nina Simone, with the album Pour Une Âme Souveraine. Her most recent release is a homage to gay black male writer and civil rights activist, James Baldwin. The music of No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin started life as a show that Ndegeocello created called Can I Get A Witness?. For me, her best recent work is her 2023 album, The Omnichord Real Book, which features a stellar array of some of the best players from the US jazz scene, including International Anthem guitarist Jeff Parker, harpist Brandee Younger and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. The album won the first Grammy for alternative jazz, a category awarded for the first time in 2023.
5 March
Courtney Marie Andrews
Ancienne Belgique
Courtney Marie Andrews (CMA to her fans) has been sharing her heartfelt tales of loss and loneliness since 2008. The Phoenix, Arizona-born singer and songwriter started her musical career playing keyboards with emo outfit Jimmy Eat World and then guitar with indie-folk star Damien Jurado. Perhaps surprisingly, it was Belgium that was the launching pad for her solo career. She was working as a backing singer for Flemish singer Milow (anyone remember his version of Ayo Technology from 2008?) when she started writing the songs that were to feature on Honest Life, her fifth studio album. The trademark of Andrews’ songwriting is an unerring ability to tap into her deep feelings and turn them into gripping and moving songs.
Courtney Marie Andrews at Tenants of the Trees
The emotional depth of her writing belies her young age (35). She sings and plays like someone who has had a longer and harder love life. Check out the heartbreaking Table for One, ostensibly about the sadness of eating on your own as a touring musician, but actually a lament for all people who find themselves without friends or loved ones on Saturday night. CMA has written so many classic songs. I would also single out Let Your Kindness Remain, the title track of her 2018 album, and How Quickly the Heart Mends from Honest Life. On this tour, she will be playing tracks from her latest LP, Valentine.
11 March
Nyron Higor
Botanique
The excellent bookers at Botanique have come up trumps again with another excellent Brazilian artist. Higor is a multi-instrumentalist and producer from Maceió in the north-east of Brazil, a region poorer and more politically radical than the rest, having been a sugarcane-producing region in the country’s past. Higor’s music updates Brazil’s rich tradition of Música Popular Brasileira (MPB), the post-bossa nova pop music that drew on influences including the Beatles, psychedelia and the symphonic pop of artists like the Beach Boys.
Nyron Higor
It will be interesting to see whether Higor’s finances allow him to appear with a large band or whether, like his compatriot, Tim Bernandes, when he appeared at Les Nuits Botanique last year, he will be solo. Whichever it is, do not miss this show. If you want to check out his music before buying tickets, I would recommend Som24, which sounds like a cross between the Durutti Column and Pat Metheny, Maravilhamento featuring Nathalia Grilo and São Só Palavras featuring alici and Bruno Berle from his 2025 self-titled release. The latter track will spirit you away to a white-sand beach, sipping on a slightly-too-strong caipirinha.
13 March
Fabiano do Nascimento
Flagey
From one great Brazilian to another. Nascimento (no relation to the great singer-songwriter Milton) is following the tradition of great Brazilian acoustic guitarists such as Baden Powell (no relation to the founder of the Scout movement) and Egberto Gismonti. Nascimento worked in LA as a very sought-after session player and has released seven albums under his own name. His sound combines the traditions of Brazilian guitar with electronic effects, and the result has been termed "retro-futurist".
Fabiano Do Nascimento. Credit: Katie Walsh
Belgian band Ão have a similar fusion. Nascimento has recorded with some of the greats of Brazilian music, including legendary percussionist and fusion pioneer Airto Moreira and Arthur Verocai. Like with Nyron Higor’s gig at Bozar, I would be happy to listen to do Nascimento playing solo all night, but his music is equally great when enhanced and expanded by playing with other musicians.
15 March
Lézard
Botanique
Ghent-based Lézard are one of the four bands I featured in my article in the December edition of The Brussels Times magazine as one of the best current groups this country has to offer. Their music draws heavily on the 70’s art-pop scene of New York, exemplified by Talking Heads, Television and Jonathan Richman, as well as English art-school post-punks XTC.
Lézard
Yet, they still bring their own distinctly Belgian flavour (a bit like finding Chouffe or a speculoos biscuit in Brooklyn) with a surrealist approach to their lyrics. Their song Manifastique (a made-up word) includes the line "French grapes have a different sound". They recently performed a cover of The B-52’s Rock Lobster which is them wearing their influences on their sleeves a little too obviously, but whatever. The show at Botanique is to launch their first LP Que Se Passe-t-Il. I have yet to see them live, but I am sure they will bring the infectious energy of their music to the stage.
17 March
MARO
Ancienne Belgique
Portuguese singer-songwriter MARO (Mariana Brito da Cruz Forjaz Secca) hit the international big time in 2022 when she represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest with Saudade, a musical evocation of a mixture of the emotions of homesickness, longing and nostalgia. The song finished tenth, but the international exposure gave the singer a springboard for a career outside her home country. To be accurate, she had collaborated with English multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier back in 2019, but I refuse to acknowledge that he played any part in MARO’s rise to stardom.
Maro
While her 2025 album hortelã (the plant mint) was built on the sublime acoustic guitar playing of Catalan musicians Darío Barroso and flamenco guitarist Pau Figueres, her latest LP So Much Has Changed features more electronic textures. Live, she builds an intimate rapport with the audience, which allows her to expose the emotional vulnerability of her songs. Her show last year at Botanique was one of my favourites in 2024. Not to me missed.
