Five of the best live songs in the history of rock music
By Lee Vowell
Some bands make studio records and sell them to the public and make a good living doing that. Real bands play gigs. We don't just want to hear the music, we want to see it, breathe, and live it. Still, being a great live band is difficult because there is a trick to sounding great but also being visually entertaining.
Elite bands can take what they record, change it ever so slightly live, and augment the experience for the fans. Queen was fantastic live, but them being boring with Freddie Mercury singing the songs would have been impossible. Devo is another band that is good live, though one might be surprised by that because they sound so "studio."
Each band should have at least one killer song that the crowd can sing along with. After all, concerts are communal events. For two hours, we aren't just listening to a band, we are part of it. It's the height of humanity.
Five great live rock songs that never disappoint
The National - "Mr. November"
The studio version of this song is excellent enough. The rage of the chorus is visceral. Live, the track takes another complete step because of the way the band sets it up. Played many times as the last song in their set, vocalist Matt Berninger does the astonishing thing of walking into the audience and through almost the entire crowd. The logistics of the microphone line itself are beyond comprehension.
Part of what makes the song so cathartic, however, is that The National isn't known as a heavy rock band. They can be, but that's not what draws thousands to see them. Their song craftsmanship is among the best in alternative rock, and many of the tunes are achingly sad. They are excellent, of course, but sonically different from "Mr. November."
Another part of the live performance isn't just that Berninger goes into the crowd, but that the audience is allowed to touch him as he walks by, a bit like a savior who has come to bring us hope only he has his eye on another tribe. It's pure fun and gives one the right to rock out. It is perhaps the best closing song any band could come up with.