Tonight and tomorrow will mark exactly 50 years since Van M strode onto the stage at London’s Rainbow Theatre and recorded the lion’s share of one of the best live albums ever released.
Had the chance to go and see him in Birmingham Town Hall and didn’t go – a decision I have always regretted.
Was scouring my memory banks for the last truly great live album I bought, but the rise of DVD concert videos means there don’t seem to have been any for about the last 20 years.
Anyone agree/disagree?
I bought the Purple Rain Live set last year. That’s truly great.
Some of the Bowie ‘Brilliant Live Adventures’ albums are very good indeed.
I can’t think of anything released since then that’s as great. Bowie’s best band with best-ever versions of ‘Always Crashing…’, ‘Stay’, ‘Fame’, ‘Cracked Actor’ and more.
I found the middle section of Purple Rain self indulgent, the songs being stretched beyond their tensile strength.
From the 80s and 90s though not last 20 years.
Kicking Television by Wilco came out (just) less than 20 years ago (2005). I think it’s a great live album, that also has the virtue of excellent sound quality
I concur.
I bought Bill Withers Live At Carnegie Hall a couple of years back, and it’s the best live LP I own.
Do you mean recently released live LP’s? That’s a very different question.
Couldn’t agree more about the Bill Withers Live At Carnegie Hall album. Best live album – full stop!
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know…
What’s Todd’s AWATS got to do with all this?
Not exactly recent, as I bought it in 1976, but Frampton Comes Alive must be up there as one of the great live albums, if only because when you think of Peter Frampton (assuming you’re not a Herd obsessive), you think of that album rather than any of his studio offerings. The definitive version of Show Me The Way is surely the live one not the studio one.
The last live album I bought was Viva! Roxy Music released in 1976 which is superb. I haven’t bought a live album since.
No, but I can remember the last truly terrible one I bought. It was 1976 when I bought Joe Walsh’s You Can’t Argue With A Sick Mind.
He even managed to ruin Rocky Mountain Way.
I suspect copious amounts of alcohol and drugs may have been to blame.
Tedeschi trucks at the beacon probably best of the recent batch.
Nathaniel Rateliff and Nightsweats at Red Rocks was good but not great.
Another shout for Tedeschi Trucks. There are truly some great live albums mentioned above and below and I have most of them. That’s my listening sorted for the rest of the day.
Sorry, few too many sherbets last night.
Was referring to RECENTLY recorded and released live albums rather than older or previously unreleased stuff from the 70s/80s.
Man – you just got in, in time to stop me posting about Bill Evans Live at the Village Vanguard Complete…
I got 3.
Porcupine Tree – Anesthetise
Steven Wilson – Home Invasion at Albert Hall
Jeff Beck at Ronnie Scott’s
Don’t qualify I guess as they are DVD releases, but also CD and streaming. Not live albums in the traditional sense but things change so…Function very well as audio only
The Jeff Beck DVD is one of the few JB albums I own and it is superb. However my favourite ‘recent’ (2021) live album is Shakey and his gang’s ‘Down In The Rust Bucket’
No worries, F.
There being lots of GLAOAT threads up here already, my point – vino-vague though it was – was more about the decline of the live album in the face of in-concert DVDs, NUGS-type official “boots” of every concert, etc
Apart from Kicking Television above, hard to think of a really, really good one that has been recorded and released since the turn of the century
Also Bruce’s Seeger Sessions live is pretty good. Plenty of great live downloads too, but they don’t count probably
I agree with @dai re: Broooooce’s Seeger Sessions, my favourite Springy live album.
Leonard Cohen – Live in London is superb
Jackson Browne and David Lindley – Love is Strange is pretty good too
No.
I generally dont buy live albums although Nils Lofgren Acoustic Live is one of my favourite live albums ever..
And another shout for Wilco Kicking Television and the live Almost Blue recordings by Elvis Costello.
All 3 are groovy baby.
I actually believe live albums are getting better. The instruments are in tune and the musicians are more skilful and less stoned.
I’ll offer five:
1. Angel Bat Dawid and The Brotherhood Live (2020) Mindblowing atmosphere and tension.
2. Pere Ubu By Order Of Mayor Pawlicki (2021) David Thomas on the edge where he belongs.
3. Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets Live At The Roundhouse (2020) Joyful mastery of an incredibly varied catalogue.
