This is not what I usually write about, but this article caught my attention: “13 musical acts we wish we could’ve seen live” — mostly because I actually have seen a few of them live. 🙂
Queen: Saw them right after they did “Bohemian Rhapsody.” They were really good, but obviously they couldn’t play that thing live, so they chopped it up and stuck bits of it (the bits they could play, which turned out to be most of them) into other songs. Very clever solution, I thought.
Talking Heads: I didn’t see them on the tour that was filmed for the movie Stop Making Sense but I saw the Remain in Light tour (the one before — and arguably better because the band included Adrian Belew and Nona Hendryx). I had been a fan for a long time (I saw them 35-40 times when they were just a trio, including many times before they were signed), so I was excited for Remain in Light. I liked it, but my girlfriend at the time hated it (I think she wanted them to be the old band forever), so she refused to go after I had bought the tickets. So, I went with an ex-g/f instead, and we had a great time. Which also pissed off the current g/f, of course, but then most things pissed her off.
The Ramones: Didn’t see them before their first album, but saw them right after and many times after that. The first time was at a club called the Bottom Line, and I think they were the opening act, and I’m pretty sure Andy Warhol was there (but that could have been a different night). They were awesome, though.
The Cramps: Saw them quite a few times. Met them at a party once, too — for all their super-creepiness on stage they were really nice. One of the great things about seeing them open for the Ramones was that all the Ramones fans hung back by the bar, complaining that the Cramps couldn’t play their instruments and all their songs sounded alike. Which was, of course, what the rest of the world said about the Ramones.
Continuing the musical theme, I do enjoy this, by Haim (with Lorde).
Then I found this, which is pretty awesome. If I’d heard that Haim was covering Fleetwood Mac, I’d have figured maybe something by Stevie Nicks, but instead they went really old-school Mac, from back when Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were in rompers.
I’ve heard a few other songs by Haim, but none that I like as much as these two — which is probably a bad sign, since both of these are covers.
Oh, yes, I found this to be moving: “You’re one of us now, Ariana Grande – a Mancunian“
So, I’ll end with this.