Author : Alicia Parker
People are always enthusiastic about going to live concerts and watching their favorite artists perform. Even music artists also enjoy live audiences and love to perform in front of them. It has power and energy, and something more than just entertainment. More than anything, the live performances with so many musical affairs are something that people enjoy the most.
This article has put together the six best concerts of all time chronologically. Read the following paragraphs to know about the concerts in detail.
The Beatles at the Shea Stadium in 1965:
It was the time when people used to have Beatlemania. They chose to tour North America. The concert recorded selling the highest number of tickets. More than 55600 tickets were sold for the concert. People were so crazy to see the Beatles performing that they were carried by an armored police van with 2000 police officers for the security of the band members.
It was the first concert to be held at an outdoor stadium. However, it inspired many concerts to be held at outdoor stadiums and has become a common phenomenon today.
James Brown at Boston Garden in 1968:
Martin Luther King was assassinated on 4th April 1968. His death was disheartening for everyone; his followers, countrymen, and the world. James Brown was about to play a concert just the next day. Although people thought that it will be canceled after such an incident. It happened and James paid tribute to King through his concert.
Brown interjected and told the crowd of his concert, “You’re not being fair to yourself and me or your race…. Now, are we together, or we ain’t?” …“I Can’t Stand Myself (When You Touch Me).”
Brown took the stage as a musician and left it more like a political leader. Brown replied later, “I was able to speak to the country during the crisis, and that was one of the things that meant the most to me.”
Queen at Live Aid in 1985:
The year has not been going so well so far for Queen. But the singer believing in their strength took the stage like a phoenix and delivered a performance that captured the audiences’ minds and attention. All the performers furiously delivered songs like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, and ‘We Will Rock You’. The players rushed one corner to the other to keep people energized throughout the song.
Queen gave a solid live performance despite having a not-so-good year. Those who watched the concert live have still remembered the vibe and aura they created through their performances.
The Three Tenors at Baths of Caracalla in Rome in 1990:
It was one of the much wanted moments for music lovers to see the three operatic performers on the stage together. Pavarotti said that they had been asked more than 50 times to come together but they could say only no every time. They could not come together earlier due to a very serious rivalry between Domingo and Pavarotti.
It was football that brought them together. They were all big supporters of the game. They came together for the sake of football. Real-time spectators had a great time with them.
Radiohead at Glastonbury in 1997:
Everything went bad before and during the concert. The two stages made for the performances got sunk in the mud. It got worse as soon as Radiohead went on the stage. The lighting rig started shining on the face of Thom Yoke’s face directly, the monitor fell, and they could hear only their voice.
Despite all the chaos, it is still considered one of the best live performances ever. Yorke remembered, “I thundered offstage at the end, really ready to kill… And my girlfriend grabbed me, made me stop, and said, ‘Listen!’ And the crowd was just going wild. It was amazing.”
Daft Punk at Coachella in 2006:
The rise of EDM has grabbed many people’s attention. However, live performance with the EDM music was only in people’s imagination. In 2006, for the first time, a live performance took place and people went crazy about it.
At the Coachella festival, the duo performed from a pyramid of 24 feet. The whole surroundings were covered with LED panels. The duo performed in front of 40000 fans.
The performance influenced many such concerts with EDM in the future. The concert was the tipping point for considering the EDM in major music festivals.
These 6 concerts were the best concert ever held in history. Although there are a few more concerts that could have got a spot on the list, these 6 are more influential as live performances.
