I did a quick top 20 live shows (worldwide) of the year as part of the annual In-Spite Magazine contributor’s article, which was dominated by the incredible shows at Punk Rock Bowling. This countdown, however, is focused on Detroit area local shows. Detroit has the best local scene that I have been part of in over 40 years of going to shows, and hopefully, 2026 will be no different. This is a spotlight on the best shows that I was able to attend in 2025, by just hopping in my car and driving round-trip in a single evening. Many times I would be packing my car with friends, getting sushi, or hitting the casino on the way. And of course, bringing my camera to get the full story for In-Spite Magazine. I went to well over 1 show per week in 2025, and these were the top 40.

There were a lot of great moments this year, but my favorite was when The U.S. Bastards stripped down to their G-strings for a cover of Turbonegro’s “Prince of the Rodeo.” The first time I saw EKG get buck naked, Jimmy from Bad Beat kicking a fan in the stomach every set, blood being mopped up from the pit area between sets at Edgemen, P.H.S. wheeling out a beer vending machine onto the stage for their set, Cretin’s teeth popping out during a Dayglo Abortions song, the surprise Twitchfits set during Tied Down Detroit, The Murder Junkies encore of “Kill The Police”, the first time I saw Bad Beat play “My Revenge”, GBH covering Motorhead’s “Bomber”, Angus Young doing the duckwalk at 70 years old, meeting Devo, Akil Godsey belting out a Capello version of Alice Cooper’s “Eighteen”, The Koffin Kats apocalypse themed costumes at the annual Thanksgiving-Eve show, OWTH dressed as The Kenny Powers’ for their Halloween show, Edgemen Printing screen-printing free Haywire shirts on-demand for anyone that brought a shirt, and the sax player from The Boy Detective doing a solo standing on the pool platform in Chris Van Assche’s backyard also come to mind.

The Dead Boys at The Sanctuary (Hamtramck, MI)

H.R. (Bad Brains) at The Sanctuary (Hamtramck, MI)

King's Command at Edgemen Printing (Clinton Township, MI)

Suffer No Fools at Edgemen Printing (Clinton Township, MI)

40) P.H.S./ Newmatix @ The Baddlands 06/06/2025

39) En Love/ Suffer No Fools/ King’s Command @ Edgemen Printing 04/18/2025

38) The Dead Boys/ Burn Kit @ Smalls Bar 05/14/2025

37) H.R. (Bad Brains)/ Detroit Riddem Crew @ The Sanctuary 11/06/2025

36) Plan III @ The Baddlands 11/15/2025

Cult of Space Skull at The Sanctuary (Hamtramck, MI)

Bad Beat at Tangent Gallery (Detroit, MI)

Colossal Man at Edgemen Printing (Clinton Township, MI)

Norcos Y Horchata at The Loving Touch (Ferndale, MI)

Spiritual Cramp @ The Loving Touch (Ferndale, MI)

35) Bad Nerves/ Spiritual Cramp/ Norcos Y Horchata @ The Loving Touch 05/01/2025

34) Thought Control/Colossal Man/ WMD @ Edgemen Printing 10/10/2025

33) Bad Beat/ Cold World @ The Tangent Gallery 10/24/2025

32) The Briefs/ Norcos Y Horchata/ I Are Citizen @ Smalls Bar 10/10/2025

31) The Meteors/ Cult Of Space Skull/ Aggro or Die! @ The Sanctuary 01/31/2025

Bad Beat at Edgemen Printing (Clinton Township, MI)

B-Plot at The Sanctuary (Hamtramck, MI)

Bad Cop/ Bad Cop at The Sanctuary (Hamtramck, MI)

Boob Sweat at The Sanctuary (Hamtramck, MI)

Get Dead at Smalls Bar (Hamtramck, MI)

Middle-Out at Smalls Bar (Hamtramck, MI)

30) Get Dead/ Middle-Out @ Smalls Bar 06/19/2025

29) Bad Beat/ D-BLOC/ Escalation Of Force @ Edgemen Printing 03/13/2025

28) The Queers/ Middle-Out/ B-Plot @ The Sanctuary 03/28/2025

27) Bad Cop Bad Cop/ Boob Sweat/ The Iron Roses @ The Sanctuary 09/23/2025

26) Leftover Crack/ World’s Scariest Police Chases/ The Lowcocks @ The Shelter 12/01/2025

Detroit 442 at The Outer Limits Lounge (Hamtramck, MI)

World of Malice at The Pike Room (Pontiac, MI)

Strung Out at The Sanctuary (Hamtramck, MI)

EKG at The Outer Limits Lounge (Hamtramck, MI)

Death By Stereo at The Sanctuary (Detroit,MI)

Fear at The Magic Bag (Ferndale, MI)

