Red Mosquito

This is why I kinda love Live on Two Legs so goddam much. A single album encapsulation of a fantastic tour by a great band. I can't understand why more bands don't do this type of thing (although I appreciate the set up to record every show, go through the songs, mix, master and publish doesn't just happen with the click of the fingers...).

I understand the ability to youtube whatever you want in your lounge, I appreciate being able to download or stream a ton of live stuff if your band is inclined to release its tours, but damn if LoTL doesn't get more play at my house than almost any other album I own.

That's also why Riddles and Happy Sappy Trees need to be immortalised as RMers of the century or something, 'cause their PJ compilations are, for want of a better phrase, sick as fuck.

I love pro sounding live stuff, sad to see it moving to the back burner.

Miley Cyrus released a live comp kinda like Touring Band last year.

tragabigzanda wrote:liebzz's commitment to this thread stresses me out

You shoulda seen the Allman Brothers journey. Half of that was dissecting shows that had the exact same set list nearly every time.

Really, I quite enjoy this journey. I grew up with 2 older rock music loving brothers in a town where there was nothing else to do but talk about rock bands. And at that, digging into bootlegs and measuring bands by their live shows was a pastime unto itself. Teenage me would be proud that I managed to fill the internet eith musings on 345 live albums to date. The only sad piece of this is I am not listening to many studio albums and keep fearing something like a new pearl
Jam album could derail my nearly yearlong momentum on this.

Higgs wrote:That's also why Riddles and Happy Sappy Trees need to be immortalised as RMers of the century or something, 'cause their PJ compilations are, for want of a better phrase, sick as fuck.

That's very kind of you.

Happy Trees wrote:

Higgs wrote:That's also why Riddles and Happy Sappy Trees need to be immortalised as RMers of the century or something, 'cause their PJ compilations are, for want of a better phrase, sick as fuck.

That's very kind of you.

Feel free to use it as a quote on the liner notes or something.

Higgs wrote:

Happy Trees wrote:

Higgs wrote:That's also why Riddles and Happy Sappy Trees need to be immortalised as RMers of the century or something, 'cause their PJ compilations are, for want of a better phrase, sick as fuck.

That's very kind of you.

Feel free to use it as a quote on the liner notes or something.

I will include it when we bust out our Philly 2009 compilation. We're still sorting through all the well-executed rarities.

Happy Trees wrote:

Higgs wrote:

Happy Trees wrote:

Higgs wrote:That's also why Riddles and Happy Sappy Trees need to be immortalised as RMers of the century or something, 'cause their PJ compilations are, for want of a better phrase, sick as fuck.

That's very kind of you.

Feel free to use it as a quote on the liner notes or something.

I will include it when we bust out our Philly 2009 compilation. We're still sorting through all the well-executed rarities.

Ha! I know how much you love love love that Philly run of shows! A fitting run of shows worthy of a demolition...

String Cheese Incident - Rhythm of the Road, Volume One: Incident in Atlanta 11/17/00

At this point in this older show released in 2010, the band still built the foundation of their sound around bluegrass and utilize a local guest to flesh that out throughout the show. They still bring plenty of heat here, and the show’s big highlight is the first set closing combo of Missin’ Me > Ramble On. Their cover of Midnight Moonlight, also frequently covered by Jerry Garcia is the nights other huge highlight, but there’s a steady flow of good stuff on this one.

The Essential Performance: Missin’ Me > Ramble On

Up Next: Trey Anastasio Band - TAB at the Tab

Trey Anastasio Band - TAB at the Tab

The Trey Anastasio Band is quite a different animal than Phish. The extended jams and occasional goofiness that accompanies Trey still kicks around some, but he here is using the larger band format (horn section and all) as a vehicle for his guitar work to shine. The energy also feels a bit different, more straightforward in many ways or at least focused. Money Love & Change rips to start this thing. Alaska, Sand, the reggae inflected Windora Bug, and Drifting are all highlights showing the range of his side band, but their cover of Led Zeppelin’s Black Dog is spectacular and wins the day. This is a good one for those that are curious but don’t want to commit to many hours of listening. 1 hour and 17 minutes of consistently excellent performances.

The Essential Performance: Black Dog

Up Next: Phish - LivePhish 10/30/10

Phish - LivePhish 10/30/10: Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ

I don’t know that I planned it this way deliberately, but this is the third in a trilogy of live albums that prominently feature Led Zeppelin covers. This might be the night before Halloween, and it’s not a full album or really a full song, but Phish took to the evening to blast out teases, medleys and covers - or to mention a full Phish show. Kill Devil Falls is a great start, and the Zeppelin teases start early with the Whole Lotta Love riff interspersed in Chalk Dust Torture. Wolfman’s Brother and Bathtub Gin serve as set highlights until the master stroke of a Led Zeppelin medley weaves in and out of Tweezer. Tweezer > Heartbreaker > Tweezer > Ramble On > Thank You > Tweezer > Stairway to Heaven closes the first set in epic fashion, and for those prone to exhaustion, it’s ultimately not terribly long.

