Stanley C’s 2023 Music Recap: Live Albums Of The Year
A List of My Top Three Favorite Live Albums of 2023
3) Inolvidable by Alicia Keys
After performing in South America for her Alicia + Keys World Tour, Alicia Keys gave South Americans fans a special treat in the 5 live albums series, Inolvidable. Her world tour was her reintroduction to her fans post-COVID and featured the legendary R&B singer showing up at nearly every corner of the world to celebrate her discography with her fans. Known for their exaggerated excitement when outsiders coming to perform in their region, the live crowds across all five albums are very well heard and felt. Their presence helped bring fun and lively layers to a treasure chest of a project. You can listen to how connected Alicia Keys is to her fans, and from Mexico City to Argentina, the fans made it clear that they feel the same way.
One of the best things to do with this rare kind of live album value pack is to compare one song across all five projects. It’s a true testament to the live experience of each show. Each song takes on a new life, gets screams at different moments, and grabs the audience in its own specific way. Further, the performance of the songs changes ever so slightly, whether it's what Keys says at the end of “Wasted Energy” or how she hits the opening notes on “If I Ain’t Got You.” It’s really important to experience each of the five albums because they demonstrate a special period in the tour and an all-to-forgotten base of fans for thousands of musicians. Although English isn’t their first language, they sang it like their lives depended on it.
Alicia Keys puts out high vibrations in her live performances, which are evident in all five live albums. As a result, you will feel this heightened sense of gratitude and positive-thinking when you’re listening to these projects. Throughout the live albums, Keys reminds the audience to believe in themselves and chase their dreams regardless of obstacles. Her life story is proof of that, and it's remarkable that Keys still seems to have that glimmer of life and youthful happiness in her eyes and voice when she sings to millions of fans worldwide.
When she reminds the audience to remember the show and the community they’ve built, she isn’t just talking about the songs and how much fun they had, but she is identifying the inspirational moments as well. Those inspirational moments, like Key’s career itself, continues to helps fans chase their dreams and overcome obstacles to achieve incredible accomplishments in their lives.
2) MTV Unplugged by Twenty One Pilots
Twenty One Pilots take on a unique definition of unplugged in their extraordinary live session with the MTV platform. Trading acoustic instruments for minimalist synths and loop stations, Josh Dunn and Tyler Joseph reimagine their songs. Stripping them down, the band builds the songs live in real-time, sometimes with the audience's contribution. This style of MTV Unplugged is impressive by the duo because it showcases their instrumental expertise and dual harmony syncopation. By the time we get through the second song in the set, the band has touched at least ten instruments without any significant mistakes.
In this MTV Unplugged performance, Twenty One Pilots gives a masterclass in musical deconstruction. Their exemplary work at the beginning of “Ride” must be studied for eons. Not only was the use of the crowd vocals on that song exemplary, but the movement on stage by both members to amplify the song’s sound and keep it running smoothly was also magnificent. These two showed their talents and the difficulty of some of their most straightforward pop hits. The brand-new versions of the time-tested mega-hit “Stressed Out” made me look at the song in an entirely new light. Now, the song takes on a more self-conscious meaning than a braggadocious one. Joseph’s vocals cut straight through to the heart as he commented on his current struggles and wished to return to a simpler and happier time.
Twenty Pilots have had a glorious career in pop music and set many records. No man would have expected two boys from Columbus, Ohio, to pull it off, and during their outro of Shy Away, Joseph expressed some of that gratitude when he sang, “Mom, we’re on MTV.” In many ways, this performance was a victory lap for a commercially successful and impactful career in music. While they still have a way to go until it's time to hang up their hats, Twenty Pilots did a fantastic job showing us the highlights this far and explaining why they’ve become such an exceptional band for their generation.
1) At Their Very Best: Live from Madison Square Garden by The 1975
At Their Very Best features the qualities of the English pop-rock band that make them one of the most beloved rock bands of their generation. In 2023, they were on tour all year and made front-page headlines nearly every month along the way. Whether it was band lead Matt Healy dating Taylor Swift or the band getting banned from performing in Malaysia during a festival controversy, The 1975 was on our minds no matter what time of year it was. Thankfully, the band made the music the focus in November 2023 with the release of their career-defining performance at Madison Square Garden.
The Madison Square Garden Show was a sweet spot during their extraordinary world tour. They had glorious moments in South America and Oceania, but nothing is like a highly anticipated show in The Garden. Led by the fun-loving and personable aura of Matt Healy, The 1975 transitioned between songs and bantered their way through a hit-heavy set. The live crowd also brought some beautiful exuberance to the songs. We heard this on the gorgeous saxophone-centric outro of “Part Of The Band” as well as “Love It If We Made It.” In many ways, The 1975 has set the standard for millennial rock bands with their incredible thematic live sets and high-energy shows.
The 1975 is a pop band with punk instincts. At one point in the show, Healy screams, “Fuck You!” when celebrating how special the moment was to play in The Garden. Realizing it sounded like he told the crowd, “Fuck You,” he clarified that it wasn’t for them. Despite all the controversy and tabloids, the band finds themselves in the music they make, which continues to resonate with more and more fans across national and cultural lines. They create escapism music that searches for life in unexpected places and reflects on the cultural trends that affect us all. At the end of “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” and the beginning of “TooTime,” Healy lets the audience know they must keep that intense enthusiasm for the rest of the show. The beautiful part about the live show was how we could hear the attendees keep their promise.
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