Daft punk

I haven't seen him in almost 15 years, but Weird Al Yankovic puts on a hell of a good show. Always has the best backup musicians with him.

Die Antword at 2014 Bonaroo

They'd rotate out for costume changes, so one vocalist was constantly on stage and the music and energy never dipped the entire set.

Can't remember if that was before/after they blew up, but for whatever reason I was able to get super close to the stage.

Bush's performance of Glycerine, on MTV Spring Break Rocks 1996. It was raining and they were warned against performing, but Gavin Rossdale insisted, and it was amazing.

EDIT: I haven't had my coffee, and for some reason your question translated to "live TV performance" in my brain.

Ye in the Netherlands
The earth dome does a lot more than people think when you see it all in person

Foreigner. Lead singer was climbing up the fifteen foot scaffolding, singing from way up there. No safety equipment either. Like a jungle gym.

Slipknot puts on a crazy show. With so many people in the band, there was always somebody doing something worth watching. I'm not even a Slipknot fan, I was there to see System of a Down.

Rammstein

Theatrics, setlist, audio quality, crowd... Just wow. Hope to see them one more time.

I think the best live show I ever saw was Good Kid. Their energy and jams couldn’t be matched.

I was at the Foo Fighters gig where Dave Grohl fell off the stage and broke his leg, after which the rest of the band spent an hour playing various covers until Dave came back on stage high on pain meds mixed with alcohol and resumed the show. A doctor had to sit on stage and keep his leg fixed for the rest of the show until they could take him to the hospital to give him a cast, and the entire crowd dedicated "My hero" to the doctor. That show was fucking awesome.

I saw The Chemical Brothers play back in the early 2000's and they were set up with racks and racks of keyboards surrounding them. They played their electronic music live on the keyboards and watching them blew my mind. Up until this concert I never thought of electronic producers as musicians, this totally changed my perspective.

Faderhead and Nitzer Ebb rocked my ass off this planet

In random order: Rammstein in 2024, Iron Maiden in 2008, Gorilla Biscuits this summer, Metallica in 1991 and probably one or two I forgot.

Stone Temple Pilots - (MTV Unplugged) - Sony Studios, NYC, ’93

Massive Attack - Roseland NYC, ‘96

Green Day - Barbarella, Orlando, ‘95

Modest Mouse - (Baron von Bullshit Rides Again) - Sapphire Supper Club, Orlando, ‘04

Paul Oakenfold - (Global Underground 006), The Tunnel, NYC, ‘94

These are just a few. I’m sure there’s a bunch I’m forgetting. I doubt that I could single any one of them out.

Maybe STP or Massive Attack

Edit: updated to include live album titles, and cities

Edit 2: confirmed: that MTV unplugged, performance of plush is available on Apple Music:

On disc four of this album

https://music.apple.com/us/album/core-super-deluxe-edition/1263219551

Otherwise, on the Stone Temple Pilots album, core, the super Deluxe Edition.

Streetlight Manifesto in 2008 at the Chameleon Club. Opening acts were Echo Movement and Outernational.

Not the best show I've ever seen, but I saw Creed at a State Fair and they put on a helluva show. I don't like Creed, but it was a great vibe. Compare to Pearl Jam, whom I used to adore, who came to my town and phoned in a lousy performance. I'm just saying that good music isn't enough to make a good show.

I caught Pink Floyd on their "Pulse" tour. They performed the "Dark Side of the Moon" album in it's entirety, and if your a fan, then you know how special that was.

Primus. Mesa Amphitheater.

Metallica in 1991 has got to be up there with all time historical performances. I've seen them 6 times since 2008, but man what I would give to go to any time from 1991-1992 when they were at their absolute peak.

Rammstein, Pledge of Allegiance '01. Till did the first song of their set ON FIRE.

NIN, Lights in the Sky '08. Absolutely insane A/V, transparent screens layering the entire stage that would make various band members visible/invisible depending on what was being displayed on each layer and where the spotlights were pointed.

And then there's Ozzy just blasting the pit with a fire hose for most of the set…

Saw him 4 months ago. I was not prepared for so many costume changes.

