Essential Live Albums

[oasisfan35]

Phish - The Spectrum ‘97

We’ve hit the point in this journey where we’re getting in some last licks from bands I have featured throughout. This is yet another phenomenal ‘97 release from Phish, unearthed at least to streaming this year. The band is basically on fire for nearly all 5.5 hours across 2 shows. The opening run from the first show of Buried Alive, Down With Disease, Makisupa Policeman, Chalk Dust Torture, Ghost, and Divided Sky has not a dull moment as they weave through genres, Mike’s Song, Ya Mar, Weekapaug Groove, Bouncing Around the Room, Character Zero and Sample in a Jar all highlight set 2 on night 1 that has a near perfect setlist.

Night 2 similarly has a very good setlist and performances as well. The entire first set is killer, whereas there’s a bit of a lull to start set 2. We catch fire again though from Prince Caspian abruptly changing course to Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein. Crossroads is a nice finish to this one heavy on the covers.

The Essential Performances: Down With Disease, Makisupa Policeman, Chalk Dust Torture, Ya Mar, Weekapaug Groove, Punch You In the Eye, My Soul, Drowned, Gumbo, 2001, You Enjoy Myself, Prince Caspian, Frankenstein, Crossroads

Up Next: Dark Star Orchestra - Live @ the Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA 1/27/24

I'll have to queue this one up soon as well. I have been sprinkling in some older releases lately but this last tour year has been getting a ton of play.

[liebzz]

Phish - The Spectrum ‘97

We’ve hit the point in this journey where we’re getting in some last licks from bands I have featured throughout. This is yet another phenomenal ‘97 release from Phish, unearthed at least to streaming this year. The band is basically on fire for nearly all 5.5 hours across 2 shows. The opening run from the first show of Buried Alive, Down With Disease, Makisupa Policeman, Chalk Dust Torture, Ghost, and Divided Sky has not a dull moment as they weave through genres, Mike’s Song, Ya Mar, Weekapaug Groove, Bouncing Around the Room, Character Zero and Sample in a Jar all highlight set 2 on night 1 that has a near perfect setlist.

Night 2 similarly has a very good setlist and performances as well. The entire first set is killer, whereas there’s a bit of a lull to start set 2. We catch fire again though from Prince Caspian abruptly changing course to Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein. Crossroads is a nice finish to this one heavy on the covers.

The Essential Performances: Down With Disease, Makisupa Policeman, Chalk Dust Torture, Ya Mar, Weekapaug Groove, Punch You In the Eye, My Soul, Drowned, Gumbo, 2001, You Enjoy Myself, Prince Caspian, Frankenstein, Crossroads

Up Next: Dark Star Orchestra - Live @ the Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA 1/27/24

I'll have to queue this one up soon as well. I have been sprinkling in some older releases lately but this last tour year has been getting a ton of play.

Yeah, Phish in Fall ‘97 is probably the most focused jams I can remember from them. The Spring ‘98 shows I listened to were also great, but the focus in ‘97 is pretty fantastic - as in this specific era is one of my favorite live eras of any band.

[liebzz]

Dark Star Orchestra - Live @ the Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA 1/27/24

Imitation is the great form of flattery they say. What about a band that takes it to the next level, dedicating certain shows (not all of them, and not including this one to my knowledge), to recreating iconic Dead shows at least in set list. It’s a bold move for sure recreating actual sets from a band that was known for improvising and moving around their set every night. The results, at least here, are mixed. The first set seems uneven in that way that makes you just want to listen to the Grateful Dead proper, while the second set opens up and reveals a band more capable of keeping pace and bringing something to the equation. Unsurprisingly, Scarlet > Fire and Sugar Magnolia bring the biggest punch, and whereas a band like Joe Russo’s Almost Dead feel like they bringing something entirely new to the songbook, these guys are good for a night where you can almost hear the original band itself in pockets.

The Essential Performance: Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain

Up Next: Grateful Dead - Duke ‘78

[i got bugs]

DSO > dead n co

[liebzz]

I haven’t seen DSO live yet, but on recordings Grateful Dead > JRAD > Grateful Shred > DSO > Dead & Co.

[liebzz]

Grateful Dead - Duke ‘78

This one is a reminder in many ways that a lot needs to go right for a show to be useful as a live album - unless it’s the Grateful Dead and you have so many that you can get away with some sound glitches. Here, the first 10-15 minutes of the show Jerry’s mic is turned off, and you can only really faintly hear him, and then there’s pops and crackles in spots. Truly a reproduction of the bootlegs of yore. That said, the performance is really very strong. Row Jimmy and New Minglewood Blues are both really fantastic here, maybe the best Row Jimmy of them all. Bertha > Good Lovin’ > It Must Have Been the Roses was a really good run. But it’s coming out of Rhythm Devils and into a killer Truckin’ then Wharf Rat, Around and Around, and US Blues that seals the deal here. Phenomenal run to end this show.

