I recently came across the SubStack account SongLetter and promptly gave them a follow. If you're interested in music and want to discover new and amazing songs that you’ve never heard before then I recommend giving them a follow too at https://substack.com/@songletter.
Last week, I responded to one of SongLetter’s ‘Notes’ here on SubStack with a couple of comments but, half way through the second of these I realised that I had a lot to say on the subject and might as well take the opportunity to write a SubStack about it.
The post to which I am referring posed the question ‘What “live” recording of a song do you prefer over the “studio” version?’
With my interest thoroughly piqued, I set about to leave a comment in response and had every intention of avoiding sounding pompous, conceited and (how do you say) ‘Artsy Fartsy’. I failed on all accounts.
But I kept thinking about this question and the more I did, the more I realised that ‘live performance’ and listening to ‘live music’ has played a massive role in my musical development, both in personal taste and as a musician myself.
I kept thinking of examples and started compiling them in a follow up comment before realising that I’d be better served writing an entire article on the subject. I need things to write about anyway and my articles about music have seemed to get more traction than the semi-legible political rants I have posted.
So here goes, An Ode to ‘Live Music’.
I have a strange relationship with ‘live music’, it has a bipolar kind of nature which directly mirrors my taste in music generally. On one hand I love melody and will positively react to any top-line or hook that excites or interests me regardless of genre or the emotional depth of the music. I’m just as likely to sit around crying to a string quartet playing Bach or Samuel Barber as I am dancing like a lunatic to melodic DubStep while doing the dishes. One minute, I’ll be listening to Trivium’s 2005 Ascendency album, (complete with the heavily distorted guitar, Matt Heafy’s screamed verses) for the melodic lines in the sang chorus’ and guitar licks, and the next I’ll be listen to pop diva piano ballads (what I once heard a sound engineer describes as ‘sad white girl music’).
On the other hand, I love ‘songwriting’ (if that makes sense as a genre) and adore songs with a deeper meaning and philosophical lyrics. I therefore mostly gravitate to artists who fit the ‘Singer/Songwriter’ description: the likes of Damien Rice, Regina Spektor, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Paolo Nutini, etc. With these artists and many more like them I don’t really care about the music as much as I do the ‘song’, if that makes sense.
In the first case of this dichotomy, live music doesn’t work for me so much. I have been to metal concerts of bands I love and they didn’t sound anything like the record which bothered me. I saw Linkin Park at Wembley Arena in the ‘Noughties’ and my spotty faced, teenage self felt the cognitive dissonance of the hype I had felt in the run up to the gig and how excited I was to see the band; and the empirical reality in front of me that I couldn’t escape… They sounded like shit.
It’s the same with pop bands and artists. My partner watches hours and hours of ‘throwback’ concerts of the ‘girl bands’ and ‘boy bands’ that she idolised as a teen. These fossils have been dug up, dusted off and thrown on a stage in front of their old ‘teenage fans’ turned ‘menopausal women’ after years of doing whatever day job for decades. Some have looked after themselves but most haven’t and are showing the signs of years of drinking to ‘the good ol’ days’ and Friday night takeaways. And my partner laments (for some reason with surprise) that they don’t sound like the records that were recorded when they themselves were young and full of vigour. Yeah, I wonder why, babe?
But that is just it. With pop music, or indeed any music that relies on crisp, well produced records being played on radio, tv or streaming, we are going to become fans of ‘the records’ because that is how the product is delivered to us. I am no different and I often find myself disappointed by live performances from what I would describe as ‘recording artists’ because the reason I like their songs is because of how they sound. In those instances, I am a fan of the individual recordings themselves, rather than the artists as performers.
I make the distinction between those whose artistry is expressed through the production medium (who build their records in a studio like a sculpter), and those who ‘perform’ their songs and only need to play in a ‘mic'd up’ room to make a record. Both are valid forms of artistic expression of course and I engage in both worlds, but it is only the latter that I would wish to pay money to hear live.
