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Greatest live bands
MLTs “Live At The Cavern” is by far the best live album I’ve ever heard. The energy and passion Mona and Lisa play with is absolutely infectious and there is no one else I’d rather see live in person than Mona and Lisa on this planet, past, present and future. Their musical prowess on stage is the best of the best, not because of theatrics and special effects like so many bands rely on, but rather pure emotion grabbing energy, on stage charisma and captivating musicianship and singing. Very few can come across on stage like Mona and Lisa can. Top notch live performance.
Mona and Lisa have been fortunate enough to perform on the big stage in front of 10s of thousands at Glastonbury with Steve Harley, and I can’t wait for when they will be the main event at Glastonbury.
Here are two of my faves from the Live At The Cavern show.
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27 Replies
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In that sprit of great live bands, here is a fun video of some of the other great live bands from the past. What do you think of this list? Any others you would add or delete?
What is your fave MLT Live At the Cavern song? Going with all of them is good, but it’s more fun if you can articulate a specific one(s) that stand out the most.
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“Do we even have to explain this?” ROFL!!! Can’t argue with that list, but I would add Yes, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and (yes, I’m serious) Peter, Paul, and Mary.
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I’ll second that PP&M vote, Roger. I saw them live three times in the 90’s. They could play to a crowd of thousands and somehow make it feel like an intimate campfire singalong.
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3 times? Wow. Fortunate. Totally, right…they made the whole audience a part of the performance and even though it wasn’t the same kind of “electrifying” as Def Leppard, there was still some kind of binding energy.
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Yes, I was very fortunate to be living in Providence, RI, where Mary had family, so they did a lot of shows there. On one occasion she announced that she had a new grandchild, and she held up a door-sized blowup of a baby photo for the audience to “aww” over. A unique bonding experience indeed!
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Hi Jung, of course I really like all the performances of Mona & Lisa at the Cavern Club. But three pieces have particularly impressed me:
1) “I saw her standing there”. That’s certainly because I just like this early song. Simple and straight out. This song fits very well into the atmosphere of the Cavern Club. There was a double LP of the Beatles “The Beatles live at the star club, Hamburg 1962“ many years ago. The song is also played there. Poor recording but great live atmosphere. The corresponding video clip of Mona & Lisa that I found is unfortunately upside down, so I do not set this one here. Maybe there is also a good recording of the performance.
2) “You’re gonna lose that girl”. A song that I got to know very early and that I have taken to heart to this day. Great performance.
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3)”I feel fine”. Even if Mona and Lisa “only” play the accompaniment, I find it very original that they have added a bassitin who plays the bass guitar with left hand. Like Paul once did. Wonderful.
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Now that just might be something I’d fly to England for. If that ever becomes possible again.
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me too
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These are my fav’s from The Cavern ClubThese chicks rock!This is the MLT theme song for me -
Jurgen, “You’re Going To Lose That Girl”, I believe is a favorite of many here, and the video that got them hooked on MLT. That “I Feel Fine” video is great. Here is MLTs “I Saw Her Standing There” from when they were in Austria. So well played, the band is so tight, and incredible singing. Those Beatles harmonies and highs were nailed with perfection. Whenever I hear a Beatles cover by anyone, I want to go listen to the original version by the Beatles, but when I hear and MLT Beatles cover, I am thoroughly and completely satisfied, and often I don’t want to go back to the Beatles original version because I enjoy the refreshed MLT interpreted version so much. Oh yeah Nowhere Man!
JP, love the awesome guitar work Lisa does in “Sunshine Superman”, and when it comes to their originals like “When We’re Together”, in the Live at the Cavern album, it fits right in there with all the great classics, which is a testament to Mona and Lisa’s song writing talent. Someone new to MLT seeing them for the first time at the Cavern would think their original was just a lesser known Beatles gem.
David, you saw Peter, Paul and Mary three times! Just based on the videos you shared of them here, I can imagine their live shows would be quite incredible.
Roger, agree Yes, Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, Peter Paul and Mary all belong on the list of the best. I was disappointed in the list that the Beatle wasn’t on there. Although they did not do the 2 hours long concerts with a huge production and sound, but if you look at any of their concerts from the 60s, the visceral impact they had on their fans says it all and I think is incomparable.
