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:
The Clash @ Capitol Theatre, NJ 8/3/1980
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s Saturday night in New Jersey,” Joe Strummer mused to the crowd at Pasaic’s The Capitol Theater, which was in the palm of his hand just before launching into “Clash City Rockers”. The Clash had just been released London calling in the US a few months ago when they played that show, and that record looms large here, with the lion’s share of his brand new tracks – ‘Spanish Bombs’, ‘Lost in the Supermarket’, ‘Clampdown’ , “The Guns of Brixton”, “Train in Vain”, the title track and many more – including “Police and Thieves”, “Stay Free”, “Bank Robber”, Armageddon Time”, “White Man in Hammersmith Palais”, etc. This set is made up of all the hits, The Clash sounds great (and looks pretty cool too). [Bill Pearis]
Big Audio Dynamite @ Teatro Carlos Gomes, Brazil 1987
Just seven years later, Mick Jones, fired from The Clash in 1983, was shooting the second album for his new band Big Audio Dynamite. (A record that was co-produced and co-written by the guy who gave it the axe, Joe Strummer.) A true ’80s pop hybrid, BAD embraced sample, hip hop, reggae and more, and featured the many talents of Don Letts (still one of the coolest guys on planet earth). They dated a bit, but there’s no denying that ‘Medicine Show’ was the first spaghetti western, not to mention ‘The Bottom Line’, ‘C’mon Every Beatbox’ and ‘BAD’. Brazil loves to dance and this crowd was no exception. [Bill Pearis]
The Hold Steady @ Hovefestival in Norway – 06/26/2007
The Hold Steady were on a roll before quarantine, with a great new album and their sporadic weekends which are also still great, and since the start of quarantine they’ve been releasing recordings of these weekends on Bandcamp and donating a portion of the profits to the places where they were recorded. It’s a very cool thing they do, and it reminds you how great a live band The Hold Steady is always, but for today’s live video roundup, we’re going back in the time when The Hold Steady supported Boys and Girls in America. The Hold Steady are a band you really need to see live – they and frontman Craig Finn in particular display a lot of showmanship – and this pro-shot video really makes it feel like you’re right there with them, rocking with all the cheering fans in the crowd. [Andrew Sacher]
Cream @ Royal Albert Hall – 11/26/1968
Shortly before lockdown, Eric Clapton took part in an all-star tribute to his former Cream bandmate Ginger Baker (who died in 2019, five years after Jack Bruce), and it’s great that Clapton is still able to make things like that today, but there’s nothing like Cream in their heyday. It was their last gig (before they briefly reunited at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1993 and for four shows at the same venue in 2005), and it was the only full ’60s gig the band ever released on video. It’s a stunning piece of history that really does a great job of showing how much “power” Cream has put into the “power trio”, and it shows how psychedelic and jammy they could be on stage too ( there are super drops of oil splashes used). It’s peppered with interviews, which are also great to see, but if you’re only here for the live footage, there’s no way you’ll be disappointed. [Andrew Sacher]
Spoon @ Rubber Gloves, Denton, TX – 09/10/2002
This show in the state of Texas took place about two weeks after the release of Spoon’s fourth album, kill the moonlight. With the excellent (and essential) girls can say having been released on Merge the previous year, Spoon were still in the midst of one of their most exciting eras in the early 2000s, and it’s a treat to watch them perform a killer setlist on a much smaller stage. than the ones they tend to play these days. [Amanda Hatfield]
Check out photos from The Hold Steady in New Jersey last year:
For more of our favorite live videos, head here.
