Wow, that's a tough one! The Stones at the Free Trade Hall, ’71, were very good indeed. Any one of the five times that I saw Wishbone Ash would be right up there — a superb band on stage, who fed directly off the crowd, with probably their gig at London Roundhouse in April, 1972 topping the five.
But really, I have to give it to Colosseum. Saw them four or five times over a two year period. The best of a superb bunch of sets probably being the live album recorded at Manchester University, which can be checked out by anyone who cares to acquire it by fair means or foul. Once they started really cooking on stage, they were a staggeringly exhilarating group of musicians to witness. The line-up, off the top of my head, and without recourse to the dreaded Google: Dave “Clem” Clemson (guitar), Dave Greenslade (organ, vibes), Dick Heckstall-Smith (who looked like the headmaster of a group of unruly boys) (saxophones), Jon Hiseman (drums), Chris Farlowe (vocals) and weirdly, I can't remember who was on bass.
I was lucky enough to witness XTC's last live gig ever(the one in Paris doesn't count, Partridge fled the stage midway through the first number) in Lyon at the Palais d'Hiver. Well, he may have been suffering from stage fright, but you'd never have known it. Terrific stuff. Most of the songs off that unrivalled masterpiece, English Settlement.
