13 live albums recorded in the Royal Festival Hall
One of the great joys of live music is being part of something, feeling the buzz of connection between the musicians and your fellow audience members
Through two years of lockdowns we were deprived of that feeling, but we could at least turn to our respective record collections for salvation. A great live album can still bring back the goosebumps, the moment you hear that magical crackle of audience cheers and applause coming through your speakers.
Our Royal Festival Hall has hosted thousands of remarkable musical moments in its 70 years, and luckily many of them have been preserved for us to revisit in the form of live albums. From jazz to afrobeat to electronica to rock to pop, here are just a dozen of our favourites from the many live albums which capture our Royal Festival Hall auditorium.
Jazz at the Royal Festival Hall
Humphrey Lyttleton and his band, 1955
‘So well-known is Humphrey Lyttleton as a musician of front-rank importance in the jazz world, and as a jazz critic with unusually fair means of expression, that little need be said of him, or his excellent band’, begins Brian Rust in his sleeve notes for this album, before somewhat contradicting himself to go on for around a thousand more words.
Lyttleton’s band for this particular live November 1954 recording comprised Johnny Pickard (trombone), Wally Fawkes (clarinet), Bruce Turner (alto sax), Johnny Parker (piano), Freddy Legon (banjo), Mickey Ashman (bass), George Hopkinson (drums) and of course Lyttleton himself on trumpet. ‘Humph’ as he would come to be known, entertained millions throughout his career, not solely as a jazz musician, but also as the long-running presenter of radio comedy I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue.
Live at the Royal Festival Hall
Mary Hopkin, 1972
Satisfied with her second album Earth Song, Ocean Song, and having recently married producer Tony Visconti, Welsh singer Mary Hopkin chose to withdraw from recording in 1971. And so, her May 1972 appearance at our Royal Festival Hall, where she provided support to Ralph McTell, was a decidedly rare one. Despite delivering a ‘genuine and sincere show’ with a ‘varied and beautiful set’ it wasn’t until 2005 that this performance was first released as an album. It was remastered in 2021 by Hopkin’s son, Morgan Visconti.
listen to this album on Spotify
Live at the Royal Festival Hall
Glen Campbell, 1977
In April 1977 the Royal Festival Hall went country as Glen Campbell joined us, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, for a special concert that would later be released as his 33rd album. By then 41-years-old, Campbell had been enjoying a resurgence in popularity off the back of two recent number one singles in the US; the first the iconic ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’, and the second, ‘Southern Nights’, which had reached number one in the US charts three months before this concert.
Black Magic Night: Live at the Royal Festival Hall
Osibisa, 1977
World Music can be something of a lazy categorisation, but Osibisa live up to its global connotations more than most. Founded in London in 1969 by a trio of Ghanaian expats (Teddy Osei, Sol Amarfio and Mac Tontoh) a Grenadian (Spartacus R), Trinidadian (Robert Bailey), Antiguan (Wendell Richardson) and two Nigerians (Mike Odumosu and Fred Coker), the Afro-rock band spent much of the 1970s touring the world. But in 1977 they found time to bring their fusion of African, Caribbean, jazz, funk and R&B to the Royal Festival Hall to record the live album, Black Magic Night. Osibisa are still going today, and have recorded a further five live albums, and 23 albums in total.
listen to this album on Spotify
The London Concert
Oscar Peterson, 1978
‘The King of Inside Swing’, Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson was a prolific performer, releasing over 200 recordings in his lifetime and picking up seven Grammy Awards for his trouble. Recorded on our Royal Festival Hall stage on 21 October 1978, The London Concert followed on from, The Paris Concert, which had been recorded two weeks prior. For his London performance Peterson was joined by bassist John Heard and Louie Bellson on drums. ‘This trio sounds as if they had worked together regularly for years,’ wrote music critic Scott Yanow, when in reality they were effectively an all-star pick-up group.
listen to this album on Spotify
When in Rome…
Penguin Cafe Orchestra, 1987
Though released in 1988, Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s When in Rome… had been recorded live in our Royal Festival Hall in July of 1987. An ensemble with a sound all of their own, Penguin Cafe Orchestra have been invariably described as avant-pop, folk and minimalist, but then it’s understandably hard to categorise an orchestra whose best known track is based around the sounds of a telephone and a rubber band. When in Rome… was the first of two live albums released by the orchestra.
listen to this album on Spotify
Live at the Royal Festival Hall
John Mclaughlin Trio, 1989
Arguably one of Doncaster’s finest exports, along with butterscotch and Kevin Keegan, John McLaughlin was once described as ‘the best guitarist alive’ by Jeff Beck. After moving to the USA in 1969, McLaughlin played with Miles Davis on several recordings, before going on to form the Mahavishnu Orchestra which fused electric jazz and rock with Indian influences.
