Your Favorite Live Videos of 2014

[425]

We don't seem to have any thread like this at the moment, and though the possible answers for this are probably fewer than one for a favorite studio album of the year, I thought it might be interesting to at least have a thread for the topic.

What live videos did you especially enjoy this year? What was your favorite? Did any fall flat for you?






I only bought two videos from this year, neither of which, by the way, was Breaking the Fourth Wall, which I decided to skip due to my waning interest in DT12 and disappointment in DT's live performances with click tracks. One was KaLIVEoscope, which was an excellent video in my opinion—though those are really not too surprising coming from them at this point. Great performances and tons of energy. My dad, who is not too familiar with Transatlantic, loved it.

My favorite, though, and a real pleasant surprise for me, was Coldplay's Ghost Stories Live 2014. Initially I wasn't too interested in this, as it's just the Ghost Stories album played in full with no older or extra material. I'm happy I went for it, though, because it truly is a wonderful cinematic experience and a visual treat. It's not really a completely live album, as two of the songs are presented more in music video form, but the overall aesthetic of the film faithfully represents the style of the album in a way I didn't know a live album could. Seven of the songs are performed live in front of a relatively small audience, giving the performances a more intimate feel. "Always in My Head" opens the video with Coldplay performing in an empty concert hall with some impressive visual effects, and "Oceans" is the most intimately filmed song in the production, with Chris Martin playing and singing alone on a pier. The highlight, though, is the live performance of "Midnight," my favorite song of 2014, which is just breathtaking. This release is not for anyone who dislikes Coldplay (obviously) or for anyone who has a strong preference for raw live performances, but for anyone who liked Ghost Stories and would be interested in a beautifully polished semi-live video of the album, I highly recommend it.

[Mosh]

I only saw Breaking the Fourth Wall I think. It was awesome though, one of their best live DVDs. It came out right when I was coming off of a DT phase so I've only watched it once, but it'll definitely be getting lots of plays next time I'm in a DT phase! My one complaint is lack of bonus features, since DT has always had good ones, but the performance more than makes up for it.

[?]

I only bought Breaking the Fourth Wall and Katatonia's Last Fair Day Gone Night this year, but I'm happy with both releases. BTFW does a good job capturing DT's live show this year and has an almost perfect setlist. Last Fair Day... seemed to take an eternity to come out, but it was worth all the wait and now we finally have a full-length Katatonia DVD - I was just watching it yesterday I only wish the pauses between the songs hadn't been edited out, but the documentary on the second disc more than makes up for that kind of little flaw.

[Anguyen92]

Can we count live streams as well?  Other than that, Breaking the Fourth Wall is the only live video that I bought and watched.

[425]

Can we count live streams as well?

Sure, it wasn't exactly my intention to strictly police the definition of a live video in here, and I would say if you saw a live stream that is worthy of mention, go ahead and talk about it here.

[Anguyen92]

Oh goody. 

In addition, I dig Alter Bridge's live streams in Graspop and Rock AM Ring.  I also watched Metallica in three different live streams and they got the job done in all three of them.  Funny thing was that in those streams, they were playing in front of three different types of audiences.  Rock AM Ring (Hard Rock/Heavy Metal fans), Glastonbury (I don't how to specifically describe that crowd, but it was different from Rock AM Ring), and Blizzcon (Video game nerds).

[Mosh]

I saw some awesome live streams of Iron Maiden this year.