When it comes to online video content right now, there is no bigger platform than Google-owned YouTube. According to research by Ahrefs, a software company that develops online SEO tools, YouTube is the second most popular organically visited site in the United States, and the first when calculated globally. According to YouTube’s press, every day over a billion hours of YouTube videos are streamed.
A host of content creators and channels can be found on YouTube – most notably your favorite performers, their interviews, key insights, and information. In this list, we’ve compiled a few of their noteworthy concerts available on their official channel on YouTube so you can sit back and enjoy the concert until they come around performing in your city. We made sure to incorporate music and unique performances from a variety of genres from the most prominent musicians in the industry.
Linkin Park & Friends Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington
Currently available for streaming on Linkin Park’s official YouTube page is the concert held in tribute to their late vocalist Chester Bennington. Singer and songwriter Chester Bennington tragically took his life on July 20, 2017, at the age of forty-one.
The memorial concert took place at the legendary Hollywood Bowl arena in Los Angeles, California, a venue that opened in 1922. It was Linkin Park’s first performance following Chester’s passing. In the early stages of the show, a mike stand was placed in the center of the stage, decorated with a floral wreath. The entire area was in darkness and a single spotlight was shined on it. Linkin Park’s hit single ‘Numb’ then played instrumentally to a tearful chorus of the crowd singing the entire song.
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Also performing at the concert were Alanis Morissette, Jonathan Davis, Bebe Rexha, Ryan Key, Julia Michaels, Machine Gun Kelly, Deryck Whibley, Kiiara, Blink-182, Steve Aoki, M. Shadows, and many more. The big screen displayed montages of Chester’s life, greetings, and heartfelt messages from former Guns N’ Roses member Duff McKagan, Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode, all four members of Metallica, and Paul McCartney.
Metallica: Live in Melbourne, Australia
Hardcore fans of Metallica will know when late Italian composer Ennio Morricone’s ‘The Ecstasy of Gold’ hits the auditorium or stadium, the Metallica performance is about to begin. The band has been using the single as their entrance theme music as a tribute to the late composer. The song was originally recorded as a film score for ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ (1966), starring Clint Eastwood.
R.I.P. Ennio Morricone
Your career was legendary, your compositions were timeless. Thank you for setting the mood for so many of our shows since 1983. pic.twitter.com/ac1QZ9QLPs— Metallica (@Metallica) July 6, 2020
Metallica has launched a new weekly concert series called Metallica Mondays during the lockdown, which initially ran from March through August 2020. Currently, there are twenty-four concerts spread across the globe available for streaming on the Metallica’s YouTube page. These shows were recorded during the band’s many tours over the years. Some of the concerts on the channel are also fundraisers for the All Within My Hands Organization, a non-profit organization founded by Metallica’s members and management committed to building sustainable communities.
As with all the concerts on the channel, this one begins with an intro from one of the band members describing the events and highlights from the show. Metallica: Live in Melbourne was held on March 1, 2013, at The Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia. This was Metallica’s third appearance at Australia’s Soundwave Festival and their 13th appearance in Melbourne. Blink-182, Slayer, Tomahawk, Anthrax, and Crossfaith were among the other groups performing at the festival.
‘Hit the Lights’, ‘All Nightmare Long’, ‘Enter Sandman’, and ‘Nothing Else Matters’ were among the tracks on Metallica’s setlist. As always after the show, the band members distributed Guitar picks and drumsticks to the enthusiastic crowd.
DID YOU KNOW:
Metallica performed ‘Moth into Flame’ with Lady Gaga during the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in 2017. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammet claimed that in thirty to forty-five minutes, she made herself comfortable with the vocals of the track and was prepared for the performance.
VULFPECK Live at Madison Square Garden
Vulfpeck is a four-piece American funk, RnB, soul, and pop band that was formed in 2011. With mostly instrumental in their music, the band released two EPs in ‘Mit Peck’ in 2011 and ‘Vollmilch‘ in 2012. On their third EP, ‘My First Car’, they introduced vocals with rhythm and blues singer Antwaun Stanley. Their music contains a lot of funk, soul, RnB, soul, jazz, and soft rock references. Its members are known for their versatility in playing each other with the instruments between songs during performances.
