Beatles: nothing.
There have been a ton of jazz musicians since 1930 or so whom I'd pay to see. Practically nothing of rock n roll. Rock n roll is of the moment, I think. There are a few guys (Hendrix, Sly Stone) who I wish had had much longer careers.
The Minutemen. The documentary We Jam Econo has some amazing live footage of them. I started listening to punk rock the year after D. Boon died.
I think I've been to three mid-size-or-larger concerts in my life. So the answer is probably, not very much money at all.
The Beatles don't do much for me.
I know people who will do a *lot* to see a Tom Waits show, and he'd be high on my list, but not necessarily the highest.
Mississippi John Hurt would be fantastic, as would several of the old bluesmen.
You guys are such. nerds.
Are you still wearing that beard that makes you look like Santa's grumpy little helper?
Gosh, I'm awfully sorry that Frank Zappa is dead. Seeing him perform was great, and seeing his son doing Frank's stuff has also been excellent.
But I'm more sorry that Frank is no longer composing music than I am that he is no longer performing. I'd pay a lot, lot, lot for a new Zappa album - less for a live performance.
I'd pay to see R.E.M. in the 1980s. They're still touring now, and I go to see them, but it's not the same.
King Crimson. But they might kinda/sorta still be sometimes touring. Like in Japan. Sometimes. Whenever they make an album.
not bands, but her
a lot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7-haKkFnT8&feature=related
King Crimson does still tour on occasion, but the 73–74 lineup doesn't.
Tom Waits with Marc Ribot. Spaceways, Inc.
The Clash. $150 anywhere, $500 with a relatively small crowd.
Prices slashed 2/3 if it's only zombie Joe Strummer. I want full re-animation.
KISS in their prime would be something worth going to.
There are lots of entities that no longer tour that I would really like to have been able to see, actually, but none of them come to mind right now.
Based on the Monterey Pop performances, Otis Redding and Janis Joplin.
By "relatively small" I mean not much more than 1000.
Now off to go see if anyone will pay $8 to see me live.
Let's see your prices, people!
No one would pay anything to see the fucking. Beatles. Did I wonder into some sort of Pitchfork Twilight Zone where everyone is too cool for the band who wrote Sgt. Pepper's?
7: I am still bearded, grinch.
The Minutemen would be good. Rocket from the Tombs? One of the early Residents Halloween gigs? Early Tom Waits? Mid-period crazy Tom Waits? Pop Will Eat Itself?
I think I might go with the Rezillos, because it would be hella fun. I missed my opportunity to hear Stiff Little Fingers play Inflammable Material at 4/5ths speed a few weeks ago.
The real Led Zeppelin, with John Bonham: I cannot estimate how much I would pay.
Robert Johnson: several thousand dollars.
I'd LOVE to see Elvis. Especially Vegas jumpsuit Elvis.
Were the Clash hot shit live? A little part of me wanted to say Guns and Roses.
No one would pay anything to see the fucking. Beatles. Did I wonder into some sort of Pitchfork Twilight Zone where everyone is too cool for the band who wrote Sgt. Pepper's?
Does the hypothetical allow for me to be aware of their awesomeness while being able to forget, e.g., Paul McCartney promo cutouts at Starbucks?
Did I wonder into some sort of Pitchfork Twilight Zone where everyone is too cool for the band who wrote Sgt. Pepper's?
The band that wrote Sgt. Pepper's didn't play live, Armsmasher.
Though I already saw them a bunch of times already, I would still like to see Unwound again. I would love to see the Kinks in the full flower of their Kinksness, although for all I know they sucked in concert.
their Kinksness,
Oh please. You know the correct way to grammatize that word.
I wrote "band that" but second-guessed myself. You're wrong, though.
"The full flower of their kinkiness, knowing they suck slurpily in concert."
The 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. But I'll have to settle for the movie again.
Hey, I've actually seen some of these. I saw Tom Waits with Mark Ribot on guitar about the time the live album Big Time came out. I think it was the Warner Theatre in Washington DC. The set had two large red ramps on it. He performed some of his earlier stuff on solo piano in front of the curtain before we saw the full set.
I also saw Joe Strummer solo, in a band that featured Xandrer Schloss of the Circle Jerks at the 9:30 club in DC.
As long as we're talking about seeing bands in their heyday: yeah, Led Zeppelin.
For Crimson in its Discipline period, I'd pay a couple hundred (I'm cheap). But I'd really want to be close to the stage.
fool on the hill, and i love her are my faves from The Beatles
a lot
Unfogged would be great. * lifts lighter *
Oh, shit, I missed an obvious one. I'd pay a lot of money to see Live at Leeds-era the Who. $200? What's the right amount to pay for the most rock-and-roll rock band of all time*? I'd bet they were better live than the Beatles, the Stones, or the Kinks.
* Except G'n'R.
I know that the Beatles did actually play live, Kriston, but they didn't play the stuff that you get on Sgt. Pepper live, did they? I think there's some substance to the claim that they became a studio band partway through their career. Which isn't to say that it wouldn't be cool to see them playing their early stuff live, but it's not as if you're going to get to see them doing "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" (my fave song of theirs).
I'd love to see Miles Davis in 1956, Miles Davis in 1967, Miles Davis in mid-1969, and Miles Davis in 1974. I'd pay a few hundred dollars to see any of those, with small venues for the early years and large venues for the later years.
I'd also like to see At the Drive-In circa 1999 (I think?) in a small venue, but I'd only pay maybe $50 at the very very very most to see that.
Vladimir Horowitz in the 30's or 40's (Carnegie Hall, of course), and I dunno, I'd pay a lot.
I'm going to have to think more about this....
I met a guy in Lubbock who had seen Coltrane and Monk play at the Five Spot. I spent a long time telling him how much I was in awe of him. He said that if you live long enough, you will wind up seeing concerts that everyone looks back on.
Were the Clash hot shit live?
Dunno, but they are important enough to me. The Only Band That Matters, you know.
Oh, how about Big Star? And Joy Division, why not?
Dead White Men category:
Phil Ochs - pre-asshole period.
Townes Van Zandt - on a night when he is only moderately ripped.
Television
MC5
Eric Dolphy on his last tour.
The first performance of the Sporadic Utopic Orchestra, where Jannik Top's "De Futura" premiered. Though I have a recording of that, actually.
Hootie and the Blowfish. Deep Blue Something. The band that wrote the theme song for Friends, with the hand-clap.
Ben, I think if we're going to hypothetically allow zombie John Lennon to play, we can have him play "Happiness Is A Warm Gun."
39, meet 38 - I saw ATDI with Les Savy Fav at the Black Cat in 2000, and I'm fairly sure I saw them in 1998 or 1999 at the Great American Music Hall in SF. Also, Heebie, I saw the Spin Doctors open for Blues Traveller in high school, so I am living your dream.
I think I'd pay quite a lot to see the Bothy Band, and quite a bit more beside to force B to come along with me.
The Pogues, with Shane on vocals, about the time If I Should Fall from Grace with God came out.
The thing is, I was supposed to see this show (again at the 9:30 club). I bought tickets. Except I had the date wrong. I showed up a week after the concert. Grrr.
Unfogged would be great.
Hmmmm.
The Pogues, with Shane on vocals, about the time If I Should Fall from Grace with God came out.
Oh hell yes.
Not having so much disposable income these days thanks to the AMPTP, I don't have a large wad o' cash to drop on something like this. BUT.
If I could see Thelonious Monk at the (now defunct) Blackhawk play the set from "Thelonious Monk at the Blackhawk," one of my all-time favorite albums - since I was a KID, people - I would pay whatever it took, probably. Whatever it took short of leaving me completely broke. I'd find a way, though. He was that good.
Funny, this question has me wanting to see jazz greats, not rock 'n roll. All I can think of is, to see Ellington in his prime...wow. Or: Billie Holiday in HER prime... John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon...man.
And I love the Beatles, don't get me wrong, but seeing them in concert just doesn't seem as extraordinary. I can't say why.
Unfogged would be great.
