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The AfterEllen.com Huddle: Our favorite live performers

Some performers just have that certain something when they perform live on stage. Who are your favorite performers to see live in concert?

Lindsay King-Miller: Sleater-Kinney is amazing live, especially Carrie Brownstein. St. Vincent reminds me of a tiny slightly malfunctioning robot programmed to rock the fuck out, which I mean as the highest possible compliment. I’m not a huge Indigo Girls fan, but my partner is, so I’ve seen them in concert a few times and they put on a pretty great show. Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes is a stunning, mesmerizing performer.

But I don’t think anybody I’ve seen live in the last ten years holds a candle to Kathleen Hanna in the Le Tigre days. Le Tigre with The Gossip opening is still my favorite concert I’ve ever attended.

Who are your favorite live performers?

Jenna Lykes-Duggan: For me, it’s probably a tie between St. Vincent and Florence + The Machine. I saw St. Vincent twice in the past 6 months or so and, wow, Annie Clark just fucking shreds. I could watch that woman play guitar all day. Even though I saw her in Providence (and I hate Providence and all its inhabitants), she put on an amazing show.

I was lucky enough to see Florence several years ago (before she blew up) in a fairly small venue. Not only does she have an incredible voice, but she sings with her whole body. It’s fascinating and beautiful to watch.

Honorable mentions: The Decemberists, The Lone Bellow, Rilo Kiley, Beck

Lindsay King-Miller: Sleater-Kinney is amazing live, especially Carrie Brownstein. St. Vincent reminds me of a tiny slightly malfunctioning robot programmed to rock the fuck out, which I mean as the highest possible compliment. I’m not a huge Indigo Girls fan, but my partner is, so I’ve seen them in concert a few times and they put on a pretty great show. Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes is a stunning, mesmerizing performer.

But I don’t think anybody I’ve seen live in the last ten years holds a candle to Kathleen Hanna in the Le Tigre days. Le Tigre with The Gossip opening is still my favorite concert I’ve ever attended.

Who are your favorite live performers?

Trish Bendix: One summer, a friend and I saw that kd lang was performing at the Oregon Zoo and, on a whim, decided to go. We went up to the front of the stage and danced for the entire show, and k.d. was mindblowingly good. Her swagger, her voice, the atmosphere was magical. We were so happy we decided to go.

But my other favorite live performer is Brandi Carlile. Whether she’s doing acoustic or being backed by an entire orchestra, she’s incredible.

Erin Faith Wilson: Seeing PINK live has been the highlight of my concert going experiences thus far. We were just a few feet from the stage and watching her do the most incredible Cirque du Soleil moves all while singing with her powerful sultry voice was seriously breathtaking. My wife also swears PINK made eye contact with her and I keep having to reminder that she was actually looking at me. *eye roll*

Elaine Atwell: I’ve got to go with an artist we actually profiled this week: Des Ark, aka Aimee Argote. I don’t know how many times I’ve crowded into tiny venues to see her play. But some of my dearest musical memories are of sitting five feet away from her, with my boots crossed in front of me, and totally surrendering my attention to her music. She invites you so close to her, both literally and figuratively, you have no choice but to hang on every drawled lyric, every chord wrung out of that beat-up guitar. Her songs take you to the darkest parts of yourself, but she goes there with you. That is bravery. I will always drop everything to see her play. And I will always always always pretend not to recognize her when I see her at parties.

Lucy Hallowell: To add another name to the mix I have to say Tracy Chapman. I saw her at Lilith Fair (the very first one) when I was in high school. She was playing near Boston and was full of adorable hilarity like recalling playing in the Pit in Harvard Square and seemed generally so happy to be back in Massachusetts. No one wanted her to leave the stage and we were all genuinely bummed when she had to make way for Sarah McLachlan (who is also great but Tracy blew everyone out of the water that night).

Jenna Lykes-Duggan: For me, it’s probably a tie between St. Vincent and Florence + The Machine. I saw St. Vincent twice in the past 6 months or so and, wow, Annie Clark just fucking shreds. I could watch that woman play guitar all day. Even though I saw her in Providence (and I hate Providence and all its inhabitants), she put on an amazing show.

I was lucky enough to see Florence several years ago (before she blew up) in a fairly small venue. Not only does she have an incredible voice, but she sings with her whole body. It’s fascinating and beautiful to watch.

