Clips of live music from over the decades are an astounding wealth of individual time capsules – firstly because of the fate that almost seems like kismet, allowing that critical moment of a collection of minutes to be captured for posterity, benefiting the ages ahead, and secondly that we would end up having digital archives such as YouTube to hold and maintain so many of these historical high marks. It’s a remarkable show of the graduation of technology, even if it does raise concerns about what we might lose if YouTube or the internet itself were to ever be shuttered.
Thankfully, at this point in time, this computerized wine cellar of fine vintages remains ready and available for the ample pouring. Whether it’s because of stories behind the stage, music being newly introduced to ears that would soon be hungry to consume its tidal wave of impact, or even just artists being at the peak of their powers, there are performances we all remember, hold onto, and repeatedly draw from that remain significant. The ones that still blow us away remind us of why music is powerful and why we keep coming back for more of it.
10
Tracy Chapman, Fast Car (1988)
Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday Tribute Concert – Wembley Stadium
In 1988, a young Tracy Chapman took to the Wembley Stadium stage as part of a tribute concert celebrating the 70th birthday of famed political leader Nelson Mandela, armed with only an acoustic guitar and, unbeknownst to her at the time, about to help punch her ticket to fame. After playing a few songs earlier in the event, Chapman received an unexpected encore set after R&B legend Stevie Wonder had to suddenly back out of his planned time slot due to a technical problem.
Chapman was rushed back up to fill in, which is slightly evident with this signature performance of one of her best songs, “Fast Car.” You can initially hear some tension from nerves or the rush to the stage to replace Wonder or both in her voice, but Chapman quickly settles in, and the crowd follows as a jammed-full arena just stops to listen to her. While it’s one thing to see massive performers with massive stage designs holding large crowds in their hands, it’s arguably more jaw-dropping to see one person and one guitar enrapturing thousands in a trance.
It’s arguably more jaw-dropping to see one person and one guitar enrapturing thousands in a trance.
Not to mention, having the bone-aching weariness of the lyrics and sound of “Fast Car” in the mix was just icing on the cake. The introduction of the Mandela Concert quickly grew Chapman’s record sales, and helped to make her a defining figure to this day in the vein of great folk-rock singer-songwriters. This video was part of the beautiful beginning.
9
Queen, Hammer To Fall (1985)
Live Aid – Wembley Stadium
Three years prior to Tracy Chapman’s stripped-down performance of “Fast Car” at Wembley Stadium for the Mandela Concert, rock band Queen took the Wembley house down with a 20-minute full-band assault at the 1985 Live Aid benefit to raise money for victims of a famine disaster in Ethiopia. While Chapman won that day in 1988 acoustically, for Queen in ’85, it was all about bombastic, glittering power, especially with frontman Freddie Mercury at the top of every creative aspect that made him great.
The entire 20-minute set is not to be missed as one of the best in rock and roll’s storied history, but the song that perhaps best exemplifies the band’s dominance and control that day has to be “Hammer To Fall.” Just watching Mercury do a call-and-response razor-sharp belting of notes and seeing the audience’s pitch-perfect replies at the start here is something you have to see to believe. This moment is the very essence of controlling a crowd; these fans are absolutely eating out of Queen’s hand, and they’re getting the show of their lives.
8
Bob Dylan, Maggie’s Farm (1965)
Newport Folk Festival
One of the most watershed moments in the history of live performance, folk music, and rock and roll in general undoubtedly has to be when musician Bob Dylan plugged in and went electric at 1965’s Newport Folk Festival. The move struck up outrage from the folk music community at the time, but in hindsight, it has been viewed as Dylan at one of his most influential and rebellious punk rock phases, when he no longer played by the rules of the status quo.
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There’s no greater song to exemplify this than Dylan’s Newport Fest electric rave-up country-rock take on “Maggie’s Farm,” which literally feels like Dylan’s outright lyrical refusal to go along anymore with what the public wanted from him. Just hearing the rain of boos come down at the end of the clip for an icon of Dylan’s status almost feels surreal, but the magnitude of the moment is undeniable. Dylan was unabashedly going to go against the grain, and music’s direction would be forever changed because of it.
7
Nirvana, Breed (1992)
Live At Reading Festival – Reading, England
As Nirvana’s 1992 headlining set at the Reading Festival in Reading, England, approached, rumors followed the band persistently that lead man Kurt Cobain was in bad health due to varying factors like drug abuse, and the group would cancel, break up, etc. This speculation proved to be nothing more than just speculation, but Cobain and Nirvana decided to have some fun and poke humor at the situation as they finally took to the stage.
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Coming out wearing a hospital gown and wig and being brought out in a wheelchair, Cobain pretended to have difficulty standing up and began haltingly singing a song called “The Rose” before comically collapsing. He then got up and strapped on a guitar as Nirvana tore into Nevermind standout track “Breed” here on the way to a 25-song set containing every bit of the best of the band’s slightly haywire, pinballing grunge-rock energy. No emergency room time would be needed to get through this one.
