Is there anything better than live recordings?

@larsman What does and doesn't surprise me is that there's a market for rare bootlegs now from a collector's standpoint but certainly not from an audiophile standpoint. You're right that many/most were dreadful audience recordings. I recall reading about some guy in California in the 70s that would go to shows by Zep, Tull, etc, and roll up in a wheelchair with a tape recorder hidden underneath. He apparently made some good recordings and then gave bootleg copies out for free. 

This thread has provoked a wicked game of hide-and-seek with my now unreliable memory. I humbly ask to be excused if I repeat stuff I've already mentioned on this site.

As much as I love my Zeppelin albums, I enjoyed their live concert still more. The same goes for my encounter with Bob Marley and the Wailers, who I saw at the Roxy. I saw the Byrds several times, and to my ears they were never nearly as good live as they were in the studio. It was the exact opposite with Crosby Stills Nash & Young. The concert I saw with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Phil tramped all over the recordings I have that feature them. My experiences regarding Pink Floyd are 50-50. Likewise, both live and canned Chuck Berry was equally excellent.

I could go on. And on. And on.

Unplugged Nirvana, Eagles, Clapton, Zep’s BBC sessions, Zappa’ New York, Roxy, A night in SF, Jazz at Pawnshop, Live at Leeds, Deep Purple Made in Japan, Talking Heads The name of the band, Portishead Roseland NYC, Belafonte at CH, China Jean MJ, Kraftwerk Min Max, Tangerine Dream Ricochet and Encore, Laurie Anderson Home of the Brave, are some nice examples. Then you have the ballets, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet... opera, classical in general but these cannot be performed in a studio.

Generally a very few number compared to studio releases (contemporary).

Supertramp "Live in Paris" is bloody amazing. Great recording.

Peter Gabriel "Plays Live" is also amazing. Great recording again...

The live performances cited by @petg60 are of excellent SQ because they were recorded by SOTA mobile recording trucks or in-house control rooms. OTOH, a good soundboard recording would be supplemented with a submix of dedicated mics. All live classical and opera would be recorded the same way as all their recordings in an empty concert hall or soundstage.

I often saw the 60ft trailers recording sound outside Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, or the Academy of Music in Philly. That was when I was young, later in my career I was working in either the sound truck or companion video trailer.