# Best TV musical performance you've seen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760 "2012-01-17T02:26:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/41 "2012-01-18T16:10:19Z")
Another fan of Jules Holland and his musical presentations here. It’s the only chance I’ve had in recent years to see good old Dave Edmunds play live. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/42 "2012-01-18T17:50:56Z")
I don’t think I’ve seen anything that made my jaw drop the way it did when I watched Michael Jackson do the Moonwalk while performing “Billie Jean” during the “Motown 25” special. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/43 "2012-01-18T17:52:50Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmS0Kjxs2v4) Death Cab for Cutie on Letterman. Hands down. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/44 "2012-01-19T08:20:55Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > I am amazed at how good Patinkin is. > I found out that before he played on ‘Criminal Minds’, he was on stage playing and winning an Emmy for _Evita_. > > Well doggone, no wonder he is so good. > > This guys has pipes. I say this as a singer. One of my only useful skills. > My OG this guy can sing. > > I had no idea. I knew he left _Criminal Minds_ because he genuinely hated the gore and violence inherent in the series. I miss his work, but the writers have done a pretty good job of replacing him. He brought a really nuanced characterization to what had, at that time, become as a genre quite boring. > > However, his exit and then finding out that he is an incredibly talented actor/singer is kickbutt! If you can, go and see him on Broadway …he is in a concert performance with Patti…DUDE his rendidtion of " Oh what a Circus" was EFFING amazing! ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/45 "2012-01-19T08:36:38Z")
PBS ran a Joe Bonamassa concert a few months ago that blew me away. But probably the best music I’ve seen on TV, excluding classical or opera, was the Eagles’ “Hell Freezes Over.” ---
**Author:** ![BACI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BACI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BACI)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/46 "2012-01-19T10:46:47Z")
My contribution, kd lang at a tawdry Australian awards night: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/--FrDSx-21k/hqdefault.jpg "KD Lang sings Hallelujah @ The Logies May 2010") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--FrDSx-21k) I don’t know how this song could possibly be sung better. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/47 "2012-01-19T11:02:42Z")
How about a little Neil LeVang guitar action, from Lawrence Welk of all places. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMdS9ExnW-w) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/48 "2012-01-19T11:12:48Z")
First I have to thank the OP for providing a link to the Elvis Costello SNL performance. I read a couple of times about that incident, but never found it online. My contribution is another SNL performance, Neil Young’s absolutely wild and stunning rendition of [“Rockin’ in the Free World”](http://www.totallyfuzzy.net/ourtube/neil-young/rockin-in-the-free-world-live-video_ce1b2fe4a.html) from 1989. [Here’s a blog post](http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2005/12/rockin-saturday-night-live.html) providing some background to the performance, in which it is referred to as “one of the most intense live television studio performances ever”. ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/49 "2012-01-19T13:25:27Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > I don’t think I’ve seen anything that made my jaw drop the way it did when I watched Michael Jackson do the Moonwalk while performing “Billie Jean” during the “Motown 25” special. Of course! Don’t know if this counts as a tv performance, but I saw it on TV! Marc Anthony- national anthem That is an amazing song. I love the way he has to unbutton his coat at the end to get it all out:) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/50 "2012-01-19T13:36:43Z")
Another Patinkin fan. I’ve heard rumors that he’s “difficult” to work with as an actor, hence one of the reasons we don’t see more of him, but yowza, what a voice. I still remember a snippet from _Chicago Hope_ where his character sits down and starts banging out _Coffee in a Cardboard Cup_. Amazing. I remember the K T Tunstall performance linked to above. She’s luverly, that one. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/51 "2012-01-19T13:58:59Z")
U2 at Live Aid. It’s easy now to view U2 as a band that takes itself too seriously and blah blah blah. But that performance is what took them to supergroup level. They’d been very big before that but Bono channeled something absolutely primal in his connection with his audience that day. During ‘Bad’ when he loses control you can tell he’s not even there, pretty much, his head is on a different plane…one that needs the audience more than it needs him. It’s a rare thing to see and worth every second. [U2 - Live Aid](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zIW8qDPhos&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/52 "2012-01-19T14:24:02Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xnyh6i9NvmE/hqdefault.jpg "Shambala (1975) - Three Dog Night") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnyh6i9NvmE) Three dog night… 1975 performance on Soundstage… wow miss that show… I would love to get a dvd of the complete performance… clip is here and there on youtube… but they sound fanstastic… ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/53 "2012-01-19T16:20:45Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Best hour of music I’ve ever seen on TV: > > Austin City Limits, 1991- Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks Reunion; DH and The Acoustic Warriors I like to put in a plug for Dan Hick’s _[Beatin’ the Heat](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_13/192-6207751-8391951?