Basically, no shows are taking place due to the coronavirus outbreak (although some artists are doing live streams instead), but if you’re already watching a show, or just need a ‘a brief distraction from the craziness of the world right now, luckily there’s YouTube which has an incredible range of live footage from all over pop music history, film clips from concerts, TV performances and live music. other professionally shot footage, to tons of fan-shot videos from shows. If you’re looking for a place to start, we’ve selected some of our favorites. Here are five more:
IDLES @ The Bataclan 08/12/2018
IDLES released a live album last year which was recorded during their December 8, 2018 concert at Parisian club Le Bataclan and the band have now released the full video of that concert. It includes then-seasonal coverage of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” a post-show interview with frontman Joe Talbot, and the general good-natured mayhem you’ve come to expect from an IDLES show. [Bill Pearis]
House of Love at Lexington 11/13/2013
Before the coronavirus canceled all shows, House of Love was scheduled to kick off its first North American tour in nearly 30 years tonight (5/4) in Boston. Hopefully it gets rescheduled, but in the meantime, here’s House of Love live in London in 2013, around the time they released She Paints Words in Red which was their first album in eight years (and newest to date ). In addition to the songs on this disc, there is no shortage of classics: “Christine”, “Shine On”, “I Don’t Know Why I Love You”, “Love in a Car”, “The Beatles and the Stones”. ,” “Destroy the Heart” – and the interaction between founding members Guy Chadwick and Terry Bickers still crackles. [Bill Pearis]
Quicksilver Courier Service in Sonoma County – 1970
It’s finally starting to get consistently warm here in New York, and the warm weather always makes me want to listen to some west coast psychedelic rock — it’s music that sounds for the outdoors, punchy but also relaxing, and you can just feel the heat passing. Quicksilver Messenger Service hails from the same Bay Area scene as the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, although they never get as much credit as those bands, which is a total shame. This video (which is labeled as 1969 but which commentators seem to agree is actually from the early 1970s) shows that they could be about as captivating on stage as their most famous friends, not least thanks to the double guitar attack of the late John Cipollina and Gary. Duncan, who had one of the most distinct sounds in the entire Bay Area scene. This line-up of the band also includes Dino Valenti on vocals and Nicky Hopkins (who has also played with Jefferson Airplane, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, etc.) on keyboards, and the video is high quality, with lots of images of the dancing hippie crowd that really transport you to that era. [Andrew Sacher]
Minus the Bear @ Metro Theater in Sydney – 09/02/2008
We lack all gigs right now, but we also miss Minus the Bear, who broke up in 2018 after 17 great years. Their math-emo-indie-dance-prog sound was unlike any other band, and they were as good live as they were on record. All eras of their career are good for one reason or another, but here’s some high-quality, multi-camera, full-length gig footage of them in early 2008 when they were backing ice planet, the album that most fans believe somehow ended the band’s “classic” era. They were in great shape at this show as they went through favorites from all their debuts, like “Burying Luck”, “Drilling”, “Spritz!!! Spritz!!!”, “Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo, “”The Fix”, “Knights”, and more. [Andrew Sacher]
Belle and Sebastian @ Maison De La Radio, Paris – 05/10/1998
This Parisian set from October 1998 was released as a bootleg called “The Black Sessions” in 2003, and it’s a great look into the band’s early days. Stuart David and Isobel Campbell are on hand, and the setlist is a mix of tracks from their early EPs, If you feel sinisterand The Boy with the Arabic Bracelet. I loved seeing B&S grow into an energetic and dynamic live band, but this throwback to their softer, sweeter times is really, really special. Amanda Hatfield
And here’s a photo gallery of IDLES at Brooklyn Steel:
For more of our favorite live videos, head here.