Honorable mentions: The Decemberists, The Lone Bellow, Rilo Kiley, Beck

Lindsay King-Miller: Sleater-Kinney is amazing live, especially Carrie Brownstein. St. Vincent reminds me of a tiny slightly malfunctioning robot programmed to rock the fuck out, which I mean as the highest possible compliment. I’m not a huge Indigo Girls fan, but my partner is, so I’ve seen them in concert a few times and they put on a pretty great show. Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes is a stunning, mesmerizing performer.

But I don’t think anybody I’ve seen live in the last ten years holds a candle to Kathleen Hanna in the Le Tigre days. Le Tigre with The Gossip opening is still my favorite concert I’ve ever attended.

Who are your favorite live performers?

Ali Davis: Janelle Monaé! She is so, so, so much fun to see live. Great set of pipes, and you can’t believe she has that much energy and yet you want her to keep going forever and ever. Her live show is smart and clearly meticulously thought out, but still somehow just bursting with the sheer joy of being on stage and connecting with a live audience.

Plus when I saw her at the Hollywood Bowl, there were two lesbians on a shy-girl first date in the row in front of us and by the end of the night they had their arms around each other. I can state without reservation that Ms. Monaé caused them to fall in love.

Emily McGaughy: Stevie Nicks and the Wilson sisters (Ann & Nancy from Heart) hands down. I grew up listening to 70s and 80s rock and latched on to these women at a young age. There was something about their voices that attracted me in a way I couldn’t explain. I wasn’t able to see these ladies live until my 20s and fully expected to see low energy shows-considering they’ve been touring longer than I’ve been alive. But, all three are master performers and have a way of grabbing the audience-even after touring for decades. I’m such a die hard fan that I have a portrait of Stevie Nicks that my wife tattooed on me and will be adding portraits of Ann and Nancy soon.

Kim Hoffman: If I could draw a line, and put one person on top and then let the rest fall where it may, there’d be a throne draped in black lace for Steve Nicks. I could watch her glide about the stage in circles, shaking her tambourine, literally day or night, just take me there. Mick Fleetwood, screaming like a magician into the mic, behind his drums-just fucking killing it with delight, and Lindsey Buckingham, that Libra sex machine in his tight jeans as he shreds on his guitar and howls out at us. So, um (coughs) now that I’ve said my peace on who sets the bar for holy, chills all over your body, on another planet, connective live performances.

Other certain somethings that make live performances THE best: Tegan and Sara, for their decades of YouTube worthy banter/storytelling/dancing/fetching giant bras/telling homophobes to get lost/closing their eyes/biting their lips. Courtney Love for just walking out onstage and being like, “Hey, guys I love gay people, and if you don’t-fuck you!” New Kids on the Block, because attending one of their concerts is like being transported back in time to Beatlemania, where the screaming girls reach a deafening dizzy, the boys thrust and dance and spin around on stage like they’re 16, and being a Joey fan means as a kid, I found his style to be in line with how, today as an adult, I pick out hot girls to be in relationships with. (You guys, his ’90s looks were so dope.) Also, I just saw Kimya Dawson live the other night and it was life-changing and warm and insightful and inspiring. There were so many queer humans there sharing that space. (It was at a church.) (Admitting it: It felt really awesome/liberating to drink and swear and be stoned in a church since the last time I was in church was when I was a closeted, sober Jewish teenager at catholic high school.)

Bridget McManus: Melissa Etheridge is absolutely outstanding live in concert.

Daniela Costa: I second Bridget on Melissa Etheridge. She rocked Toronto with her performance at last summer’s World Pride opening ceremonies. To throw another act into the mix, I’m going to go with Uh Huh Her as well. I really dug their vibe.

Dara Nai: Melissa Etheridge. She has slowed down a little these days, talking between songs and stuff, but unlike the auto-tune gen, she can really sing. Cyndi Lauper and Paula Cole are two more performers whose pipes have to be heard live to be believed. They don’t need lasers and dancers and 27 costume changes. The music will stay with you for years. Incredible.

Dana Piccoli: Ingrid Michaelson, but specifically Ingrid with Bess Rogers and Allie Moss. The combo of those three women on stage together is pure magic. Also, Tori Amos is so ridiculously good in concert. I cried like a baby when I saw her again last year. Some people just have a special something.

