primroseburrows | (no subject)

A bunch of live performances I wish I could have seen, erm. Live:

U2 at Obama's inauguration concert, January, 2009:

The Tragically Hip at the PinkPop Festival, Landgraaf, Netherlands, June 5, 1995. Guh? Guh.:

Thomas Dolby and Natalie MacMaster, Ted Talks, Monterey, CA, 2002:

This is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard, full stop.

Basically Thomas wrote it about Natalie's ancestors who came to the New World after being forced from their home during the Clearances. Lyrics and history (and it's actual History) behind the song are at Thomas's Blog. Well worth a look.

Nirvana, unplugged in New York, 1993:

Neil Young with about a zillion of his countrymen, Live 8, Jul 2, 2005, Park Place, Barrie, Ontario. asdlfadshadsf:

Elton John, BBC Studios, 1971:

Jimmy Rankin, Savoy Theatre, Glace Bay, N.S. November 30th,2007:

MARRY ME, JIMMY. MARRY ME NOW.

Paul Simon and Miriam Makeba, Harare, Zimbabwe, 1987:

Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Paul Simon, Harare, Zimbabwe, 1987 (same concert as above--actually, I'd like to have been at this entire concert):

George Harrison, Concert for Bangladesh, Madison Square Garden, New York, 1971:

Johnny Cash, San Quentin prison, January 13, 1968:

...and okay, I don't really wish I'd been at that last one, because then I'd have been a PRISON INMATE, and all. But erm. Maybe as an invisible person.

These take way too much time for one sitting, but really, try to watch some of them, because OMG.

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I saw Ladysmith Black Mambazo live way back when, without Paul Simon and it was well worth it. One of the best evenings of music I've been to.

I've seen Paul Simon without Ladysmith Black Mambazo twice. Once was with Bob Dylan, but honestly? Dylan pretty well sucked, even though I love him. LBM would have been such a better idea.

LBM doesn't need Paul Simon to be awesome as all get out, but the combination, especially live, must be gorgeous and explosive and amazing and. And.

Wow, I love that Miriam Makeba & Paul Simon song: such a random combination, but they're both so awesome! RIP Miriam Makeba, though :(

Oh man, I love Natalie MacMaster (my dad met her once; cue me being jealous for all eternity).

My goodness, I would have loved to have been at the U2 Inaug concert as well; though while I was watching it I noticed that Bono was having trouble singing, or at least it sounded a lot less effortless and flawless than normal. I was hoping it was just the cold, but man, he's been singing for a looooong time.

I saw Natalie summer before last (she was one of the Lowell Summer Music Series). I've loved her music for over ten years, but after finally, finally seeing her live, I love her a thousand times more. She's so awesome it almost hurts to listen to her play.

I tell ya, someday I'll make it to Celtic Colours (next year? I hope?). I've been to Cape Breton twice, both times in the dead of winter, and if I loved it as much as OMG I did then, how exponential will my adoration be in October? Very exponential, that's how much. :D

edited to close fecking parentheses

Edited 2009-02-24 17:55 (UTC)

Dude, U2 anywhere, anytime, everywhere, and for all time. I've been with them since the War days. I've seen them four times now. It's not nearly enough. They are the only artists I will faithfully schlep out and buy a CD unheard (an actual CD, mind you), as well as the only artists I will pay to see live now that concert tickets to see artists of their magnitude are often in the triple digits. Which reminds me. New CD out on March 5, I believe. *whispers* It's really effing fantastic. Think a cross between War and The Unforgettable Fire. The song Magnificent is. Also, new CD=tour!!! Concert number 5 comin' right up.

Gah. Must. See. This. Band.

Yes.You.Must. For the whole experience, but for this one in particular. At every concert of theirs I've seen since Joshua Tree, it's been the showstopper, and being the bestest song by anyone EVAH, rightfully so. Last time I saw them in 2005, when they finished it, the crowd was stomping, screaming, and clapping so hard that the ground literally shook. Bono said, "So this is Detroit on a Monday Night? You could change the world with a sound like that!"

I saw U2 at Live Aid in 1985, back in the days when they were inspired, angry and sexy. Now they've lost that edge to me, but are still brilliant. It was a great performance at Live Aid though - nearly reaching Queen levels, but not quite. :)

http://bjohan57.livejournal.com/32807.html

P.S. Peacey? The Unforgettable Fire - my favourite!

See above comment.

Also, did you get the icon I made for you?

where? where?

Here!.

Shut.Up. You were at Live Aid? Me too!!! You must've been at Wembley, yes? What was it like there? It was so hot in Philly. I believe they announced at one point that it the temperature was 114 degrees on the field. Firemen were brought in to soak the crowd with high pressure hoses, but never got to where we sat. Instead, two guys sitting behind us kept taking their empty jugs (once filled with who knows what) to the bathroom, filling them with water, bringing them back, and dumping them on everyone. People asked them to. They doused me three times.

U2 were definitely number two at the end of the day. Oh, and Queen? Gods. Best.Live.Performance.EVAH. Freddie Mercury? Best.Voice.EVAH. *misses* *cries*

Unforgettable Fire - my (overall) favorite too!!! *whispers* Actually, I listened to the songs again. It's more like they tossed Unforgettable, Achtung, and Atomic Bomb in a blender, lobbing in a dash of War for good measure. All in all, it's easily their best stuff of the decade, imho. Rivals Achtung; could even be better. I can't even chose a favorite (though it's surely not their first single.)

FYI, they're still sexy. And Edge is my brother-in-law's long lost twin. Just sayin'. :)