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12d
In Concert
Rick Wakeman playing piano at a bear sanctuary in Vietnam for 150 Asiatic black bears rescued from bile farms
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Me, age 16, listening to the organ solo in Yes's "Close to the Edge": "Man, Rick Wakeman is the coolest." đ Me, age 36, watching a clip of Rick Wakeman play solo piano for rescued bears to help with their rehabilitation: "Man, Rick Wakeman is the coolest." đĽ˛
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3
23d
In Concert
William Marx performs John Cage's 4'33"
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23d
In Concert
Organ² / As SLow aS Possible (John Cage) at St. Burchardi Church in Halberstadt
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If you can't get out to Halberstadt any time soon, don't worry, you've still got about 600 years to make the trip to experience the longest music performance in human history unfold. "As SLow aS Possible" (ASLSP) was originally a piano piece that composer John Cage later adapted for organ. After Cage's passing in 1992, an organization of music scholars and art historians took up the task to conduct a performance of the composition that takes its title literally to the point of the sublime. The recital of ASLSP began on Sept. 5, 2001 (Cage's birthday) and will conclude in 2640. The decision of a 639-year duration is symbolic: The figure derives in counting back from the year 2000 to 1361, in which first organ with the modern keyboard arrangement had been completed at the Halberstadt cathedral. Developments in the performance generally take more than one year to occur based on the calculations of the sheet music extended to the centuries-long adaptation. Sandbags are used to hold the required keys in place for as long as necessary. When a change in notes occurs, people gather to witness the seldom-occurring event (by mid-2071, a total of just 65 "impulses" will have transpired). If a rest is called for in the music, you hear within the church the sound of air being directed into the organ from the electronically-powered bellows that keep tones of the instrument resonating uninterrupted for months at a time. Is there something comforting about the idea of a single live performance that will be carried out and marveled upon by generations of humanity? Yes, I'll say so. The optimism of keeping a piece of art alive for six centuries, in spite of all that is uncertain these days, is something I can get behind.
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1
6w
In Concert
Ichiko Aoba performs live on a rock at the edge of a forest (2018)
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Aug 18, 2018. Quite obviously the greatest rock concert of all time. Breathtakingly beautiful harmony between artist and nature.
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6
7w
In Concert
The Verve - London, October 1992
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October 23, 1992; Camden Town Hall, London. At the start of the decade that made them famous, The Verve were a rather different band. In 1992, the burgeoning Britpop movement was making its melodic march up the pop charts, but Verve (no definite article at this point) weren't part of that quite yet. In fact, it didn't sound like their feet were touching the ground at all. This live recording makes the impression: Nick McCabe's playing is floating in the ether, at times condensing into a rocket thruster roar, while the Simon Jones/Peter Salisbury rhythm unit taps into the pulse of the cosmos. Richard Ashcroft is very obviously somewhere in the stratosphere on this night. I don't know if The Verve will ever get their due for being a solid shoegaze/dream pop band at the start of their career, but the performance here is to me testament why they deserve that recognition. The Verve's debut EP and first full length, A Storm in Heaven,* are two of my go-to recordings for the hottest days of the summertime. There's something about the openness of the songcraft and the psychedelic textures of the sound in these records that fit the melting afternoons almost too well. *The deluxe edition of the album conveniently packages up the EP + early singles with it, along with some concert/radio session cuts for more early live Verve goodness.
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8w
In Concert
Wolf Alice - West Hollywood, July 2025
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July 22, 2025; Troubadour, Los Angeles. I always think it's class when an artist with substantial appeal plays a smaller-capacity venue. In the case here, Wolf Alice did two surprise shows at West Hollywood's landmark Troubadour as their first U.S. dates since 2022 (a bit of a thank you to L.A., where they had recorded The Clearing). Wolf Alice is one of those bands who are unimpeachably cool while still coming across as approachable, and here they bring stadium-sized enthusiasm to an intimate 300-cap venue in a way that shows how keyed into the wavelength of their fans they are. Ellie Rowsell is, in a phrase, crushing it. Her soprano is killer in general, but to go from the vocal soar of "The Sofa" to the dreamy phrasing of "Bros" and then the riot grrrl punch of "Yuk Foo" in the space of 10 minutes is what honed talent sounds like. I love that Theo Ellis (hype man/bassist, all-star at both these roles, and an obviously solid dude) is determined to get the crowd pumped about it being a Tuesday night in the middle of the set. When I got to see Wolf Alice at the Wiltern a few months after this show, it was a Monday night, and damn did they ever make it feel like it was the end of the workweek!
