Cities have begun to reopen (NYC is in the early stages of doing so) and some people are finding socially-distant ways to put on concerts, but the world of live entertainment as we know it is still far from back to normal. In addition to watching the many livestreams that happen every day, one thing we've been turning to in these concert-less times is live concert footage, and thankfully there’s YouTube which has an amazing array of live footage from throughout the history of pop music, from clips from concert films, TV performances and other pro-shot footage, to tons of fan-shot video from shows. If you’re looking for a place to start, we’ve been picking some of our favorites. Here are five more:
Noname - Boiler Room x Budweiser Cape Town Live Set - 2017
Noname has been making headlines this week for discussing the protests and fighting oppression in a lengthy conversation with Boots Riley and because of that J Cole song, which makes now as good a time as any to remember that she has two great albums out and that she's also a fantastic live artist. At her shows, she's joined by a real-deal jazz band, and the result is a concert that's just as much an excellent jazz performance as it is an excellent hip hop performance. This intimate Boiler Room set from October 2017 is no exception. [Andrew Sacher]
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Marvin Gaye on 'The Midnight Special' 1974
Taped for NBC series The Midnight Special, Marvin Gaye greeted 1974 with this fantastic show filled with classics, opening with "What's Going On" and including "Let's Get it On," "Inner City Blues," "How Sweet it Is," "Trouble Man," and more. Though he was supposedly suffering from a bad cold, Marvin still just oozes starpower and puts on a hell of a show, complete with a small army of backup singers and musicians. And he could still outsing anyone, sniffles or not. [Bill Pearis]
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Trash Talk @ House of Vans at SXSW 2013
Hardcore maniacs Trash Talk were gonna release their Kenny Beats-produced EP Squalor on June 5 but they delayed the release "out of respect for and so the members of Trash Talk could participate in the ongoing activism." Instead, it's coming out this Friday (6/19), and judging by the killer first single, you should not sleep on it. As good as Trash Talk's records are, though, they're a band who beg to be seen live. They're totally nuts on stage, and the members usually end up somewhere off stage too, either in the crowd or hanging from the rafters or both. Here's a typically awesome live set they played at SXSW 2013. [Andrew Sacher]
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Prefab Sprout @ Alabamahalle, Munich 1985
Fresh off what is generally regarded as their finest hour, 1985's Steve McQueen (or Two Wheels Good in the US), Prefab Sprout are in fine, sprightly, sophisticated form on this German live music series. Paddy McAlloon's voice sounds great and so does the band, who are just a little more in "rock mode" than on thier slickly produced records (see the country-ish closer "Faron Young.") High point of the set comes dead in the middle with a run of "Bonny," "When Love Breaks Down" and the band's debut single, "Lions in My Own Garden (Exit Someone)." [Bill Pearis]
Aimee Mann released her debut solo album in 1993, but she was active as a musician before that as vocalist and bassist for Boston new wave band 'Til Tuesday, including writing their 1985 hit "Voices Carry." This video looks in on 'Til Tuesday two years later in Daytona Beach, FL, where Aimee's voice is recognizable as ever as she fronts the band. [Amanda Hatfield]
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Check out pictures of Noname at Brooklyn Steel in 2019 in the gallery below.