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=dan+hicks+beatin+the+heat&sprefix=Dan+hicks+bea%2Cpopular%2C306)_ album when given half an opportunity. Guest performances by Brian Setzer, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Bette Midler and Rickie Lee Jones and nobody wastes their shots. No mediocre cuts and several excellent ones. Maybe favorite TV performance: [TMBG doing Birdhouse in Your Soul with Doc Severinson](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6WKE4aYgOw). More for the horns and the song than for the Johns, but they do fine as well. The previously linked video of Cyndy Lauper covering Carey is also very nice. ---
**Author:** ![eno801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@eno801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eno801)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/54 "2012-01-19T18:13:16Z")
Wyclef Jean covering Johnny Cash in a Tribute Special. First time I heard it I was like damnnn!! [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/o-kcksQOb5U/hqdefault.jpg "Wyclef Jean Delia's Gone") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-kcksQOb5U) ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/55 "2012-01-19T18:24:23Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > U2 at Live Aid. It’s easy now to view U2 as a band that takes itself too seriously and blah blah blah. But that performance is what took them to supergroup level. They’d been very big before that but Bono channeled something absolutely primal in his connection with his audience that day. During ‘Bad’ when he loses control you can tell he’s not even there, pretty much, his head is on a different plane…one that needs the audience more than it needs him. It’s a rare thing to see and worth every second. > > [U2 - Live Aid](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zIW8qDPhos&feature=related) I was in high school and already a big U2 fan when that aired, but that performance actually brought tears to my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Kelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@Kelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelby)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/56 "2012-01-19T19:01:31Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > This was posted here a few years ago, the day after it aired(Don’t remember by who). > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2\_NVsPM87eI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_NVsPM87eI) > > Nicole Atkins on Letterman. I like the posters Intro-Roy Orbison as a chick, fronting a band of elves. 😉 I think I’m in love… ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/57 "2012-01-19T20:45:54Z")
There was a special on PBS in 1957 called [The Sound of Jazz](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Jazz). In addition to solid performances by artists in their prime like Gerry Mulligan and Count Basie, it also included [a touching exchange between Billie Holiday and Lester Young](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcBgna3-gl4), both of whom had deteriorated badly by 1957. Holiday and Young had both become erratic and could not stand one another, but this performance brought out the best in each of them. Within two years, they would both be dead. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/58 "2012-01-19T22:30:52Z")
I can’t locate the YouTube versions of a couple of recent PBS shows featuring Gershwin’s _Rhapsody in Blue_ so I will come in with one a little down my list. Look around for other clips from [TOMMY EMMANUEL CENTER STAGE (2008) - LIVE CD](http://www.certifiedguitarplayer.com/centerstage-thenewlivecd.aspx) at YouTube’s [Sierra Center Stage - Tommy Emmanuel - Guitar Boogie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIoxSyQ6Kxw) and if you care anything about guitar there’s apt to be something there for you. Tommy is God’s Advisor on guitar. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/59 "2012-01-21T00:07:41Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > I’ll either get laughed at or flamed for this. > > A few years back on the finale of America’s Got Talent (yeah, like I’m the only frickin’ person who watched it) they had the\*\* Blue Man Group\*\* perform **the Who’s** _Baba O’Riley_. > > I went from, “Well this’ll be stupid”, to “Hey this isn’t too shabby” to “Goddam, they knocked that out of the park.” > > Maybe not the all-time greatest TV performance but one that caught me totally by surprise. > > You can see it [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN-MUx6dg6w) and judge for yourself. Holy crap! Is all their stuff that good? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/60 "2012-01-21T00:18:58Z")
[This is the performance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qemWRToNYJY) that turned Adele from star into supermegastar in the UK. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760.md?page=4)