I really only like listening to certain live albums or performances. I often get annoyed at the loud crowd screaming over the songs and singing along badly, and the singer changing up the lyrics, encouraging the audience to sing along or showboating too much, and all too often the sound quality is awful like it was recorded on someone’s cheap smartphone, and makes your ears bleed. I typically prefer studio recordings above all else. But there are some live performances that sound as good as or even better than the studio versions. It can be nice to hear slightly different versions of the songs you love too, just to add some variety. So when I am in the mood to stream a live performance on YouTube, these are the videos I most often listen to. This list is destined to grow of course. Some are bands performing in front of a sold out arena, others are low budget affairs recorded in the artist’s home. It’s a long list, spanning many genres, so I’ll just say a few short things about each choice.
Light Asylum - Live on KEXP
Light Asylum is a band I miss a lot. They burst onto the scene around 2013, put out one album and some singles, and nothing since. This was a performance they did for the radio station KEXP. It sounds just as good as the studio versions, but with the added character of being played live. “IPC” is still such a danceable tune that I’ve never tired of after all these years.
Kraftwerk - Minimum Maximum
This one is a long one, a two-parter. Here Kraftwerk plays the biggest hits of their discography, accompanied by a lot of good production value. By the 21st century Kraftwerk finally had the technology to make fully realized versions of their songs they probably would have made if they could back in the 1970s. And rather than becoming quickly outdated updates like what George Lucas did to the original Star Wars trilogy, these versions improve on many elements, and exist alongside the originals rather than attempting to replace them. Also helping is that Kraftwerk concerts don’t really lend themselves to mosh pits and screaming crowds, so you can focus on the music like a studio version.
Omnia - Pagan Folklore
This is a relaxing concert that’s nice to put on as you’re going to sleep. If I’m in the right mood for it I do like listening to new age pagan folk music like this. This is another one that has a high production value, like it was produced for a DVD. It’s inter-spliced with little introductions to each song by the singers, giving the whole thing a certain charm.
System of a Down - Live in Yerevan
I was at this concert, and I’ll be telling my grandkids about it one day. In April 2015 System of a Down came to Armenia for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, and put on probably their best concert ever. It was a magical night. They set up right in Republic Square at the center of Yerevan, and as they played a powerful thunderstorm started and just added to the epicness. I just happened to be in Armenia doing my internships teaching English with Birthright Armenia at the time, and got to go to the concert. I was out at the edge of the crowd, so I’ve never been able to find myself in this video. But I was there, I promise.
Ministry on Broadway, Chicago, Il. (1982)
Synthpop Ministry is best Ministry. Here’s a pretty good quality recording of one of their earliest concerts in 1982. I find that not most live performances from before the internet age have the best sound quality unless they were being purposely recorded for an album or home video, but this one sounds good. And despite Al Jourgensen’s distaste for his own early work, he recently remastered the audio of this concert and put it up on Bandcamp. It’s a worthwhile purchase.
Glaare - April 17, 2018
I really love the sound of this band. They only had one album at the time so this concert is short and sweet, but it sounds as good as if not sometimes better than the studio versions. The singer puts more passion into tracks like “My Love Grows in Darkness”, one of my favorite songs. It’s music you can escape with.
Mortiis - Live at the Place, September 11, 2018
This concert was from shortly after Mortiis returned to playing dungeon synth. I went to one of his concerts in early 2020 and it was more or less exactly like this, so when I want to relive that night I listen to this. It’s darkly relaxing. Great background music at least. Especially if you’re playing Dungeons and Dragons or something like that. Or even if you just want to do a dark meditation.
Hante - Live at St. Vitus August 7, 2018
Hante is a French coldwave solo act by Helene de Thoury. In this performance she plays in front of a small audience, but it’s professionally shot. She plays all my favorite Hante songs in this performance. It’s impressive in this performance that she does everything herself, both sing and work the synthesizer. She makes it look so natural and easy. It’s a bit similar to the Mortiis concert above, since he did all the work himself in that video too, although he wasn’t also singing. My neurodivergent brain wouldn’t be able to multitask like that.
Minuit Machine - Sainte Rave
On a related note, here’s a concert by Minuit Machine, another band featuring Helene de Thoury. This was a virtual concert that was live streamed in December 2020. The audio alone rivals that of the studio versions of the songs, but the dark, ominous setting of the concert just adds to the whole atmosphere, like they set up a rave in an abandoned cathedral. In fact it was so good that they’re selling a recording of the concert on Bandcamp too. It would definitely be cool to have this on vinyl.
Theatre of Tragedy- Last Curtain Call (2010)
This was the final farewell of the legendary gothic metal band Theatre of Tragedy, the last concert they played before they split up. So you can imagine they were giving it their all for this one, and it was professionally recorded due to its importance. It’s very emotionally-charged. You even see some of the audience members tearing up at a few points, as they witness the band’s swan-song. But it was a high note to go out on.
