Down the Rabbit Hole: Youtube Live Performances

Down the Rabbit Hole is (hopefully) a routine series about what happens when I lose myself in Youtube after trying to hunt something down. While surely not original in any respect at all (what is on the Internet?), I hope to bring you some stuff that is interesting.

On the Orneriness of Singers and Magical Performances...

You ever get into one of those texting conversations with a friend...it's late at night, possibly after you've been sipping a cocktail or four, and the topics and narratives flow with little direction or focus?

Or is that just me?

Anyway it happened last week to me, after I had stumbled upon Lake Street Dive - my new favorite band. Take a look...



It's like the cosmos took my subconscious awesome band recipe and put it all together:

• Female lead with powerful chops and timbre
• Stand up bass!
• Beautiful choruses
• Catchy, slightly offbeat songs

Thank you universe! Check out their latest, Lake Street Dive and their previous album, Bad Self Portraits if you like what you see.

But anyway, from there the conversation intertwined into more music, and more offbeat performances. I brought up Cat Power, one of my favorite female artists, and her transcendent performance of Willie, a top ten favorite song of mine. And yet, what she does with it here, in this live performance...



Which is amazing, since Cat Power is known for uh...let's go with sporadic behavior during live performances. As may be hinted to when she immediately walks off the stage after performing this song here. Of course, having live performance issues is not really an unusual thing. Take Van Morrison for instance here - whatever set him off, he took it into this performance of Into the Mystic, and I can't decide whether I like it more because of it, or hate him for seemingly not caring and yet still producing a beautiful rendition...



And while that may be a strong look into the orneriness of Mr. Morrison, it's not like he doesn't know how to let loose on a stage...



Where does the Last Waltz rank on your list of "Shows you would hit if you had a time machinc?" Top 5? Top 3? I mean...



The amount of cocaine at that show must have been through the roof... and what happened to Neil Diamond? Why does he get the bad, corny rap in music circles? Is it just because of Sweet Caroline and Boston? Is it his leaning into adult contemporary stylings? Whatever it is, I ignore it. The man has written some truly great songs and needs a resurgence - if he hasn't had one already. I realize he still tours and does well, but he needs his Johnny Cash moment. Because obviously Mr. Cash was a fan...



Of course, few people, outside of Neil Diamond fans know that he has tried to go the "late in career stripped down" album that Cash had so much success with. 12 Songs, produced by Rick Rubin saw an older, contemplative Neil Diamond. One of my top 10 albums from 2006, here's a taste of what you can expect...



From Lake Street Dive to Neil Diamond. Much like the text that started it all, we've meandered down the road and made little sense, other than there's a lot of great music out there. Until next time...