My top 10 video picks: From Hotel California to Woodstock and Joshua Tree....
My top 10 concert clips and music videos
Mark Milke
During this trying time for many, here’s my contribution to necessary escapism: Some online clips of music ranging from concert excerpts to a few music videos. Some of the live recordings are better than the studio versions because the interaction with the crowds are electric; some music videos are the must-see versions because they are visually tight and an aesthetic marvel and sublime. I claim no musical talent or expertise (my brother is the family musician) but I know what I like and why. Enjoy, feel free to share, and stay optimistic. In no particular order:
10. The Eagles, Hotel California live in 1977 at the Capital Center, Largo
I don’t know who had the foresight to record this Maryland concert but I’m glad they did. A classic Eagles hit made all the more powerful because of the close-up shots in a (relatively) smaller venue. Look for Don Henley on the drums. You can almost see the beads of sweat on his forehead while Henley drums and sings and intensely so. And then watch for the guitar solos and harmony from Joe Walsh and Don Feder.
The Eagles, Hotel California live in 1977
9. Phil Collins, In the Air Tonight, live 2009
If you’re old enough you’ll recall this song also accompanied a haunting portion of a Miami Vice episode in 1984. Google that one but in the meantime, the blue lights, smoke, and the slow build-up to Collins’ approach to his drum set make in this live version make this a visual spectacle in addition to an audio pleasure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeDMnyQzS88
8. Lady Antebellum, Need You Now, in concert in Little Rock
I like the combination of shot video with the live Arkansas performance. Hillary Scott is oddly mute at the end of the video while her band mate Charles Kelley graciously thanks the crowd for being great sports with the cameras. Anyway, a class act and fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dp4GLm7sgo
7. Don Henley, Boys of Summer, 1984
I was 16 when this came out. I had a crush on someone from another city that summer. (Yes, Caroline had tanned ‘brown skin and sunglasses on’.) Growing up in Kelowna with a beach near my high school, I always liked to believe I was an honorary Californian. Add to that a part-time DJ job at a radio station and manning a boat to cruise beaches to report back on beach conditions (yes, really) and it was my perfect summer. (I also like Boys of Summer because it obliquely profiles some classic LA art deco buildings, art deco being my favourite architecture style; it is also shot in black and white.) My infatuation came to naught as I think my summer crush preferred bad boys, but that was fine: I’ve been a fan of Henley’s work ever since.
https://www.tv80s.com/don-henley/boys-of-summer/
6. Rod Stewart and Amy Belle, I Don’t want to Talk About It, in concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 2004
I stumbled across this video last year. Stewart’s friend discovered Bell busking in London. Originally from Glasgow, Bell is obviously thrilled at the opportunity and can’t hide her smiles. Stewart is gracious to the young artist throughout the performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w46bWxS9IjY
5. The Police, Wrapped Around Your Finger, 1983
“I will turn your face to alabaster, when you find your servant is your master.’ If one has any poetic sensibilities, you just can’t help but enjoy Sting’s songwriting, solo or from his time with The Police. His lyrics are also more than poetic. They are informed by his deep “drenching” in history and the classics which leads to some marvelous allusions from literature: ‘Mephistopheles is not your name; I know what you’re up to just the same.’ My only question about this music video: How did Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland, playing amongst a few thousand lit candles, avoid toppling them before the end of video and setting the entire set on fire?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svWINSRhQU0
4. Santana at Woodstock, Soul Sacrifice, 1969
I saw Santana perform at the Hollywood Bowl in June 2019 with two friends, Mike and Monica, who I’d been best man for “a few years back”. The concert was fine. This Woodstock performance, which I believe made Santana famous (?) is ten times better. My favourite part: The utter passion of the drummer, Michael Shrieve, as he gives it everything he has from deep inside.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZceAQSJvc
3. Journey, Don’t Stop Believing, live in Houston 1981
When I was a kid, I liked the cotton candy and candied apples available only once a year at the amusement park fair that came to town. Everyone should have a sugar tooth and that includes arena rock that simply makes you feel good. Enter Steve Perry and Journey. How can you not appreciate the guy’s lungs and reach?
2. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Running Down a Dream, live 2009
I was fortunate to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in Los Angeles perform at the Hollywood Bowl in September 2017. There were plenty of favourites that night including one I recorded and later posted to Facebook, Running Down a Dream. The version below is from 2009. If memory serves, the 2017 version I saw was the last encore song that Friday night, September 22, at the Bowl. Petty gave one last performance on Monday the 25th. Tragically, he died suddenly one week later of an accidental drug overdose from several medications.
1. U2: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, 1987
This music video was filmed in Las Vegas in 1987, apparently with a skeleton crew and in three hours. That’s not why I identify with it. (Never been to Vegas and never plan to.) What does connect me: The U2 album cover was shot in California’s Joshua Tree National Park. I’ve hiked Joshua Tree twice, getting lost once (the signage is awful). U2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3-5YC_oHjE
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Mark Milke is author of The Victim Cult: How the culture of blame hurts everyone and wrecks civilizations. Ask for The Victim Cult at local bookstores; also available autographed and direct, at Chapters.Indigo, at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.