in concert.

(based on Keeping Score's thought that Steven Tyler is one of the best singers he saw live.)

My list would include:
Maynard James Keenan - Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer
Brandon Boyd - Incubus
Guy Garvey - Elbow

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@audioidkid

What is the criteria?

Voice, crowd interaction, showmanship, energy?

Jennifer Nettles.

Make fun of that all you want, but it was an anniversary gift for my wife and I was amazed at how powerful Nettles' voice was.

whatever you want "best" to be is the criteria. the only correct answer is the one you give.

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@audioidkid

Of course, Joey Belladonna is also the mad note.

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

In no particular order

Bono - 2000
Jagger - 1998 (Never was a good singer voice wise but he could still move, posture and work the crowd.)
Aretha Franklin - The woman has fucking pipes on her.
Tom Araya - Dude can belt it.

And....

David Lee Roth - Great showman, he brings it 100%, no questions asked.

Frank Sinatra
Mick Jagger

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You know me like that.

What was the name of that blond-haired bitch who ruined Van Halen again?

I wouldn't say it's all about talent. Obviously you need to have some, but energy and showmanship are a major factor in being great live.

Here are mine:
Howlin' Pelle Almqvist
Chris Cornell
Phil Anselmo
Chris Robinson
Non-fucked up Scott Weiland

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Gary Cherone

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This is my signature...

Two things about Tyler...
He's really singing and he's been bad for a long time.

I saw him a few years back. After that awful Pink song came out. He forgot the words to Livin on the Edge. But at least when he did that I knew it was real... none of that popBrittney lip sync bullshit. He, at least, was really performing, and without the Axl Rose Teleprompter.
That being said he's been pretty terrible for a while now. We shouldn't be shocked.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Martin Sorrondeguy
Vic Bondi
Bobby Conn

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Don't take it personally.

The Axl Rose teleprompter is the worst. How can you forget a song that you wrote and that you have sung probably over 1,000 times?

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Eh, Axl Rose was pretty good when I saw him live for the "Chinese Democracy" tour back in......2003. Actually, that was pretty cool and a good one in my book.

I didn't see him in his prime obviously, but probably Roger Daltrey


Chris Cornell, Bono, Eddie Vedder

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311 have been using them since 2005ish.

Bobby Conn: that was easily the weirdest show I've ever been to. He came out in a red singlet with furry boots.

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@audioidkid

I was there for the Chicago show on that tour. He was okay, but definitely just going through the motions. The teleprompter thing still kind of irks me though. He became a millionaire by writing and performing these hits, how could you possibly not remember the words? And I don't think Axl was ever a big drug guy (like Tyler, or some other has-been), it just seemed kind of ridiculous.

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In their defense, I wouldn't want to remember the words to Amber either.

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"Woa...oh"

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@audioidkid

Its the color of your energy.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Axl wasn't a drug guy but still a bit crazy either way. He uses teleprompters and he needed one for "We Will Rock You" for the Freddie Mercurary Tribute concert....although he didn't need it for Bohemian Rhapsody, which he totally killed (IMHO). Jagger needed one on and off for when I saw them, for Sister Morphine especially.

It actually brings me back to when U2 was playing in San Diego for Popmart and totally flubbed Starting at the Sun on the B-stage, a funny little unscripted moment...probably brought on from the album being delayed and eating into the rehearsal time. They were a well oiled machine when I saw them in Chicago a few months later, though. Bono's voice was great too, thank god.

Al Green

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

Actually...there was this woman that used to cantor and sing in the choir at St. John's in Johnsburg. Short little black haired hottie.
She had the best voice I have ever heard live. Not a concert per se, but a live performance nonetheless.

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@audioidkid

well, the next time I saw her she was a zombie. not nearly as good...

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@audioidkid

she sort of looks like Monica Belluci.

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@audioidkid

I saw Steven Tyler in 1991 or 1992. General seating so we were in the front row. Great show. He was awesome. In a concert setting that is not like Ravinia I have to question what kind of "quality" voice you are going to here. His was more than serviceable. He was in constant motion, and sober at the time. Quite a show.

One thing I remember is the ladies we were with noticed that his outfit (skin tight full length bodysuit) indicated he was not a well endowed individual.

I think I saw Aerosmith that time around too and I was surprised how good he was since I had seen him in the early or mid-eighties and his voice was completely blown. In fact, I remember thinking that Aerosmith was finished some time in the 80s.

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Don't take it personally.

I wouldn't really call this guy a "singer", although he certainly does sing and everyone here is likely familiar with one of his songs, but once in awhile you see a live show that just blows you away. For me, this guy played one of those.

Some time not long after Joe Strummer died, some club in Chicago was putting together a tribute show. I want to say it was Schuba's, but I wouldn't swear to that. Anyway, it turned out it was going to be held over two days and a bunch of local bands were going to play.

A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to play a few Clash covers with him and I said sure. So we showed up and played and a bunch of the usual suspects also played Clash songs and it was no big deal. Until this weird older guy came walking to the stage. He had some crazy looking broad with him carrying his gear. She wasn't unattractive but she had on way too much make-up. And the guy, well, he was just utterly bizarre. He looked like he was half-crippled and he talked in this odd way that made it seem to me that he had done way too many drugs in the past. But when he got on stage, I knew right away he was a lot different than the rest of us local mopes. He just commanded the stage without even saying much. He forced you to pay attention. The little conversations around the bar stopped. And he hit that first chord. I think he only played three songs, but it was one of the best live performances I've ever seen.

Afterward somebody told me he was the guy from Timbuk3. Of course, I knew "The Future's So Bright", but I had always kind of considered it a novelty. Not anymore. It's a harrowing tale of a post-nuclear world written by a great American songwriter.

When I saw him he played a regular guitar, but now he often uses this odd three-string concoction and his own foot-operated percussion. He lets the girlfriend shake a tambourine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2IpwVoaJGQ

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Don't take it personally.