Their album ‘Sleepify’ was arguably the group’s most controversial record and established the band’s rebel status as the ten tracks on the list were all silent with no audio at all. The band encouraged fans to listen to the record on repeat while sleeping. Revenues from each track were to be used to crowdfund a free concert tour. Vulfpeck earned almost 20,000 dollars from this album which caused Spotify to reevaluate its royalties model and showed the music platform that Vulfpeck had a huge fan base.
At the hallowed Madison Square Garden area in New York City, Vulfpeck was one of the bands to sell out MSG without the support of a manager or a major record label performing there on September 28, 2019. With more than 20 musicians and artists on stage, the concert features a continuous one-shot camera taken from start to finish in one of the most unique productions. The footage is recorded from the stage, capturing every moment between songs, the lively crowd, close-up individual performances, and the band member switching instruments. Also conducted mid-show is a breathing exercise and meditation session by Alice Stratton, the mother of band member Jack Stratton.
David Guetta Live at Ultra Music Festival Miami 2022
DJ David Guetta presented his Fundraising Live sets from iconic venues across the globe. He performed atop the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, the Louvre museum in Paris, and New York City’s Observation Deck at Rockefeller Center to raise funds in support of the fight against the Global Pandemic in 2020. The proceeds would go to World Health Organization, Feeding South Florida, Feeding America, and La Fondation des Hôpitaux de Paris – Hôpitaux de France to help those in need.
All the concerts are still available for streaming on his official YouTube channel. The shows include a tracklist of his greatest hits and song collaborations with many artists. Not just music, the performances are spectacles with laser and light displays.
His first set was in front of a pool at the Icon Brickell center in Downtown Miami in April 2020. Residents had joined in from their balconies, along with the viewers streaming the performance. Coming full circle, Guetta returned to Miami in March 2022 and uploaded his set from the Ultra Music Festival to his YouTube channel. On his setlist were mixes of tracks, ‘Titanium’, ‘Love Tonight’, ‘When Love Takes Over’, ‘Super Gremlin’, and many more. Guetta was accompanied on stage by DJ and producer Morten Breum, who is better known as ‘MORTEN’. In addition, DJ Joel Corry joined David Guetta on stage for the first time to perform their song ‘What Would You Do’.
Tiny Desk Concerts
The Tiny Desk Concert concept was created and hosted by musician and TV personality Bob Boilen way back in 2008. All of their concerts held at the desk or home editions will be available on NPR Music’s YouTube account.
Bob Boilen and NPR Music editor and music journalist Stephen Thompson were unable to hear folk singer Laura Gibson at a concert. The venue had a loud audience watching a basketball game and a subpar sound system, so they jokingly Thompson suggested Laura Gibson should perform at Bob’s desk. Laura agreed later when they explained the concept to her, and the Tiny Desk Concert was born.
Since its inception, the Tiny Desk Concert have accumulated over 400 performances, including Tiny Desk at Home Concerts, which are recorded from the performing musician’s residences. Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and country singer Alison Krauss, Ed Sheeran, Camila Cabello, Dua Lipa, BTS, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Kirk Franklin, Miley Cyrus, Lenny Kravitz, Olivia Rodrigo, and Michael Kiwanuka are among the names who appeared on Tiny Desk at Home Concerts owing to the pandemic.
Musicians and bands that have performed at the Venue in Washington, D.C. include Paramore, Alicia Keys, The Cranberries, Anderson. Paak & The Free Nationals, Coldplay, Harry Styles, Sting, The Roots, Florence + the Machine, Taylor Swift, Wu-Tang Clan, and recent Grammy Winner Jon Batiste to name a few.
Honorable Mentions:
Chris Martin: Together at Home
Live-streamed and recorded on his cell phone, Coldplay’s Chris Martin played a thirty-minute acoustic set on his grand piano and guitar from his residence in March 2020. His performance is currently available for viewing on Coldplay’s YouTube Channel and includes an acoustic rendition of tracks ‘ A Sky Full Of Stars’, ‘Viva La Vida’, and ‘Yellow’. While chatting with followers watching the stream and encouraging them to be positive during the difficult periods, Chris was cautious not to hit any buttons for fear of the stream ending.
This kicked off a chain of artists including John Legend, Charlie Puth, Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello, Hozier, Ziggy Marley, the Goo Goo Dolls, and many others performing at home as part of Global Citizen’s virtual concert ‘Together At Home’.