With Sara Lund on drums, and Unf on guitar! It'll be awesome.
I met a guy in Lubbock who had seen Coltrane and Monk play at the Five Spot.
That's way cool. Mr. B. and I just happened to go out to a jazz club once and stumble upon Lionel Hampton playing. Another time I wandered into a Pharoah Sanders concert at Bumbershoot. Both were really awesome. I would pay quite a bit to see Sanders live again.
I'd be happy to see the Beatles. Without the screaming thing, though.
Bob Marley.
I think I could enjoy Pink Floyd during the DSM tour.
I have to know more about the conditions of the offer, though. Am I young? Single? Do I have to work the next day? Or the next 3?
while being able to forget, e.g., Paul McCartney promo cutouts at Starbucks?
Not to mention the sordid details of his recent divorce proceedings.
Well, I'm not hipper-than-thou. Of course I'd want to see the Beatles (though I doubt I'd be willing to spend much money, since I never go to concerts, and anyway, all those screaming teenage girls would probably freak me out).
Moira's right about jazz, rather than pop or rock, being the thing to wish one could see.
Early rap. God, I'd truly love to witness some of those shows.
I would give a lot to see Goodman play at Carnegie Hall.
Why is that, though? I can name a dozen bands I'd really like to see, but if we're coming up with a dream list, no rock band makes the top 10. (Or perhaps one might just crack the top 10, but still.) It's all jazz.
I wouldn't want to see the Beatles because I've seen footage of their concerts and all you can hear is eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
I met a guy at an APA once who explained to me that in classical music, the musical work is the written score. In rock. It is recorded album. In jazz the live performance.
All this to say, Moira is right.
Why is that, though? I can name a dozen bands I'd really like to see, but if we're coming up with a dream list, no rock band makes the top 10.
I'm thinking it's on account of you're crazy.
I'd pay a great, great deal to be at Sun Studios when Elvis visited for the first time.
Fuckin' Univers Zero when Trigaux was still a member! In fact I'd pay a fair sum to be able to see one of the first Rock in Opposition concerts with UZ, Henry Cow, the Stormy Six, Samla Mammas Manna, and Etron Fou Leloublan. Area before Demetrio Stratos died.
Last Exit, the first Massacre lineup.
Great minds, IA.
I saw Sonny Rollins once, and it was really great. At the Sweet Pea festival, so a small town city park. The wife started a conga line that ended up with a huge percentage of the crowd winding all around, and the band was so totally into it, Sonny laughing and playing, the police had to come tell them to stop when the city curfew was reached.
Mmmm tater pigs.
Thought of one - I'd like to see Nirvana, right as Nevermind came out, so it would be a smaller venue, etc.
But no - if you compare that to Monk and Coltrane at Carnegie, jazz wins. Damn!
Thought of one - I'd like to see Nirvana, right as Nevermind came out, so it would be a smaller venue, etc.
But no - if you compare that to Monk and Coltrane at Carnegie, jazz wins. Damn!
Mingus. God. A cool grand, easy.
The Pixies came back from the grave to tour, so I did see that (I missed the very first comeback show at The Fine Line in Minneapolis--I was offering $250 for a ticket and couldn't find a taker). So did Mission of Burma.
I'd love to see Iron Maiden circa Powerslave and Metallica circa Ride the Lightning--probably $500 for each, easy. The Clash and Zep, $350. Louder Than Love-era Soundgarden, $250.
I'd also love to go back and see Ruby Vroom-era Soul Coughing one more time--$200 or so there, maybe more if I could see it with all my fiends from that time.
The Minutemen. [...] I started listening to punk rock the year after D. Boon died.
I'd pay to see R.E.M. in the 1980s.
I saw The Minutemen open for R.E.M. my senior year in high school, just before D. Boon died. You whippersnappers.
The concert footage I've seen of the Beatles leads me to believe I'd be unable to hear the band for all the hysterically shrieking teenaged girls.
P-Funk before George Clinton got all burned out would be my top pick.
It's because of what Rob said: when you see a pop band play live, you're basically seeing them play a list of songs. When you see a jazz band play live, you're seeing (hearing) a performance. I suppose that for the big album-rock type groups like King Crimson you'd also see a performance, but meh.
I'd also love to see the Apollo talent show where Ella Fitzgerald debuted.
The Stanley Brothers, Mississippi John Hurt, Clarence Ashley.
I heard a recording of the Stanley Brothers at the U of C folk festival, in the mid 60s, and it's really great. Beautiful performance of "Rank Strangers".
Mingus, god yes. And Apo's right about P-Funk, but only if it were like in a dance club or something, not some big ass concert hall.
Doubly pwned on the Beatles screaming.
Iron Maiden circa Powerslave
I saw them in Greensboro on the Somewhere in Time tour.
P-Funk before George Clinton got all burned out
Tell me about it. I saw them in 97, they still had (or had briefly regained) the magic--they rocked my ass clean off. Saw 'em again in 99 or 2000, Clinton was so cracked out that he barely made it to the mic all night.
This wouldn't have sucked either.
Sigh.
I'd like to see Nirvana, right as Nevermind came out
The summer Nevermind was released, I was working at the Tower Records in the U-district of Seattle. I got turned on to Nirvana as soon as I moved to town, and had seen them open for Dinosaur Jr.
I was working the night Nevermind came out, and I decided to take my dinner break early. I told my manager I was going, and she said, "Don't you want to wait an hour to see the Nevermind record release party at The Beehive." The Beehive was our competitor a block up the hill and two blocks east.
I waited and for my dinner break, got to see someone else's record store get torn apart.
James Brown, live at the Apollo! Sam Cooke, live at the Apollo! Fairport Convention before RT left!
It would be cool to see the Sun City Girls on a night when they weren't just fucking with the audience.
I'd like to see Nirvana, right as Nevermind came out, so it would be a smaller venue, etc.
I did, a little before then, and it wasn't that great, frankly. Super insanely deafening, so you couldn't make out much music.
in classical music, the musical work is the written score
If we extend the fantasy to time travel, there are plenty of historic performances I'd kill to see, plus many others just to have some period-performance questions answered.
55: Jesus, Napi, you're older than me, right? I'm aging myself. I thought fleetingly of Marley and Pink Floyd, then thought: on Unfogged? Nah. Plus, is it really true? It's hard to separate nostalgia from true musical die-heartedness.
Apo is younger than I am, which means that 73 is further evidence that he is cooler than I am.
James Brown played at my mom's high school. In the gym. She saw it.
86: Parsimon, I believe we're the same age.
I wouldn't mind seeing Jane's Addiction on the first Lollapalooza tour again, with Ice-T and Body Count joining in on "Don't Call Me [Very, Very Bad Racial Slur], [Other Less Bad Racial Slur]."
Right now, I'd pay hundreds of dollars if my kids and I could see either Dan Zanes or Laurie Berkner. Now that we live near a real city (Cleveland) we might be able to.
Ok, I must go to bed.
86 -- In a thread like this, I'm positively ancient. I've been digging on the three parts of the rootop thing.
I never saw Marley, but I'm sure it would be fun: reggae always is.
Soft Machine before Wyatt left. The Incredible String Band.
Mostly it's not particular bands that I'd like to be able to see, but particular scenes that I'd like to be able to see parts of. Chicago in the 90s, No Wave in NYC, etc.
Aside from King Crimson in the 70s and 80s, of course. Maybe the David Sylvian/Robert Fripp tours in the 90s, I've heard those were pretty good. And Magma. The Mountain Goats before he got a (shitty, IMO) band backing him up.
85: Yeah, I'd kill to see Liszt or Clara Schumann at the piano, or Haydn or Mozart (or Leonard Bernstein, for that matter) conduct, or J.S. Bach at the organ...
89 -- And that makes both you kids younger than me.
Maybe some of the black metal bands, back when they were burning churches and murdering people, for kicks, but I doubt the shows were ever very good.
97: Way to class up the joint, gea. More tea, vicar?
I never saw Marley, but I'm sure it would be fun: reggae always is.
