We’ve seen thousands of hours of live rock concert footage over the years, but ten performances from some of the greatest ’80s rock bands of all time stand out from all the rest. The setting is perfect. The venue is packed and the crowd is 100% into the song!
Enjoy this look at ten of the best live rock performances of all time from our favorite ’80s rockers! This list is in no particular order as all ten could be number one on our list.
#1 – AC/DC performing Hells Bells live at River Plate in December 2009. The energy from the crowd in this performance is off the charts, and Brian Johnson is in full control of the crowd!
#2 – Prince and The Revolution performing Purple Rain live in Syracuse, NY on March 30, 1985. If you want to know what it means to be a rock god, this is it. Over 16 minutes of brilliance from Prince!
#3 – U2 performing Sunday Bloody Sunday live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Colorado in 1983. Before U2 were a household name, they performed one of the greatest live concerts you’ll ever see in 1983 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and their performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday has become one of the greatest live performances of all time!
#4 – Queen performing We Are The Champions at Live Aid in Wembley Stadium in July 1985. Queen stole the show at Live Aid. So much so, that Elton John reportedly rushed into Freddie Mercury’s trailer after the set and jokingly said, “You bastards, you stole the show!” Yes, yes they did Elton, and this performance of We Are The Champions demonstrated exactly that… Queen were the champions of the rock world on this day in 1985!
#5 – Metallica performing Master of Puppets live in Seattle in 1989. This was a brilliant performance going from James, Jason, and Kirk sitting on the steps of the stage quietly playing to one of the most intense, adrenaline-filled performances you’ll ever see!
#6 – Eddie Van Halen performing Eruption live during the 1983 US Festival. We’ve all seen so many videos of Eddie Van Halen playing Eruption, but one of the first and biggest live performances caught on film was at the 1983 US festival. Eddie was on fire, and this performance of Eruption will go down as one of the greatest guitar solos of all time!
#7 – Iron Maiden performing Run To The Hills live in Hungary, Budapest in 1984. When it comes to live shows, nobody does it like Iron Maiden, and the energy from the stage and the crowd was insane.
#8 – Guns N’ Roses performing Paradise City live at the Ritz in New York in 1988. It’s hard to beat Guns N’ Roses live, but to us, they were at their best in the late ’80s with the original lineup, and their historic concert at the Ritz in 1988 was epic!
#9 – Night Ranger performing Don’t Tell Me You Love Me live in 1985. The energy from the band and the crowd in this live performance from 1985 was off the charts! This performance is everything we loved about rock in the ’80s. Loud, energetic, passionate, and a lead singer who had the crowd in the palm of his hands. Perfect live performance!
#10 – Cinderella performing Nobody’s Fool live at the Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989. Tom Keifer’s iconic voice was at it’s best live in concerts, and he and the band were in their prime when they performed at the Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989!