A little tidbit: The Beatles were the first band to do a concert in a massive sports stadium. They started it. Before the Beatles, all rock/pop live concerts were done in small theaters, gymnasiums, and bars. Never in a huge sports stadium. Their 1965 North American concert tour for the first time involved venues in all the major sports arenas across the US, kicking off at Shea Stadium in front of 55,000 fans. The all time highest grossing and largest attendance rock concert ever at the time. They were pioneers, and all who came after, were following in their footsteps, and what big footsteps to fill.
Really enjoyed reading everyone’s input and listening to MLT live performances that are peoples favorites. Keep them coming!
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Hi Jung, thanks for the video “I saw herstanding there”. I know that, but I really meant the gig at the Cavern Club. Now I’ll set the crooked video 🙂
PS: Wouldn’t you have to lie in bed and sleep for a long time at this time?! Here it is just 10:35 am.
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Hi Jurgen, thanks for that! It’s always great to hear a new version of an MLT performance!
Yeah it is pretty late where I am. I’m on vacation this week and so the night owl in me came out. 🙂 I feel a little “Janitor Joe” mood late at night. Hope you are having a great weekend where you are.
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Hi Jung, I was a bit perplexed at the absence of the Beatles on the list until I really thought about it. I think if they had stayed true to what they were doing in their early years and not gone in all the weird directions they did, they definitely would be on the list. One of the descriptors they used in the video when talking about those bands that they picked is “consistent,” which certainly wouldn’t describe the Beatles! LOL. But even so, there’s still a strong argument for their inclusion. I’m reminded of that “All You Need Is Love” video…you certainly won’t see U2 surrounded by peaceful fans all singing “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For…” 😀
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Hi Roger, yes you are right, the Beatles compared to other bands certainly did not tour as extensively as many other great bands, but the short time they did, they left quite the profound impression on the music world. It looks like they did for a few years straight in the early 60s, and then stopped touring and focused in the studio. Being the pioneers in music that they were, never repeating themselves always experimenting and doing new things, there just wasn’t enough hours in the day and days in the week I guess for them to accomplish all that they wanted to. I think in the long run the whole world benefited from their studio time with all the ground breaking music they were able to create.
I came across this interesting behind the scenes video today about the Who talking about their on stage antics.
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The Beatles live performance presence. Their musical prowess on stage is the best of the best, not because of theatrics and special effects like so many bands rely on, but rather pure emotion grabbing energy, on stage charisma and captivating musicianship and singing. Sound familiar?
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Hi Jung, I agree with you, the Beatles were a great live band. Their performances always seemed dynamic and they mediated fun in their music. But the fact that they filled entire stadiums soon became a problem: The loud fans. Paul McCartney had expressed himself in an interview about the behavior of the fans: the constant screaming had only annoyed him. As soon as the Beatles were on stage, the screaming began. Whether he said something or just made any sounds, the fans screeched non-stop. You can understand this very nicely on the Live album: “The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl”. I suppose this must have been very frustrating. A communication with the fans was no longer possible at all. Paul summed it up like this: the fans had simply come to the concerts to be collectively crazy. A balance to her otherwise rather well mannered and strictly ordered life in the 60s. For the fans, the concerts were a social valve. The Beatles, on the other hand, felt abused. And the tour in the Philippines almost ended in disaster. In addition, during their live tours, the Beatles could only stay in the hotel room. Sometimes they even retreated to the bathroom because this was the only windowless room where they could stay undisturbed. Perhaps the later music of the Beatles was just too complicated to be able to present it with the stage technology of that time. There was probably no such thing as half-play back or something else.
How do you assess this: did the Beatles at some point simply no longer feel like performing live or did their music become too demanding for the stage technology of that time?
PS: I hope you had a nice holiday
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Hi Jurgen, thanks for the insight. I didn’t think about how crazy and noisy the Beatles fans got at their concerts. Being the pioneers they are, the Beatles invented the wedge “speakers pointing back” so they could hear what they were playing over the screaming fans. I guess being so popular, the Beatlemania, it is a kind of good problem to have, as I am sure their peers would have died to have that kind of problem. What you mentioned about the screaming fans had a factor in the Beatles focusing in the studio. Touring I am sure must have started to become a huge distraction from all the creativity they needed to express, and focusing creating music in the studio I think was a much better strategy for them. I think anytime a band has to choose between live performance and time in the studio creating music, I think the latter is the better choice in the long run, and for the fans and music world in general. Imagine if the Beatles did not have time to put 100% into Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sargent Peppers and produced something more rushed to satisfy the fans who just want to see them live, their music would not have been as enriched and impactful and influential as it became. More people and generations of future fans benefited from this.