As I've mentioned before, I saw Peter Tosh once, and not just Peter Tosh.
I never saw Marley, but I'm sure it would be fun: reggae always is.
I swear to god, if Marley came back to life at age 30 and played with the Wailers in my living room, I would drive across town to get away. I cannot fucking stand reggae in any way, shape, or form, for even a moment.
The Beatles stopped playing live in August 1966 (with the exception of the rooftop thing). Sgt. Pepper was released in 1967.
That said, I would easily pay $500 to see the Beatles live. The screaming teenage girls would be a feature, not a bug.
89: McQueen, I've begun to register that. Er, just realized that my "Jesus, Napi" above sounded like I was calling you by name. Sorry.
I cannot fucking stand reggae in any way, shape, or form, for even a moment.
This is so sad. It drives people apart, you know. I, for example, like to dance to reggae. Or ska. If you take all the reggae/ska/funk out of my music, what will I move to?
105: Would you shoot a man in Reno Truckee, just to watch Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison?
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison!
Oh my yes.
The power of Magma:
Magma has ALWAYS captured their audience, even those who don't initially like their music. A former H.Cow member once told me the story of a bill in England: H. Cow followed by Magma supporting Hawkwind. It was at a soccer stadium somewhere. During Cow's set, the audience was SCREAMING "Hawkwind, Hawkwind" and booing. Throughout much of Magma's set-up, the audience did not let up. When Magma were introduced the booing and screaming for Hawkwind was stepped up a few notches, which apparently angered Klaus Blazquiz, who screamed back over the PA, "FUCK HAWKWIND..WE ARE MAGMA !! HA-MA-TAI !! They broke into Khontarkoz, and by the end of the fusion section, the audience were SCREAMING, "Magma, Magma !!". When Hawkwind finally took to the stage they were still ravenously screaming for Magma, which upset Hawkwind. Thruoughout much of their set the audience was now not letting up their Magma chant, and Hawkwind, unfortunately HUMILIATED, cut their set short.
The recently did this huge weeks-long retrospective thing, four of the concerts being released on DVD for like $30 a pop. Different phases of the band's career with different previous members (Blasquiz, Top, Benoit Widemann I think, etc) guesting. I kinda want to get them all.
I'd specifically love to see one of Miles' electric bands, from Bitches Brew onward.
Seeing early Bob Dylan now would be intensely painful. People thought that he was prophetic and that the times were a-changin', but it didn't work out that way. The times did change, but not the way people thought.
just to watch Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison?
I'd pay money to have been there.
Heebie would look so cute in one of those prison outfits.
the chameleons
slowdive
i don't really like live music though
110 -- I had a housemate, back in the dark ages, who used to wax eloquently about how much pleasure women seemed to take in dancing to reggae music. Carefully controlled experiments bore this out. In short, JRoth is free to leave the field . . .
I'd pay to see R.E.M. in the 1980s.
I might in the early '80s, or in a smaller venue. I saw them twice 89ish -- once at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, once in a much smaller venue in Paris. The Paris show was pretty good, but the stadium show suuuuuuucked. Completely phoned in.
Seconded on the Clash and P. Funk. The Pixies were on that list before their reunion tour, but I saw them and now the bitterness over them cancelling the show I had tickets to right before they broke up is gone, more or less.
Fuck prison outfits. All you'd have to do would be get hired on as a guard.
Right now, I'd pay hundreds of dollars if my kids and I could see either Dan Zanes
2 summers ago, when my daughter was 2.5, we got the last 3 tix(!) to see him at a Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh - small venue (it's a black box theater most of the time), fun as shit. They leave a big open floor in front of the band (no raised stage) for the kids to dance. They enter and exit playing music and walking through the audience. It was exactly as great as you'd imagine.
Father Goose is a rotund, bald man. I did not expect that.
This woman also really dislikes reggae. Oddly, though, I like ska quite a lot. Go figure.
123 -- Obviously a dated hypothesis, never meant to be applied to youngsters like yourself.
123 is also non-responsive. It's not about liking the music, but getting pleasure from dancing to it. Readily severable experiences.
Huh, nice question.
Agree with Flippanter on several thousand dollars for Robert Johnson. That or perhaps slightly less for Nick Drake. And I'd sell my good kidney to see Blind Willie Johnson. I might even be serious about that.
Ogged, you probably won't be surprised to learn that Nick Drake was rather painfully shy and unpredictable live, and rarely performed at all.
I cannot fucking stand reggae in any way, shape, or form, for even a moment.
I would have said the same thing about myself even a couple of weeks ago, but Bob Marley's Natty Dread is a great, great album. I posted a song from it about a week ago.
You're right that I knew that, Ben, but I still think it would be very interesting to see him, even if the performance wasn't great.
The Charlie Hunter Quartet covered Natty Dread in its entirety some time back.
I cannot fucking stand reggae in any way, shape, or form, for even a moment.
Linton Kwesi Johnson, you lunatic.
how much pleasure women seemed to take in dancing to reggae music
Bah. I'm married. To a woman who hates reggae almost as much as I do, bless her soul.
[Notice how my hatred of reggae makes me wax religious]
I would pay ... a lot to see the Beatles. One thing to bear in mind: while their most interesting stuff was post-concert-playing, they were a legendary live act in the Hamburg days. Seeing them before they'd even written "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" would be a lyrical letdown, but I bet it would be the best bar band you've ever seen.
The only reason I'd pick the Beatles over Leeds-era Who, however, is that I've seen the post-Moon Who, which I know is like watching the post-Bradshaw Steelers, but sates at least some of that desire. I cannot even get my head around seeing the Beatles.
Thought: with the Who, or Hendrix, I can identify a historic moment I'd like to witness (Leeds, Star-Spangled Banner); with the Beatles, I'd like to see a theoretical concert - 3 hours on the rooftop, or something.
Jazz: on some level, I feel like actually seeing a single Miles show would be painful - so fleeting, and you wouldn't catch 10% of what happened. I'd like to have lived in the era when you could go to the Crawford Grill every week and see a legend - you'd learn to absorb it.
The Charlie Hunter Quartet covered Natty Dread in its entirety some time back.
Trio? In any case, yeah, I listened to this last week, but my ear isn't good enough (and I haven't listened to Natty Dread enough) to say, "yeah, I see what they did there."
Reggae tends to be jolly fratboy party music nowadays. For me it's By the Waters of Babylon / Downpresser Man / Sittin Here in Limbo, and that's an utterly different feeling.
And I'd sell my good kidney to see Blind Willie Johnson
So would he.
Considering my proximity, I regret not seeing Junior Kimbrough play his front porch every weekend for free.
I saw James Brown in 1998. He could still bring it. Didn't dance as much as he used to, but still.
Just to mix it up some, aside from all those rock, jazz and blues legends, I wish I'd seen Luna. My first record of theirs was their last release. But I'd only pay a modest amount.
Considering my proximity, I regret not seeing Junior Kimbrough play his front porch every weekend for free.
Holy fuck, man. I was listening to All Night Long last night, thinking "this guy is a fucking genius." I wonder if it would be as good live, though. It's a bit atmospheric. But still...
Oh yeah, Nina Simone. I would pay more money to see Nina Simone than the Beatles, I think.
It's not about liking the music, but getting pleasure from dancing to it. Readily severable experiences.
True, that.
Also, the reggae problem has a lot to do with the fact that, despite appearances, there's a lot of variety there. One man's Bob Marley is not another man's Peter Tosh. Plus some people associate it with hippies.
ok, i'm overwhelmed by research now
will continue tomorrow, keep posting cool names
good night
I would pay vast sums to have seen Charlotte Moorman's collaborations with Nam June Paik (like TV Bra).
I saw Nina Simone (not in her prime, of course).
139: I saw Nina Simone about a year or so before she died. She carried a palm frond and waved it at the audience to demand applause. It was fabulous.
134 -- That Neville Brothers version of Babylon is really fine. Can you listen to Aaron Neville, Roth?