Come the late 1980s McLaughlin had taken to performing live as part of a trio, which for his 1989 European Tour comprised himself on acoustic guitar, Kai Eckhardt-Karpeh on electric bass, and Trilok Gurtu on percussion. It was on this tour he recorded Live at the Royal Festival Hall, a performance which saw McLaughlin use a unique guitar synth that enabled him to ‘loop’ guitar parts and play over them live. Sadly the video above does not come from our own Royal Festival Hall, but from another performance on the same tour, in Stuttgart.
Live at the Royal Festival Hall
Dizzy Gillespie and the United Nations Orchestra, 1990
‘It's a wonder the walls of the Hall didn't come tumbling down,’ said Jazz Times’ review of this concert by Dizzy Gillespie and his United Nations Orchestra. Recorded in June 1989, the concert was also released as a DVD, and in 1991 won a Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. Aged 72 at the time of this recording, Gillespie sadly passed away just three and a half years later.
Royal Festival Hall Vol. 1 / Vol. 2
Klaus Schulze, 1991
Initially a drummer with Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, the German electronic music pioneer Klaus Schulze went solo in 1972 with the release of his debut album, Irrlicht. Since that milestone recording, Schulze has gone on to release more than 40 original albums including 12 live albums. In September 1991 Schulze recorded the fourth of those live albums here at the Southbank Centre; Royal Festival Hall comprises two volumes, and was ultimately released in 1992.
listen to this album on Spotify
Pet Sounds Live
Brian Wilson, 2002
For four nights in January 2002, Brian Wilson took over our Royal Festival Hall to present Pet Sounds Live, a performance of the Beach Boys’ 1966 album Pet Sounds. Joined by a band which featured members of the Wondermints and former Beach Boys session players, Wilson’s performance was the hottest ticket in town. Yet despite his billing, Wilson was still admirably blown away from the reaction from those present in our auditorium for the gigs. ‘The audience reacted very very positively,’ he said on the Pet Stories documentary, ‘I really got a good reaction out of them. It was quite amazing.’
Live from the Royal Festival Hall
New York Dolls, 2004
Several curators of our annual Meltdown festival have reached for the stars when putting their line-ups together. Nick Cave managed to capture Nina Simone, Guy Garvey succeeded in getting Lift To Experience to reunite. But perhaps the most remarkable achievement came in 2004, when Morrissey brought New York Dolls back together. Twenty-seven years had passed since the band messily broke apart, a period which had also seen two members, Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan, pass away.
But when Morrissey called, the surviving Dolls – David Johansen, Sylvain Sylvain and Arthur ‘Killer’ Kane – were game, and duly convened in our Royal Festival Hall for a landmark reunion gig. ‘You can see what the fuss was about,’ wrote Adam Cumiskey, reviewing for the BBC, ‘they've still got the raw energy that propelled them all those years ago’ . A memorable recording was given even greater poignancy when just 22 days after the reunion, bass guitarist Kane died of leukaemia.
Other Aspects: Band & Orchestra live at the Royal Festival Hall
Paul Weller, 2018
Back in October 2018, Paul Weller appeared on our Royal Festival Hall stage to perform two concerts, backed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra. Hannah Peel was tasked with arranging Weller's back catalogue for the orchestra, and also took on the role of conductor, for the two performances; the second of which was thankfully recorded for our enjoyment.
BK25
Beverley Knight with the Leo Green Orchestra, 2019
There are much worse places to celebrate your silver jubilee than our Royal Festival Hall. Much worse. But only the best was good enough for Beverley Knight in 2019 when she celebrated 25 years in the music industry right here on our stage. Performing with the Leo Green Orchestra, Knight covered her career from The B-Funk to Soulsville in this typically powerful live album.
