It saddens me to death when I am within the confines of my room when the only way I can experience so-called “live music” is through the cybernetic wonder that is Youtube.

But oh well, here are four videos I’ve been wowed by – even through the rectangular pigeonhole of my MacBook screen:

1. “Bitter Sweet Symphony” – The Verve (Glastonbury, 2008)

“Slaves to the money, then we die!”  The Verve at their absolute best with their absolute best song – sure, they may have (supposedly, mind you) jacked it from the Stones, but Ashcroft crafted the immortal orchestral hook into a masterpiece of his own.  Maybe working for that boss you despise can be really beautiful after all.

2. “Where the Streets Have No Name” – U2 (Slane Castle, 2001)

The heart-shaped runway is one thing, and the massive crowd is another; but if you take the Edge chiming in with his guitar, Bono doing his usual thing – scream out at the top of his lungs – and the latter also running around the runway tirelessly, you’ve got what is undoubtedly U2’s most spectacular performance of any song.

3. “Fix You” – Coldplay (Toronto, 2006)

People can hate them (especially in their X&Y manifestation) all they want, but you must be heartless if your spine doesn’t automatically chill with this performance – the five minutes during which Chris Martin is not the affectatious, grandiloquent idiot he normally is.

4. Red Hot Chili Peppers at Slane Castle, 2003

I can’t actually pick out a song from this concert – simply because RHCP is at their absolute haywire best throughout the whole thing.  This is their opening ten minutes – an improvised intro, a solid rendition of “By the Way”, and more of Frusciante’s genius on “Scar Tissue”.