Luna were fantastic, but I don't remember them being particularly stunning live. I never got to see Galaxie 500, though.
Bitch - you're making my night! Nina Simone?
Forget paying cash money - would any of you Pitchfork-wannabes be willing to put up with the ambient conditions at Yasgur's Farm in order to witness Woodstock?
The striking thing about Woodstock, near as I can tell, wasn't the lineup or the timing or the free love - it was that most of the performances seem to have been pretty damn good. I saw a Youtube recently of CSN doing... Helplessly Hoping? something tricky - and fucking nailing it. The Who and Hendrix were, as is well-documented, in superb form.
I think it's such a cultural signifier - John McCain says you shouldn't vote for Hillary because she was in the USA when Woodstock occurred, or something - that people forget that the music was truly remarkable (Sha Na Na aside, of course. WTF?).
Aaron Neville's "Amazing Grace" with Daniel Lanois is bone-chilling.
But I get a little itchy if I hear too much Neville Bros. at once.
Chopin, playing the nocturnes.
Big Black, again. Shellac would be nice. Or PJ Harvey.
The Neville Brothers are fucking great, man.
I can't tell what the deal is with Nina Simone. Some of her stuff is amazing, and some of it is... odd. Have I just lucked into bad stuff, or is it really hit-or-miss, or am I just not a big Nina Simone fan?
I would pay a great deal of money to see the Beatles live. I don't know how much. $500? Probably. I actually own very little of them but their music has shown up like a self-propelled cliche in a lot of important moments in my life.
What bands would I kill or at least time-travel to see live and in person? Late '80s/early '90s Erasure. The Cure right after or right before Head on the Door came out. Guns 'n Roses touring Appetite for Destruction, I'm not ashamed to say, would turn me into a puddle. Berlin. Faith & the Muse. The Mamas & the Papas in a fucking heartbeat.
There was an amazing rock club here that apparently had fantastic acoustics (Graffiti, FYI), and right around when Nevermind came out, Nirvana played there with Pearl Jam opening. Didn't go, of course. Dumbass. A buddy of mine took an uptight girl to see Red Hot Chili Peppers there in their sock phase. Good show, bad date.
My mom saw Ray Charles and Dylan (not together!) at the Syria Mosque (another legendary venue, torn down in the middle of the night 6 months after I came to Pgh - I could've seen Neil Young there) around 1965.
I second whoever said the Kinks. They were supposed to be a pretty good live band. My folks wouldn't let me see them when I was in 10th grade; still a little bitter, as that turned out to be their last real tour.
147: Yeah, it was terrific. Part of why it was so terrific is that there was this very dramatic woman who happened to be a waiter and something of a monument at one of my favorite Seattle restaurants, and she was down on the floor not far from the stage (I was up on the balcony), and she on her feet the entire time worshipping. So there was Nina singing a song, then walking back and forth waving her palm frond and this woman waving her arms in the air the whole time just obviously having the time of her life. It was a great vibe.
Nina wasn't in her prime, of course, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything.
153 is a very odd set of bands, if I may say.
OK, my reggae-hating wife is awaiting me upstairs. Goodnight, y'all.
152: I'd say you're not really a fan. She does do some very odd stuff, but it's odd-fantastic, not odd-bad.
Oh, you know what, I'd love to see some early Stevie Wonder, again at a dance club.
Just to be clear, "bone-chilling" in 149 is in a good way. (video is live; the studio recording is at least 50% better, IMO)
This might be a change of pace for some of y'all. Check out that Voodoo Chile. And the encores. Awake Me in the New World.
As I've mentioned before, Hopis, and Pueblos in general, love reggae. My mom and sister once saw Jimmy Cliff at Nambé Falls. They said it was fantastic.
156: It is inarguably an odd list of bands. Unfortunately I'm insufficiently sophisticated to make a claim to eclectic tastes; the list's hodge-podge nature is simply a reflection of the fact that I'm a gourmand not a gourmet.
158: that is one melismatic dude.
Rock n roll is of the moment
Which is exactly what makes it so amazing. I'd pay a lot to see the Beatles at Shea Stadium or to be in the crowd when they landed in New York. Or better yet, to see them when they played at The Cavern. I'd like to be just to feel the enthusiasm. But I'm an early Beatles fan. I like Sgt. Pepper's, but songs like "I want to hold your hand" or "She loves you yeah, yeah, yeah" are so much better as rock n' roll.
Other performances I'd pay to attend: the young James Brown on a good night; Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper at the Surf Ballroom on 2 Feb 1959; one night at the Blackpool Mecca; a night at The Loft, etc. I could think of dozens more, but w-lfs-n gets it right: I'd rather be a part of particular scenes or moments, than see specific performers.
I'd've liked to see a young Yusef Lateef play oboe for the first time with Cannonball Adderly.
Teo, you might find the second encore linked in 159 an interesting little thing. Ignore the lyrics, a relic of a different time, and just groove on the tune.
Now that Sleater-Kinney's defunct, how about seeing them around the time Dig Me Out came out?
167's trying to get into Becks's pants.
Continuing my namedropping program, there's a guy in my home town who played on the same bill as Buddy Holly. They were both on their way up, though my friend never got very far up. He probably knew Bobby Vee too (FWIW), but not Dylan I'm pretty sure.
Years ago I lived for several months in a crummy little motel in Hermosa Beach across the parking lot from the Lighthouse. Miles, Mingus, Brubeck, Mulligan, Coltrane, Pepper, Desmond; the list is endless. They mostly stayed at the same motel, and didn't mind having a kid hanging around listening to them jam. I want that summer back.
An earlier one: The Weavers at the Second Fret, Philadelphia. That same summer, Ray Charles at a drive-in theater on a blazing hot day, introducing a kid named Stevie doing Fingertips.
I'm sorry. I can't help but read 170 and hear the voice of Morgan Freeman.
"Why must you be such a little bitch, Ben. Why must you be such a little bitch."
175 is an incomplete answer. Now? A couple hundred bucks. Time travel back to 1973? A couple thousand.
Guns 'n Roses touring Appetite for Destruction, I'm not ashamed to say, would turn me into a puddle.
I saw them open for the Stones at the L.A. Coliseum (on the Steel Wheels tour). Not good, not good at all.
OTOH, I've come to the conclusion that all stadium shows suck.
Does seeing the Beatles live mean that (1) they would all come back to life and/or revert to their earlier ages and play a gig now, or (2) I would travel back in time to see them at a gig that actually happened back then, or (3) I would have some sort of Total Recall-style memory of having seen them then? Details, people, details.
Easy Money followed by an improv. Maybe I should go listen to the Great Deceiver box now.
Phil Ochs - pre-asshole period.
This existed?
Also, because I am young and callow... Elastica.
I still regret missing the Unicorns show at U.Va. a few years back.
I'd pay $50, nay, $65, to re-do that decision.
I'm teh thread looser for citing comments 100+ back, but
44heebie -- you mean the Rembrandts. The Rembrandts.
49Rob -- I'm sorry to hear. Early, non-destroyed Shane McGowan Pogues live? That would've been great.
184: Good choice, Stanley. I'd love to see The Unicorns live.
As for the rest of my top choices, nothing too surprising:
Can, circa Ege Bamyasi
My Bloody Valentine, circa whaddya think?
Joy Division at the very end (perhaps their Les Bains Douches show?)
Hot Snakes would've been a wild time, especially after Audit in Progress
early days of The Warehouse in Chicago, with Frankie Knuckles and the other house pioneers
and just so many other bands that I either never got to see or probably won't ever get to see again: Death from Above 1979, Les Savy Fav (fuckers never tour the US anymore), Depeche Mode in a small venue circa 1990 (even if they were playing stadiums already by then)...
I'd give my left nut to have seen the Williamsburg scene from 2000 to 2003. Interpol, Liars, YYYs, TVOTR, Turing Machine, !!!, Out Hud, DFA crew, Laddio Bolocko, just an amazing rock, dance and noise scene going on then, all in small venues. Would've been fantastic.