The Essential Performances: Row Jimmy, Truckin’, Wharf Rat

Up Next: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - F##ckin Up

[i got bugs]

Saw DSO n JRAD n prefer DSO but I kinda get why some like JRAD

They do their own little thing between songs, it's kinda cool at times

[liebzz]

Saw DSO n JRAD n prefer DSO but I kinda get why some like JRAD

They do their own little thing between songs, it's kinda cool at times

I was getting at it before, but JRAD has an ability to pay homage through Dead covers, but it’s in the way they play it that the songs almost seem to take new ownership. If you go in expecting a replication you’d be disappointed, but they drive that songbook in new directions. It’s made them really on my list among my favorites despite having no original songs or albums.

[liebzz]

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - F##ckin’ Up

I believe I saw this is from a private party as they pay homage to Ragged Glory. This thing is really exceptional, with mislabeled tracks (intentional), but expanding and stretching the songs into just the sort of territory that guitar just slays. No one sounds like him, and as badass as that tone is, it still covers you like a warm blanket on a winter day. The title track, Over and Over, Love to Burn, Farmer John, Mansion on the Hill, and Love and Only Love are the big highlights here, but that’s more than half the album.

The Essential Performances: Fuckin’ Up, Over and Over, Mansion on the Hill, Farmer John, Love and Only Love

Up Next: Bruce Springsteen - The Reunion Tour ‘99

[liebzz]

Bruce Springsteen - The Reunion Tour ‘99

I have, through repeated lessons, learned that the 90s were not a completely lost decade for Bruce Springsteen. Between the selected songs between the three studio albums, Streets of Philadelphia, and the b-sides on Tracks, Bruce had his moments, but by and large jettisoning the E Street Band in favor of whatever muse he was chasing at that moment seems like a rare misstep. In 1999, the reunion with the E Street Band was undoubtedly greeted enthusiastically by the fans.

The enthusiasm is more than shared by the band. This collection shows, in its variety from big hits to deeper cuts, that the band more than still had it, and here we are 25 years later and they are still bringing it. The Ties That Bind, Prove It All Night, Atlantic City, Take ‘Em As They Come, Backstreets, Darlington County (complete with Honky Tonk Women intro), and Incident on 57th Street are all great stuff, and other than If I Should Fall Behind, this thing is pretty spotless otherwise.

The Essential Performances: The Ties That Bind, Atlantic City, Darlington County, Incident on 57th Street

Up Next: The Who - Tommy Live at Royal Albert Hall

[liebzz]

The Who - Tommy Live at Royal Albert Hall

This final stretch is on the hope of like the end of a fireworks show, just getting a blast of classic bands in a row - The Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, and now The Who. As they have been doing from time to time, they trot out there for some renditions of their rock operas and hits to bring it home. On this one, we’re getting the full Tommy, and the band is up to task on both the album itself and then transitioning to a few classics after. On Tommy, Amazing Journey > Sparks is always the way to go for me, and I was surprised that the biggest landings on the extra songs were Join Together and Who Are You, two solid songs that I enjoy, but there’s certainly more epic throwdowns in the canon. The rock operas continue on…

The Essential Performances: Amazing Journey, Sparks, Join Together, Who Are You

Up Nexts The Who - Quadrophenia Live in London

[liebzz]

The Who - Quadrophenia Live in London

Another of the albums The Who love to trot out on round number anniversaries, though for my money one of the best albums to do that with. Wherein Tommy needs nearly a note for note treatment, Quadrophenia allows for some breathing room, and the band takes it in just the right spots - extended bass solo in 5.15, a massive Who jam in Drowned, and extended intro to Love, Reign O’er Me. All phenomenal. Baba sounds great on this one, and there’s a real nice element in their latter days closing with Tea & Theatre even if it’s not really an essential track for me.

The Essential Performances: 5.15, Drowned

Up Next: The Who - Live at Hyde Park

[liebzz]

The Who - Live at Hyde Park

Playing before a massive crowd, the Who are in some of the finest form post-Entwhistle that at least I have heard. The show starts by plowing through some hits and never lets up. You Better You Bet and Eminence Front actually slay here. But what really ends up setting this show apart from others is the massive way that play this thing out, with a monumental tear through a medley of Tommy songs in Amazing Journey > Overture > Sparks > Pinball Wizard > the See Me Feel Me suite. Massive. Then Baba O’Riley and Won’t Get Fooled Again to finish thing off. Absolutely stellar.

The Essential Performances: Amazing Journey > Overture > Sparks > Pinball Wizard > See Me Feel Me

Up Next: The Allman Brothers Band - Final Concert 10-28-14 Beacon Theatre, New York, NY

[liebzz]

Allman Brothers Band - The Final Concert: 10-28-14 Beacon Theatre, New York, NY

The annual Allman Brothers Band runs at the Beacon Theatre in New York City are the stuff of legend. Those weeklong plus takeovers often included unexpected and expected guest spots, left turns, bust outs, and more. It seemed like a birthrite of the City’s to have them every March. It’s now a thing of the past - 10 years in the past to be exact, since this show drew the curtain for the final time.