4. David Byrne American Utopia On Broadway Original Cast Recording (2019) A genuine rival to Stop Making Sense.
5. Mavis Staples Live In London (2019) Wonderful summation of a deeply satisfying late career renaissance.
‘ave some ups ^^^^^ for 3, 4 & 5 Tiggs ^^^^^, I don’t know 1 & 2.
1 & 2 are wild. If you like a challenge and don’t mind getting battered and bruised, they may be for you.
Also they can actually hear themselves properly these days. The stage equipment was pretty ropey in the ’70s.
Robert Fripp cited problems with hearing each other properly as a prime reason the Fripp-Cross-Wetton-Bruford version of the band folded.
For me Jackson Browne’s ‘Running on Empty’ is the best.
I wouldn’t say it’s the best but it’s certainly up there!
From the last 20 years?
🤦🏻♂️
I should have read the post properly!
Yes – Fairport Convention’s ‘Full House For Sale’, being a 2023 release recorded in 2022 at a reunion of the 1970 ‘Full House’ line-up, with Chris Leslie replacing the late Dave Swarbrick. I expected it to be decent but it really does have a magic and an energy I wasn’t expecting – and it’s a fabulous multi-track mix (not an off-the-desk job).
Not on YouTube but on Spotify – or better still, purchasable from the FC website:
Is it available on physical media Colin?
Hi Baron on the band website
As Steve said. Support your local folk-rockers!
As an aside, I have the pleasure of curating a 1982-90 live & BBC FC set at present (11CD+DVD) for release in 2024.
I was at the side of the sound tower as this was recorded they had to drop Matty Groves as there was a chance they wouldn’t record it all before the curfew.
I was going to suggest this one too.
I visited the F.C. site and bought ‘Full House For Sale Live and the rest of the CDs that were available (5 altogether inc. a double all for £31 inc. postage)
Released 2003 (so meets the 20 year criteria) Led Zeppelin How The West Was Won
To paraphrase Alan Partridge, it’s the live album The Song Remains The Same should’ve been
Tom Waits- Glitter and Doom live
Lucinda Williams- Live at the Filmore
Mary Gauthier- Live at Blue Rock
Steve Earle- Just An American Boy
I have a couple of other live Steve Earle cds but can’t remember offhand if they’re great or not….live at Montreaux and Austin City Limits I think.
I was at the Montreux gig, he was supporting CSN. Good show
Not particularly recent, but here are some from the past few years that I think are great:
Midnight Oil – Armistice Day. Storming live set.
Diary of Dreams – Re/Live. Nicely atmospheric and moody.
Kylie Minogue – Golden. Big hits, deeper cuts, plus, unexpectedly, Being Boiled and ver Mac’s The Chain.
Nick Cave – Alone at Alexandra Palace. Bare-bones set with his wonderful voice and lyrics on full display.
Marc Almond – A Live Treasury of Song. 10 CDs of full-band versions, piano’n’voice versions, and all points in between. A good storyteller as well.
Five more:
Daft Punk Alive (2007)
Kate Bush Before The Dawn (2016)
Björk Vulnicura Live (2016)
The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Skies (2007)
LCD Soundsystem The Long Goodbye (2014)
Before The Dawn is a good aural record of the show, but despite what the lady says, it would really make a huge difference to be able to see the visuals.
I’ve never seen the visuals but it’s a great listen.
Well I did see them, but unfortunately the album doesn’t sounds great to me. A rather lifeless recording. I also wonder how much is actually taken from the live concert run, or whether it is mostly a recording of rehearsals or a run through in the empty venue. For me a bit disappointing after the wonder of the concert
What @dai said.
I love Counting Crows’ New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall February 4–6, 2003.
From well before this century, so presumably doesn’t count:
“801 Live” is blooming marvellous.
As for this century’s live albums:
“Snarky Puppy – Empire Central”
The last great live album I bought was on Tuesday last. “The Don Grolnick Group – The Complete London Concert” which was released in 1995.
2013 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds live at KCAW , American radio station. Last one before Warren Ellis’s soundscapes took over completely.