*sigh*
Hendrix, says me. Of course, there are guys I thought I'd pay a lot of money to see who turned out meh. Shane McGowan & the Popes(tm)? Pretty good, not great. Mad Professor AND Lee "Scratch" Perry? Surprisingly crap.
How could I forget? A grand on Joy Division, please.
P-Funk before George Clinton got all burned out would be my top pick.
Yep. I saw them four times between 2001 and 2005, and two of those times were pretty much the greatest live concerts I ever saw (the other two were bad). But even when they were great, it was always obvious how much they'd lost from the peak. I'd give a ton to see them in, say, the late 70s. With appropriate drugs.
I think Prince in a small club would be great, but that experience is still available.
How about Dylan in 65-66? That would be pretty amazing.
But with the older bands, would you still know all their songs as well as you do now? If you didn't, then I'd pay thousands to see the Beatles or Dylan. Think of *discovering* one of the truly great bands in a small to medium size show. That would be one of the great one-night life experiences one could have.
13: thanks for turning me on to a great new singer. What a good thing that is to do.
I saw Turing Machine at a street fair in Wicker Park; they rocked.
thanks for turning me on to a great new singer
She does have a great voice, but a sad story.
I would pay to have been more sober at the Black Lips. And for Dan Deacon to have played and handed out the lyrics to "Wham City."
Of the actual classics: the back cover of "The Name of This Band is Talking Heads."
"Think of *discovering* one of the truly great bands in a small to medium size show."
How many people here think they could recognize the next Beatles if they played tomorrow night in your local club? I'm militantly agnostic about this: "I wouldn't know, and you wouldn't know either."
Yeah, I was thinking that you'd have to trust yourself not to walk out saying "Eh, not bad."
Bristol in 1991 +/- 4 years wouldn't be that bad.
10% of the value in seeing one of these rock bands is in the experience, and 90% in being able to tell the story ten years later, it seems.
Having said that, I think I'd feel a lot better about the way I spent my 20s if I'd just have gone to more random shows at the Lounge Ax.
I didn't go to the last 90 Day Men show at the empty bottle, and I should have, since I'd been to a previous show of theirs and it was great. I didn't know it would be their last, though.
Also: the Sex Pistols, Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester, 4 June 1976.
195-196: Way too cynical. (I have a feeling Ogged in particular holds to "Eh, not bad" as a life committment). But I think quality is easy to tell. Most bands suck, greatness would stand out against that mediocre backdrop. I believe I absolutely could recognize a great band just by hearing them play some random evening. Assuming it was in a style that I enjoy (like the Beatles).
198: I don't know what it is, but live music is qualitatively different from that which is recorded. It's vastly less convenient, and involves expense, bother, and sweaty people, but it sticks with you. I suspect it is a phenomenon not wholly unrelated to mob violence.
He wouldn't be my top priority either, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned Bowie.
I suspect it is a phenomenon not wholly unrelated to mob violence.
Yes. The group mind takes over at a great show. The collective spirit possesses the band as well. So there is a sense of participating in the music, the music is coming from *us*.
I've just realised from looking at this list that I hate live music. Except Primal Scream, they're pretty good live. But all the jazz people are raving bloody mad. Live jazz is usually awful. Like all improvised music, it is *much* better when someone's had the chance to sort it out in a studio and get rid of all the bum notes and missed beats. Not to mention the uninspired pointless noodling passages. Of which there are always loads. I would pay decent money to see the band that played on "Thin Lizzy: Live And Dangerous", but no such band ever existed or could exist.
The rules here are deeply confusing.
Assuming the "true" rules are that we can go see any actual historical show, I'd have to go with pre-breakup Pixies. Solo Frank Black is the best show I've ever seen and that the Pixies possess the best catalog since the Beatles. Can't go wrong with that.
Bob Dylan circa '66 would come close.
Under these rules, the Beatles do get far less money-worthy. Hamburg would be fun in a historical sense, but it wouldn't be all that wonderful a show. Post Ed Sullivan holds little appeal.
And no one's mentioned the Sex Pistols? For shame. Any of their shows would have been seriously entertaining. Better than a Clash show even if they don't matter.
Also:
Frank Sinatra (circa 50's)
Stooges
Otis Redding
PJ Harvey (circa early 90's)
P-Funk (circa mid 70's)
And as much for the crowd as the music, early Lords of Acid, Fischerspooner, and Peaches.
And no one's mentioned the Sex Pistols? For shame. Any of their shows would have been seriously entertaining
If you knew you were part of an exciting cultural revolution etc, etc then maybe, but if not (and I don't think we're suggesting that for $500 you could buy the entire experience of having been one of the two or three dozen coolest people in Carnaby Street in 1976, which might actually have not been as great as it sounds) then "one of the famous live Sex Pistols shows" would have been pretty much observationally equivalent to "watching a really bad local band turn up drunk, play three or four half-assed songs and then beat each other up, swear at the audience and then fuck off with two or three of their really stupid-looking fans".
I would pay about a quid to reread the original reviews in the NME, which AFAICT is the best way to experience the Sex Pistols live.
"If you knew you were part of an exciting cultural revolution etc, etc then maybe"
You would've known. They were the revolution from their beginning. They got tossed off the stage during the first song of their first show.
As you stated, live music isn't as good as recorded music, but it can make up for it by being an event. And a Sex Pistols gig would've been an event.
The Pogues, with Shane on vocals, about the time If I Should Fall from Grace with God came out.
I saw the Pogues at the 8x10 on the Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash tour. they were awesome.
Galaxy 500 were kind of sleep inducing live.
My list would be:
Mississippi john hurt
talking heads
miles davis
monk
mingus
coltrane
rolling stones
kinks
led zeppelin
can
minutemen
nick drake
ella fitzgerald
Billy Holliday
nat cole trio
beatles on the roof123
duke ellington
hendrix
the who
bob marley
specials
the jam
the police
new order
bands who i saw who I would most like to see again:
the clash
james brown
black flag
ramones
I saw that Lollapalooza from comment 92 in year 91. The above-mentioned songs were great; the show-stopper was Siouxsie and the Banshees, returning to the stage after a two-night laryngitic hiatus.
As Jane's Addiction began, I found a roost ontop of a cable housing, elevating me six inches above the rest of the crowd. The band began, the crowd convulsed, I lost my place and my glasses, but miraculously found the latter unbroken after dodging Doc martens along the ground for sixteen measures.
I saw Nina Simone a coupla years before she died at the Greek Theater in L.A. She was much diminished, but still fabulous.
As to the jazz/pop thing -- I understand where it's coming from, but I'm not there. I'm a hook man, not a jam man. A list of great songs by a great band in a great crowd is a great show.
the dead at a Be-in, conversing with Neal Cassidy, on clean owsley, with no "adult issues" like I have now.
Also, remember the Beatles in their heyday played 20 minute sets. Really. I never saw them, but I knew plenty of people who did. They didn't hear them though - the screaming was a real pain. One girl told me an accidental moment of silence at a concert she went to revealed Lennon singing "Oh dear, what shall I do/Baby's in Blackpool and I'm stuck in Crewe..."
Soft Machine before Wyatt left. The Incredible String Band. Saw both of those (ISB with Heron and Williamson). Easily worth $100 to see again.
dsquared is full of shit about live jazz. It's high risk, but when it works it really works.
I want to see J.S.Bach improvising a 3 part fugue on the organ at the Thomaskirche. $1000, easily.
I'm with Emerson and others. I'd love to have seen Miles Davis in his electric period. Preferably the McLaughlin line-up.
I've seen some gigs some people would kill for. I saw GnR when they were touring AfD, I saw Jeff Buckley play solo in a tiny club with about 8 people in it, etc.
"The Rite of Spring", premiere, Paris, 1913. Because there were fistfights and riots, and I want to be the only person in the audience going "Eh, not bad" as the crowd of white-tied, tail-coated Edwardians degenerates into a mob of Liverpool fans.
Unexpectedly brilliant gigs to catch while you have your time machine: Bowie (Ziggy and the Spiders) in a venue for about 600 people that they's been booked into before the album went stratospheric. Awesome.