All of Lolapalooza 2. Run DMC and the Beastie Boys live at Red Rock amphitheater.

Top two concerts of all time:

Daft Punk at Lollapalooza 2007

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard at Northerly Island, Chicago, 9/1/24

Kabát (Czech band) in Bratislava 2017. I was amazed that a local rock band can perform on such high quality level, better than anyone I've ever seen live.

For fun - the worst was Imagine Dragons in 2015, holy crap that was so dull. The guy was in white shirt the entire time, repeating the same phrases between songs over and over again

I was in the crowd with you on that one. Such a conflict, you also had Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Darkside a tent over.

QOTSA

Chemical Brothers is a close second because we dropped acid 30 mins before and were dealing with this shit...

Don’t laugh, but Collective Soul. They did that song “Gel” back in the day. I wasn’t a huge fan of their music and still am not. But it was a great live concert.

Free tickets got passed to me from one of my mothers friends, and it was at an old theater with chandeliers and padded seats.

Was very surprised at how engaging they were with the crowd.

Yeah, it was always a weird mix.

The year before I saw Billy Idol in a tiny tent like 6 feet max from the stage, which was bucket list level.

But for most of his set it was just bored teenagers waiting for Passion Pit to come on

My first I introduction to Primus was live, I was very confused by the audience chants. The bassist was an absolute artist.

Dredg in Islington Academy in London around 2006/7

Tied between Electric Callboy, JVB, or Motionless in White for me

Man Man opening for Modest Mouse in Rochester NY. Got to watch the soundcheck and had spots on the rail. Man Man just had another energy I haven't really seen matched by anyone.

Sigur Ros at Bonnaroo in 2008. Was a few hour gaps between shows at the stage and hung out for a few hours with people to get a good spot. Left that show to find Kanye (who was supposed to start at the same time), still hadn't taken stage. Fell asleep waiting for him, gave up around 4AM and walked back to my tent. Think he went on around 430AM

Viagra Boys in 2022. Fun show, good crowd energy.

Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem/Blonde Redhead/ Les Savy Fav on Randall's Island in 2007. Front row of 20,000+ people (that I ran to secure for our group) Met Will Butler. Was LCD Soundsystem's last stop on the tour. Special special show.

Oh, Girl Talk at RIT sometime around 2007 or so. I've seen Girl Talk I think three times, but crowd energy was nuts for this one. Crowdsurfed even.

Gogol Bordello

Absolute manic fun.

Easily this. They have some of the best theatrics ever. The fire and smoke are amazing to watch. They even used the smoke on stage to cover a costume change during the performance

Wait. Guerilla biscuits played this summer!!!???

Slipknot puts on a great show.
Weird Al's shows are always fun.
If I'm within a couple of hours of where Babymetal is putting on a show, I will do whatever it takes to see them.
Honey Dijon spins an amazing set.
Whenever you have a chance to see an opera, go. Chances are you'll be blown away by the talent.

Hmm, hard to pick, but these come to mind in no particular order:

Chemical Brothers - Glastonbury Other Stage 2019

Chemical Brothers - V Festival (South) 2nd stage 2008

Faithless - V Festival (South) Main Stage 2006

Bloc Party - Alexandra Palace 2007

Nine Inch Nails - Eden Project 2022

Nine Inch Nails - O2 London 2025

Underworld - Aviva Studios Manchester 2024

Oneohtrix Point Never - New Century Manchester 2024

Massive Attack - Bestival Main Stage 2009

Massive Attack - Glastonbury Other Stage 2014

Aphex Twin - Glastonbury Temple Stage 2014

Sub Focus b2b Wilkinson - Glastonbury Sonic Stage 2019

Deadmau5 - Nation Liverpool 2009

Sigur Ros - Manchester Apollo 2022

I'm definitely forgetting a lot off the top of my head though

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra does excellent live shows.

Also if you happen to be in Las Vegas, every one of the Cirque du Soleil performances I've seen was worth the ticket price.

They had a short European tour this summer, and I guess they played some dates in the US as well.