The second category however is a form of live music I cannot get enough of. Seeing songwriter’s perform their songs (or indeed other people’s songs) for an audience, rather than just reciting their records, trying to recreate them in a parrot fashion. This is where music is at its purest for me and, (if you’ll indulge me), I’d like to take you on a journey through some of my favourite examples of this.
First, there’s a couple of obvious ones from my childhood that it would be remiss of me not to mention. Nirvana - Unplugged and Iron Maiden - Rock in Rio were two ‘live’ albums that I rinsed the Hell out of as a kid and I always prefer those versions of the songs to the studio versions.
On ‘Rock in Rio’, the improvised guitar solos in ‘The Sign Of The Cross’ are infinitely better and more expressive than those on the record. ‘Fear Of the Dark’, ‘Wrathchild’, ‘Clansman’ and ‘Blood Brothers’ are all better versions than the studio versions and the energy with which Iron Maiden performed these songs can't be matched on a record. Admittedly, hearing thousands of people sing along with every line does do a lot of the heavy lifting in this regard.
Nirvana - Unplugged is just sublime. For those that know, I needn't say more. For those that don’t, do yourself a service and listen to this album.
Shout out to another obvious one: Queen at Band Aid 1985. Duh! I was 6 years old when Freddie Mercury died so I never will get the chance to experience one of history’s greatest performers for real. I did hear 80,000 people singing along to Green Day covering ‘We Are The Champions’ once in Milton Keynes Bowl Arena. Not the real thing but a numinous and almost religious experience all the same. There is nothing like the sound of that many people singing in unison.
My favourite solo artist is Damien Rice. I’m a huge fan, particularly of his live performances, although it has to be said, there is a ‘live’ quality to his studio albums anyway.
Rice performs with a certain freedom which allows him to unrestrictedly express himself, not worrying too much about metre or tempo, or indeed being faithful to album versions of his songs. Each performance is a unique interpretation of that song at that time and that makes each one special in its own way.
This can be seen in his 2014 performance of ‘The Blowers Daughter’ in Amsterdam, where he cuts beats out, drops syllables, lazily strums in and out of metre and drops down to a whisper at points. The whole performance has a ‘one of a kind’ feel to it and a tone of delivery that I can only describe as conversational. He performs like it is the first time he has ever played this song and the meaning to him is still raw.
I also admire the presentation of this performance. The stage is unlit save the spotlight on Rice. This signals that it is just him, his guitar and nothing else. No pomp, no ceremony. No bells, no whistles. No special effects, just story; Art speaking for itself. That is very ‘me’.
Another performance by Rice I love is when he collaborated with the legendary drummer Earl Harvin in Berlin, also in 2014. This is the whole gig but my favourite part is when he performs ‘Volcano’. The audience participation section at the end is truly unique, transcendent and is basically how I would want EVERY gig I perform to be (I’ll never get there but I can try).
Aha - Take On Me (Acoustic). I never really gave this 80’s synth-pop anthem much attention until I played the The Last Of Us: Part 2 video game and heard Ashley Johnson’s cover. She voices the game's protagonist Ellie’s who plays the song acoustically for her love interest in the story. I fell in love with this version of the song and from there discovered Aha’s reinterpretation. It’s haunting, and it’s beautiful.
‘Something’ and ‘Jolene’.
I can never decide what my favourite song is but I know it is one of these two.
‘Something’ by The Beatles has been covered endlessly but I am particularly fond of Austin’s ukulele (Yeah, you heard me) cover right here.
Likewise, there are hundreds of covers of Jolene by Dolly Parton (shout out The White Stripes) and I love any version of that song but Miley Cyrus’ version is particularly gorgeous.
Sticking with Miley (I just love her voice) her live cover of Blondie’s classic ‘Heart Of Glass’ blew my mind. Her vocals are ridiculous and I’ve never felt goosebumps quite like the first time I heard her screaming in anguish on this record.
Passenger’s live cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Sound Of Silence’ blows me away every time. You need a quiet room and probably noise cancelling headphones to fully appreciate the nuance and beauty of this performance but trust me it is worth it.
