Exceptional Live Stage Show (above and beyond the level of their music): Def Leppard Elton John Dwight Yoakam
That's surprising Chop - we've caught 12-15 concerts a year for decades and have seen U2 several times over the years. Their shows have been some of the best of them all. Different strokes I guess...
Exceptional Stage shows going waaay back Best I ever saw was Cream's farewell tour Worst I've ever seen was Beyonce - supposed to be 60-75 minutes; she was on stage less than 30. Second worst was Christal Gale - zero stage presence. Might as well have been a cardboard cutout & CD playing. David Allen Coe puts on an exceptional show when he wants to. Junior Brown puts on a great show every time out Dwight Yoakum is great in concert I never liked Conway until I saw him in concert Sorry, most of these are old, but then so am I
Best ‘surprise’ show I ever attended was when daughter and granddaughter bought wife and I Avett Brother tickets. Outstanding concert. Have caught them three times sense. Remarkable talent.
The greatest baseball slugger of all time was a Black man, and it wasn't Hank Aaron. Well then, who was it............................................? Babe Ruth
The laws of physics in bowling alleys are different from the laws of physics everywhere else Things that should be falling down are not falling down That is the only explanation for recent events
Bands that changed the direction of the music world: Elvis The Beach Boys The Beatles David Bowie The Ramones The Eagles Van Halen (don't laugh--disco might still be dominant without them and those who followed...) Nirvana Foo Fighters ???
Pink Floyd The Door Stevie Wonder Aretha Franklin The Moody Blues Led Zepplin ELO Queen U2 Fleetwood Mac The Byrds Grateful Dead Allman Bros.
"Manilow began work as a commercial jingle writer and singer, which continued through the remainder of the 1960s. He performed many of the TV jingles that he composed, including State Farm Insurance ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there") or Band-Aid ("I am stuck on Band-Aid, 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me!"), for which he adopted a childlike voice and wrote the music (Donald B Wood wrote the lyrics). His singing-only credits include commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi ("all across the nation, it's the Pepsi Generation"), McDonald's ("you deserve a break today")" I bet John Lennon and Kurt Cobain never did that.
And Manilow was also the pianist for Bette Midler's act at a gay bathhouse in NYC: (I bet Mick Fleetwood never did that; although Freddie Mercury might have...) "Bette Midler saw Manilow's act in 1971 and chose the young musician as her pianist at the Continental Baths in New York City that year,..." Barry Manilow - Wikipedia
The 1970s were the bottom valley of decadence, debauchery, and abuse of mind-altering substances. The 80's, 90's and post 2000s have been clean-cut in comparison.
You have never left the 70’s, have you? (clearly a joke to play on your age and your post which only inferred - but not stated - one preference over the other.)
I found it true that folks who became famous was no accident - they often had the underlying skills to be good at something not 100% related for what they are famous for.
And I had always thought of Manilow as another Las Vegas style lounge singer. A "lite" version of Tom Jones, Dean Martin, or Tony Bennett.
I know you asked Sabre and I'm curious to hear his thoughts, but I'd say Baker was certainly Top 10, approaching Top 5. I'd put Keith Moon and Neil Peart above him, and probably John Bonham.
I would rate Baker the best I ever saw, as well as the best ever. On their Farewell Tour, they played the old Sam Houston Coliseum; during "Toad", Clapton & Bruce set their guitars down and left the stage while Baker did a 35 minute drum solo. We were on the second row and I wanted a football helmet because broken drumsticks were flying everywhere. Locally, there was a three man band from Abilene (ACC students; originally 4 guys but one was drafted and used a shotgun to blow off his big toe to get out of the draft) that was called "The George". They played a fundraiser for the Spurs. Those days were full of strobe lights. Their drummer would make a different face every time the light hit him, but they did Cream better than Cream did Cream. Guy was really great and a true entertainer. If they had stayed around, Pay Mollack (sp) would have made them the house band at Gruene Hall. Always wondered what happened to those guys. I believe one had a vinyl shop at 24th & San Gabriel in the 70s.
I'm not a drummer, so I'm not really qualified to say who's best...but, I like Peart the best. Bonham's drumming on Fool in the Rain is most impressive. Peart would often say the best jazz drummers are the best drummers.
The drummers I know (and there's not that many of them) talk about Ginger Baker as the equal (at least) of Peart, Bonham, etc. Apparently, Ginger Baker was a bit "difficult to work with", and he relished playing the role of the horse's ***. He said some rather insulting things about Bonham (long before Bonham passed away, of course). Bonham shook it off and didn't respond, to my knowledge. Bonham was supposedly an angry drunk and a barroom brawler from the dirty Midlands of England (rust belt), so it's probably good they never met to settle differences.
