Things to Do During Quarantine: 10 Best Concert Performances on YouTube

From the kings and queens of pop music to rock stars.

Queen (1986, London)

The British band's concert at Wembley Stadium in July 1985 is not only an important milestone in their career, but arguably the greatest performance in the history of rock music. Performing at a charity festival to raise funds for famine victims in Ethiopia, Queen were at the peak of their fame: rock music was in vogue, and the great Freddie Mercury was fully prepared to hit “a note heard around the world.”

Although Queen performed in daylight, nominally ceding the position of the main stars of the evening in the lineup to The Who, Elton John and David Bowie, it was their performance that became the event. The charismatic frontman of Queen captivated the London audience so much that 32 years later, this concert rhapsody before 75,000 spectators became the closing scene of the biographical film about the group as a whole and Freddie in particular.

Michael Jackson (1992, Bucharest)

Michael Jackson's performance in Bucharest took place as part of the Dangerous World Tour in support of his 8th studio album, which was certified platinum seven times in the United States. It was one of 70 concerts of that tour, which brought him $100 million from ticket sales alone and another $20 million from selling broadcast rights.

Live in Bucharest was his first concert recording officially released on DVD, with more than 3 million copies sold worldwide. The broadcast of this performance on HBO was watched by a record audience for the popular American TV channel, and the next day the British BBC also showed its own recording of this concert to viewers.

Michael was in great form, even before the first accusations of sexual abuse.

Madonna (1990, French Riviera)

In 1990, Madonna raised the stakes. The queen of pop released a provocative video for Like a Prayer, mixing themes of religion and sexuality, and then organized a mega-tour that she herself called “the most theatrical of her career.”

For Like a Prayer, Madonna sang with a cross dangling on her chest in an improvised cathedral, performed Material Girl in curlers, and simulated masturbation during Like a Virgin. Being a queen means everything is allowed.

Nirvana (1991, Seattle)

Nirvana's performance at the Paramount Theatre on October 31, 1991, took place just a few weeks after the release of the legendary album Nevermind, half a million copies of which were sold in less than a month. This show by Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl in the frontman's hometown became the basis of a video album released 20 years later.

The acoustic MTV performance is certainly good, but the real Nirvana is this one, raw and punk.

2Pac (1996, Los Angeles)

An hour and a half of hip-hop recitation by Tupac Shakur (with Snoop Dogg in the backing group) at the House of Blues concert hall in Los Angeles is widely considered the best performance of one of the greatest rappers in history. First, because 2Pac was at the peak of his popularity after the release of the cult album Me Against the World and the commercially successful All Eyez on Me.

Second, because just two months after this very performance, the leader of the West Coast was killed in Las Vegas as part of the war with East Coast rappers.

Radiohead (2016, Chicago, Lollapalooza)

Radiohead may have passed their creative peak, but their live performances are in excellent shape. Over more than 30 years on stage, the band has gained experience, stays in shape and guarantees the highest level. Their performance at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago is proof of this.

David Bowie (2000, Glastonbury)

In 2000, the British magazine NME (New Musical Express) conducted a poll in which David Bowie was named the most influential musician of the century. That same year, the legendary Briton, no longer with the eccentric image typical of his early years but still with a beautiful voice, delighted his compatriots at Glastonbury with a wonderful performance.

Metallica (1991, Moscow)

The first visit of the legendary American rockers to the USSR took place when the USSR was in its final months: the Iron Curtain was falling, and young people full of new hopes needed exactly this.

“Half a million people at the airfield,” Metallica frontman Kirk Hammett later recalled. “Military men in helicopters were yelling at people to stop moshing and slamming. They just didn't understand what was happening. Damn communism.”

The Beatles (1969, rooftop of a building in central London)

A little more than half a century ago, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, together with keyboardist Billy Preston, gave a 42-minute performance on the roof of the Apple Corps building in central London, which was destined to become the last in the history of the great band.

Despite infighting within the group, the “Beatles” managed to get together and organize an unannounced and unadvertised performance at lunchtime, which attracted a considerable number of workers who had been released for their break. Not everything was recorded on the first take (Get Back only on the 3rd), but the final result is magnificent.

Beyoncé (2011, Glastonbury)

“I always wanted to be a rock star,” Beyoncé said from the stage, and did everything she could to make a pop star look organic at a largely rock-oriented British festival.

A bonus fact: it later emerged that the American, who danced on the Glastonbury stage in perfect form, was three months pregnant.

Vasily Obaraz, TK Media