25) Gwar/ Helmet/ Savage Master + Snuffed On Sight/ Fleshwound/ World of Malice @ The Crofoot & The Pike Room 09/17/2025

24) Strung Out/ Death By Stereo @ The Sanctuary 07/02/2025

23) EKG/ Detroit 442 @ The Outer Limits Lounge 1/31/2025

22) Fear/ Negative Approach @ The Magic Bag 03/01/2025

21) The Supersuckers/Scott H. Biram/King Sickabilly/ Saber Tooth Gary @ Smalls Bar 12/6/2025

End It at Edgemen Printing (Clinton Township, MI)

Murder Junkies at Corktown Tavern (Detroit, MI)

Slutbomb at Metropolis Cycles (Detroit, MI)

Violent Way @ The Sanctuary (Hamtramck,MI)

20) End It/ Hold My Own/ Clique/ WMD @ Edgemen Printing 10/19/2025

19) Bad Beat “LP 2025” Record Release Party @ Edgemen Printing 07/05/2025

18) Agnostic Front/ Murphy’s Law/ Violent Way @ Sanctuary 03/15/2025

17) Slutbomb/ Body Farm/ Cemetery Girl/ Gut Gash/ MDOP/ Lava @ Metropolis Cycles 03/29/2025

16) The Murder Junkies/ EKG @ Lager House 08/15/2025

Half Dizzy at Corktown Tavern (Detroit, MI)

Haywire at Edgemen Printing (Clinton Township, MI)

Juicebox at Edgemen Printing (Clinton Township, MI)

Painted Graves at Splish Splash Bash (Hazel Park, MI)

The Angry Samoans at The Loving Touch (Ferndale, MI)

MacSabbath at The Loving Touch (Ferndale, MI)

The Boy Detective at Splish Splash Bash (Hazel Park, MI)

The Boy Detective at Corktown Tavern (Detroit, MI)

15) Half Dizzy/ The Boy Detective/ Suburban Downgrade/ Peanut Butter Mosquito @ Corktown Tavern 03/22/2025

14) Splish Splash Bash w/The Boy Detective, B-Plan, Painted Graves, Middle-Out 07/12/2025

13) Mac Sabbath/ The Angry Samoans @ The Loving Touch 05/08/2025

12) Haywire/ Juicebox @ Edgemen Printing 07/20/2025

11) Off With Their Heads/ Pippsy Pinwheel @ Smalls Bar 10/23/2025

GBH at The Loving Touch (Ferndale, MI)

New Bomb Turks at The Magic Stick (Detroit, MI)

Screeching Weasel at St. Andrew's Hall (Detroit, MI)

Suicide Machines at Flint Local 432 (Flint, MI)

10) Béton Armé/ Dark Thoughts/ Slug/ Fen Fen/ WMD @ Smalls Bar 12/11/2025

09) GBH/ Slaughterhouse/ The Mainliners @ The Loving Touch 10/31/2025

08) The New Bomb Turks/ The Drowns/ Saber Tooth Gary @ The Magic Stick 7/25/2025

07) The Suicide Machines/ The Write-Ups @ Flint Local 432 11/23/2025

06) Screeching Weasel/ The Raging Nathans @ St. Andrew’s Hall 10/15/2025

Dayglo Abortions at The Sanctuary (Hamtramck, MI)

Dayglo Abortions at A.J.'s Music Hall (Sarnia, Canada)

AC/DC at Ford Field (Detroit, MI)

Tied Down Festival at Russell Industrial Center (Detroit, MI)

Judge at Russell Industrial Center (Detroit, MI)

Amino Acids at Smalls Bar (Hamtramck, MI)

Dayglo Abortions at The Sanctuary (Hamtramck, MI)

The Rumours at The Token Lounge (Westland, MI)

Twitchfits at Russell Industrial Center (Detroit, MI)

05) AC/DC/ The Pretty Reckless @ Ford Field 04/30/2025

04) Koffin Kats/ Against The Grain/ The Rumours @ The Token Lounge 11/26/2025

03) Tied Down Festival w/Bad Beat, The Twitchfits, Judge, D-BLOC 05/31/2025 & 06/01/2025

02) Against The Grain/ U.S. Bastards/ The Amino Acids @ Smalls Bar 06/07/2025

01) The Dayglo Abortions @ The Sanctuary 08/28/2025 & A.J.'2 Music Hall 12/23/2025

Punk Rock In Detroit: Top 40 Live Shows of 2025.

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Punk Rock In Detroit: Top 40 Live Shows of 2025.

Help keep corporate ads off this website. Buy stuff that you don’t need from In-Spite Magazine.

Please support the bands, the scene, and In-Spite Magazine by sharing this article with a friend.

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