Most Electrifying Live TV Performance You've Ever Seen

Never seen anything quite like this

 

Nirvana's 'Unplugged in New York.' It was shown on MTV almost a month after it was recorded and to say it left an impression is an understatement.

 

I can’t figure out how to post the YouTube video, but the Foo Fighters on Saturday Night Live in Dec 2017 doing:
Everlong -> Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) -> Linus and Lucy

 

Prince on SNL. "Fury" - knocked out by this performance.

 

R.E.M.'s performance on Late Night with David Letterman, in Oct 1983, was very memorable for me; it was their national debut.

They played "Radio Free Europe", from Murmur which was just released.
Then they played an early version of "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" which wasn't to be released until the following year.

(They opened up my musical world, in all directions: Velvet Underground, Big Star, The Byrds, Nick Drake, etc
But now this was a band that I was immersed in, in actual real time.)

I replayed that VCR tape numerous times, and copied it over and over for others.
It seemed like a flash of lighting in a bottle.

 

Prince again; RIP George, Tom & Prince

 

Elvis Presley blowing the roof off of a Burbank soundstage for a couple of days in June of '68.

 

I don't know if this qualifies as "electrifying", but this was a stunning performance by The Cars on ABC's "Fridays":

 

Prince: “Purple Rain” — American Music Awards, 1984

 

Honorable mention

 

I'll never forget that STARE into the camera

 

"Fridays" on ABC sure captured a purple patch with the great music guests they had on during their brief run. For me personally in my 14 year old incarnation this was electrifying. I had heard of this band but never actually heard or seen them. Got Setting Sons the next day and I was off to the races.

 

Oasis's MTV Unplugged performance is great. Noel Gallagher shows he is a great singer in his own right and, IMO, sings some of the songs better than Liam. It's a shame it has never been officially released.

 

Boy George’s and George Michael’s duets with various Motown legends at a 1985 Apollo Theatre anniversary show.

 

Here’s one....

 

I recall being impressed by The Police's set at their Rock n Roll Hall of Fame induction. And I'm not a Police fan.

 

For my money, here's the all time best performance from "Fridays".

 

Neil Young doing “Keep On Rockin’ in the Free World” on SNL.

/end

 

That's the first one that I thought of.

 

Stevie Wonder on Sesame Street (!), 1973.



If you're attentive, you can see western civilization peak about 2/3 through. That little kid on the railing just losing their mind gets me every time.

 

I'd have to think about that. But this was truly the most electrifying performance I had seen on TV in a long time when it aired.

Kendrick Lamar performing "i" on Saturday Night Live in 2014.

 

First one that came to my mind. I was 16 when it aired , Neil with keef’s Ex pensive winos.

 

This is a remade clip of the Midnight Special performance, but gets the point across, I think...

 

As far as James Brown goes, this one is always a go-to.