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9w
In Concert
Talking Heads - Live in Rome (1980)
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December 18, 1980; Palazzo dello Sport (PalaEUR), Rome, Italy. Look, I love Stop Making Sense as much as the next guy, but it's time we start talking more about Live in Rome. This is a spikier, meaner, messier, jammier Talking Heads with the same musical dexterity as the band in 1983 but with the rough edges of their CBGB salad days still on display. Mutant art punk-funk with a big emphasis on the boom (Busta Jones is here on bass alongside Tina Weymouth, and lemme tell you, his playing adds a ton to this concert, and the tone he uses on his guitar is gloriously filthy). Compared to SMS, it's not better, it's not worse, just different (on a performance level, I mean--the cinematography of the Rome show is not meant to be what Demme was looking to accomplish, so it's not worth comparing). Lovers of Remain in Light (and aren't we all) will delight in having sweet, sweet performances of "Houses in Motion," "Born Under Punches" and "The Great Curve" all lined up at the end*, and Adrian Belew is still around at this point to serve up some of his elastic-bombastic guitar alchemy to keep things strange. Special shoutouts to "Drugs" (peak evil Talking Heads) and Weymouth's outfit, specifically when she walks on stage wearing the RiL bombers bomber jacket. *They weren't actually played in that order. When cutting the video for this performance, songs were rearranged and, alas, just like SMS, some songs were dropped. I enjoy streaming concert recordings on my TV at home for either active viewing or invigorating the room while I do chores. I'll periodically share more live performances that I've treated my ears & eyes to for these purposes.
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10w
In Concert
Talk Talk - Montreux 1986
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July 11, 1986; Casino de Montreux, Switzerland. Watching this performance is not unlike watching Stop Making Sense in that it doesnât seem possible youâre witnessing a band--clearly in their element, both confident and fluent in translating their compositions to a live setting--that will play fewer than 10 more dates and then quit the concert stage for good. Whereas Talking Heads from there would continue along a path of a more radio-friendly sound with their subsequent studio releases (Little Creatures through Naked), Talk Talk would do the absolute opposite (Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock). Here at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Talk Talk were touring behind their third LP, The Colour of Spring, a collection of eight songs as vibrant as its title would imply. Like Talking Heads on their final tours (sorry, I canât help myself but for drawing unnecessary parallels), Talk Talk in '86 were playing with an expanded live band, adding five musicians to the stage with them to achieve a full and nuanced concert sound. Mark Hollis, forever a vocalist beyond belief, sounds divine. I enjoy streaming concert recordings on my TV at home for either active viewing or invigorating the room while I do chores. I'll periodically share more live performances that I've treated my ears & eyes to for these purposes.
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12w
In Concert
Magdalena Bay - Lollapalooza 2025
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July 31, 2025; Grant Park, Chicago. Seeing Magdalena Bay live is more fun than a kangaroo in a bouncy castle. Hooks, campiness and feelings up the wazoo and then back down again. At Lolla '25, they performed their excellent Imaginal Disk cover to cover with some of the theatrical elements of their tour's stage show intact. For anyone out there who is a lucky soul getting to see Hayley Williams on tour this fall, I both envy you and advise you to make sure that you get to the venue in time for Magdalena Bay to open. You won't want to miss them, because they don't. I enjoy streaming concert recordings on my TV at home for either active viewing or invigorating the room while I do chores. I'll periodically share more live performances that I've treated my ears & eyes to for these purposes.
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12w
In Concert
Lady Gaga - Mayhem on the Beach (May 3, 2025)
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Live at Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro. Gaga and over 2 million Little Monsters gathered for her first concert in Brazil since the Born This Way Ball. Greatness ensues and history is made (no, literally--this is now the most-attended musical performance by a solo female artist). Now when I get butterflies over speaking in front of a group, I just remember Gaga performing the first half of "Blade of Grass," solo piano and vocals, for an audience with roughly as many people as the population of the state of Idaho. That usually does the trick. I enjoy streaming concert recordings on my TV at home for either active viewing or invigorating the room while I do chores. I'll periodically share more live performances that I've treated my ears & eyes to for these purposes.
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