Yes, 210, you do rock. Nevermind that I was too young to compete with that, this thread still makes me feel old. I think I'll retreat into my Civ4/No Protection coma now.
It's high risk, but when it works it really works
yeah, but when it works, it works for about a minute, in the context of a twenty minute performance.
re:s crollback
Oh yeah, I saw Jane's Addiction in a tiny club in Edinburgh, in late 88. My then (16-year old) girlfriend was sufficiently alluring to Dave Navarro that the bastard pulled her up on stage and she spent the gig on stage, sitting on his amp.
[I get quite quickly into 'Losing my Edge' territory here, as I was, from about age 15 to about 20 an obsessive gig goer so lucked into all kinds of good/memorable stuff]
re: live jazz.
I've seen great live jazz gigs. Tommy Smith I've seen a couple of times and he was just OK, but once, he was damn near transcendent. A friend who was with me [and who isn't a big jazz fan] grabbed me to tell me his hair was standing on end. It was that good.
Acoustic Ladyland were fucking amazing, too.
The worst gig I ever saw was ostensibly a jazz gig, though. Alan Holdsworth. Just woeful.
The Highwaymen. Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson.
Or just, Johnny Cash.
The Band. Best live performers I ever saw. I'd lay down a grand for that, but I am fabulously wealthy. I'm a big surprised the thread is this long without anyone mentioning them, they were in a pretty good movie once.
Others I'd like to see again -- Miles, Bitches Brew era, very cool. Doc Watson in his prime, with Merle, they were spellbinding. Airto/Flora Purim put on one of the best sets I've ever seen, are they still out there?
To square the circle on comment #73, the screaming is the reason the Beatles became a studio band. But this hypothetical presupposes a mid-sized venue. (It also does not presuppose the failure of acoustics and sound technology to improve over the last 40 years.) Ergo, screaming kids not a problem, and the Beatles are once again willing to play live. A bigger problem was that many of their concerts were super short.
But still, it's the fucking Beatles. Sure, they couldn't play Tomorrow Never Knows, but I can imagine some set of Within You Without You, Let It Be (with massively awesome guitar solo extended an extra 16 bars live), Come Together, I've Got a Feeling, the Magical Mystery Tour, If I Needed Someone, She Said She Said, Dear Prudence, Lovely Rita, Twist and Shout, etc. And frankly, that set is pretty awesome in my head.
I would pay my whole checking account (it's not that big).
I'd be willing to put $300 on the Beatles
Maybe $250 for these guys:
Talking Heads circa Remain In Light
the original Pretenders lineup
REM - Reckoning-era
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue-era
Hendrix
Doc Watson in his prime, with Merle, they were spellbinding.
that was the first show i ever remember seeing. i was probably 5, and my dad took me to a bluegrass festival somewhere (Lenox, MA?). this was 75 or 76.
Miles, Bitches Brew era
something like three or four of you maniacs up for this one at a grand a head? I am getting a new insight into the economics of the fucking boxed set industry. Look, they did this. It's on the double album "Pangagea/Aghartha". They were terrible. What is the secret sauce that turns jazz-rock-noodling, known and hated the world over, into "oh wow Bitches Brew era Miles, man"???? I mean, I am a big fan of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, but only in contexts in which the fucking solos end when *I* decide they do.
I'd love to go back and see Prince at First Avenue, pre Purple Rain, and the Replacements a few years later.
the secret sauce that turns jazz-rock-noodling, known and hated the world over, into "oh wow Bitches Brew era Miles, man"????
Jazz Odyssey!
"She is heat incarnate. When I met her she looked like that girl Saffron, from the band Republica. She had those red streaks in her hair...."
The Beatles were not much of a live act. My dad saw them in 1966 shortly before they stopped touring. The show was less than half an hour, like most of their shows were.
The show I'd much rather see again was Bowie at the Aragon in Chicago. That show was at least two hours, and the encore performance of Stay is still with me. Awesome. I'm pretty sure the hand right in the center of this picture is mine, too.
My girlfriend says one of her ongoing regrets is missing the chance to see Kino in Leningrad in '89. That seems like it would be worth going to, tho maybe the earlier shows would have been better. I've gotten a chance to see Fairouz a couple times, though not near her prime.
I'd love to hear Beethoven playing in person.
220: yes! Saw the Band at a festival (Eric Clapton was the headliner) and was blown away. I had no idea. They weren't supposed to be a great live band but I still get chills thinking about it...had tickets for the Sex Pistols at the Homestead Theater, Homestead PA but that show was canceled. Would have loved to time-travel back to see Parker, Powell, Mingus, Gillespie and Roach "Live at Massey Hall" even though Parker played a borrowed plastic sax for that gig.
224:dsquared is just wrong
and the Dead sold a million tickets in the 70s for a reason. Saw New Riders + Dead 1971 for 6 hours or more. Who can remember?
re: 224
The Pangea/Agartha lineup was completely different. In fact, there was only one person [Miles Davis] in common between that group and the Bitches Brew group.
There are live recordings of parts of his band from the Bitches Brew era but no live recordings [apart from the studio sessions] of the full lineup.
There's something quite specific about the sound of the Bitches Brew era that's completely missing from the Pangea line-up. As a guitar-bore I could describe at length what some of those differences are [I'd be using words like 'quartal harmonies'] but it would be tedious in the extreme.
220:That Canadian tour with The Band, Janis Joplin, & the Dead is legendary.
dsquared is to live jazz what highlight reels are to basketball. kinda misses the point
Keith Jarrett during the Koln period
I'd pay $5 to be at a Phish concert and hear them stop after only five minutes. Forever.
Okay: $10.
224: What is the secret sauce that turns jazz-rock-noodling, known and hated the world over, into "oh wow Bitches Brew era Miles, man"?
Could Miles himself be the secret sauce? I wonder. I hear he was sort of a good musician or something.
I'm a hook man, not a jam man. A list of great songs by a great band in a great crowd is a great show.
The best is a tight band with well constructed songs that can jam and improvise really well live. P-Funk fit that description, so does Prince, and lots of bands you wouldn't quite expect. For example, I've seen Los Lobos a couple of times in small venues and they put on inspired performances that featured some great, ferocious extended jams. (Much of which were on the accordion...such an underrated instrument).
In fact, there was only one person [Miles Davis] in common
many people regard him as the most important member though.
(Addendum to 235: I guess Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, De Johnette et al were okay, too.)
re: 237
Yeah, but he was a guy who had a lot of different bands with very different sounds, musicians, etc. Not to point out the obvious or nuffink, but in improvisational music it matters quite a lot who the other people are.
For me, for example, I love McLaughlin's playing in those 2 or 3 years between about 67/68 and 1970 but pretty much can't stick 90% of everything else he's ever done. So for me, a big attraction would be seeing that line-up with McLaughlin, before he got shit.
My mother saw Frank Sinatra at the Paramount theater in NYC in . . . 48, 49, 50? Not sure. The kicker is, she wasn't there to see Sinatra, she was there to see some now lost to history Irish baritone. My mother and her cousin sat at their table in the front completely non-plussed by all the girls carrying on around them. Frank, for his part, took one look at the little blasé Irish girls and stuck his tongue out. This is now a very fond memory of hers.
To concede part of D^2's point on jazz, I would definitely want to pick a specific show, knWn to have been a good one - or to get to see multiple shows - I would imagine that over the course of a few nights, you'd see - and be able to recognize in real time - a lot of amazing moments.
I would imagine that over the course of a few nights, you'd see - and be able to recognize in real time - a lot of amazing moments.
What I would like would be a magic kind of machine that would in some way "record" those performances, thus allowing an expert, working with the musicians themselves, to excerpt the amazing moments and then put them together, rather as an artist puts together a painting in his "studio".
I even have a name for this invention - "the trouser press".
