Who has been the greatest live act ever?

[EagleMoon]

Are we talking muscially or showmanship?

Ones that come to mind right off hand...

Showmanship - The Who, Queen, Elton John, Kiss, ELP

Musically - Rush, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Journey, Heart

 

[Timbo]

Gogol Bordello blew my mind. Best performance I'd ever seen in my life.

 

[iamlowsound]

Rage Against the Machine
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Zao (metal band that no one has ever heard of, craziest live act ever, I saw their lead singer pass out on stage from holding a note too long, woke up, finished the show).

lowsound

 

[burk48237]

I would say Tower of Power, they've been doing it for thirty plus years, they play smaller venues for the most part and they don't seem to have lost any energy or edge.

My runner up would be Van Morison, I saw him this fall and for a guy in his sixties, he still has it.

 

[MAJOR METAL]

METALLICA.

 

[baalroo]

Hmmm..

My Bloody Valentine
G.G. Allin
Botch
The Greatful Dead
Count Basie Orchestra

 

[projectMalamute]

the correct answer is the Jesus Lizard, circa 1992 or so.

 

[lunarpollen]

Daisy Chainsaw, 1991. I've been to hundreds of live shows of all sizes since then and seen hundreds of live performances on video from various bands, and nothing has equaled that gig way back then in NYC.

 

[Bass Elf]

Gotta be Queen!!

 

[Phantopeth]

If I was deaf, my vote would go to Shakira

But since I can hear the music the performers are making, my answer is Phish.

 

[fishtx]

Frank Zappa

Frank Sinatra

 

[cooptroop123]

Jimi Hendrix no doubt

 

[EagleMoon]

Jimi Hendrix no doubt

But he ripped it off from The Who at Monterey.

 

[pinkzepphish]

phish

 

[awakefie]

Wow, tough one. It's so subjective to what you're looking for in the first place.

Cheese or not, if you were looking for pure entertainment value in their era few bands beat Kiss. If you were looking for a sophisticated listening experience, you probably wouldn't pick them for best live band though.

Hard to argue that Rush puts on a great show. I've always been a huge Zep fan though.

 

[awakefie]

METALLICA.

Wow. That came out of nowhere. What are the odds of MM picking Metallica?

 

[Albatross]

my vote out of the bands i have seen is
Clutch

 

[hey]

Rush. I've never seen a better crowd or performance.

 

[ROON]

You don't need a fancy lightshow with lazers and video walls to put on a great live act. I went to see Black Label Society a few years back and it was the best night of my life. Packed into a small theater with roughly 5 or 600 other drunk metalheads, listening to BLS rock on for about two and a half hours. Was kickarse.

 

[JimmyM]

What's that sound I hear? Why, it's the crowd screaming "Angus! Angus! Angus!"

AC/DC. End of thread.

Well, not quite...gotta put in a word for our bro Justin's band Nine Inch Nails.