Our Top 5 Favorite 2011 Performances
The only thing we love more than music is live music. Boy, do we love live music. And there have been some fantastic live performances in the past year that we won’t be forgetting anytime soon. Here is one top-5 list but there are so many others. What’s your top 5? Add them in the comments and we’ll check them out.
Beyoncé – 2011 VMAs: “Love on Top”
Beyoncé’s performance is larger-than-life and flawless. If there was a defining moment in her career as a live performer, this performance (one showcasing her raw talent as a vocalist and commitment as an entertainer) has to be it. By the middle, the whole crowd is standing, clapping, and the camera even cuts to a surprised Adele, who was caught singing the lyrics with Beyoncé. When you think the song can’t get any better, or more epic, there’s a key change, and she keeps going. And another key change. And another. (At this point, the camera catches Lady Gaga, as her male alter-ego Jo Calderone bobbing her head to the beat.) Finally, Beyoncé finishes the song by ripping open her jacket to reveal a baby bump, officially announcing her pregnancy. The song is suddenly more poignant, as husband Jay-Z is in the audience, and the lyrics were clearly meant to be directed at him. Bam! We’ve got chills. What an ending.
Lady Gaga – HBO Monster Ball Special
If you’ve ever been to a Monster Ball, you’ll know that it’s an experience unique to Lady Gaga and her fans. HBO captured parts of the experience in their special that showed the entirety of her concert, as well as behind-the-scenes extras. The Monster Ball grossed a total of $227.4 million, and that number is due purely to the quality of a show that Gaga puts on. She’s often described her concerts as a giant dance party, and she’s right. Besides dancing, her fans are visually stimulated by Gaga’s use of technology and her set pieces. At one point, a giant Angler Fish attacks the singer. Really. You can’t say Gaga isn’t an entertainer.
Kanye West – Coachella 2011
Whether you were in the audience of this headlining performance at Coachella last year, or you were sitting at home watching the live stream, this concert was full-energy, all-out incredible. Concerts of that caliber often become difficult because the performer can’t sustain the energy required to finish the long set. Kanye, by the end, was clearly exhausted… but he kept powering through, all the way to the 25th song – “Hey Mama.” It was both impressive and inspiring – and it was a good cap to his A+ album of 2010, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.” Fans of the album could appreciate his give-all performance at Coachella.
Adele – 2011 VMAs “Someone Like You”
We’ve raved about this one before, but it has to make the list. Adele’s simple, yet powerful performance (with only a piano behind her voice) was the moment of 2011 where the whole country just went silent, and listened. It’s cheesy to say, but Adele’s voice has a way of bringing out the melancholy in everyone. Her lyrics are all about heartache, and even the toughest of souls will shed a tear when she sings, “I wish nothing but the best for you. Don’t forget me.” This VMA performance was just the perfect demonstration of how honest, powerful music is beginning to mix with pop again. What a great time for music.
Jay-Z & Kanye West Tour
We can’t say no to a Jay-Z and Kayne collaboration (“Watch the Throne,” debuted number one album on Billboard in August of 2011), but it gets even better when the two of them ditch the studio for the stage. They went on tour together at the end of last year, and wowed audiences at sold-out shows around the country. They also had a strange tendency to end concerts by rapping “Ni**er in Paris”… nine, count ‘em, nine times. Excessive, maybe, but impressive, certainly.
