I was ready to be annoyed by this ranking because I do think this is a cool song but honestly this performance was pretty flat.
Fun (maybe?) story about late night show performances. I used to have a couple of friends who worked for Fallon so last time I was in NYC (2013) I got tickets to the show. The musical performance was by CHVRCHES and it was their first time playing in the U.S. I honestly thought they were kind of lame but they’ve obviously blown up quite a bit since then. I’ve enjoyed some of their songs but still not a fan of “The Mother we Share”, which is what they played there.
In 8th place with 4 points - Talking Heads - Life during Wartime (1984)
The cool kids aren’t going to like this, but it’s time for some more blasphemy. I don’t really like this band. Here are a few excuses for my objective judgement. Intro drums are out of time! The mix is bad! The dancing is both awesome and pretty funny! I guess that’s good? It is high energy and worth watching, but I don’t have any desire to go back to this, hence the placement. I get why someone who was really into 80s keyboards would like this.
In 7th place with 5 points - Live - The Dolphins Cry (not sure when)
Ok, sure. I can get into this. I don’t really care for this band, but the crowd is REALLY into it, which is contagious, and the song is not bad. It is rather 90s, and as we all know, the 90s was recently determined to be the best decade of music. If I close my eyes and pretend this is a band I’ve never heard of I like the song even more. Pretty good.
Cassette obviously the worst and my plan to sabotage him by forwarding him the songs that people submitted is going swimmingly BUT I will say the audio on that video kind of sucked. The bits I watched were fun, though.
In 6th place with 6 points - The Black Crowes - No Speak No Slave (1992)
A few people picked the first song of a concert, which makes sense since most acts come out of the gates strong. And this one’s no exception. A good rock song, good performance, and a good light show to top it off. I’m not sure why someone’s dad is playing drums, but that’s OK. Hard rock (or whatever this is) isn’t really my wheelhouse, but I still enjoyed this.
In 5th place with 7 points - Pink Floyd - On the Turning Away (Remastered) (1988)
The bass is REALLY loud and distracting, but it gets better when the lead guitar comes in. I’m not sure what’s with these sound techs and blasting bass lines. The chorus vocals at 4:15 is a highlight, and of course the subsequent solo is epic. Not breaking any new waves with Pink Floyd, but it’s a classic for a reason and a fun listen.
In 4th place with 8 points - Can – Halleluwah (1971)
A somewhat standard jam band opening two minutes in picks up in the second half. The psychedelic videography has some pros and cons. It’s different than each other submission, which makes it interesting right there, but it also makes it a little tougher to watch the actual performance. But the sound is pretty good and that alone is a real treat for an early 70s recording like this one. Add in the rest of the period ephemera and this is a pretty cool time capsule. I first heard Can a few Walruses back and have been playing them a bit since. I’m not quite a can stan yet, but this is an example of what might get me there.
