The Lineup
Great guitar performances to stream on YouTube
The Beatles
ABC Theatre Blackpool 1 August 1965
Here’s a real insight into how The Beatles sounded as a live unit without the overbearing screaming of their fanbase. The Beatles Blackpool Night Out was broadcast on TV to promote the Help! album, and the crowd enthusiasm was somehow mixed to a minimum so we can hear just how tight they’d become, a little over a year before they would retire from the stage. In under 20 minutes we get a six-song set of I Feel Fine, I’m Down, Act Naturally, Ticket To Ride, Help! and a McCartney solo with his mic’d Epiphone Texan for the TV debut of Yesterday. They sound incredible and incredibly human – fluffing the odd lyric, jiving along with the dancers during the credits and cracking jokes throughout. http://bit.ly/BeatlesBlackpool
Buddy Guy Solana Beach, California 2 April 1995
Buddy Guy is in fine form here and, luckily for us, someone just happened to be holding a video camera in the front row. Buddy’s backed by Scott Holt on guitar, Greg Rzab on bass, and the powerhouse drumming of the late Ray ‘Killer’ Allison. It’s a killer setlist including standards by Willie Dixon, Cream and Albert King. http://bit.ly/BuddyG
Gary Clark Jr NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 16 April 2019
You know you’ve made it when you’re invited to play a Tiny Desk Concert – intimate mini shows in NPR Music’s headquarters that always have some of the best sound mixes you’ll hear in live performance. This three-song selection finds GCJ playing an Ibanez Blazer BL1025 and proves he’s truly at home in the live environment. http://bit.ly/GCJTD
Genesis Manchester & Leicester
Live 1973
This is one hour and five songs of what is arguably peak Genesis. Gabriel, Collins, Rutherford, Banks and Hackett – every member is vital, but it’s easy to forget three of these musicians were only 23 years old when this was filmed. Hackett is sensational here with Rutherford on a pioneering doubleneck Rickenbacker. http://bit.ly/Genesis1973
Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires Brooklyn Bowl, Nashville 15 May 2020
Unable to promote new album, Reunions, with his band The 400 Unit, Isbell instead took to the empty venue’s stage with his Martin acoustic and bandmate (also wife) Amanda Shires. It says a lot about the potency of Isbell’s songs and these two musicians that the material sears even when stripped right back. http://bit.ly/isbellbowl
Jethro Tull Golders Green, London 10 February 1977
This was originally filmed by the BBC for its Sight & Sound series, but here it’s been converted to 16:9 and stereo to showcase the greatest of all Jethro Tull’s line-ups with the exceptional Martin Barre, John Glascock and Barriemore Barlow. This is ambitious music and Barre’s ability to deliver it live is easy to take for granted. http://bit.ly/Tull1977
John Mayer with Robbie McIntosh Private show, Bahamas 4 February 2008
Over a decade ago, the duo played an acoustic show for a Wells Fargo sales conference in the Bahamas. If you’re not familiar with just how much McIntosh brought to Mayer’s mid-2000s output, this will fill you in. But more than that it’s a lesson in how to deliver acoustic playing with engaging dynamics. http://bit.ly/JohnandRobbie
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble Montreux Jazz Festival 15 July 1985
This is bittersweet: the joy of seeing one of the very best at his best, with the knowledge he’s gone. SRV can only be fully experienced in a live setting and he’s in his element here – the extended jam with the fantastic Johnny Copeland on Look At Little
Sister is Texas-shuffle heaven. This is the sound of blues power. http://bit.ly/SRVMontreux
Sturgill Simpson Ryman Auditorium, Nashville 5 June 2020
Another leading light of contemporary Americana who shines when reworking his songs in an acoustic setting. Taking the historic Ryman stage with some of Nashville’s finest bluegrass players, Sturgill Simpson is a superb electric country player but picks with the best of them on a D-28, too. http://bit.ly/Sturgillryman