Get ready for the influx of airborne tomatoes…Let's talk about Ed Sheeran. (Yeah I know how many of you musicians feel about him, and I agree with a lot of the criticism, but none of your distaste disproves his talent, nor his success). Regardless, his cover of Bob Dylan’s folk classic ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright’ (another of my favourites) is exceptional.
As I talked about above, some artists are performers, some are recording artists. Bruno Mars is both and this live version of his song ‘Locked out of Heaven’ is not only a better performance than that on the record, but also sounds better. As in, his voice sounds more like a record than a record, and it’s a live performance. ‘Don’t believe me? Just watch’. (See what I did there?)
I’d listen to Sia sing the alphabet song repeatedly for hours. Her voice is incredible, ethereal and singular. There are loads of examples to choose from but I’ve arbitrarily picked this one. This is ‘Chandelier’.
Incidentally, this song was also covered incredibly by Belgium Singer/Songwriter Loic Nottet who has a one of a kind, physics defying voice. He’s recorded performed it live several times, but never quite replicated the raw brilliance of this candidly captured performance. This is haunting.
Andie Case cover of Rixton’s (Push Baby) song ‘Me & My Broken Heart’ is far better than the original record, although I don’t believe the audio on this video was live captured in the car, rather I suspect it was recorded on a DAW prior to filming and then reenacted. Still sounds awesome though.
Same goes for this version of Paramore’s ‘Misery Business’. Really good guitar work to bring this song to life as a live, acoustic performance.
Prince - Cream (Live 2004). The late and masterful artist formerly known as Prince. His technical brilliance is on full display as he performs his classic hit, effortlessly playing this complicated arrangement and singing in perfect pitch. But I also love how he randomly stops to tease the audience about their participation not being up to scratch. It’s playful and flirtatious. So impromptu; so funny; so human. Then he jumps straight back into performing the song flawlessly. This is why ‘live music’ will increase in value as AI takes over the musical landscape. AI will never be able to do something as human as Prince does in this performance. This is a genius at work.
Post Malone’s Circles is a modern day banger. After decades, it astonishes me that there are any new and unique song’s being written around a C chord on an acoustic guitar but here is one. This performance may be a required taste to some, but I think it perfectly captures why ‘live’ music is so special.
He also did a cover of the Bob Dylan song that Ed Sheeran performed that I mentioned earlier. Impressive fingerpicking here:
Regina Spektor is wonderful and one of my favourites. Her album ‘Begin To Hope’ is almost flawless and the level to which she performs both complex piano rhythms and arpeggios whilst also singing blows me away. But more than that is the beauty of her music, it’s stunning, and she sounds as good as her records every time she plays live. I could have picked 50 videos but here is ‘Fidelity’.
Can’t help it, I have to add another.. Here’s ‘Samson’. So gorgeous.
Similarly, Norah Jones is wonderful live and I couldn’t pick just one song. Here’s a whole performance… https://www.youtube.com/live/Sx1RgCjmvfg?si=-sLyoq492Fkh4Kq6
During Covid-19, Icelandic band Of Monsters & Men performed some of their hits in a log cabin. They always sound so good live.
Stephen Sanchez - Until I Found You featuring Em Beihold. I love this 50’s throwback, 6/8 love ballad. (I’m a sucker for a 6/8 ballad). When Em Beihold comes on stage, the performance hits a new level of energy that I don’t think is captured in the studio recorded version in which she features. She sounds nervous when she enters the stage, and maybe that human vulnerability is part of the appeal for me, but she settles in however, and they harmonise so beautifully on the chorus. She looks the part, too.
Lady Gaga ‘A Million Reasons’.
This song works so much better live. She went ‘full pop diva’. You never go ‘full pop diva’.
Adele ‘Someone Like You’ .The live performance at the 2011 Brit Awards is infinitely better than the album/single versions of this song.
That’s just a handful of examples of great live performances that I love and could have shared. If you have any that you’d like to suggest then please add them in the comments. I’d love to discover new, live music.
Pretty soon I’ll make another one of these to showcase the ‘YouTube’ musicians performing cover versions that I love and feel are worthy of discussion.
Until then, Thanks for reading.
Pete Brennan - The Common Centrist