Live vs. Memorex
Okay, so the title might date me a bit, but I was discussing this the other day and thought I'd put it here.... what's better, a great album or a great show?

A great album backed up by a great performance. :P I know, I know, I am being so diplomatic today. :shock: I'd say a live show, because to me, it is so important to FEEL it. I hate listeing to a great album only to go see the band play a crappy show. Honestly, that can and has ruined albums for me to see that the band can't even play the songs live. Also, I just love that feeling of "being there" in the moment, when you'd rather be there at the show rather than anywhere else in the world. And I LOVE dancing, which I only seem to do at shows/concerts as opposed to in my living room, (although, occasionally I'll dance at home!) That said, I do understand your reasoning and your side of the argument, Tsuru, that a great album is better because it stays with you forever and is ready when you want it.

Oh don't get me wrong, I love a great show, Decemberists Crane Wife and the show they done brought to Columbus was fuckin' shhhhh-weet! But at the end of the day, if I had to choose. I'd go album. I think of Neutral Milk Hotel, where it's all we got! I think of Violent Femmes who quit recording and just tour playing the same shit over and over again.... Now, Okkervil River, I hear (haven't seen yet, unfortunately) they BRING it to a show, and they are definitely an album band.. So, yeah, I'd love both, but if I had to choose one, give me a well thought out, wonderfully executed album...

I prefer a great record because it will always be great no matter how many times you hear it. A great live show is only great while you are there. You can listen to the bootleg, watch the DVD, etc but the atmosphere and energy can never be recreated.

A great show is when you see a band that has a great album and when they play a song from it, you are able to say: "They can play it live and it sounds just like the album!" Of course, re-interpretations in live performances can be a different sign of a good band as well. But when a live sound is captured well in the studio you can tell it when you actually see them live. Sometimes, before I get the chance to see a band, I wonder how they would make it sound as good live. For example: TheMarsVolta, a very prog-rock multi-instrumental w/ extended jam rock band floored me when i saw them pull it off live.

Maybe I have some agoraphobe tendencies myself, the too crowded ones just get all up in my business... I hate shitty "fans", I always wonder why they are there if they are just going to fart around on their cell phone or talk with their friends during the show. Oh man, at Sharon Jones, the "drunk girlfriends" where annoying enough, but to have their boyfriends pushing their way to the front with their beer to stand near their woman, clearly not giving 2 shits about Ms. Jones.... well, fuck man, just go on to the back, we ain't making no move on "your woman"... =P Some guy at "our" decemberists concert stood there flicking off colin meloy???? huh? You paid to come here and do that?? for nearly the whole show? Once a band gets somewhat big, too many people show up just because its something to do, like it's a bar or club. No.... it's a concert. I don't get it. I love a good show, but it's usually the audience which ruin shows for me, not the band. I wish more bands did covers... I love that shit!

yep yep yep i can see all the above. i still appreciate a band that can pull it off live. i think the reason a lot of bands in the top40 genre never tour is because their labels know they can't play the same polished way live. but yeah- overall i guess i'll take the album. i sorta forget shows over time, every little detail of a unique performance, a lot quicker than a good album that can be played over and over again. the internet seems to be changing that though, with the advent of streaming, capturing and posting live shows. but even with that, i'd rather listen to the well-made album than a crappy sound-quality recording with all those obnoxiuos drunk-guys and their girlfriends muddling in the background. no offense to those guys with those big fancy mics sitting front and center...

I really don't like live recordings, unless the song is radically different to the album version. Unless you were at the show, most bootlegs are dead to me. For me, I love to see extra long intros, stripped down or beefed up versions of songs, and a generally more complex atmosphere to the live show than the recorded songs. Eg, I saw Arcade Fire at the start of their Neon Bible touring, at the church in Montreal, and they played the songs straight up as the album versions. By the time November rolled around and I saw them at Alexandra Palace in London, they'd added a whole extra intro part, segueing from another preacher video, to the start of The Well And The Lighthouse, and it was amazing. The ideal album for me contains very little excess in the way of instrumental parts, the ideal live show builds on album tracks and gives the individual musicians room to explore.

Interesting... I do like when bands mix it up for the live show, either take it down, slow it down, speed it up, take it over the top, whatever. It's fun. Good example is Decemberists with 16 Military Wives, he now stops the song to have a "la la la" competition! Memorable and fun as all hell....