YES! Live from KCRW. Excellent album – excoriating guitar solo on Mermaids and a superb version of Higgs Boson Blues…
Probably the Jason Isbel one with the 400 Unit. Excellent.
😎👍^^^^^👍😎
Easy peasy.
Danny & The Champions of the World:
This was the newest live album that came into my head straight away…it’s an absolute belter !
Three live albums from the past 20 years that spring to mind:
E.S.T. Live in London (recorded 2005, released 2018)
Nat Birchall Quintet Live in Larissa (recorded 2013, released 2014)
R.E.M. Live at the Olympia (recorded 2007, released 2009)
All three absolutely superb.
Saucerful of Secrets is the one that springs to mind, also enjoyed the Springsteen on Broadway set from a few years back now.
I wonder if the live album as such is a thing of the past nowadays with bands making shows available to download from their websites.
1 up from me for the Saucerful of secrets set
Marc Almond’s Things We Lost with Chris Braide (but also the unexpected appearance of Ian Anderson!) came in 2022, and I love it. Live from the Royal Festival Hall.
10 år bakåt och 100 år framåt are Swedish indie greats Bob Hund live, came out in 2005.
Mary Coughlan’s Live at the Basement is from 2003, her and a piano.
Phosphorescent’s Live at the Music Hall came in 2015, lovely.
The The released The Comeback Special: Live at the Royal Albert Hall in 2021. I was at the first gig of that tour (in Stockholm), and reviewed it here – just before that gig he found out that his dad had died, which he talked about at the start. The emotions in the room that night really made that gig special, so this recording doesn’t quite match my memory of that gig…but still very good.
Tinariwen’s Live in Paris from 2015 is another very good live album.
And I agree (of course) about Wilco’s Kicking Television – Live in Chicago from 2005 – one of the very best!
No.
Off the top of my head and in all probability because I am currently listening to one of the three live albums released on Blue Note last year by Charles Lloyd I’ll chuck those into the mix. All trio recordings each with differing lineups they are…Chapel, Ocean and Sacred Thread. I’ll add an earlier quartet recording from 2008 on ECM Rabo De Nube which is utterly beguiling.
Hi Peter, how are they hangin’, bet you didn’t know I was a `Charles Lloyd fan. I agree re: Rabo De Nube, utterly marvellous.
I was unaware of the Trio live sets, all 3 ordered.
See you again my friend.
No I didn’t know that. Glad to hear that you dig the great man’s work.
Hope you enjoy!
The last live one I bought is good, but not great; Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly Live.
The studio version is great.
I forgot that one. I actually prefer it to the studio version!
😜
There’s something a bit odd about Donald’s vocals on a couple of the tracks of the live one. Difficult to explain, but almost like the vocals are treated to reach some notes? Or one of the backing vocals are tracking him, and taking over?
I actually quite like the production on the studio Nightfly and Gaucho. Cool, rather than cold to my ears. Ditto Kamakiriad.
The band cooks, revelling in the swinging jazz rhythms. Fagen’s voice has always needed help but he sounds pretty relaxed to me.
I agree re: The Nightfly & Gaucho production ( although I’d also consider the Nightfly Live my last great live album purchased).
Interestingly – for those interested in such stuff – it seems that Gaucho is widely considered the favourite Dan album amongst ‘new’ young Dan fans, even eclipsing Aja preeminent status.
This is frequently discussed in the pretty decent Dan podcast ‘Gaucho Amigos’ , whose host ‘discovered’ the band around 2012 (!)
The youngsters it seems *love* the perfectionism & often heard samples before whole songs. They have no truck with old Dan heads’ moans of dry or sterile production & insist it’s the audio quality that makes them so listenable today.
I like them all, though Katy Lied hasn’t stuck like the others. Gaucho and The Royal Scam are my favourites at the moment, though I think my favourite track is Peg.
Shocked and stunned! There are days when Katy Lied might be my favourite! Dr Wu? Rose Darling? Bad Sneakers?
Total killer Side 1 on Katy Lied. Every one a winner.
Side 2 starts well with “Everyone’s Gone To The Movies” then flags a bit. However, “Chain Lightning” is one I’ve recently come to appreciate.
‘Chain Lightning’ is just *so* effing dark, despite superficially being a fairly gentle blues workout.
