Live 8 Tracks

Leading up to Live 8 on July 2nd, I'm counting down 8 of my favorite live tracks. I haven't listened to every live album ever produced, so I welcome recommendations of songs/albums.

#8: "Paper Thin Walls"
-Modest Mouse, Baron Von Bullshit Rides Again (available at http://www.modestmousebootlegs.com/)

There are certain obvious things that separate a live album from their studio counterparts. One of these is band-to-audience dialogue. A great off-the-cuff remark (or rant, in this case) can be as memorable as the song being played. At the end of "Paper Thin Walls", Isaac Brock responds to a fan's request for "Freebird". Brock is not modest when he declares, "life is too fucking short to play or hear ‘Freebird’"

Stage dialogue was sadly missing from Nirvana's From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah. I have heard several Nirvana bootlegs (I recommend Roma, if you can find it), and Cobain made funny, bizarre, and insightful remarks in every one of them ("We're Nirvana, and we're from Tokyo!"). By removing all dialogue (save for a faint "Great Caesar's Ghost!"), From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah fails to truly capture the essence of a live Nirvana performance.