Need a hit of live music, but don’t want to get up off the couch? I hear that. Take the easy way and get your ya-ya’s out by cranking up these recently released live albums:
Allman Brothers Band
Fillmore West ’71
Gregg, Duane and the rest of the seminal southern rockers are at the height of their powers here, tearing through three epic sets packed with hits like Statesboro Blues, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Midnight Rider and Whipping Post. Most of the tracks are repeated over the course of the set, but you won’t mind in the slightest.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “As part of the ongoing celebration of their 50th anniversary, The Allman Brothers Band will release a four-CD set titled Fillmore West ’71, culled from an epic weekend of live music recorded at the legendary San Francisco venue. The Grammy-winning, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band (formed in March 1969) were in great form on this weekend, where they were the middle act playing between headliners Hot Tuna and the 24-piece opener Trinidad Tripoli Street Band. The band — Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Jaimoe, Berry Oakley and Butch Trucks — were loose and talkative and you can hear them really dialing their sound in at what would be a final tune-up for the seminal At Fillmore East album, recorded less than two months later. At Fillmore East would cement the band’s place in rock history.”
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Capitol Theatre, Passaic, N.J. | September 19, 1978
The Boss presents another essential gem from his vast live archives: A three-hour theatre show recorded in his New Jersey stomping grounds — and broadcast on FM radio — during his Darkness on The Edge of Town tour. The set list has everything you want, the band is on fire, and the much-bootlegged show sounds better than it ever did on your old LPs or CDs.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The most famous Springsteen bootleg of all time, Piece De Resistance, comes to the live archive series as Passaic 9/19/78, newly mixed from Plangent Processed multi-track master tapes. As originally broadcast up and down the Eastern seaboard, the first night of three at the Capitol Theatre may be the definitive Darkness tour document and features Streets Of Fire, Independence Day, Prove It All Night, Meeting Across The River, Kitty’s Back, Fire, Because The Night, Point Blank and Raise Your Hand. This beloved live performance has never sounded better.”
https://youtu.be/HibsbEmvPgQ
Nirvana
Live and Loud
Originally broadcast on MTV and released in the 20th anniversary edition of In Utero back in 2013, this 1993 hometown Seattle performance from Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear has finally been released on its own — on black or coloured vinyl, DVD with extras and streaming services. If you don’t already own it, now’s as good a time as any to get your hands on a top-shelf gig from the band’s latter days.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Live And Loud features the complete and newly edited MTV Live and Loud concert performed at Seattle’s Pier 48 on Dec. 13, 1993 with a 5.1 surround sound and stereo soundtrack. Heralded as one of Nirvana’s best live shows, Live And Loud features tracks such as Heart-Shaped Box, Come As You Are, Breed, Pennyroyal Tea and a version of Radio Friendly Unit Shifter that perfectly encapsulate the In Utero idea of arena-rock at its most anarchic. DVD extras include never-before-released rehearsals for Live and Loud, the original music video and director’s cut video for Heart-Shaped Box and seven European TV performances.”