6
Prince and The Revolution, Purple Rain (1985)
Live At Carrier Dome – Syracuse, NY
The musician and artist known as Prince was on one of the biggest hot streaks of his career by the time he’d come to play this 1985 live concert at Syracuse, New York’s Carrier Dome. His film Purple Rain had come out the year before along with an accompanying album of the same name, and the concerts he was playing to support the releases showed just as much fire and artistic intensity as what appeared on the screen and in the speakers.
This performance of the title track was no exception, as this 16-minute clip has a bit of lead-up, but once it gets going, Prince is practically floating across the stage and his six guitar strings. His famed band, The Revolution, is in fine form behind him, from their sound to their outfits, and even his opening acts like Vanity 6 and The Time make cameos in the backdrop. In the end, however, this is all about Prince at center stage, and he’ll have you seeing and feeling that “Purple Rain” by the time the final notes roll away.
5
Green Day, When I Come Around (1994)
Live At Woodstock Festival ’94
The 1994 edition of Woodstock was certainly one for the record books of the checkered history of the festival, mostly due to the amount of rain that turned the venue site west of Saugerties, New York, into a muddy bog. That, combined with an overcapacity crowd that overwhelmed festival security, led to some disorderly behavior, as well as the unflattering nickname “Mudstock.” But there were still some highlights when it came to the performances.
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Take punk rockers Green Day, for instance, who launched into some sharp cuts, including this video of “When I Come Around” from their album Dookie (released the same year). Even as mud is being thrown all around them, that doesn’t stop the group’s trademark sneering riffs from still working to their full effect. The band even gets in on the anarchy later on in the set, throwing mud back at the crowd and rolling around in it until finally leaving the stage. Truly, a “Mudstock” made for punk rockers.
4
Jay-Z, Wonderwall/99 Problems (2008)
Glastonbury Festival, England
In 2008, rapper Jay-Z became the first hip-hop artist to be selected to be the main headliner for Glastonbury Festival that year. Guitarist for the band Oasis Noel Gallagher was critical of the choice, stating that Glastonbury was traditionally a place for guitar-based music and that he felt hip-hop was the “wrong” selection to headline. Jay-Z chose to fire back at Gallagher at the start of his set, which is in this video.
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Walking out with a guitar over his shoulder, the rapper launches into a heavily tongue-in-cheek version of the Oasis hit “Wonderwall” before cutting into his trademark song “99 Problems.” From the humor of the opening to the AC/DC “Back in Black” riffing version of “99 Problems,” this is a perfect example of Jay at one of his performing pinnacles.
3
Jimi Hendrix, Wild Thing (1967)
Live At Monterey Pop Festival
The 1967 Monterey Pop Festival was a monumental turning point in the career of Jimi Hendrix. With his band The Experience in tow, Hendrix was returning from overseas to show an American audience what they’d missed the first time around when he’d left the US after experiencing sub-par popularity. This return was like a tsunami tidal wave of rock and roll wizardry that, to this day, still has very few comparisons.
Hendrix could certainly sing well enough and had a great backing band to boot, but what he could do with a guitar was like revving the engine on a fine Italian sports car. He made those six strings sound like a gun going off, and on this gig-closing cover of The Troggs song “Wild Thing,” Hendrix the magician pulled out his biggest trick yet. Lighting the guitar on fire, he proceeded to still get a perfectly grinding, groaning noise from the ax before smashing it up.
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Another important reason to have these video reminders of music performances from the past is just to know for a fact that these artists existed and were this talented. Watching Hendrix feels like seeing the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot doing an extended tap dance routine; it seems mythical, but the reality is magic in action.
2
Janis Joplin, Ball & Chain (1967)
Live At Monterey Pop Festival
Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 was quite a time for breakout performances. In addition to Hendrix, this was also the year that a member of the band Big Brother and the Holding Company named Janis Joplin would receive her first well-deserved taste of notoriety. Getting her first chance to be front and center on a big stage outside of being known regionally in San Francisco, Joplin would let loose with a wild, unbridled rasping voice that would take the whole festival by surprise.
Like fellow 27 Club singer Hendrix, Joplin would only be around a short time, but she took those moments to burn as brightly as possible. On “Ball & Chain,” Joplin literally almost comes out of her shoes as she’s pouring so much pure, passionate soul into every bluesy note that she’s singing out. There’s no perfect pitch or studio gimmicks here; this is just what Janis Joplin did in the brief moments we had her. She pours herself out into this performance you must see to believe.
1
Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now (2022)
Live At Newport Folk Festival
The 2022 return of singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell to the Newport Folk Festival stage felt like something akin to a revelation. In 2015, the famed artist suffered a brain aneurysm, and it initially seemed uncertain if Mitchell would survive it, let alone return to music, live or otherwise. Over time, however, Mitchell slowly began to play music with other musician friends (called “Joni Jams”), and even began to re-learn the guitar.
The culmination of Mitchell’s return was this surprise slot at 2022’s Newport Folk Fest with “Joni Jam” friends including singers Brandi Carlile, Lucius, and Wynona Judd. No song arguably hits harder during the set than this video for Mitchell’s iconic “Both Sides Now,” which shouldn’t leave a dry eye in the house. Something about Mitchell singing it aged in her late 70s with a deeper, jazzier, and more matured voice, and after her medical issues just reaches new emotional levels. Prepare your feelings.