Set two starts with a nice 2001 > David Bowie, and soon we’re getting more Zeppelin with a full cover of Good Times Bad Times then highlighted with a Tweezer reprise featuring one final Whole Lotta Love riff tease. Wild night.

The Essential Performance: Tweezer/Led Zeppelin medley

Up Next: Rolling Stones - Grrr Live

The Rolling Stones - Grrr Live!

A little out of order, but this is the Stones’ pay-per-view show in Newark, NJ to close out their 50 and Counting Tour in 2012 with a bevy of special guests. Perhaps most famous of these is Lady Gaga sitting in on Gimme Shelter, but The Black Keys, Bruce Springsteen, Gary Clark Jr., John Mayer and more also had their moments sitting in with the band through the night, with Springsteen’s Tumbling Dice my other highlight, though all of these were pretty good. The cascade of hits to close the show is always a selling point in their shows and this one is no different. An excellent night that I am glad got its release digitally last year.

The Essential Performance: Gimme Shelter

Up Next: 25th Anniversary of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame show

Higgs wrote:Ha! I know how much you love love love that Philly run of shows! A fitting run of shows worthy of a demolition...

Essential is subjective.

Happy Trees wrote:

Higgs wrote:Ha! I know how much you love love love that Philly run of shows! A fitting run of shows worthy of a demolition...

Essential is subjective.

What started out as essential turned into many. I’m still enjoying this so no regrets. Mostly.

The 25th Anniversary Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame Concert

The big plus to any of these superstar concerts is in the collaborations that you’d rarely if ever see anywhere else. Paul Simon with David Crosby and Graham Nash. Stevie Wonder and Sting. Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel (the meeting of Jersey and Long Island). Metallica and Ozzy. U2 and Mick Jagger. It’s all here. The performance were sort of uneven for sure. But a big night nonetheless. The most memorable for me on this listen was U2’s Because the Night with Springsteen and Patti Smith, and their Gimme Shelter with Mick Jagger. Metallica with Ozzy was pretty great too, as well as (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher by Springsteen featuring Billy Joel.

The Essential Performance: Because the Night

Up Next: The White Stripes - Under Great White Northern Lights

The White Stripes - Under Great White Northern Lights

This felt like a nice little break from the classic rock and jam band focus that we’ve largely been covering. Jack White has such an exceptional talent to blend his energy with a sort of bluesy garage sound, at moments silly and at others more forceful. This one has a mix of hits and deeper cuts, a wonderful cover of Jolene, and a massive closing Seven Nation Army. Quite enjoyable. Blue Orchid, Icky Thump, I’m Slowly Turning into You, 300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues, Prickly Thorn But Sweetly Worn, and Fell in Love With a Girl stuck out to me as other great highlights.

The Essential Performance: Seven Nation Army

Up Next: The Black Keys - Live in Portland, ME (from the El Camino deluxe version)

The Black Keys - Live in Portland, ME

So this is likely not a band that invests much in recording their live shows, mostly noted from the mediocre sound quality that this show is presented in, despite making the deluxe reissue of El Camino. The times were definitely changing from this band, as Brothers and El Camino took them from theaters to arenas (I saw them on this tour headlining MSG with Arctic Monkeys opening). That notwithstanding, they have always been a solid live band, hewing closely to the studio arrangements but playing with a ton of energy. Amazing that they’ve gone from garage band blues to arena rock over their career and embraced their spot as the sort of token rock band akin to Foo Fighters, but keep looking for ways to keep things fresh. This is that moment of transition.

The Essential Performance: I Got Mine

Up Next: Pearl Jam - Live on Ten Legs

Pearl Jam - Live on Ten Legs

The sequel, if you will, to the ‘98 tour compilation of a similar name pulls from much of the aughts tours, with no repeats from the ‘98 compilation, as a sort of second chapter. The classics certainly hold their own here, especially the closing Porch, Alive, Yellow Ledbetter combination, and Jeremy. Rearviewmirror, and Backspacer songs The Fixer and Got Some are highlights. Sadly, the covers just don’t quite stick the landing here in Arms Aloft and Public Image - okay but not quite them at their sharpest. The song that amazingly hits hardest, or at least did today for me, was Just Breathe with the string quartet. I am not a huge fan of this song many days, but here it hits the emotional buttons I was feeling today.

The Essential Performance: Just Breathe

Up Next: Lindsay Buckingham - Songs From the Small Machine

Just Breathe gets far too much undeserved hate around here.

Lindsay Buckingham - Songs From the Small Machine: Live in L.A.

Back with another live album of his, though this one seems more focused on his solo material than the Fleetwood Mac classics, though there are plenty of those here too. With a lot of acoustic songs here, you get a good sense of Buckingham the performer even more than guitar hero, the latter label of which I don’t think he gets enough credit. Trouble is excellent here, Big Love always great, Under the Skin is nice, Tusk really stood out in this set even against the end run of songs that were typically spectacular, that being I’m so Afraid and Go Your Own Way. No longer a surprise to me, but this guy is a great live performer even without a perfect vocal delivery.

The Essential Performance: Tusk

Up Next: Ozomatli - Live at the Fillmore