10 Rock Bands With Amazing Live Shows

Performing a song live is really what's going to make or break it with your fans. There are several bands that have come and gone throughout the years that have made brilliant recordings, only to find themselves lost in the woods when it comes time to actually translate that to a live audience. For rock stars though, performing is a lifestyle, and it's always been about how much damage can be done on that stage every night.

As far back as the days of Flower Power, bands were testing the limits of what could be done in a live environment. Sure, people may have come just to see you play the hits, but there's always that itch to take things one step further whenever you play. Whether it's the vibe that you're delivering to the crowd or the sheer shock factor of what you're doing, these acts were really trying to leave an impression on their audience from the moment they set foot into the venue, leaving most fans with their mouths on the floor.

This also doesn't limit bands with amazing eras too. Even if time has not been kind to some of these artists, they have unleashed a spectacle on stage in their prime and performed shows that will be engrained in the minds of fans until the day they die. The studio is fun, but you're out for blood once you get up on the stage.

In the age of grunge rock, Pearl Jam always had their feet firmly planted in the classics of rock and roll. Even though most of the bands out of Seattle were rebelling against the traditional rock and roll lifestyle, Eddie Vedder had no shame about wearing his influences on his sleeve, whether it was channeling the Who or Black Flag in whatever song was in the setlist. Compared to the punk rock shows of Nirvana though, Eddie tried to take it that one extra mile in the early days.

After being a bit sheepish at Pearl Jam's first handful of gigs in Seattle, something strange started to happen once Eddie started to get a little more comfortable. Regardless of how big or small the venue was, Eddie was known to scale the scaffolding of the place, oftentimes going into the rafters without so much as a safety net, as if he were some rock climber out in the wild.

It may have been a spectacle to watch, but it was nerve wracking every time he did it for his bandmates, some of whom had already lost a bandmate in Andy Wood just a few years before. When the music hits you though, you're bound to do some crazy things. This was about music that could move you, and Eddie has said time and time again that if the music weren't there, he wouldn't have been able to climb half of what he did back in the day.