Live Performances
I love seeing certain songs performed live. Often times you get to see much much closer glimpse into the performer based on their stage energy and the way they perform for an audience. Below I list some of my favorite videos from live performances I have found around the internet. Note: while I do plan on documenting concerts I have attended soon, none of the footage will be of those due to poor iphone quality. All this footage comes from shows I have not been to.
Other Music Links
Sixteen Blue - The Replacements (October 16th, 1983, Minneapolis, MN)
I have grown so fond of The Replacements recently and specifically the album this song is from (Let It Be). This remains one of my favorite songs from said album but with different, truly heart-wrenching lyrics. The Replacements seemed to be a fairly progressive band, talking about issues that remain polarizing today such as gender identity and sexuality. The delivery of new lines like "I want you next to me." at 2:02 and "How do you tell your father that you're gay?" around 1:42 are such great examples of what I mentioned previously about being able to see another side of the performers. These moments along with the whole performance feel so personal and like every word is coming directly from the heart. Really amazing rendition of this song.
Songs For The Dead - Queens Of The Stone Age with Dave Grohl (June 29th, 2002, Werchter, Belgium)
Songs for the Deaf is probably one of my favorite albums ever, in no small part due to Dave Grohl's drumming. He provides such a unique and fitting style to this album that I think makes it near perfect. This clip from them playing Songs For The Dead at Rock Werchter 2002 with Dave on drums just seems like such a fun and energetic time.
Oblivius - The Strokes (April 18th, 2026, Indio, CA)
I never really gave this song much attention before when I originally listened to the Future Present Past EP. Seeing videos of this performance however really changed the way I hear this song, with every chorus evoking powerful imagery documenting many of America's past international misdoing. This display feels all too important now given the current conflict the country has needlessly entered with Iran. The final chorus even displaying statistics of how many universities in Iran have been destroyed along with a very powerful video of the last university in Gaza being destroyed. Some could see this as performative activism but Julian Casablancas has been in this boat for a while I think so it comes across genuine to me. Also putting on this display in front of a crowd as big as Coachella is very admirable. Very glad they did this.
Yo-Yo - The Kinks (April 4th, 1982, Essen, Germany)
The Kinks have been another band I got into semi-recently. The album Give The People What They Want was the first project I listened to from them and I loved it almost immediately, with this track standing out as my favorite. Coming across a video of them performing it on youtube only strengthened my love for this song. The energy of the crowd and the band members themselves feels so infectious and I love it.
Endless, Nameless - Nirvana (October 31st, 1991, Seattle, WA)
Endless, Nameless is a track that feels so out of place on one of the best selling albums of all time. I adore this song and hearing a high quality live video recording makes me really wish I could have seen them at some point. Everyone's stage presence is so infectious and the energy of the whole performance never lets up. I think Live At the Paramount is one of the best live recordings of a concert in my opinion.
Seven - Sunny Day Real Estate (September 18th, 1994, The Jon Stewart Show)
Sunny Day Real Estate is one of my favorite bands of all time probably, with Diary being one of my favorite albums. Seeing them perform my favorite song, Seven, on the Jon Stewart Show no less is just really neat and fascinating. I enjoy Jon Stewart and seeing him praise SDRE as they were up-and-coming is just a neat crossover. Also the performance itself is obviously incredible.
Youth (Whole Album) - Citizen (June 17th, 2023, Chicago, IL)
This whole album has meant so much to me, and seeing a high quality live performance from Citizen's decade of youth tour makes me so happy. It is really sweet hearing the band talk about how much the record means to them throughout the performance and I only hope that maybe they'll do a 15 year youth tour in 2028 because I'd want nothing more than to see this album performed how its performed in this video.