Parsons Playlists: “Best Live Performances”

Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Eliana (class of 2024) and features a selection of songs recorded live.

Best Live Performances

There’s an endless number of incredible live performances, but these are some of the ones that top my list. I suppose being able to see the real thing would be better but a YouTube video is a close second, right?!?

Audience enjoying live music at a concert

Kelly Clarkson – “A Moment Like This” (American Idol winning performance from 2002) – A true cultural reset

Michael Jackson – “Billie Jean” (Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever at Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on March 25, 1983) – An even bigger cultural reset

Rihanna – “Love on the Brain” (Live at Global Citizen Festival 2016) – Performance I would have traded my left kidney for to see live

Miley Cyrus – “Heart of Glass” (Live from the iHeart Festival 2020) – The rockification of Hannah Montana

Soshana Bean – “She Used To Be Mine” from Waitress (From Club Broadway.com 2019) – The storytelling makes this a 15/10

Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Live Aid 1985) – No description necessary

Beyoncé – “At Last” (For Barack and Michelle Obama – Inaugural Ball January 20, 2009) – A defining historical moment that never fails to bring tears to my eyes

Keala Settle – “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman (2017) – BTS you need to see

Ben Platt & Broadway Cast – “You Will Be Found” from Dear Evan Hansen – (From The Today Show April 2017) – Best of Broadway off of Broadway

Ariana Grande – “One Last Time” (From One Love Manchester June 2017) – Bravery and resilience highlighted in a single performance

Olivia Rodrigo & Joshua Bassett – “Just For A Moment” (Live Performance Vevo 2020) – Didn’t age well but the irony only adds to the heartbreak of the performance

Bruno Mars covers Adele’s “All I Ask” (The Live Lounge BBC Radio 1 November 2016) – Fun fact, Bruno wrote this song. And he kills it.

Here is a version of the whole playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU94rco57ZexFIivdsXLUDb4weJss_Niy

Richmond Folk Festival

Richmond Folk Festival Poster 2015

This year’s festival poster was created by RVA’s own Bizhan Khodabandeh

The Richmond Folk Festival has brought world class musicians to the City of Richmond since 2005.    It is a FREE event and attracts thousands of people to Richmond’s riverfront (Brown’s Island and environs)  to celebrate the richness and diversity of America’s culture through music, crafts, dance, storytelling and food. It also provides an excellent opportunity to experience music and performances that are not commonly seen in Virginia and to appreciate different musical styles.

This year’s festival takes place October 9th-11th and features an amazing mixture of performers such as:

DJ Grandmaster Flash

DJ Grandmaster Flash

Hip hop legend DJ Grandmaster Flash from New York, NY, best known for “The Message” and his work with the Furious Five. (We have several CDs, DVDs, and other resources featuring his work or information about it in our collection.

Cambodian American Heritage Dance Troupe

Cambodian American Heritage Dance Troupe

The Cambodian American Heritage Dance Troupe will perform in elaborate costumes with traditional instrumental accompaniment. You can find assorted resources to help you learn more about Cambodian classical music and dance in the library and online.

Feedel Band

Feedel Band

Feedel Band, an Ethio-jazz band from Addis Ababa via Washington, D.C. Ethio-jazz is a fusion of traditional Ethopian music with jazz, funk, soul and Latin rhythms.

Grupo Rebolu

Grupo Rebolu

Grupo Rebolu is an Afro-Colombian ensemble that plays a mix of indigenous, African and modern instruments and sings in Spanish. Their music is rooted in traditions of the Caribbean coast of Colombia and dancing is encouraged!

The Alt

The Alt

If you’re into Celtic music you can see performances by The Alt, a trio of master Irish musicians. The group takes its name from The Alt, a storied glen on the slopes of Knocknarea in County Sligo, said to be the final resting place of the ancient Irish warrior-queen Maeve.

In honor of the Richmond Folk Festival (and in case you can’t make it since it’s happening during Fall Break), the Parsons Music Library has created a small exhibit featuring examples of the types of music that you can find at the Folk Fest this year as well as some examples of specific performers that will be attending.   Items include books, CDs and DVDs. You can check out the exhibit in the library through the end of October.

We also have an assortment of streaming audio from musicians participating in the folk festival that can be accessed if you are a UR Student, Faculty or Staff Member. You will need to sign in with your UR email address and password to access most of our streaming content.

The Campbell Brothers - Sacred Steel

The Campbell Brothers – Sacred Steel On Tour

Sacred steel is a musical style and African American gospel tradition that developed in Pentecostal churches during the 1930s. Per the Richmond Folk Festival’s website: “Named for the metal bar – often made of steel – that players slide over strings to vary the pitch of notes, steel guitarists have provided the driving musical force for spirit-filled church services for nearly eighty years. The signature sound remains one characterized by single-note passages that uncannily imitate African American vocal styles. This unique musical tradition, rarely heard outside the church before the early 1990s, has since captivated the ears of the nation and world. Among the finest ambassadors of sacred steel are the Campbell Brothers.”

Here is a link where you can hear some of their music: https://newman.richmond.edu/login?qurl=https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/385813

Shemkia Copeland

Shemekia Copeland

Schooled in Texas blues by her father and raised in Harlem, Shemekia Copeland creates music that reflects gritty urban realities and weaves together blues, soul, and rock and roll.

Here’s a link to some streaming audio of her for you to enjoy: https://newman.richmond.edu/login?qurl=https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/2130437

You can also have a listen to streaming audio by artists like rockabilly icon Sleepy LaBeef or out of this world big band free jazz groups like the Sun Ra Arkestra (which bears the name of its founder and bandleader, Sun Ra, who named himself after Ra, the Egyptian God of the Sun, and claimed to be from Saturn!).

The Richmond Folk Festival offers something for everyone and is well worth investigating further either by attending the FREE event yourself or by visiting the music library to learn more about resources that we offer relating to it!

Richmond Folk Festival Logo