Live acts: which ones consistantly scale the heights of genius?

Stevepage

bluechargeboy said:

DEVIN TOWNSEND, consistently amazing and I am not easy to please with live bands. Saw him perform with the flu and still rocked it.

Oh yes. I was at The Retinal Circus. Still the best show I've ever been to.

EricTheWeary

I'm struggling to think of many bands ( at least bands you may have heard of)I've seen more than once and of those who were consistently great. Some of those already named I'm fairly doubtful of : Ritchie Blackmore was notably inconsistent ( I've seen him twice and the one was certainly poor), Status Quo performed sub standard gigs by their own admission for years, Coverdale lost his voice years ago but insists on carrying on ( same with Gillan who I've seen three times and ought to have retired years ago). I saw Phil Lynott with Lizzy and Grand Slam and thought he was truly wonderful both times yet I'm fairly sure he performed terrible gigs when out of his head. 
I saw Garth Brooks once and suddenly got why a stubby man who sang rather pappy songs was such a success as he completely owned a huge stadium. So I suspect he was consistently great live. 

Gassage

Glenn Tilbrook doing his one  man show is pretty amazing. And very funny.

Skipped

The Who were consistently great in their pomp. And better than most even when they were much older.

Possibly the best live sound I have ever heard both in a small venue and outdoors (Oval Cricket ground). Like listening to a pristine recording of mayhem on a really good hi-fi.

Bucket

Turbowolf - for the tunes and the fact they go fucking mental live.

And also Heck (formerly known as Baby Godzilla), who are utterly insane on stage (and throughout the rest of the venue) no matter the size of the show. "Live wire" doesn't do them justice.

Dopesick

Napalm Death

Never seen them put on a bad show.

Blueingreen

'Genius' seems overkill to describe live rock or pop performances. 

Obviously they can involve very high levels of craftsmanship and the music can be played very well and with energy and flair (or not).  But the kind of creative work that might deserve to be called 'genius' is surely very rare and will almost always have happened at the time the music was originally conceived.

I'd probably accept that, say McCartney or Stevie Wonder are geniuses and both put on great live shows but the genius isn't in the live shows.  Of course you might feel in the presence of genius at their live shows, but that's a different point.

Different where a lot of the music is largely improvised - I'd regard Miles Davis's version of "My Funny Valentine" on the album of the same name as genius and that happened in real time in front of an audience.  But I can't think of many examples in rock or pop.

Snap

consistently brilliant live act? Nine Inch Nails. Gobsmackingly pap your pants brilliant every time.

olafgarten

Jack White is great live, especially his newer stuff where he is using bluesgrass instruments with heavier rock music. Also the White Stripes songs with more instruments are amazing. 

Moss

Nils Frahm is always beautifully moving

lasermonkey

I'm gonna have to go with I Am Kloot. Whenever I've seen them, the performances have been spellbinding. They've always given it their all.
 Not only that, but John Bramwell's inter-song tales are worth the price of admission alone.

impmann

Rush.

Never fail to amaze, even when their sound guy is deaf/asleep/dead like on the last tour.

impmann

impmann said:

Rush.

Never fail to amaze, even when their sound guy is deaf/asleep/dead like on the last tour.

EDIT: Just seen @Gassage mention Neil Finn on the first page. I've seen him and his brother more times than I care to think about - he is incredible and his voice (even with a cold!) is fantastic. I've taken loads of different people with me to see him and Crowded House, and every one of them came away saying how incredible he/they are. Neil jokes that Crowded House are everyone's third fave band... but just won't admit it.

RocknRollDave

impmann said:

Rush.

Never fail to amaze, even when their sound guy is deaf/asleep/dead like on the last tour.

Agreed. Geddy's voice is showing some strain these days, but even so they remain consistent.

The pre-/inter-/ post-set films are worth it alone

therose789

These wizards...



Seen them a couple of times and they are so, so tight. 

Rumor has it that that the drummer flew out to this session/album recording the day before having never heard any of the songs. 

Also, +1 for Rush, seen them a couple of times and they have been very consistent. The FOH engineer however hasn't. 

therose789

I have to say, while i'm not their biggest fan, I have seen the Foo Fighters a number of times now and they always seem to put on a great, entertaining show. Well done, lads. 

BigMonka

therose789 said:

I have to say, while i'm not their biggest fan, I have seen the Foo Fighters a number of times now and they always seem to put on a great, entertaining show. Well done, lads. 

+1 the Foos are fantastic live - much more energetic and entertaining than their latest albums would have you believe.

BigMonka

On similar lines I'd say that Coldplay are astonishing live. They put on such an amazing performance it really sucks you in to the moment, even if you're not a fan of their music.

impmann

BigMonka said:

On similar lines I'd say that Coldplay are astonishing live. They put on such an amazing performance it really sucks you in to the moment, even if you're not a fan of their music.

Yes, a big +1 from me on that. I've seen a couple of recent live performances recently from Glasto and somewhere else (I forget) and they were really good. Captivating is a good word.

stickyfiddle

+1 for Coldplay, Muse and Radiohead. Their recent recorded output may not be as good as their very best, but live they're all up there with the all time greats.

REM were also one of the very best nights I've had with music. I miss them.