10 Most Overblown Stage Productions In Music Today

There's 'putting on a show', and then there's these guys...

By Mark Riley /

The most tell-tale sign of a band's longevity is often their live show. If they just can't cut it onstage, they probably can't cut it in the studio (at least, not without a team of engineers, effects, and lot of editing). When bands do get past the make-or-break point, that's when their live show tends to go into overdrive. Record labels are able to throw more money at stage shows, knowing they'll get their investment back many times over. Many of the tours in this list have earned well into their hundreds of millions in terms of revenue, leaving legacies for all future generations to hold themselves up against. As much of an attraction as these shows are, they often beg the question: How far can an artist's stage show go before it becomes a parody of itself? Acts like Oasis famously went out of their way to not put on a stage show so that it was "all about the music", whilst bands like Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Strokes, and Pulp all prefer to make the show more about the guys and girls stood onstage, rather than any fancy tricks and props. For every well-crafted show out there, it can often be seen as a distraction from the sometimes sub-par music (Muse, anyone?). But when artists get it right, it can be one of the most rewarding concerts of all time, with all the bells, whistles, and kitchen sinks need to ensure everyone remembers it for the rest of their lives. Here are ten of the most fantastically overblown productions around.