Five astounding live versions of songs that need an official release
We all need as many reasons as possible to get to more live shows. Venues are struggling; it’s one of the few revenue streams for modern artists. Above all, gig spaces are one of the few remaining environments detached from the bogged-down realities of the modern world. Moreover, an alchemy takes place on stage that is rarely repeated in the studio and ultimately injects something otherworldly into our favourite songs.
Whether it’s a ten-minute bridge, an over-indulgent guitar solo or a medley, the live space offers fertile ground for experimentation. Without the outcome being diligently recorded, artists are given the freedom to push the boundaries of expectation, knowing that any potential failure will only be subject to pub scrutiny after the fact.
But to completely contradict my live show war cry in the opening sentence, I’d like to make a compelling case for a collection of live songs to be recreated in the studio because certain guitar solos simply need to be heard while driving the car or on a run or in any of the few day-to-day environments where a video can’t be consumed.
Sometimes, live versions just rip through our eardrums and enter our soul with far more vigour than the studiously recorded studio versions. Here we pick five of the best and five tracks that, captured in the wild, deserved to be caged up for our enjoyment.
Five live versions of songs that deserve to be released:
Sharon Van Etten – ‘Seventeen’ (Glastonbury, 2019)
There’s something about a tented stage where the delivery of a song feels heightened. A dark blue cocoon in the technicolour of a festival where the sensitivity of a song’s meaning can feel heightened. Especially when it’s a track that puts the vocalist in a conversation with her younger self, assuring her that the tribulations will make way for purpose, a purpose surely felt on the Woodsies stage at Glastonbury?
While the arrangement of this performance largely stays the same, the vocal takes to indicate that Sharon Van Etten is acutely aware of the aforementioned. Raw, emotional and soaring – it’s a seminal track in the set where the emotional connection between the crowd and artist is forged. It’s so apparent within the performance that viewership isn’t required to feel its depth.
Nick Cave – ‘Jubilee Street’ (Copenhagen, 2018)
The beauty of playing a live show is, that there’s a very limited chance your full interpretation of a song will be cut short. There’s no skip or shuffle button in a live performance, nor any of the general tropes of attention economics. So that lengthy outro an artist unsuccessfully pitched to the label can finally have its moment in the sun.
But let’s face it: Nick Cave has probably never unsuccessfully pitched something to a label. His recorded version of ‘Jubilee Street’ is already a six-and-a-half minute epic that does away with commercial expectations, creating a healthy environment for any future expanse to develop. And in this Copenhagen show, that’s precisely what happened. The song broke into a stunning outro that brought the necessary drama to a Nick Cave show while keeping the narrative sentiment at the forefront of the delivery.
Arctic Monkeys – ‘Arabella/War Pigs’ (Austin City Limits, 2013)
The band has made no secret that their wildly successful fifth album, AM, was a hip-hop-inspired take on sultry LA rock. But that doesn’t mean it’s without its rock and roll moments. On the record’s fourth song, Arabella, the bridge is followed by a roof-raising solo that sees the band exercise every classic rock their leather jacket era undoubtedly inspired.
But in a simple chord similarity, during their 2013 live tour of the song, they regularly injected Black Sabbath’s iconic ‘War Pigs’ riff between the bridge and solo. Not only was it a perfect segue in which Alex Turner could go and fetch his guitar, but it was a solid sonic structure for drummer Matt Helders to let loose on some fills. Albeit fleeting, it’s a rowdy medley of two rock and roll classics that ought to be given some studio time.
The Stone Roses – ‘I Am The Resurrection’ (Blackpool, 1989)
On The Stone Roses’ self-titled debut album, there are plenty of spaces for the wide-eyed ravers who weren’t fussed about transitioning from acid-house to indie to get their fast-tempo fix. Between ‘Waterfall’ and ‘Fools Gold’, there are plenty of foot-stomping moments but perhaps the finest is the final 4 minutes of ‘I Am The Resurrection’. A sprawling breakdown of indie dance, grounded by Mani’s rhythm, The Stone Roses are their most enigmatic.
And it was a textural soundscape that was hard to imagine in a live context. But during a Blackpool show in 1989, the band – led by John Squire’s immaculate guitar performance – played a raucous version of the hit. Spanning 12 minutes long, it ebbed and flowed between the rhythmic breakdown and singalong chorus’ before igniting into a full-on jam for the final 2 minutes. It’s everything a live performance should be; immersive, improvisational and completely enthralling.
Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne & Prince – ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 2004)
So when I said that some guitar solos simply must be listened to, it was a direct reference to this performance from Prince. At the 1994 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Prince took on George Harrison’s epic ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ in what on paper, promised to be another humdrum collective cover, finished with a chorus of tepid Hollywood claps. But the reality was far different. As the song crescendoed into it’s finale, Prince stepped forward into the spotlight to deliver one of music’s most iconic live solo performances.
“They never rehearsed it, really,” said the show’s producer Joel Gallen, “Never really showed us what he was going to do, and he left, basically telling me, the producer of the show, not to worry… and the rest is history. It became one of the most satisfying musical moments in my history of watching and producing live music.”
Everything from the technical execution to the ice-cool performative demeanour makes this arguably one of music’s finest live performances. And while Prince has a healthy back-catalogue of music more than ample enough to keep us satisfied, I won’t rest until this one track is added.
