THE BEST OF BA LIVE RECORDINGSPages last updated on: January 21, 2006 |
| Many fans ask me which shows would I recommend.
There are so many from different periods that I enjoy
hearing again and again, but I can give you a good idea
of shows that you can't go wrong with. If you are starting out your BA collection and are curious about what the best choices are to start with, these recordings combine the most important performances at key points of BA's career as well as high sound quality. Even if you start with just a few from this list, you'll be on the right track to a better BA collection. Any questions? Just e-mail me. |
| Date | Location | Format Available On |
| 1980 | Vancouver, Canada Why?: Earliest docemented recording of a BA show. A small Vancouver club with what sounds like a crowd of maybe a few hundred people. Some of the songs he performed this night you'll never hear again. | CD |
| September 23, 1983 | Holzwicheden, Germany Why?: First documented video of a BA show. You'll see just how far he's come as a live performer after seeing this video. Plus, it was filmed on TV so the quality is very good. | DVD |
| February 2, 1985 | Los Angeles, USA Why?: Perfect sound quality. BA is about four months from becoming one of the biggest musical acts in the world. Songs from the Reckless album such as '69, Heaven and Somebody are performed this night without the crazy reaction they began to receive after those songs took on a life of their own. | CD |
| September 15, 1985 | New York City, USA Why?: This is BA at the peak of his first run of massive popularity in the US market. He was 25 and filled Madison Square Gardens in NYC for TWO shows near the end of the Reckless tour. To understand where BA is now, you need to know where he's been. The quality of this recording is not strong, but it was 1985 and not many audience recordings were at this stage. | CD |
| June 5, 1987 | London, England Why?: Perfect sound quality. A small, hot club in London and BA's on stage. How can this one not be in your collection? | CD |
| July 3, 1988 | Werchter, Belgium Why?: Perfect video since it was on TV. BA's first TV special which was aired in Canada in January 1989. | DVD |
| July 6, 1988 | Milan, Italy Why?: Good sound, one of the few 1988 shows available and an excellent set list with some very rare songs. | CD |
| July 5, 1992 | Werchter, Belgium Why?: Great sound to begin with. BA was at the top of the world in popularity in Europe during the summer of '92. This is a pretty typical show of what fans saw if they went to see BA play large outdoor venues in the summer of '92. | CD |
| August 10, 1992 | New York City, USA Why?: One of my favourite audience-filmed videos. Great footage of BA cranking through an abbreviated 75 minute set in Madison Square Garden. Great energy from the band and BA now that the touring machine is at full-tilt. | DVD |
| November 28, 1992 | Providence, USA Why?: Good sound quality. The band starting changing the set lists in late '92 before the tour took a break. The songs performed on this tour sound as good as the can since they'd been playing them for the past 16 months. | CD |
| November 11, 1993 | Barcelona, Spain - The Secret Show Why?: Let's see....you're sitting in a club in Barcelona, a band comes on stage to play... and it's BA and the boys playing covers!!! Nobody knew they were going to play. Not the best for sound quality, but if you want to hear what influences BA's music, listen to them play these songs for a crowd taken completely off-guard. | CD |
| May 4, 1994 | London, England Why?: It's the best DVD for collectors looking to see a show when BA was at his absolute peak in global popularity. He delivers a great show for a fanatical Wembley Arena crowd. | DVD |
| May 6, 1994 | London, England Why?: Six shows in London during May '94 when BA could not have been a hotter rock property. Due to the number of shows in the same market, BA mixes up the sets like never before. Great song list and a one of the longer shows he's done. Awesome crowd vibe as well. They love the Badman in London. | CD |
| May 20, 1994 | Pittsburgh, USA Why?: Great sound quality. BA pretty much peaked in the USA in 1994. Sadly, the US tour in 1994 was limited in number of shows and venues. The last tour that BA could honestly sell-out 15 000 seat arenas no matter where he performed. This is a last reminder of just how popular he was at one time in the US market and how great much the '94 band could rock an audience. | CD |
| May 20, 1995 | Toronto, Canada Why?: Sound quality is solid on this one. Great crowd interaction and the introduction of two new songs to the set list. The band had been away from the stage for a while so they must have loved being back for this one show. Also features two new songs into the set list. | CD |
| July 7, 1996 | Koper, Slovenia Why?: Only decent video to come out of the summer '96 tour. Long show which clocks in at 2 hours and 40 minutes. Also features an additional musician on-stage and a more colourful stage set up. Plus, it's the first ever rock concert in Slovenia. | DVD |
| July 27, 1996 | London, England Why?: If there's only one show you want in your collection, make it this one. BA himself has said this is the best gig he's ever played. The perfect sound quality makes one wonder why a live album wasn't released from this show. If there was a grade higher than A+, this show deserves it. | CD |
| March 11, 1997 | Osaka, Japan Why?: Good sound quality. This March '97 tour featured some really cool set lists and some of the longest shows BA's ever done. | CD |
| May 9, 1997 | Milan, Italy Why?: Great live video. Some excellent close-ups when the band is on the B-stage. Wild Italian crowd adds to the energy. Also, one of the few videos of the 1997 concerts. | DVD |