Metallica, Donington Park Raceway, 2004. They were headlining Download festival, but Lars was rushed to hospital right before the show. Rather than cancel they brought out a rotating cast of drummers from the other bands at the festival, starting with Dave Lombardo from Slayer.

This was the St Anger tour... We were all jazzed to see Metallica, but let's be honest, no one was particularly jazzed about St Anger as an album. Thing is though, their guest drummers didn't know the tracks on St Anger. They knew old school Metallica; Kill Em All, Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets, the Black Album, And Justice For All. The good shit.

Better yet, the guest drummers were absolutely psyched to be there. For Metallica this could have been just another show. Huge crowd, but they've played bigger. But for their rotating cast of drummers this was the greatest night of their life. That kind of enthusiasm is infectious and it really showed. This was one of the most balls to the wall performances I've ever seen from any band. The energy was off the charts.

Especially when they got to Joey from Slipknot. The idea was that they were going to keep rotating drummers throughout the night, but after Joey played his first song, that went out the window. He was their drummer for the rest of the night. That motherfucker played his god damn heart out. Now, listen, if you're one of those people who still thinks that Slipknot are a bad band, go listen to Vol 3 and then come talk to me. Joey is one hell of a drummer, and he showed up to play. And the whole band felt it.By the end of the show James Hetfield wasn't singing to us... He was singing to Joey. I distinctly remember him standing with one foot up on the bass drum staring that little masked genius dead in the eyes, two guys basically performing for each other (an image made hilarious and adorable by the fact that James Hetfield is a giant of a man, and Joey is a pocket sized human being; it was like Dad brought his kid to work).

It was a once in a lifetime experience, and probably one of the best shows Metallica ever played. Pure lightning in a bottle.

Words cannot express my jealousy.

NoMeansNo at the Cotati Cabaret (might have been the The Inn of the Beginning) in Cotati, CA in the early 90's. "Stage" was a 1-foot-high platform. Maybe 300 people, tops, in attendance (which was capacity). No barricade. Close enough to get sweat drops flicked on me from the frantic yet top-notch drumming of John Wright while his brother Rob sang and played bass. Awesome, close-up show...for maybe $10 at the door.

Did some searching, it turns out it was 1992 in Rotterdam. They played the previous day too, but I remember for sure that they played Breadfan which is only on this setlist.

They aren't my favorite band, but probably the best live performance I ever saw was Godsmack. I've never seen anyone work a crowd like Sully did.

I saw him close to 20 years ago and the thing that always stood out to me the most was that he sounded exactly the same as he does on his albums. I was very impressed.

Foreigner is amazing to see, you'd never think so as I personally find their rock just a bit bland, you know kind of blends in with all the rock of their time, but holy shit their concert is fun. They just go wild, they really bring the crowd in, and you're right the lead singer is just nuts. I've seen them probably 3 times now simply because they're so fun

YOASOBI live in London. Every song was great but "Butai ni Tatte" was fucking spectacular!

The one that immediately springs to mind was 65daysofstatic on the Wild Light tour. They played the whole record, plus some older favourites. I was standing next to one of the big speakers. It's the closest I've ever gotten to a genuine religious experience.

However, FU Manchu in a tiny sweatbox club to about 200 people ranks pretty fucking up there too.

Oh, and the Foo Fighters doing a live session for Radio 1 back in around 2004. There were twenty of us who were lucky enough to win tickets.

Oh, and a performance of The Planets at the Albert Hall last year. We were in the seats behind the stage, right next to the organ pipes.

Fucking hell. Those pipes make you FEEL things.

That would have been such a sick concert. I still watch the Live Shit: Binge and Purge DVDs at least once a year. Seeing that live would have been killer.

Ive seen alot of DJs who did really good sets. Saw one DJ do their set blindfolded.
A couple live bands. Which would have been between Weird Al and Video Games Done Live for the best.

But without a doubt. Insane Clown Posse put on the best show.
I saw them in an underground nightclub. That had plastic everywhere to try and protect the electronics.
There was a lake of Faygo in the center of the dance floor, feathers everywhere, and the clear smell of a burnt electronics.