For centuries, concerts have been a cornerstone of entertainment everywhere – from grand halls, muddy fields, stadiums and dive bars to streaming in the digital era. Now, it seems producers and archivists are digging deep into dusty vaults and treasure troves, unearthing never-before-seen concert footage.  

Look to Bob Marley’s stitched-together-from-multiple-archives The Capitol Sessions in 1973, The Beatles’ Top of the Pops appearance in the summer of 1966, and more recently, an unearthed recording of Ella Fitzgerald’s 1967 concert The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum.  

Why has archival concert footage become the go-to fix for music lovers? It's the perfect blend of nostalgia and the chance to (re)experience golden music eras - whether fans lived through them or wish they had. 

We're taking a closer look at some recent concert footage discoveries and the companies working behind the scenes to restore and revive them. 

Bob Marley & The Wailers: The Capitol Session (1973)

Just days after releasing Burnin’, Bob Marley & The Wailers played a private, one-hour set at Capitol Records in Hollywood, captured by four cameras and mixed live to coloured tape. 

The footage vanished for decades until a single frame (discovered by a freelance researcher) sparked a 20-year search across London, New York, and San Diego archives. Seven and a half hours of film from the shoot was unearthed and restored into a 60-minute feature by Eagle Rock Entertainment in 2021; depicting Marley and the band on the cusp of global fame. 

The Three Tenors: The Lost Concerts (1996–2000)

Between 1996 and 2000, The Three Tenors – Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, and Luciano Pavarotti – performed to sold-out crowds across London, New York, Tokyo, and São Paulo. 

Seven of those stadium concerts were filmed, then disappeared into storage. Fast forward to 2024, C Major and 3 Tenors Inc. unearthed and restored six of them, revealing long-lost renditions of ‘Nessun dorma’ and ‘O Sole Mio’ packaged for a new generation of classical fans. 

The Beatles: Top of the Pops (1966)

In 2019, The Beatles’ performance on the British TV show Top of the Pops in the summer of 1966 resurfaced. The footage was thought to have been lost to history before collector David Chandler revealed a selection of 8mm film reels (found in the attic) and handed them over to Kaleidoscope – a group that specialises in recovering video and TV shows. The group remastered and enhanced the sound of the 92-second clip, featuring the Fab Four performing ‘Paperback Writer’.  

Frank Zappa: Cheaper Than Cheep (1974)

On the first day of summer in 1974, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention invited a small crowd into a modest Sunset Blvd. rehearsal hall for a two-hour set. With cameras rolling and a mobile audio truck outside, the goal was to pitch a concert special in the wake of other popular performance shows Soul Train or The Midnight Special. But when the audio and video didn’t sync? The whole thing was shelved. 

More than 50 years later – thanks to modern editing tech and a lot of love from the Zappa team – Cheaper Than Cheep was stitched together for Blu-Ray and released on 8 May 2025, showcasing a raw, razor-sharp snapshot of Zappa at his most unfiltered: brilliantly chaotic and in complete creative control.  

Got old footage collecting dust?

We’re here to provide the feather duster and the platform to showcase it. Get in touch at letstalk@onair.events and see how we can share your content with fans around the globe. 

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