Basically no shows are happening due to the coronavirus outbreak (although some performers are doing live broadcasts instead), but if you already feel like seeing a show, or just need to a brief distraction from the madness of the world right now, luckily there is YouTube which has an incredible range of live footage from all the history of pop music, movie clips of concerts, TV performances and more. professional filming footage, to tons of videos shot by show fans. If you’re looking for a place to start, we’ve picked out some of our favorites. Here are five more:
The Kinks “In Koncert” 1973
Recorded during the Preservation Act 1 era, this Kinks “koncert” features many classics: “Victoria”, “Devoted Fashion Follower”, “Waterloo Sunset”, “You Really Got Me”, “Lola”, “Village Green Preservation Society” – which are redeveloped with the swampy, brassy arrangements of this band’s early ’70s era. [Bill Pearis]
The Jam on ‘Follies’, 1980
Ray Davies was a hero to Paul Weller, and The Jam’s cover of “David Watts” by The Kinks is a classic. They play that one here in this 1980 concert filmed for Belgian television that features one of the longest ad intros ever made for a short interview segment. You can jump straight to the 5 minute mark to access the good stuff, including jam jams (sorry) like “Going Underground”, “Start” and “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight”. The band are tight as their pants and while Weller gets the most attention, bassist Bruce Foxton could be quite the maniac on stage, as seen here. [Bill Pearis]
Slint @ Paradise in Boston, MA – 04/29/2014
Slint broke up before they could tour to support their latest groundbreaking album – 1991 Spider land – but post-rock / post-hardcore legends have come together several times since and have proven the Spider land songs can sound as fascinating live as they do on an album. The last time they filmed was in 2014, and here’s a really nice black and white video of their show in Boston on this tour. (This show was actually exactly six years ago, yesterday.) They played all of the songs from Spider land (“Don, Aman”) and “Ron” from their also excellent debut album in 1989 Hair removal, and they looked fantastic doing it. [Andrew Sacher]
Weezer @ Bizarre Festival in Cologne, Germany – 08/17/1996
Before Rivers Cuomo was disappointed in Pinkerton, before Matt Sharp left and before they became a band whose current biggest hit was a cover of Toto’s “Africa”, Weezer was an energetic and hungry band armed with an arsenal of great songs, and this video from the 1996 Bizarre Festival takes you right back to that point. The setlist is shared between Blue album and Pinkerton, and the band looks amazing and they really look like they have something to prove. It’s easy to get tired of what they’re doing these days, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of a video like this. [Andrew Sacher]
Hop Along @ Saint Vitus – 02/24/2014
Hop Along just got better and better as it went on, but it’s a treat to revisit this 2014 show at Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus – a much smaller venue than what they usually play now – where they presented in material preview of the excellent 2015 Closed painted. They also ripped up many favorites from their 2012 breakthrough. Be disowned, with the crowd singing to the rhythm of Frances Quinlan’s unmistakable howl on the set of “Tibetan Pop Stars”. We were proud to co-host this show, and we’ve posted photos of it as well. [Amanda Hatfield]
For more of our favorite live videos, head here.