Chelsea Steiner: If you’ve never seen Dolly Parton live in concert, what are you even doing with your life? You would think that decades of touring would wear one out, but Dolly storms the stage with so much unbridled joy that it’s impossible to resist. She’s got great jokes and between-songs patter (whenever someone yells “I love you” she responds with “I told you to wait in the truck!”) What really makes hers a knockout show is Dolly’s musical virtuosity: in a single show you’ll see her playing a banjo, a piano, a guitar, a saxophone, a harmonica…all covered with rhinestones. The woman is a musical genius. Honestly, joy just radiates from her. If Dolly was a religion, I’d happily be a convert. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to replay “Little Sparrow” and cry.

Valerie Anne: Ellie Goulding was surprisingly one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen. My friend’s boyfriend backed out last minute and I stepped in, expecting it to be a sort of autotuned dance party? But she is HELLA talented; her voice was out of this world, her dancing went from adorkable to sexy in 0.2 seconds, and she played more instruments over the course of the night than I knew existed. Other great concerts I’ve seen include, but are not limited to, Kelly Clarkson, First Aid Kit, Vanessa Carlton, Secret Sisters/Nickel Creek, and We Are the In Crowd. (I have a random/eclectic taste in music.) I’ll be honest though, when she opened for the Backstreet Boys when I was like 13, Krystal Harris rocked my young closeted world, and I’m regularly devastated by her album Me & My Piano not being on Spotify (specifically since I wanted to make a Supergirl playlist for the new show and couldn’t find Krystal’s song of the same name.)

Trish Bendix: One summer, a friend and I saw that kd lang was performing at the Oregon Zoo and, on a whim, decided to go. We went up to the front of the stage and danced for the entire show, and k.d. was mindblowingly good. Her swagger, her voice, the atmosphere was magical. We were so happy we decided to go.

But my other favorite live performer is Brandi Carlile. Whether she’s doing acoustic or being backed by an entire orchestra, she’s incredible.

Erin Faith Wilson: Seeing PINK live has been the highlight of my concert going experiences thus far. We were just a few feet from the stage and watching her do the most incredible Cirque du Soleil moves all while singing with her powerful sultry voice was seriously breathtaking. My wife also swears PINK made eye contact with her and I keep having to reminder that she was actually looking at me. *eye roll*

Elaine Atwell: I’ve got to go with an artist we actually profiled this week: Des Ark, aka Aimee Argote. I don’t know how many times I’ve crowded into tiny venues to see her play. But some of my dearest musical memories are of sitting five feet away from her, with my boots crossed in front of me, and totally surrendering my attention to her music. She invites you so close to her, both literally and figuratively, you have no choice but to hang on every drawled lyric, every chord wrung out of that beat-up guitar. Her songs take you to the darkest parts of yourself, but she goes there with you. That is bravery. I will always drop everything to see her play. And I will always always always pretend not to recognize her when I see her at parties.

Lucy Hallowell: To add another name to the mix I have to say Tracy Chapman. I saw her at Lilith Fair (the very first one) when I was in high school. She was playing near Boston and was full of adorable hilarity like recalling playing in the Pit in Harvard Square and seemed generally so happy to be back in Massachusetts. No one wanted her to leave the stage and we were all genuinely bummed when she had to make way for Sarah McLachlan (who is also great but Tracy blew everyone out of the water that night).

Jenna Lykes-Duggan: For me, it’s probably a tie between St. Vincent and Florence + The Machine. I saw St. Vincent twice in the past 6 months or so and, wow, Annie Clark just fucking shreds. I could watch that woman play guitar all day. Even though I saw her in Providence (and I hate Providence and all its inhabitants), she put on an amazing show.

I was lucky enough to see Florence several years ago (before she blew up) in a fairly small venue. Not only does she have an incredible voice, but she sings with her whole body. It’s fascinating and beautiful to watch.

Honorable mentions: The Decemberists, The Lone Bellow, Rilo Kiley, Beck

Lindsay King-Miller: Sleater-Kinney is amazing live, especially Carrie Brownstein. St. Vincent reminds me of a tiny slightly malfunctioning robot programmed to rock the fuck out, which I mean as the highest possible compliment. I’m not a huge Indigo Girls fan, but my partner is, so I’ve seen them in concert a few times and they put on a pretty great show. Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes is a stunning, mesmerizing performer.

But I don’t think anybody I’ve seen live in the last ten years holds a candle to Kathleen Hanna in the Le Tigre days. Le Tigre with The Gossip opening is still my favorite concert I’ve ever attended.

Who are your favorite live performers?

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