242: I hear some people sort of dig the excitement of seeing it happen live, though. I'm not sure why. It's like, why cook from scratch with unpredictable results when you've known the reliable mixture of flavours a TV dinner can deliver? I'm stumped.
re: 242
So, what you are basically saying is you prefer recorded music to gigs?* Since that pretty much applies to all genres.
* and lots of people do.
236: Early-to-mid-era Los Lobos flashed through my mind when thinking of shows I'd pay dearly to see again. Saw them twice in the late 80s/early 90s. I still remember the headline of a review after one of those shows: "Rock, Blues, and Brilliance." Spot on.
Would not pay a red cent to see Dan Fogelberg, RIP.
Geez, can't we have a political thread so I can get back to work?
Yes, I think I said right at the top that I basically hate all live music. But I hate live jazz a lot more, because the ratio of filler to music is much, much worse.
btw, I am reading Zizek's Desert of the Real at the moment and he argues, convincingly, that the fetish for authenticity of live performances is exactly the sort of thinking that makes people become suicide bombers (or improvising accordionists, same sort of thing). So be careful you lot.
why cook from scratch with unpredictable results
when I cook from scratch, it doesn't have unpredictable results, unless I fuck up. It's more like "why open a bottle of wine when you can get some cranberry juice, some vodka, a little Pernod, Coca Cola, orange liqueur and hey - something magical just might happen!"
243:Do you go to a baseball game to see the home runs, the strikeouts, the grounders, or even the warm up swings?
Is anyone a soccer fan or cricket for crissake?
Anyway, I hereby hijack the thread. What I miss most are the live theatre performances unrecorded and forever lost. Kate Nelligan doing David Hare's Plenty The original Streetcar. Coward and whats-her-name.
Can you listen to Aaron Neville, Roth?
Love the Neville Brothers. Hate Aaron.
Contrary to Dsquared, I love live music. Maybe it is because I cannot distinguish the missed notes in a live performance. I enjoy the electricity of a live performance.
Truman Sparks is like that. They typically are horrible. But, they are amazing live. When they put on those masks and spew white stuff over the crowd.....there is nothing like it.
re: 246
For me it depends a lot on the genre of music and it goes more or less the opposite way from you.
I've seen dozens [many dozens, probably] of woeful rock/pop/indie/whatever gigs and only a handful of really shite jazz gigs. Because the shite rock gigs tended to be just shite from beginning to end -- played by incompetents* and with the sound mixed by someone literally tone deaf -- whereas even the not so great jazz gigs tended to have pretty great moments.
I've only been to ten or so gigs this year, but of those I've seen, the two that really stood out were both jazz gigs. Although neither was the conventional 'bass/drums/piano/horns' quartet/quintet lineup.
* and it's not always predictable from records which band will turn out this way ..
The way dsquared describes live jazz is the way Americans think of soccer.
I've seen Dizzy, Wynton, Dave Brubeck live. (separately)
I loved all of those concerts more than I enjoy listening to A Love Supreme or Kind of Blue on my stereo.
re: 251
Yeah, which is pretty much a reductio of his whole position.
Oh, I saw Old Crow Medicine Show this past year. Outstanding live. They probably screwed up some notes and screwed up some vocals, but I didnt notice or care.
Dsquared must just have a much more discerning ear than I do.
1. Hank Williams in the Shreveport years before he joined the Grand Ole Opry.
2. Slint.
249.3: Careful what you wish for, will.
The mentions of The Band remind me that I saw them live about ten years ago in a pretty small venue. I left halfway through. (Honestly, it was just too loud and I was in the front damn row, but it wasn't anything I really wanted to hear anyway.)
247: when I cook from scratch, it doesn't have unpredictable results, unless I fuck up
There you go, just so. And similarly, live jazz with good players is reliably good. I wouldn't even describe myself as a jazz fan anymore but I'd still count Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson and Dave Brubeck (separate shows) as not just some of the best live shows I've ever seen but some of the best music I've heard, period.
I also saw Radiohead live once. They reproduced the sound of their CD almost exactly, with virtuoso precision. It sucked. I might as well have been listening to a stereo. Spiritualized, who opened for them and did a lot of noodling and fucking around, blew them off the stage.
Next week in un-tantalizing non-mysteries: The Pre-Raphaelites: What's the Big Deal, Anyway?
I'd pay good money to see Elvis in Las Vegas, circa 1973. There is some serious kitsch value there. Of course, it would probably just make me sad...
re: 254
Dsquared must just have a much more discerning ear than I do.
Or different preferences vis a vis 'good'.
I'm incredibly intolerant of sloppy timing in music. Bum notes [fine], slightly off tuning [fine], playing out of time or not 'grooving' properly? Hate it. Other people have quite the opposite preference.
Dsquared seems intolerant of the longueurs you get in some live jazz.
3. Sam Cooke at the Harlem Square Club. Sweet jesus that album is good; I can hardly even imagine the awesomeness of being there.
Dsquared seems intolerant
Nattar needs an editor to shorten his work.
The way dsquared describes live jazz is the way Americans think of soccer.
don't even get me started on that fucking waste of time.
She does have a great voice, but a sad story.
Actually, it sounds like she had a rich and happy life. It just ended too soon.
http://www.evacassidy.org/eva/harr96.htm
I actually lived in DC for some of the years she was performing there, and I *really* wish I had seen her. That truly would have been the experience of wandering into a small club and being surprised by greatness.
182: Phil Ochs - pre-asshole period.
This existed?
That thought did occur to me. So pre-"intolerably toxic asshole" period. Precise dating of this will vary by observer.
263:Time can't be wasted, only unappreciated. Period. I have had great times in queues.
Walked the dogs in the park for two hours yesterday. Nothing happened.
Came home and was lucky enough to catch the beginning of L'Eclisse on one of the movie channels, and stayed thru the the bright white light. Criterion quality letterboxed. Gorgeous.
Can this thread like go all-meta about unstructured unedited experience not being more authentic? Whatever. I'm a hippie. Control freaks are fascists.
What am I gonna do today? Fuck if I know. Really. Probably nothing much, without gain or profit of any personal kind. Just picked up a book on ellipsis in language.
265:Fuck if I haven't taken all the Ochs off my harddrive. I think the concert I like is Montreal 66. All the songs for PotH were written and performed but not yet recorded. Could be 1968. I remember "Crucifixion" on acoustic guitar.
267:Flippanter will never realize what he did in comparing me to Simone Weil.
I mean, I could rake the leaves, but that would make feel proud of a job well done, get the approval of neighbors etc. I may do it anyway and see if I can avoid those self-satisfactions.
I will bring a higher asceticism to Unfogged.
Stellar shows I saw at the tiny-ass Cat's Cradle back in the 80s/early 90s: Sonic Youth on the EVOL and Sister tours, the Meat Puppets, Public Enemy (with Arrested Development and Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy), Butthole Surfers, Bad Brains, Sun City Girls, and probably a dozen different Superchunk and Polvo shows. The best show there that almost nobody else showed up for was 3 Mustaphas 3, who really threw down despite it.
Man, I really miss seeing live music.
My great regret is not seeing Psychotica play at the Cradle in the late '90s when there were friends with tickets, even if I can't stand the friends in question anymore. I figured, y'know, they'd be back some day. Oh well.
re: 269
I saw the Disposable Heroes in King Tut's around 1990. They were pretty great.
Dsquared is obviously trolling about live jazz, and I don't know why he's gotten so many serious responses.
A couple more that I thought of last night:
1970-1 Curtis Mayfield
Gil Scott-Heron
Early Bobby McFerrin
Bands mentioned in this thread that I would enthusiastically agree with:
The Who
Mamas and the Papas
The Band
Prince at First Avenue, pre Purple Rain, and the Replacements a few years later.
P-Funk
Jimmy Cliff
Townes Van Zandt (sober)
Nina Simone
Otis Redding
Hendrix
Stooges
early PJ Harvey
John Lee Hooker
Thelonius Monk
John Lee Hooker
That would be a fun show. Freddie King would also be great, thought probably louder than I would want.
Gil Scott-Heron
Seen him and he was OK, but if he hadn't been incoherently drunk (stoned?) he's have been a lot better.
