(Photo by Courtesy of Parkwood Entertainment)

45 Great Concert Movies to Watch Now

Itching to go and see live music but can’t because… well… you know? We’ve got the next best thing: Bring the live music into your living room/kitchen/bathroom/onto your laptop with some of the most electric live performances ever committed to screen. In this 45-film guide to the greatest concert movies out there, you’ll find arena pop extravaganzas (with a little emotion – thanks Katy Perry: Part of Me); more intimate – but no less rousing – moments of music history (witness Aretha Franklin in Amazing Grace); an epic street party (remember those? Dave Chappelle does…); and some of the biggest festival events out there (from Beychella to Woodstock).

You’ll also find some of the biggest names in music: Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Janis Joplin, Springsteen, Wu-Tang Clan, and more. The majority of films included are pure concert docs – recordings of live shows with little fuss and extraneous material – but a handful do take a more traditional documentary format, with interviews and behind-the-scenes tour footage. We included those because of the amount of live concert footage they feature, Marley and Madonna: Truth or Dare among them.

To be included in the list, the movie had to have a Tomatometer score – which unfortunately means we could not include The T.A.M.I. Show, with the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Chuck Berry, and more – and that score needed to be Fresh. We then ranked the list by adjusted Tomatometer, a weighted calculation that takes into consideration year of release and number of reviews counted. To find out where to stream, buy, or rent each movie, click into the title for more details.

So, lighters up – sorry, phone lights on – and let’s bring the party home.

What’s your favorite concert movie? Let your fellow fans know in the comments. 

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Thumbnail image: Courtesy the Everett Collection, Courtesy of Parkwood Entertainment, © Neon