The Three Best Live Performers I've Ever Seen!

By Michael Musto Tue., May 31 2011 at 11:30 AM

Yes, the new kids have a lot of sparkle and chutzpah, but they don't yet have the seasoning to become the master performers I've personally handpicked for immortality.

The three greatest concert givers I've ever seen are:

*Patti LaBelle

A Patti concert is a religious experience, her fans worshiping at her throne as she gives, gives some more, and then squeezes out a little extra.

The woman is tireless, ageless, and filled with history, the gift of music flowing out of her veins as you bow before her in awe. She takes you over the rainbow with the drama of a tragedian and the voice of an angel.

*Prince

He's another giver of the first order.

Onstage, he sheds his quirky rep and simply goes for it, singing and playing with a fierceness that comes from pure love of music.

The man could bop around onstage all night, and you wish he would. Every night is 1999 when Prince is performing. If the doves are crying, it's only for joy.

And of course ...

*Bette Midler

Bette in concert takes you from A to Z and beyond, sweeping from breathless camp to heartbreaking ballads and back in a way that redefines range.

Even when redoing material from Lotte Lenya, Sophie Tucker, and the Andrews Sisters, it all amounts to Bette Midler, and it's singular in its personality, wit, and sheer entertainment value.

She's the best!

Agree?

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David Perkins

Nina Simone, hands down.

strickla

Three of my all-time favorite live performers?

Tina Turner (repeatedly, from the 1960s to the 1980s)

Grace Slick with the Jefferson Airplane/Starship (1960s to the 1970s)

Leontyne Price at the San Francisco Opera (1960s to 1980s)

Phillip McKrevis

uh, are you forgetting ZZ Top?

TheTruth

My 3 best concerts ever... Barbra Streisand - farewell tour at Staples CenterTina Turner - farewell tour at Staples CenterAl Green's return from Gospel in 1999 at the Greek featuring Denise Williams absolutely amazing.

Rob in Philly

John Cameron Mitchell in Destiny of Me and then in Hedwig. Stunning.

Southern Dave

Midler f'sure, also Elaine Stritch, Judy Garland, Carol Channing, Kaye Ballard and Hugh Jackman. Seen 'em all. Oh, and Peggy Lee, a nightrclub perfectionist, ditto Bobby Darin.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnd Jason Graae, a great cabaret act and musical theater actor.

mjm

you saw Judy live? wow...

tell us more...

Paul

I couldn't agree more!!

Musto: Most gay men alreadt love the performances by Bette and Patti---even before their shows begin. And Im guessing you chose Prince as your third favorite live performer so you don't appear totally gaycentric.

Musto

No, I'm not worried about things like that. I simply chose my three favorites. And Patti's audience has LOTS of straights in there and so does Bette's (especially when she was in Vegas).

Savannah Montgomery

...and speaking of the Las Vegas show...I was sitting next to the stage, and she wasn't "phoning" it in Keating3232. It was "time-travel" in the best possible sense.

Keating3232

Bette has been phoning it in for years now. Patti, post-Labelle, is her own best parody. Prince remains the real deal. Although let's face it: the Jehovah's Witnesses brigade (Prince, the Jacksons, the Williams sisters) can be almost as scary as the white-people cult known as Scientology.

jonster

I saw Martha Wash and Sylvester sing a Patti LaBelle song "If Only You Knew" in concert and I will never forget it. I once saw Shirley Bassey in concert and loved her. Such a diva. The best part was when she took several sweeping bows and then tripped over a cable on stage just as she was disappearing stage left.

Gregorama

My vote goes to Bette. I've seen her perform live several times through the (gulp) decades and she is just superb. My vote for most amazing "surprise" live performance goes back to the early 80's, in a long-defunct joint on the UWS called Sweetwater's. A gorgeous black girl was brought on to sing one night that I was there and absolutely floored the room....it was a totally unknown Whitney Houston. She had as close to a "perfect" voice of any singer I've ever heard. Which is why, even though I'm a scandal-hound of the first order, I can't find any pleasure in watching her long, slow descent into ruin over the past several years. Hearing her drug/booze/cig-trashed voice today is just heartbreaking.

BYoung516

Patti was good once...but IMHO it's all just caterwauling now. Bette...forever. And James Taylor gave one of the best concerts I ever witnessed at Universal Amphitheather in L.A. many years ago. Randy Newman opened.

Olearytko

I agree with all 3. I would add: Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald.

normadesmond

patti i saw with nona & sarah back in the day. i will never forget patti, face down on the floor of the stage, but that raised hand, like a phoenix, rising. chills. of course, the girls did incite the crowd to get ornery (it was 70s boston after all) and many were hurt post show, but i forgave that.

and bette? was there ever a question?

can't comment on symbolina.