Having said what I have said, for the most part I do agree with dsquared. The music is usually inferior live, and the social setting is distorting.
Tangential to topic story: On impulse I walked into a college production of the Stoppard's Inspector Hound At the moment the critic is killed on stahe, I was horrified:"Stoppard has snuck in, sort of metaphorically, the killing of an innocent audience member on stage." I was the only audience member not laughing, and I could see the non-active actors noticing me with sideways glances. Looking directly at me. I was a little pleased, and completely weirded out. Still am. I don't know if I got the play, or if everyone else got it, and I am clueless.
That experience would not have been possible reading the play, or watching it on TV. I mean, like going to a Ron Paul or Huckabee political rally. I have done such things.
And in general, social experiences probably cost more than they're worth . Yeah, you're drunk, surrounded by 10,000 Neil Diamond fans, and the music sounds fucking great. Don't trust it.
But I'm not sure.
272: I've got my eye on you, Islamofacist.
Scott-Heron reputedly has (or has had) a notorious smack habit. I don't know how far back that goes.
A good segue into a related topic, though: how about live shows you've seen that looked awesome on paper but sucked in real life? For me it's the Ramones, Blackalicious, and George Clinton & P-Funk.
Oh, and De La Soul. How could I forget that...
266
are you all alone 24/7?
you sound so detached
Slint were awesome live at Tomorrow Never Knows, playing Spiderland all the way through then unleashing a new jam they'd been working on. Great new song, too, really motorik.
I'm with dsquared on the Sex Pistols. When I went through a brief phase of liking original punk, my dad came in while I was listening to the Sex Pistols and, after recognizing the band, mentioned that they'd played a gig at his University of London bar back in the day (ULU?). My mind was blown, but he said they sucked.
And how could I forget the most unbelievable show that I could have ever seen:
Fela Kuti & Africa 70, around 1977-78
Right after "Zombie", "Shuffering and Schmiling", "Sorrow, Tears and Blood" with "Roforofo Fight" only 5 years old. His twenty wives providing the backup vocals and dozens of musicians beating every kind of percussion to match the groove of 15 minute songs. This is when he was damn near leading a coup in Nigeria, and being at one of his shows would've been wild. Only problem would be my complete honkitude making me a suspicious and possibly hated crowd member, but hey, I'll fantasize that risk away.
whoa. I had a dream a few nights ago; I encountered a long line of people (on an old, cobblestone, london-esque bridge on a foggy night, but that's not relevant) holding tickets. They were Mozart tickets. I mean, for Mozart himself. "Huh!" I thought. Thought he was dead. But no, merely 120 or so. The show was to be his last performance! How had I forgotten to get tickets? They were $500, I think. A lot of money, I thought, for my poor finances. But, a chance to see him perform! Last I remember of the dream, I was hoping they still had some tickets left.
I had, of course, completely forgotten about that dream until this post. thanks!
how about live shows you've seen that looked awesome on paper but sucked in real life? For me it's the Ramones, Blackalicious, and George Clinton & P-Funk.
I wouldn't envision Blackalicious being good live.
Not really any examples from my life. There was the time that "New Model Army" turned out to be Justin Sullivan playing the acoustic guitar and singing about the ocean and the trees, but I was very much not looking forward to seeing any 2004-vintage version of New Model Army to begin with.
Most of the heavy rock bands I saw in the late 80s were shit. Metallica, I saw three times and they were only half-decent once. Not really the awesome heaviosity I was expecting.
how about live shows you've seen that looked awesome on paper but sucked in real life?
Elvis Costello. I was so, so, so excited about the show and he was at the end of the tour, clearly tired of it all, and just going through the motions. That it was at the always sucktacular megacorporate Walnut Creek Amphitheater only heightened the incredible disappointment of the entire event.
One thing we haven't mentioned is that if any of these hypothetical concerts happened, none of us would be able to afford tickets, no matter how much we wanted to go.
OK, having finally had a chance to watch the Beatles' rooftop concert, I would give a LOT to have been walking by as it began, and much, much more to have access to an adjacent rooftop. Specifically, I wish I could have been the old man with the bowler hat and pipe who climbs an escape ladder to a roof to watch.
I also think that concert shows pretty well that, even after 3 years without performing live - and 7 years without performing in a rational situation - the Beatles were still a good, tight band. Not perfectly tight, obvs., but strong, and with a good energy that adds the little fills and extra riffs that make non-jammy concerts worth seeing.
the old man with the bowler hat and pipe who climbs an escape ladder to a roof to watch
Was he very clean?
I also think that concert shows pretty well that, even after 3 years without performing live - and 7 years without performing in a rational situation - the Beatles were still a good, tight band.
Well, even allowing for their (advanced) use of the recording technology at the time, it was still fairly standard practice at the time for the core of a track to be laid down as a 'live' take.
Well, even allowing for their (advanced) use of the recording technology at the time, it was still fairly standard practice at the time for the core of a track to be laid down as a 'live' take.
We're so used to stories about the atomized band, with only John and Paul on "Ballad of John & Yoko," only Paul on "Yesterday," no Ringo on several White Album tracks, that I think that we tend to forget this. Of course, the whole point of the Get Back sessions was to do it live, so this is them with some recent rehearsal of doing it this way.
Anyway, my main point was to counter Ben's (much) earlier assertion that they were a "studio band," and thus one not really worth seeing live.
I've loved the Beatles since before I can remember. I think that a miracle that let me see them would lead to an emotional breakdown of some sort.
I think that a miracle that let me see them would lead to an emotional breakdown of some sort.
Especially when ZombieLennon and ZombieHarrison attack the two surviving members for their brains.
294 made me smile and reminded me that I'd wanted to see more Richard Lester movies, but why'd you quote so much of the preceding comment?
230: *slapping forehead*
How could I forget Jazz at Massey Hall -- I wore the grooves out of that vinyl....IIRC, they cut the set short that night because Bird wanted to listen to a Jersey Joe Walcott heavyweight fight. Salt Peanuts!
attack the two surviving members for their brains.
You mean Paul and Ringo? Huh. Hard to pick a target.
I just got an email saying that the reconstituted Pogues are touring again. They will be in DC so I guess I'll go see them. I have low expectations for Shane's vocals.
Nobody said Pavement. Suddenly I feel so deliciously indie and elitist.
Oh, Pavement? People are still into them? Huh.
Pavement's dead and you can't see them anymore?
That's sad, I guess. They must have been pretty old.
Pavement is defunct. Malkmus lives in my town, where one sees him from time to time. The drummer in his new band is Janet Weiss. Cool.
They don't exist as a touring entity anymore, ST, which is the criterion.
306: because they all died of old age?
Sheesh feeling like JRoth over here.
I'm sorry, Tweety. Did you make a joke?
Internet I ask of you,
What are some good, reasonably priced computer speakers? I'm thinking of something in the $75-100 range.
Didn't we just do this? I've been pretty pleased with these, destroyer.
I think last time it was stereo speakers.
As it happens, I just now dropped into an acoustic cafe in my son's hipster-slacker neighborhood (Belmont), and it was like 1961 Bob Dylan himself was singing some new songs there (except that the guy played guitar better). It was an odd and not very pleasant experience, even though the cover was better than perfect.
Pavement is defunct. Malkmus lives in my town, where one sees him from time to time.
I went to a cajun restaurant in NYC and found Mark Ibold tending bar there. A Pavement-head friend tells me Ibold is (part-?)owner of the place.
I thought Malkmus's house was like a weird castle-looking thing. IT was mentioned in the article about how indie-rock musicians all move to Portland for some reason.
314: Huh. My next-door neighbor knows him; I'll have to ask about that.
I now remember that that article was in Slate.
I missed that piece; I know the house. My neighborhood is the second one he mentions. I haven't seen Brownstein and Weiss for a while, but they used to hang out with a friend of mine from school who lived 4-5 blocks from here. Meloy shops at my supermarket. I wouldn't recognize most of the rest, to be honest.