The Cure - Trilogy (2002)
You can’t go wrong with The Cure playing all of their best albums live in their entirety. They play Pornography, Disintegration, and Bloodflowers. I also have this one on DVD, a super lucky thrift store find. It’s over three hours, but well worth listening to, even if only in parts.
Alice in Chains - Live at the Moore, 1991
This is a great showcase of early Alice in Chains, from after the release of Facelift but before their most famous album Dirt. They were less dark at the time, and as you can probably guess I prefer their darker stuff on later albums, but there are some top notch renditions of “Man in the Box” and “Love Hate Love” here, a couple of my favorites. It’s nice to hear Layne Staley be conversational with the audience, it feels like he’s talking to you. Sounds like someone who would be great to hang out with.
Alice in Chains - MTV Unplugged
This was mainly going to be one entry per band, buuuut these two concerts are both so good, and different enough from one another. This legendary performance came right at the end of Layne Staley’s tenure with the band, giving them a larger discography to draw from than the other live performance I included, and in many ways represented the end of an era. Alice in Chains would go on to release two more songs before Staley’s death, but this concert really did seem like the last hurrah. Not long after this Layne Staley was in no condition to tour. You get a very different energy from the acoustic versions of many of these songs. Dark, relaxing, and beautiful. And when Staley flubs his lines during “Sludge Factory” and yells out “FUCK!”, only to be consoled by his bandmate and friend Jerry Cantrell, it actually kind of puts a human face on the band. I probably would be flubbing my lines left and right if it were me.
You have to find a playlist to watch the whole thing on YouTube, no one has it as just one video.
Nirvana - MTV Unplugged
Can’t mention Alice in Chains Unplugged without mentioning Nirvana Unplugged too. Hits a lot of the same energetic notes that the Alice in Chains one does. Most people who listen to alternative rock will have at least heard Nirvana’s rendition of David Bowie’s “The Man who Sold the World” from this concert, which received a lot of radio play in the 1990s as I recall. It is interesting that Kurt Cobain chose to include a lot of covers, and throw some folk and blues songs in there, while “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is nowhere to be heard. My favorite performance here is “Something in the Way”, with that dreary cello in the background. Much as it would for Alice in Chains, this concert ended up being something of a final farewell for Nirvana too, recorded less than a year before Kurt Cobain’s death.
Type O Negative - Symphony for the Devil
I actually have this one on DVD too. It starts with a bunch of funny clips from Type O Negative fans, and also includes the humorous antics of the bandmates. Type O Negative has a certain brand of humor you’re either going to get or not get at all. If you just want to put a live show on and listen to music in the background of whatever you’re doing it might not be the best since the songs are inter-spliced with the band goofing off backstage, but it’s entertaining if you feel like watching the band. The music itself is great too, of course. It’s performed in front of a huge audience. A bit heavier sometimes than the studio versions. But Peter Steele’s soothing baritone voice is just as good live.
Statiqbloom- Live for Strict Tempo, July 9, 2020
This was the livestream that got me into Statiqbloom. I had heard the track “Thin Hidden Hand” before this, but the livestream was what made me a fan. It is best listened to from beginning to end as one single work. The songs all blend into one another, maintaining a consistent dark energy throughout. I also like some of the extra voice samples that were added to the songs that weren’t on the studio versions. It has more of a raw feel than the studio versions too.
Grey Gallows - Luna Negra/ Cold Transmission
Grey Gallows is along my favorite Greek bands. This performance is just the duo performing in what looks to be their home, but that just leaves no interference from a pesky crowd. I like these simplistic performances. You still get a different feel for the songs. For example, the singer puts a little more passion into his singing at some points, such as in the song “Enemy”. At 20+ minutes it’s on the shorter side, but they manage to squeeze in their best hits.
Skinny Puppy, Halloween 1986
It’s kind of hard to find live performances from this long ago that sound good, but it was produced for home video, so it passes the test. I was less than a year old when this concert happened. To think I could have been listening to Skinny Puppy all my life, but only discovered them a few years ago. Pity.
Carnal Machinery - Luna Negra Livestream
This livestream is short and sweet, with three songs packed into a little over thirteen minutes, but it’s the perfect sampler of Carnal Machinery, a dark and aggressive synth-punk act. I especially love this version of the song “Voices”, with those voice samples at the beginning adding a layer of schizophrenia to the track that is missing on the studio version.
Molchat Doma - Taksirat Festival 2020
This performance perfectly encapsulates the gloomy post-punk sound of Molchat Doma. Here they go through all their biggest hits, and since it was produced for TV and wasn’t in front of a big crowd it has optimal sound quality. As a result though it doesn’t really differ heavily from the studio versions, other than being a bit more echoing. Still a good mix to put on.
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