It’s up against some pretty stiff opposition in the bleakness stakes in their catalogue, not least ‘Everyone’s Gone To The Movies’ or the chilling ‘Here At The Western World’.
What astounding songwriting, though.
The Church (of course,) a psychedelic symphony live at Sydney Opera House, if only for MWP shredding “Tantalized.”
The obvious answer – well, obvious to me anyway – is Dance by Blowzabella. You can actually hear the dancing.
My favourites are Cohen Live In London, Ameican Utopia. Magnolia Electric Co.Trials and Errors and Kicking Television. That said, the last two barely meet the 20 year cut off and the first two are rearrangements of 40 plus year old songs.
In terms of a live recording that’s arguably more contemporary, then Black Country New Road’s, Live at Bush Hall, or the Unthanks Diversions 2 with the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band.
I have others that I quite like – Bellowhead, Drive By Truckers, White Stripes, Sigur Ros etc- but for the most part they are a bit pallid compared to the actual concerts or original album versions.
Folk punkers Ferocious Dog employ a lot of energy live and have wealth of live recordings spread over the years and formats, which make for interesting listens, as the line-up evolves and becomes less ramshackle. Last years Live At Rock City ( the Nottingham venue) is a good representation.
Never seen them live and I doubt I will retro, I think they’d be too loud for my tinnitus. Great band though and I’m sure I have a live album of theirs.
Last one I bought was Alice Cooper – Live from the Astroturf which saw the original band members along with Ryan Roxie get together on stage at a Dennis Dunaway book signing It’s rough and ready but hell, it’s the original group, minus Glen, on stage playing and enjoying themselves, a thing of joy.
Also bought Bruce’s No Nukes a few months before.
As for ‘must have’ Live albums, it should be law that every home has a copy of Jackie Leven’s first live album For Peace Comes Dropping Slow…… owning any of the other Live albums Jackie released should at least get you a reduction in council tax
Other Live albums worth a listen that may have passed you by
David Thomas conducts the Pale Orchestra – Mirror Man Act 1 Jack and the General*
Billy Joel – Songs From the Attic
Hamell On Trial – Ed’s Not Dead
Duritti Column – Domo Arrigato
ELP – Pictures At An Exhibition ( first live album I bought)
Stiff Little Fingers – Hanx
Van Der Graff Generator – Merlin Atmos
*Act 2 was (is?) available as download
Another shout for Jackie Leven.
A Reality Tour – David Bowie
On a tangent, many live Blu-ray discs are really, really, good nowadays. Sharp image, well-mixed multichannel hi-res sound.
No dodgy mix sounding like a cave, no unfeasibly tall person standing infront of you, no arsehole who won’t STFU standing behind you, no off-his-head arsehole bumping into you as he attempts to dance. At least three of these things happened at the gig I went to last weekend.
@fentonsteve it’s like Punk never happened and Prog won.
I’m on the fence with this one……………
Until I get to the gig of course! But there’s something about that gig last weekend that makes me want to be there(and moan probably!).
As a seasoned gig-goer these are all things I come to expect. If I’d not gone last weekend to watch my pals in the support band, I’d have not stumbled across the headline act, Sunday Driver, and I’d have definitely missed out on my new favourite band.
I forgot to add, not ticket purchasing malarkey, no travel hassles and no hour-long queue to leave the car park afterwards.
Prog will always win!
Belle and Sebastian’s What to Look for in Summer is excellent.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band Live is a cracker.
I’d like to nominate Dire Straits for having both one of the best live albums and one of the worst.
Alchemy from 1984 is a great set, cleanly recorded with a nice vibrant sound overall, and captures the band at the peak of their powers (just before they hit the massive mainstream with Brothers in Arms) with a load of great material perfected through years of live playing.
On the other hand, On The Night from 1993 is a real “will this do?” effort. Muddy sound, that kind of stadium sound with the life sucked out of everything – instruments all blending into one another, quite tiring to listen to. Muffled stage announcements (“Ayo! Ye wa go ro yeah yeah wo ho!”) and every song extended into infinity with a horrible pedal steel guitar playing CONSTANTLY and LOUDLY. It’s funny, I saw them on that tour and quite enjoyed it, but the atmosphere just doesn’t translate to the record.