bands you think are great live, not studio.

And vice-versa. Who do you think is awesome live, but not on their albums. Alternatively, who do you think is great on albums, but falls short live?

I'll start.


DVN: Awesome and engaging live... but their albums always leave me thinking, "damn... wish I'd taped that."

TMBG: Put out amazing music on albums, but are boring and predictable live.

While I'd agree that TMBG usually does their best work in the studio, their live show is still a lot of fun. I guess it could get "predictable" if you've been to a few shows already; they tend to play a lot of the same songs and use a lot of the same gimmicks in every show. Of course, the albums are also pretty predictable if you've heard them before. :p

Yeah, like, I enjoyed seeing them live when I first went... but then I went, like, 3 more times... and... it was the same show, over and over.
So I stopped going.

WORD on the DVN/TMBG. :)

Also...I really, really hate to say it...but in my limited experience with them, WA9 seems to have a bit of trouble putting together engaging set lists even though I love almost all the songs on their EP and new album (Something Important with your Time, I could do without).

Better in studio than live:

Radiohead, Dream Theater, Guster, Billy Joel (especially presently), Ben Folds

Better live than studio:

TMBG, Fruvous, DVN, & EFO.

I have to disagree...I think Guster is mad good live...especially on this latest tour where I've seen two of the best live shows I've ever seen yet.

Eek! When did you appear on FHDC?!?!

*Squee*

I _loved_ DT live...

DT rock live, I'm just saying they are a little better in studio.� It's all relative. :)

Gah. Can't even wrap my mind around making a list but I know there are tons of examples in my experience going both ways.

Like at first I felt Tory Cassis wasn't good live but great on his album.

And there are also bands that are great on albums...and sound the same live. So yeah, still sounds good, but giving you nothing more than the album experience with a visual.

The Eels are awsome Live!
Broken Social Scene are great too

But... I like some of the eels studio stuff.
you don't?

what would you do for a live eels show! me? ANYTHING! and I do mean anything.

i saw them live on the sidestage at Lolla 97 - i loved them! it was great! i love the eels. i love that they put one of their songs in Shrek - i freaked :D

Another vote for live... girlyman.

I REALLY dislike their studio stuff.... but when they played in Easthampton as a co-bill with WA9, I was actually pretty impressed by them.

i think girlyman are much stronger in the studio than live...i'm hoping that will change as they gain more experience performing together as a trio.

I think we're speaking opposites.
:)

I DISlike their studio stuff.

*is dumb and illiterate* :)
you're actually the first person i've heard say that they prefer live girlyman to studio.

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of them either way, really... but their studio stuff is too... I dunno how to describe it.... country-ish?
For me.

Uh....they were just as country-ish at the show with WA9, weren't they?

I didn't think so....

springsteen{though you can't go wrong with his studio stuffs either, IMHO} is SOOOOOO GREAT live!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *rowr*

agreed on the EFO, fruvous, DVN.

others i'd mention are richard thompson, the kennedys, chris smither,vance gilbert{esPECIALLY when at festivals with 'the vance and jodie show}, lucinda williams is AMAZING live, huey lewis was pretty kickass last month......oh! and the flatlanders SO rock live!!! lotsa fun!!!

i know i'll think of others later. ciao!

oh!
Vance is an excellent example.
I really don't care for his studio stuff, but I *LOVE* him live more than pretty much, like, any solo artist.

But, also, a lot of his appeal for me is the audience interaction which, obviously, you can't have with an album.

Martin Sexton!!!

i like his studio stuff a lot too, but nuthin touches live

Peter Mulvey. Yup. Unforgettable show. Especially with a full band. Damn. Blew me away.

Since the Active Forums cut off the "not studio" portion of the forum title, I had a different idea of the discussion's course.� Seeing that it's coming around to my original thought, I'll put this in.

Great Big Sea:� Their studio albums up to Rant and Roar sound very sterile.� They have a very clear and traditional sound, but no real life.� Turn and Sea of No Cares had a more produced sound that a lot of people don't like.� They just sound more professional to my ears.� To get this back on topic, they have the most amazing live show.� Not the best I've ever seen, but I've only seen them once.

"Weird Al" Yankovic:� A performer without equal.� The albums are entertaining, but get old quickly.� I would see his live show every day, if I had the option.� I can only think of two things I would choose over a Weird Al show: A great festival line-up or another show closer to home with a better price.

