Five "Must Have" Live Albums

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Five "Must Have" Live Albums

Introduction

Looking for something new and unique to add to your collection? A live album might be the way to go! Often featuring a mix of new and old songs, covers of other artists, and sometimes collaborators joining the performer on stage. These albums make for a great collector’s item. Whether you’re a fan of Olivia Rodrigo or The Roots, there’s a live album waiting for you here at Hollow Bone Records. We’re here today to tell you about five of them; how they were recorded, the background of the performance itself, what collaborations you can expect to find, and info about it’s release on vinyl. Want to learn more? Keep on reading!

Noah Kahan - Live from Fenway Park

We’re starting off with Noah Kahan’s sold out performances at Fenway Park. These two shows marked the end of his “Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)” tour in 2024. The performances took place on July 18th and 19th in Kahan’s hometown of Boston Massachusetts, with a total of 70,000 fans in the audience. Kahan frequently remarked during the concert that being able to perform such a big show in his hometown, just a year after dreaming about doing so with his friends, meant a great deal to him. To further emphasize this, he recreated the set of his childhood home on stage, as well as invited his family to join him on stage for his breakout hit “Stick Season.” The Kahans weren’t the only people to share the stage with the folk singer. Both James Bay and Mt Joy opened up the evening with captivating performances and later in the show he was joined by Gracie Abrams for their collaborative piece “Everywhere, Everything.” Fans that evening were also treated to an appearance from The Lumineers for a cover of “If We Were Vampires” by Jason Isabel & The 400 Unit. Noah Kahan truly provided Boston with an experience they won’t soon forget, especially for those who are lucky enough to have it pressed on vinyl.

The Roots - Roots Come Alive Too: DYWM30 Live

Next up on the list is the 2025 Black Friday Release from The Roots, pressed on black and blue vinyl. The tracks on this album come from their 3 day residency at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York, which consisted of 6 total performances in March of 2025. The residency was set to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their album “Do You Want More?!!!??!” from 1995 and the performances featured special guests and long time collaborators Ursula Rucker, Dice Raw, & Rahzel, Godfather of Noise. The group didn’t just perform their album front to back, instead they made sure to highlight tracks from all across 1995 & 1996, breathing life in to songs that hadn’t been performed live in over a decade. The show itself was recorded on a 64 channel preamp rig (a preamp is a device used to take weaker audio signals and boost them, which helps with noise reduction and overall tone.) After the fact, Questlove himself mixed and mastered the recordings so they could be pressed to vinyl, with help from Glen Fores and Colin Mohnacs. The result is a vinyl pressing that truly captures the energy from the evenings, and allows fans to take home a little piece of a truly iconic set of performances.

The Cure - Songs of a Live World: Troxy London

On November 1st in 2024 The Cure released their album “Songs of a Lost World,” and they made sure to celebrate in a big way. They put on a sold out 3 hour concert featuring 31 songs total, including songs like “Warning,” “Drone:nodrone” and “All I Ever Am” which had never been performed live before. The performance took place at The Troxy, an “art deco” venue founded in 1930 in East London. They were joined by 3,000 fans live, and millions of fans on their YouTube live stream of the show. Some familiar faces could even be found in the crowd, including the likes of Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day, and Yungblud. It was no wonder the turnout for the evening was so massive, seeing as this album’s release was their first in 16 years. The show was full of energy, from both the performers and the audience, and it was released on vinyl, cd, and blu-ray on December 13th. All of the royalties they receive from album sales go to support “War Child” (an organization focused on rebuilding communities & providing education to children in areas impacted by war.) Whether it’s because your money is going to a good place, or just for the love of The Cure, this is an album anyone can feel good about purchasing.

Olivia Rodrigo - Live from Glastonbury (a BBC Recording)

Olivia Rodrigo was the headliner for the Glastonbury festival on June 29th 2025, closing out the event and receiving high praise from The Guardian, The Rolling Stone, The Independent, and BBC. She performed on the Pyramid Stage along side a band comprised of all women and non-binary people, such as Moa Munoz on bass, Hayley Brownwell on drums, Daisy Spencer and Emily Rosenfield on guitar, and Camila Mora on the keyboard. Together with her band she performed hits from her debut album “Sour,” her follow-up album “Guts,” and even debuted her song “So American” for the audience. She was also joined on stage by Robert Smith of The Cure, duetting his band’s songs “Friday I’m In Love” and “Just Like Heaven.” The pair later released these duets as a single on September 8th 2025, pledging all of their proceeds to Doctors Without Borders, an organization dedicated to providing medical care to individuals who need it in times of humanitarian emergency. It was this same day that Rodrigo announced the release date (December 5th 2025) of what would be her first live album. There are countless reasons to check out this performance on vinyl: to hear what all of the reviewers raved about, to hear The Cure’s music being introduced to a new generation, or to support an all female/non-binary band. Whatever the reason, you won’t regret adding this one to your collection.

Sierra Ferrell - Live at Third Man Records

Sierra Ferrell is a modern country/folk artist who just finished touring for her most recent release, “Trail of Flowers,” in 2025. She closed this tour out with a performance on September 22nd in her adopted hometown of Nashville Tennessee. This show took place in the blue room at Third Man Records, a record company and performance space co-owned by Jack White of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs. Third Man Records has a unique way of converting performances to vinyl, using a direct-to-acetate method that was generally used from the 30’s to the 50’s. This means that the performance is recorded live, and automatically pressed onto vinyl, rather than being put onto tape first. When a recording is done this way, there’s no going back and editing, and no second-takes, allowing the listener to experience the performance in a very authentic way. It was pressed onto red vinyl, and released on June 5th 2026, featuring tracks such as “I Could Drive You Crazy,” “Jeremiah,” and “Fox Hunt.” For listeners this pressing acts as a reminder of the talent and showmanship that allowed Ferrell to rise to popularity and to earn seven whole Grammy’s.

-Bee Zak

Hollow Bone Records Employee