Holy Smokes

Some of my favourite live performances:

1. Rihanna, "Stay / We Found Love" Live @ The X-Factor UK 2012 Finale



I love it when she performs Stay, it's always so raw and emotional (insert other words picked out from Typical Musical Reviews Daily) and Rihanna always does it just right. I really like it when singers don't sing certain things so they can catch a breath. Like, they let the recording take over the performance for a small second so they don't have to sing it themselves because performing is tiring. It's just nice to know that they're human is all. Anyways, love how you can see how much Stay takes out of her as a single. I remember this photoset on tumblr where she was like "writing lyrics is hard, the emotion just takes so much out of you, it's emotionally exhausting" and then someone put a gif of a line from Rude Boy (something provocative, you know) and it just seemed so unfair. Anyways, she starts We Found Love all powerful too and it became a party song to lift up spirits and get the crowd dancing. That was good. Also, side note --> Loooooooove the dress and the leg bands and the shoes.

2. Lady Gaga, "Do What U Want" (ft. R. Kelly) Live @ The American Music Awards 2013



Now, you probably all know that I'm a huge fan of Lady Gaga. I mean, she's an amazing performer, absolutely gorgeous on the stage. She's got powerful vocals and none of that is at cost when it comes to her dancing. She lives to perform and excels creatively both musically and through aesthetics (look at her clothes lol and her ability to hide a keyboard anywhere). And this performance has it alllllll. It starts off as a playful knock to the infamous affairs of several American presidents. It's like a little musical skit and of course, gaga gotta dance. As it is evident here, Gaga's always been good at staging and adding drama to her performance///-> Cough cough, her VMA's performance of Paparazzi (Amidst all of these flashing lights, I pray the fame won't take my life). But of course, there's that part at the end of Do What U Want that's just the most beautiful thing. After "President Kelly" leaves her, the performance transitions into the real message of the song, the reason Gaga wrote it in the first place - to sing about her many criticisms in the media and how she endures it all to perform for her fans (essentially Applause). And oh my god, kneeling on top of the piano and singing while an old home movie of her playing the piano as a child plays behind her - it always gives me chills. It's so beaut. I love Lady Gaga so much omgggggggg.

3. Beyoncé, "Irreplaceable" Live @ idk it doesn't say LOL Somewhere in LA hahaha :\



Come on, it's Beyonce. LOL Yeah, she's got the vocals and it's one of her many classics -> Irreplaceable. It's a fun song, great to dance and sing to. And yeah, it's a bit annoying how she stops to shout out to her crowd but it's great how much she appreciates her fans. The best celebrities are the ones who appreciate, not the ones who always feel like they're doing their fans a favour. Anyways, can we get a hells yeah for the bridge and the last chorus and all the stuff that comes after that? God damn, Beyonce. God damn.

4. Florence + the Machine, "Between Two Lungs" Live @ Oxegen Festival 2010



Constant belting done right - I love Flo so mo. ... Mo isn't ever short for much is it? Let's pretend I'm saying I love Florence so more/moustache then. Anyways, one of the first performances I saw of her not doing Dog Days and dog days was the first song I fell in love with from her. I remember loving this performance so much and I still do. The liveliness that is Florence Welch presents such a gooooood stage presence. I love Flo so moustache.

There are always going to be more and of course, it's not only the megastars that perform well. I'm sure there are so many unrecognised performances out there that top these ones. If you know em, link me pls. You know what, here are some notable mentions (idk what that means, idk what to call them lol)

Imagine Dragons & Kendrick Lamar "Radioactive / m.A.A.d city" Live @ The Grammy's 2014 -> I will forever hate the grammys for their censoring.

Kanye West, "Blood On Leaves" Live @ VMA's 2013 -> Sorry, best quality I could find. I just love the silhouette thing sooo much. So simple but so beautiful.

Taylor Swift, "I Knew You Were Trouble" Live @ AMA's 2012 -> What a costume change, aye?

Kimbra, "Settle Down" Live @ ARIA Awards 2012 -> sounds kooky but I liiiiikeeeeeee. And I mean, the ending omg loved it so much.

Ed Sheeran, "Give Me Love" Live @ The Live Room -> Jack of all trades, master of pretty much all of them. Ed rockin' the loop pedal, great performance.

Bye all, thanks you watched every single one of them lol Until next time.