As for the complexity of their music and being able to reproduce it live, I suppose if they wanted they could strip it down into a more acoustic version that focuses more on their guitar work and vocals, which MLT does so brilliantly with their Duo Sessions.
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Hi, Jung. You’re right, on the positive side, the screaming fans are certainly a luxury problem, although luxury can also seem to be very exhausting at times. John Lennon once said he wants to have a lot of money to just be rich. His wish was granted. Suddenly, he was rich in fans. Empty concert halls are a really more serious problem.
I also think that the Beatles chose a good path, or as Johnny Cash would have said “they walked the line”. After being known and famous, they retired to the studio and implemented their ideas there. I can imagine that bands have a lot of good ideas during extended live tours, but by the time they are back in the studio, many of the ideas are probably already gone. And it’s true: if the Beatles had wanted to, they could have played many of their songs in a simplified version; unplugged. The lively fans probably wouldn’t even have noticed.
The music session on the rooftop of the building during the shooting of „Get back“ was perhaps a last attempt to sniff something like live music. Maybe they really wanted to experience it again as a band: Get back in a figurative sense. Unfortunately, the band had already lived apart.
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By Revolver they definitely were running into technological limitations, but everything I’ve read and seen suggests they were simply tired of touring (George in particular).
Look at 1965: 63 live performances across Europe and North America, filming the Help! film, writing, recording, and releasing the Help! and Rubber Soul albums, and TV appearances.
That’s after 1964’s 131 performances, filming A Hard Day’s Night, writing, recording, and releasing A Hard Day’s Night and Beatles for Sale, and all the other things that occupy a band.
That seems like a pretty unsustainable pace, and touring was a huge amount of time and stress.
There are definitely 1967-1969 songs that could have been played live in some form, but they made it pretty clear to Brian Epstein that 1966 was the end of touring. Heck, Paul couldn’t even get them to do a proper concert with an audience in 1969, which is how they ended up on the roof.
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Hi Dan. I also saw in a documentary recently that is why the Beatles invented the “music video” so they could present their new music without being there. Their Paper Back Writer video was the first music video, so the Beatles invented music video decades before MTV.
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I wonder whether the musical direction they chose in 1966/1967 was motivated in part by a desire to ensure that their new songs couldn’t be played live, so that they wouldn’t be pressured to do so.
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Hi David, interesting point. I think the Beatles had the music creation prowess to do just that, and perhaps that was an unconscious motivator too. Just play with all the toys in the studio and create masterpiece after masterpiece! A song writers heaven perhaps. If the Beatles did not break up, I am sure eventually the itch for the live stage excitement would have pulled them back to the live stage for some select concerts when the time was right for them.
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Besides MLT, for me the best live band, are my buddies ( yes, I’ve known them since 1988-89, when I got to meet them after a show in Ottawa) from the Canadian band Glass Tiger, they can Rock Live and the one time I saw Jeff Healey and his band live, and sames goes for Vince Gill and his band he had on tour with him at the time I saw him as well in Ottawa as with Jeff too.
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Hi Jacki, from the few videos you referred to me of Glass Tiger in the past, they are all great guitarists, and so I am sure their live performances would be quite awesome. Once live venues are back on stage in Canada, if Glass Tiger makes their way to Vancouver one day, I would certainly consider seeing them.
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Jung: That’s cool, yes, whenever they get out again to Vancouver area, you should consider going to see them, Al is awesome on his guitar, Wayne is currently on sabbatical from playing bass (busy with his Skyshed business, personal reasons too ) but Tom Lewis has been filling in playing bass in his place temporarily, Sam on keyboards, Chris on drums, Alan on lead vocals, Carmela on backup vocals, they rock live !!!!
PS– Michael Hanson was their former original drummer, he left to pursue solo stuff. Al and Sam, Alan have also done tgeir share if solo side stuff too. Before tge GT formation ( They were called “Tokyo” before they changed bandname to Glass Tiger) , Also, they all were in separate bands previous to joining forces to become Tokyo/GT….
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