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What are the best live acts?


I’m not asking you to list your favorite concerts. I think that there is another thread for that. Rather, we shouldn’t judge pop bands solely on the basis of their recorded music. Some bands are simply better on stage than they are in the recording studio. I’ll cite the following for their consistent ability to put on a great live show.

1. The Cramps
2. The Ramones
3. Toots Hibbert (touring as Toots and the Maytals, even though Toots fired the original Maytals some time ago)
4. GWAR
5. The UK Subs (crap music, brilliant live show)
6. AC-DC (when Bon Scott was their front man)
7. The Meat Puppets
8. Tom Waits
9. The Anti-Nowhere League
10. Van Halen (w/ David Lee Roth: I hate their music, but I saw them twice, and had a rocking good time!)
11. Iggy Pop
12. Ted Nugent (This man is the redneck Iggy Pop)
13. Joe Ely
14. The Butthole Surfers
15. The Clash
16. The Mentors
17. Nig Heist
18. Emmy Lou Harris
tweakgeek

Showing 2 responses by martykl

martykl
3,578 posts
 
Many of the best have already been noted. I'll add:

Feelies
Todd Rundgren (on a good night, there have also been some bad ones)
Rebirth Brass Band
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Kid Creole
Gatemouth Brown
Fleetwood Mac/Lindsey Buckingham
Zachary Richard (when he was legal and Sonny Landreth was aboard)
Smithereens (loud!)
The Bongos
Richard Thompson

Among others
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Bongo,

Kind of funny that I saw several of the same shows you cite - but at different tour stops and sometimes with very different impressions. For instance,

I loved the Animals show (Madison Square Garden) because - despite the props - the music was stripped down rock, at least for Pink Floyd. and

I saw The Clash at Bond's in NYC and it was terrible - the worst acoustics I've ever encountered at a rock show, which is really saying something.

OTOH, I agree that Los Lobos maintains a ridiculously high level of musicianship - even when the material isn't up to their usual standards. I still refer to the Colossal Head show as the Colossal bore show. But that band can play! If it has strings, I want to hear David Hidalgo work it.

Always a pleasure to get your take on this stuff, since you live it in a way that most contributors here don't.

Marty
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