Week 23: 25 Greatest Live Records of All Time

[Swish]

The excitement continues with only 2 more to go after this week. I can barely contain myself.

3) Live At The El Mocambo--Elvis Costello And The Attractions: The Attractions would be my pick for world’s best backing band, and at this point, with Costello writing the best material of his career and playing it as if someone had just run off with his girlfriend and stolen his mail, El Mocambo represents a snapshot in time worth preserving for eternity. Or at least until I’m dead.

I was never a huge Costello fan, but I did like his earlier stuff. Great sense of melody with a distinctive vocal style and phrasings that true music fans should appreciate. Can't say I've heard this live record so I cannot opine.

[Mr MidFi]

The only live EC I have is the bonus disc of the Armed Forces reissue, where he's playing live at Hollywood High. And it's pretty good.

Hmmm...I haven't listened to that one in years. That's probably a mistake on my part.

[MindGoneHaywire]

Great album with one big problem--not recorded so great. More than 20 years ago a roommate had a vinyl copy of what was then a radio-station-only release; it didn't really come out until it was part of a box set around 15 years ago that had the first three EC recs in a box set that restored them to the original British releases plus this live rec. Point being, I made a cassette of it at the time & almost never listened to it because the studio versions just sounded better. I've given it more of a chance since then & the energy is tremendous but it just doesn't sound great.

There's never been a great live representation of EC + Attractions (or a lot of bands in the same universe--Rockpile, Squeeze, et al) from this era. Strange, but this is all there is so far as I know.

[ForeverAutumn]

Stolen his mail? Really? What does that even mean?

I haven't heard this album, but it's nice to see "The Elmo" on this list. In it's day it was one of the premier clubs in Toronto. It has a long history and has been a popular club for live recordings. My friend's brother managed it for a while in the 80's and ran it into the ground (he was and still is a dick). Bankruptcy ensued, but The Elmo would not be kept down. It reopened again shorty after.

Some other live recordings from the Elmo include:

Big Walter Horton — Live at the El Mocambo (1973)
Starz — Live at the El Mocambo (1973)
The Rolling Stones - Love You Live (1977)
April Wine — Live at the El Mocambo (1977)
The Cars--"Live at The El Mocambo" Sept. 14,1978
Elvis Costello — Live at the El Mocambo (1978)
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble — Live at the El Mocambo (1983)
Moxy -- Raw (2001)
Zoobombs — Bomb You Live (2001)
The Sinisters - "Live" (2003)
The Whisky Howl Big Band — Live at the El Mocambo (2005)