| August 23, 1997 | Boston, USA Why?: Only good recording to come out of the US tour in August '97. Boston is a loyal market for BA and he treats them to one of the final large concerts in the USA. Things have never been the same in the US for BA since his record company all but forgot about him and promoting his new albums. | CD |
| September 26, 1997 | New York, USA - The MTV Unplugged Show Why?: It features three additional songs NOT shown on the MTV broadcast. Plus, it's a perfect recording of BA recording a live album. | DVD |
| February 14, 1998 | Montreal, Canada Why?: Great live video from the last arena tour across Canada. The "plugged-in" tour was very brief so few fans got a chance to see this unique BA experience. Features Davey Spillane on stage for the unplugged songs. Seven musicians on stage at a BA show is something you don't see very often. One of my personal favourites. | DVD |
| February 23, 1998 | Kamloops, Canada Why?: Good sound to start. As mentioned above, this tour was very limited so the set lists are unique to the February '98 Canadian tour. Also, this is the last recorded concert of the full band. Tommy Mandell, Dave Taylor and Danny Cummings do not perform with BA after this tour. | CD |
| February 7, 1999 | San Diego, USA Why?: Once again, any club show is worth collecting since they are so rare. Sound quality is great too. This is the first good sounding gig of the band as a trio featuring Keith, Mickey and Bryan. It's as if they are a new band re-learning the songs under the new arrangemements. This is a great recording to hear how they originally played the songs as a trio. Listen to a 2000 or 2001 recordings and you will hear how much they have evolved as a trio. | CD |
| July 17, 1999 | Bonn, Germany Why?: Primarily the sound quality. Still a popular act in Europe and perhaps nowhere else more so than Germany. Great to hear a complete show of all the live songs from the On A Day Like Today album. | CD |
| October 21, 1999 | Rotterdam, The Netherlands Why?: As usualy, great sound. A full scale arena tour in Europe during the fall '99 when BA turns 40. The band has come a long way with the songs as a trio. | CD |
| January 19, 2000 | Edmonton, Canada Why?: An outstanding theatre tour in Canada in January 2K features some of the best sounding BA shows ever. The acoustics of the theatres brought out moments an arena/festival gig can't come close to. Lots of shows were recorded on this tour, but the sound quality of this one is tops. Some great songs performed acoustically that are hard to find on other recordings. One of my personal favourites. | CD |
| June 16, 2000 | Tokyo, Japan Why?: The first perfect recording of the trio tour. This one ranks up with the London '96 recording as a must-have for any collector. The sound is awesome. | CD |
| August 26, 2000 | Dublin, Ireland Why?: Perfect sound quality and the entire show is on this CD. This is also one of the top five shows that BA has done in terms of attendance. Solid trio performance that raises the bar for any other power-trio act. | CD |
| November 7, 2003 | Vancouver, Canada Why?: Amazing sounding recording featuring the updated band with Gary Briet and Norm Fisher. 2002 and 2003 did not result in any truly memorable audience recordings - until this show surfaced in early 2004. | CD |
| August 7, 2004 | Wantaugh (Jones Beach), NY, USA Why?: Great sounding recording of the 2004 show just a month before they unleash new material onto the world with the Room Service CD. | CD |
| September 4, 2004 | London, England Why?: It's a radio broadcast featuring the never heard before songs from the forthcoming (at the time of broadcast) of the Room Service CD. It includes songs rarely performed live (if not at all) for the very first time. . | CD |
| November 1, 2004 | Cardiff, Wales Why?: One of the best set lists ever. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of the Reckless CD, the band plays the entire album straight through as it is on the record. This run of ten songs includes the first ever performance of Ain't Gonna Cry and the long-lost Long Gone. Recording quality is not the best of the fall '04 dates, but the set list will go down as one of the best ever and certainly the most surprising. | CD |
| January 31, 2005 | Lisbon, Portugal Why?: This is the first perfect sounding recording of the band in five years and the first featuring the revamped band lineup. Awesome audience makes this night one to remember. | CD |
| April 27, 2005 | Tokyo, Japan Why?: Just as the Room Service tour of 2004/2005 was seeing the same set lists night after night, BA revamps everything while in Japan and adds a number of different songs to the set. This recording features the normal Room Service material as well as some old classics and new material added in. This run of Japanese shows kicked the tour into a new level for fans. | CD |
| April 23 and/or 27, 2005 | Tokyo, Japan Why?: Aside from the CD recording of the April 27, 2005 show, both the April 23 and 27 shows were filmed on digital video which resulted in two of the best live DVD recordings to ever come out. Either show will knock you out for the quality and clarity of the DVD. | DVD |
| July 30, 2005 | Schaumburg, IL, USA Why?: It's the reason we love collecting recordings....excellent quality. It's the best of the summer '05 double-header gigs BA did with Def Leppard and one of the best sounding recording I've ever heard. | CD |
| January 18, 2006 | Vancouver, Canada Why?: It's the 25th anniversary show in the place where it all began for BA. What's not to love about this show...oh yeah...the sound quality is awesome too!!! | CD |