Your Top 5 Carpenters Performances - Live

[newvillefan]

^^^ The overture is absolutely beautiful. Resurrected in part for the RPO album. I love the segue into 'For All We Know'.

 

[JohnFB]

Please tell us about it. If you want to include performances you were actually at - all the better. For the rest of us, it's YouTube/DVDs/audio (like Simon posted a while ago - Lake Tahoe performance).

Here are mine - currently;

1. 1971 BBC Concert Special - Recorded before a live studio audience. RD&M is chill-inducing! Karen belting it out and the audience absolutely blowing-up at its conclusion. Also great performances of Superstar, And When He Smiles, For All We Know, and the brilliant conclusion with Close To You/WOJB. I saw this, became an immediate fanatic, and have never looked back!

2. 1978 Bruce Forsyth Christmas Special - Live studio audience. Loved it all, especially I Need To Be In Love (Magnificent and moving Karen performance). Forever a moment in time.


4. 1976 BBC New London Theatre Special - Live studio audience. Bittersweet. Karen's health turning for the worst, but she still sounds amazing. Highlights; Karen's drum solo, INTBIL, and her melancholy/sensual rendition of Superstar at the end.

BBC - Superstar - IMO her very best live performance ever - better than the recorded version because it's all her in top form without augmentation - an impeccable example of the fine art of singing...and for other singers "how it's done".

Bruce Forsyth Show - INTBIL yes, but even more so Merry Christmas, Darling - her voice, control and self-assurance are remarkable on this....

New London - INTBIL, here also - even though the words "...without a friend in sight..." are a little muddled...

Las Vegas (1974) the Bacharach Medley - audio only (unfortunately) - great sound and perfect execution...

 

[Late2theParty]

I'm a sucker for any of the live performances where they play "Mr. Guder" because I love watching Karen go into utter ecstacy when she gets to have fun with the jazzy instrumental break. Best examples of this are the '73 Carson show (nice to have a good quality clip of that now on YouTube), Belgium, and 74 Budokan come to mind. It's fun to watch her mugging at Tony and Bob too as they work together on those bits. I think I have also mentioned before that I love watching her do the rock n' roll hair thing on the "Johnny B. Goode" bit on 74 Budokan. I still think they made the right call on putting Karen out front to sing, but I can see how passionately she loved drumming. Whether it's on the live shows or TV specials, watching her love playing "her instrument" is fulfilling. It's my happiest mental image of her as a muscian.