One of the great pleasures in following a musical artist is watching them evolve over time. Perhaps no artist exemplified that better than the Beatles, who covered more ground and pioneered more new ideas than any other rock artist in history. Unfortunately, they stopped live touring in 1966, at the peak of their popularity. They quit in part because they hated trying to play over the screaming of their fans. Another reason they never came back to live shows is that their compositions became so complex and layered that they were not possible to replicate live. Most important, they were no longer getting along, and live performances rarely work if the band-members are not in tune with each other.
Band-Maid may be one of the greatest live bands ever. They do it all with minimal backing tracks or special effects, and they sound as good or better live than they do in the studio. A few of the elite rock bands of the 60’s and early 70’s had that, but not many others, then or now. It’s not just the synergy among the members, but their musicianship: Band-Maid are great songwriters, and are simply better on their instruments than most of the aforementioned elite bands (including the Beatles). They also work with some of the best mixers and sound technicians in the business. Here is one of their earliest singles, followed by a live performance of the same song three years later.
Real Existence (Music Video, 2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TkHpvaO09c
Real Existence (Live, Zepp Tokyo, 2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qQnKILR5u0
I also heard that the Beatles broke up because John couldn’t keep up with all of Paul’s song lyrics. They were having a problem with singles in that one side was astounding and the other was just so-so. It had nothing to do with Yoko as many have falsely believed for years.
ReplyDeleteYou really know your music Charles. This group BAND-MAID is exceptional.
Nice article. You really know your music