Is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers the best live band ever?

Onebean

Onebean

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I've been listening to the Tom Petty channel on SXM, and I'm continually impressed with the sound quality and musicianship of all the live recordings they play. The live songs have quickly become the reason I continue to listen. I've been listening to the Anthology album too, which sounds wonderful, but I'm sure it was heavily produce after recording. The live stuff on SXM seems to be from a wide range of time. The earliest I've noticed is the late 70's, and the latest from the final tour. Tom singing is excellent, Mike's playing is fantastic, and the rhythm section is just tight and balanced. I never got to see them unfortunately, so I'll have to experience it though the SXM tracks.

Onebean
 
So many bands, so many different musical tastes. Today I'm going to say The Bad Plus is the best band in the world. That might change shortly, or tomorrow, or ...
 
About thirty years ago, I was at a local bar with friends and a generic classics+top40 band was playing the usual stuff when the house PA conked out leaving just the on-stage instrument amps and the vocalist of the moment -- a young blonde girl disinterestedly belting out some Heart or Pat Benatar classic -- playing to the nearby tables. They stopped and glared at the sound guy at the back of the room. He shrugged and fiddled with knobs. Then the vocalist yelled "JAZZ!!!" and the band lit into the most amazing instrumental medley. The musicianship was outstanding, the syncopation intricate and the solos awe-inspiring; novel improvisations created and deconstructed several new and heretofore un-heard genres. Jaws dropped in unison.

After a couple of minutes, the glorious rainbow of audio suddenly blasted, heavily distorted and painfully loud, from the house speakers. The band stopped, glanced at each other glumly, and resumed their interrupted familiar hit.

That otherwise-forgettable bar band -- the members of which are now no doubt all gainfully employed as accountants, lawyers and teachers -- was, for a few minutes that evening, the best live band ever.
 
One of the very best I've seen is Elton John at ceasars palace in Vegas. Some really memorable Grateful Dead shows from the late 60s and early 70s were as good as it gets, at least for me.
 
:dunno: .. the "best" is a really bold statement. Though not all that common there have been and continue to be some really great Live bands out there. Just last Wednesday night I seen Paul Simon's band live in Nashville (final tour) and they were really good musicians.

Tom Petty's band was really good also .. seen them live back in the early 80's .. definitely made an impression on me.
 
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Thanks for all the insight. I saw the Stones last year and was blown away by how good it was, and how good they sounded. I overstepped the internet boundary when I said best ever, I should know by now thats a trigger word. :biggrin:

The suggestion that took by surprise the most was Adam Ant. He is a mere glimpse in my memory as a 80's side show act / one hit wonder. I need to do some research.

Onebean
 
This would depend so much on what each individual likes. I haven't had the opportunity to see very many live bands so I wouldn't know how they stack up against the ones that I haven't been able to see.

I do know that if I could go back in time there is one band that would be my number one must see.

THE BEATLES!!!!!
 
As already alluded to..."best" is such an all-inclusive descriptor that has infinity as its boundaries.

Time for me has been a factor that influenced my taste that changed as I have gotten older. Some of the bands that I listen to now, just don't have the ability today they had in the past. By the same token, many today have built on from the greats of the past. However, nostalgia kicks in for me, and I get into the "groove" and they become what they were...a great sound. The best!

I think also, within different genres, some players/singers/bands like sports teams, tend to reach their zenith, and with time/drugs/expectations/road time/countless recordings, they all take their toll on the entertainers. The initial spirit is sometimes lost, being replaced by a commercial presentation fostered by producers...unless/until they can get their own label out.

We all have our best and for us, they are the best!

Who's to say we are wrong?

Q
 
i know who was the worse at least in Minneapolis , i saw Led Zepplin a few times here and they always showed up late just seemed to go through the motions and never did an encore, they were my favorite band too :( when i saw Paul Mc Cartney recently he did a 3 hour set with no warm up band i would rate him very high for live performance. Stones were always awesome live too
 
Chrisxo55441 said:
i know who was the worse at least in Minneapolis , i saw Led Zepplin a few times here and they always showed up late just seemed to go through the motions and never did an encore, they were my favorite band too :( when i saw Paul Mc Cartney recently he did a 3 hour set with no warm up band i would rate him very high for live performance. Stones were always awesome live too
Click to expand...


As already mentioned, go back to my third thought.

Most think that being the in the public's eye, being adored and making mega bucks is all great. People don't realize that many are at the mercy of their handlers and their ways of life often get into them into a rut of over spending. Having several X's in the mix don't help either!

I can relate to your comment on "worse" as I too saw the "Moody Blues" years ago, and compared to the first tour...in their last, they were just going through the motions. I'll bet they had to be doing this twenty or more times within a month's time this time around. They are still one of my favs, though.

Being an entertainer is often not what it's built up to be.

Q
 
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