10 Hard Rock Bands With KILLER Live Shows

Any band could spend their entire creative lives in the studio. No matter how much you may love the touring life, there's something about a studio environment that provides an open canvas to do practically anything you want to do. Then again, the life of a rock and roll band always comes down to countless hours spent on the road.

Over the years, bands have gotten so used to life on the road that many could afford to phone it in, but not in the case of these bands. From the minute any of these concerts start, every one of these musicians is nothing but nonstop energy, prancing around the stage trying to give their all to every paying customer who came to see them.

While there are some acts who have their traditional bag of tricks, each of these musicians stands out for the twist they put on it, whether it's the weird additions to the setlist at the last second or just doing death-defying spectacles every time they took the stage.

Some of it came down to the time and place for the music, but each of these acts left audiences with their mouths on the floor every time they left the stage. Once concerts start becoming a thing again, you owe it to yourself to catch one of these shows if you can.

There have been plenty of artists who claim that they are too good for the studio. No matter how many times they try to turn in mediocre releases on record, there's always the mantra that "we're much better live." As much as artists like to hide behind the crowd, Dream Theater is the one band who is mind-blowing both onstage and off.

It would be one thing to see these mad professors of rock and roll annihilate their instruments on record, but any skeptics will be blown away whenever these guys hit the stage. The fact that anyone can play stuff this precise at least once seems unthinkable, much less for an entire show. From the mad technical skills of John Myung behind the bass to the amazing fretboard fireworks of John Petrucci, every single one of these guys brings their A-game to the table.

As opposed to the typical rock band dynamic with the engaging singer out front, James Labrie almost acts like the icing on the cake to what is already one of the most delectable prog music around today. Though it's a shame not to see Mike Portnoy fly off the hinges behind the kit anymore, Dream Theater is still out there performing great shows that no one thought could be possible by mortal hands.