Amazingly, the band seems completely in its prime still, banging out the 70s mainstays for the most part, and not even missing a beat despite the lineup changes and the legends who passed through this band. Here, the band has truly incredible moments in the final act, a third set featuring Will the Circle Be Unbroken, a tribute for Duane Allman, a searing Whipping Post that could complete with the Fillmore’s version any day of the week, and a closing as they started full circle moment with Trouble No More to cap the evening. One of the greatest on this night carving the final stone in their place on the live music Mt. Rushmore.

The Essential Performances: Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Whipping Post, Trouble No More

Up Next: Bruce Springsteen - Road Diary

[liebzz]

Of note: every journey must end at some point, and the next is the last live album I am going to explicitly cover here. I do want to listen and note a few shows that are recent and/or among my favorites that I attended to kind of give myself a sense of where they fit in this long arc of a thread. I will post about it but won’t include them when I accumulate my final list of favorites.

[oasisfan35]

Of note: every journey must end at some point, and the next is the last live album I am going to explicitly cover here. I do want to listen and note a few shows that are recent and/or among my favorites that I attended to kind of give myself a sense of where they fit in this long arc of a thread. I will post about it but won’t include them when I accumulate my final list of favorites.

Damn fine job liebzz

Ending with Bruce is

[liebzz]

Thanks. I walked into this one thinking that I was terribly undereducated on what great live albums were out there and also believing live albums to be an underrated point of reference for bands. As a teenager and beyond, I found those bands where you obsessively collect live bootlegs and pore over what the best version of songs are…and I hope I brought some of that energy here without concentrating too long on any single band at a time. It was fun, and more than a year and a half!

[liebzz]

Bruce Springsteen - Road Diaries

As in any great compilation, there’ll be bonus material, but I stumbled upon this one to finish this thing because really it just came out this week (same with the Allman Brothers live album before this). This is a compilation of live material from the first part of Springsteen’s tour of Letter To You, his 2020 album that the pandemic forced him off the road until well 2023. Despite the over the top nature of his shows, Springsteen thrives on an authentic connection with his audience, and his sense of the passage of time with them. That bond seemed ever the more strengthened in his Broadway run and Bruce took the lessons from that run and implemented an even more structured show, designed to serve as a bridge for him and his fans to age gracefully, if not without a little fun thrown in along the way. To that extent, there’s almost an intentional lean towards Springsteen not bringing the heaters and focusing on the off speed pitches with the greatest impact. His eulogy to his original friend and bandmate from The Castiles in Last Man Standing is about as perfect an example as it gets. Even the hits feel like they are running just a hair more mellow to gird for the long road ahead.

As in any Springsteen venture, this set would grow and expand over time, once he and his band have digested and reinvented it for long enough, which would be capstoned with an all time performance in Asbury Park a year and a half later into the tour. But this serves up a moment in time, where Springsteen saw mortality in his reflection, but hadn’t yet raged against the dying of the light. That comes next.

The Essential Performances: Last Man Standing, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

Bonus Material! Up Next: Bruce Springsteen - Asbury Park, NJ 9/15/2024

[Ms Harmless]

VOLA - Live From the Pool

And now for something completely different. This band falls on the heavier side of prog - metal with a touch of electronic music, and I was pretty impressed with them. I will admittedly never love the Danny Carey style drums. It makes me a bit queasy almost. However, when they’re playing straight they were excellent. The opener, 24 Light Years was my favorite here. A great opener. Ghosts felt like good straight ahead rock and Stray the Skies a solid ending. I appreciate the moments where they even stray from what would naturally feel like their comfort zone, like on These Black Claws. Certainly a nice surprise.

The Essential Performance: 24 Light Years

Up Next: Spafford - Hindsight

drums are peak imo but I appreciate they’re an acquired taste

[liebzz]

Bruce Springsteen - Asbury Park, NJ 9/15/2024

This is alluding to the prior discussion on Road Diary, that at some point, Bruce’s tour arc goes from maybe a tacit mortality based acceptance of this possibly being his closing statement to then, in true Boss fashion, rejecting that notion and declaring that the show must go on. This show, a 3 hour and 15 minute display, is of pure fire and energy - any step presumptively lost is rescued in barn burner of a show in his adopted hometown, on the beach, as he relays stories of the city’s past with its present revival. It’s not hard to draw the connection of Bruce and his band being similarly revived as they revisited much of those youthful early albums in the first stanza, while reserving for the encore a cascade of hits typical of his rousing shows over the many decades. Bruce’s exhortation at the end of the show, “you think you can outlast the E Street Band!? We’ve been doing this for 50 f@$!in years and we’re not stopping!” Epic show, and could rank at or near the top of anything on here.

Long live the Boss.

Up Next: Pearl Jam - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY 9/4/24