Great Big Sea does have a great live show, but I think it's very appropriate that "Live show" is singular in this case. I've seen them maybe 4 or 5 times and I feel like each show was almost exactly the same. There are only so many times you can find it amusing that they call Newfoundland a tropical island before it gets kinda old. Don't get me wrong, their, show is fabulous, but if you've seen them once, that's all you really need. And since their tickets are getting so freaking expensive, that's probably a good thing.

oh yeah, now i remember why i haven't seen them in three years. :)

it's also why i've only seen black 47 twice in 5 years. they're a lot of fun, and definitely better live than in the studio, but their show's been the same for so long that gordon and i call them a black 47 cover band. :)

If you saw him live enough times, that would probably get old as well.� He tends to do the exact same set (right down to the jokes and video clips) at every show on a given tour.� He changes things for every new album, though, so it's worth seeing him once on every tour, but not necessarily MORE than once.� Of course, the show IS a lot of fun, and if you like seeing it multiple times, that's certainly fine with me.

Better in the studio: Radiohead, TMBG, Guster

Better live: Phish (any any jam band), Fruvous, Peter Mulvey, Martin Sexton

a roudy second to you Phish!!

also:

OAR... MUCH better live, but I settle for their studio stuff because its all I can get.

Headstart

Paraniod Social Club

OH OH !! and rusted root!!! I have much love for them.

The Ambassadors of Canadian Rock and Roll!!

Tim McGraw is also pretty awesome live as are the Dixie Chicks.

Oddly enough I thought Big Country was awesome live, but was totally generic in the studio.

See, I have mixed feelings about Fruvous.� I cannot deny their incredible awesomeness live in concert.� The sound is full and powerful, and they just rock.� However, there's some stuff in the studio that I just love.�� "Michigan Militia," no doubt about it, is better live.

"Fly" is better live

"Horseshoes" I'm divided on. . .because in Live Noise the harmonies are so much lusher, but you don't have the piano that you have on wood.

"No No Raja," same thing, because you lose the strings on the live version.

Does anyone also notice that they speed up their songs when they do them live?� I was listening to my fruvous on shuffle, and for some reason the recorded version of "raja" came on right before the live version of "raja."� It was clearly faster.

some songs are slower live - Horseshoes is the best example I can think of. I dislike the live version for exactly that reason.

The Drinking Song is also considerably slower live, but in that case, I think it adds to the effect.

but a few - Sahara, Kids Song, King of Spain, Raja, Half as Much, and even the one performance of Sad Today - were noticeably faster than the recorded versions.

Much better on albums than live.

Erin rocks live. I love her shows

I'm the opposite on Erin. I find her live shows to have a lot of energy and they accentuate that little "stinker" personality she has. Her albums are spotty and incohesive in comparison.

Then again, any Erin is great Erin. :)

Then again, any Erin is great Erin. :)

Well, yeah... I certainly didn't mean to imply she was BAD live... I just prefer her studio stuff.

obviously, i prefer live fruvous, and listen to the shows more than the albums. although, once in a while you'll put in an album and hear a song you almost forgot about, because they never play it live.

tmbg - i like them better on CDs, methinks, their live shows..i dunno, if they dont have a good sound engineer (or didnt on the tour i saw) but they just didnt sound very good. maybe they dont open their mouths when they sing, but everything to me was mumbled.� it was fun, except for the floodies talking during every song that was not on flood.

violent femmes - sweet live, dude. they were so much fun. they dont sound good on albums either, as gordon gano can't sing, but the live show was so much fun. especially when brian ritchie played "dance mf'er dance" to a bottle of leeches (his pets - percy, ..something..and mr. poopooface).

Eels - love 'em both ways. live wasnt so good when i saw them, since it was lollapalooza, but they were fun from what i could see/hear.

Tool was excellent live - i think better than the albums, although i do like their album stuff.

guster i'm an album person, unless they're drunk :D (josh knows which show i'm talking about).

EFO i like better live than on albums.

nine inch nails i saw live, and i think i like the albums better.

I think she's equal in this respect.� I LOVE her live shows (I've been to 8, and counting) but I also love her albums.� When you see her live, you get that awesome live-wire act, and her witty jokes and side commentary.� But, when she performs live, lately she's had this tendency to alter the melodies in such a jazzy way that she kind of sings a lot of the phrases all on one note.� She gets all improvvy with it, which sounds good, but the melodies don't flow as much, like the way they do on the albums.� Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? Have you noticed this?

I like her better live. Her albums tend to take the songs and apply the most boring and unimaginitive possible full-band arrangement to them. She's one of those people who can really connect with an audience in a live setting.