The 15 Best Concert Films You Can Stream Now
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A sharp-suited Nicole Kidman once said, "We come to this place for magic. Because we need that, all of us, that indescribable feeling we get when the lights begin to dim. And we go somewhere we've never been before; not just entertained, but somehow reborn. Together." When Kidman nodded at those "dazzling images on a huge silver screen," she was talking about Taylor Swift's Lover era bodysuit. When she celebrated the "sound that [she] can feel," she was hearing Beyoncé since "Dangerously in Love" atop a disco horse. "Our heroes," who she says "feel like the best part of us," are just the Talking Heads.
Concert films are a long celebrated genre, but one that has become more necessary amid fight-for-your-life style Ticketmaster queues and scam hungry ticket resellers. Thanks to a little movie magic, those who didn't mortgage their homes for tickets to the biggest tours of the year, can sing along with the rest of us for the rest of time.
Here are 15 of the best concert films ever made, available to stream right now.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
We are very obviously starting this list right here, with the trailblazer. At the top of her game, Taylor Swift embarked on her sixth concert tour, The Eras Tour. The tour made history as the highest grossing of all time, the first tour to ever surpass $1 billion in revenue. Eras went on to make further history as Swift brokered a first-of-its-kind distribution agreement with AMC and Cinemark Theatres. From there, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour became the highest grossing concert film of all-time, earning more than $267 million at the box office before moving exclusively to Disney+. Whether you’re a tortured poet or not, you cannot ignore the impact of Taylor Swift on the concert film genre. Next.
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Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé
We have good news and bad news. We’re talking about Renaissance (good start), which is currently not available to stream anywhere (tragic ending). Still, we can’t waste an opportunity to talk about this masterpiece, which surely will stream somewhere eventually? Right? Right? Rivaling the aforementioned Eras Tour in attendance and buzz, Beyoncé’s 56-show Renaissance World Tour marks the artist's highest grossing tour to date, the highest-grossing tour by a black artist, and the seventh highest grossing concert tour of all time. The subsequent film, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, goes beyond a concert, detailing the planning, creation, and execution of the record smashing tour, ala Beyoncé’s 2019 concert film Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé. But more on that later.
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Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé
It’s later. This 2019 documentary chronicles Beyoncé’s historic headlining of Coachella in 2018, taking viewers through the conception and creation of the highly choreographed and large-scale “Beychella” performance. The show was inspired by the marching bands, majorette dancers, and overall culture of HBCUs across the country. Plus, the show featured performances by Jay-Z and Solange Knowles, as well as a Destiny’s Child reunion. Critics beyond us have also hailed Homecoming as one of the best concert films of all time, taking home a Grammy Award for Best Music Film in 2020.
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Stop Making Sense
In celebration of this film’s 40th anniversary, A24 recently restored this 1984 concert film from late filmmaker Jonathan Demme—now available in 4K. The concert in question is Talking Heads’ December 1983 performance at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater. The rock band, led by David Byrne, pioneered new wave, punk, art rock music with such memorable songs as “This Must Be the Place” and “Psycho Killer.” More than just fun, the film is also aesthetically significant, hailed for pioneering early digital audio techniques and being selected for preservation by the Library of Congress.
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Woodstock
A star studded and historic piece of concert cinema, Woodstock depicts the famed counterculture festival of 1969, featuring performances by Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Joan Cocker, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Santana, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and more. In its year, Woodstock took home the Oscar for Best Documentary.
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Michael Jackson's This Is It
Eerie if not incredible, This Is It documents the preparation for Jackson’s would-be 2009 tour of the same name. Planned to begin on July 13, 2009, Michael Jackson died on June 25, just 18 days before the first performance. The concert documentary features behind the scenes footage of everything from auditions to costume and set design, and was directed by the genius behind High School Musical, Kenny Ortega. Upon its release, the film landed on an unsure audience, with many concerned that the film was made to profit off of the icon’s death, and others grateful for the chance to see what never was. Jackson has a complicated legacy, but this doc will give you the chance to reflect on that.
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Ariana Grande: Excuse Me, I Love You
If you can’t stop rewatching blurry clips of Ariana Grande performing at the 2024 Met Gala, we encourage you to level up. Head over to Netflix to watch her concert film documenting a London performance of her 2019 Sweetener World Tour.
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The Last Waltz
We’ll try not to exceed word count here, but The Last Waltz is iconic across all fronts. Directed by none other than Martin Scorsese, the concert film documents the final farewell performance of The Band, a Canadian-American rock group. In saying goodbye, the band welcomed such names as Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Eric Clapton and more to the stage. The film kicks off with a disclaimer attached to every movie on this list, “this film should be played loud.”
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Ben Platt Live from Radio City Music Hall
Petition to have every artist’s Radio City Music Hall performance committed to film. This 2020 concert film documents the final stop of Ben Platt’s Sing to Me Instead Tour, a one-night-only performance at one of the most famous venues in the world. Theater kids, stand down. Platt does not sing any of the songs he made famous as Evan Hansen on Broadway, rather sticking to his original songs from his album Sing to Me Instead—plus a couple of fun covers.
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American Symphony
This 2023 documentary follows one of the greatest living musicians and composers of our time, Jon Batiste, as he attempts to compose a new symphony, all while supporting his wife through her cancer treatment.
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Katy Perry: Part of Me
A chronicling of the pop girl’s California Dreams Tour, Katy Perry: Part of Me features filmed concert performances as well as behind the scenes footage of the star struggling to balance her personal and professional lives, namely through the breakdown of her marriage to Russell Brand.
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Shine a Light
Another concert film from Martin Scorsese, Shine a Light brings viewers into the audience of the Rolling Stones’ 2006 performance at Beacon Theatre, a stop on their A Bigger Bang Tour. Give it a watch and brush up on your Stones knowledge with hits like “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” and of course, “Shine a Light.”
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Amazing Grace
The concert film that almost wasn’t, the footage from Amazing Grace comes from the 1972 recording of Aretha Franklin's live album, Amazing Grace. Due to some technical bugs, the footage was sent to the Warner Brothers’ vault, where it sat until 2007 before being revived by producer Alan Elliott. In trying to release the film in 2011 and again in 2015, Elliott was sued by Aretha Franklin twice in relation to the release. Following her death in 2018, her family greenlit the release of the film on her behalf, and for that, we are forever grateful.
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One Direction: Where We Are - The Concert Film
In the six years that British boy band One Direction ruled the radio waves, the teen idols stayed booked and busy, completing some of the highest grossing concert tours of all time and committing a number of these to film with more than 5 documentaries and concert films. The 2014 One Direction: Where We Are - The Concert Film is among the most popular, documenting two of the band’s performances in Milan.
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Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids
Brought to you by the late Jonathan Demme, Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids documents the pop idol’s final performances of his 20/20 Experience World Tour, filmed at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena.
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