Rock & Heavy Metal
Top 5 Live Rock & Metal Performances
Published: July 13, 2022 | Heidi
Check out some of my favourite live performances of all time. I absolutely love them! These bands never disappoint me.
5. Turn the Page - Metallica (Quebec City, QC, 2009)
Turn the Page is one of my favourite Metallica songs, and this live performance is just incredible. James Hetfield‘s voice sounds perfect, and the whole band sounds so tight. The song was originally written by Bob Seger, and it’s about a touring musician who is homesick and missing his family.
4. The Age of the Understatement - The Last Shadow Puppets (Scotland, T in the Park 2016)
Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) and Miles Kane (The Rascals) team up again as The Last Shadow Puppets to perform one of my favourite songs, The Age of the Understatement. This live performance is just perfection.
The song is about how society is obsessed with celebrity and image, and how people are always looking for the next big thing.
3. Pneuma - Tool, Live in Boston 2019
This live performance of Pneuma by Tool is just insane. Danny Carey‘s drumming is out of this world, and Maynard James Keenan‘s vocals are on point. The song is about how we’re all connected, and how we’re all made of the same stuff.
2. I Think I Lost My Headache - Queens of the Stone Age (Germany, Bizarre Festival 2001)
This live performance of ‘I Think I Lost My Headache’ by Queens of the Stone Age is just so raw and powerful. This performance is definitely one of my favourite live performances of all time. Josh Homme has said that the song is about paranoia and that this song is one of his favourite songs from the ‘Rated R‘ record. To learn more about that, check out this interview.
1. War Pigs - Black Sabbath (Live in Birmingham, England 2017)
This live performance of War Pigs was the last time Black Sabbath performed together. It’s such an incredible performance, and it’s so special that they ended their career with this song. Tony Iommi has said that the song is about the Vietnam War, and how young men were being sent to their deaths. Ozzy Osbourne has also said that the song is about how politicians are sending young men to war, and they’re the ones who should be fighting. You can also hear the alarm sound in the background, which is the air raid siren that was used in Birmingham during the war and in many other places in the world.