The J Geils Band was the best live act I ever saw. A super-tight, revved-up blues rock quintet fronted by Peter Wolf, I saw them 5 times in the 72-72 period. I've never seen a band before or since, and by the first verse of the first song, it was if you'd flipped live 110v under all the seats, people just jumped up and stayed crazy to the last note of the encore. J, Magic Dick on harp, and Seth Justman on grand piano and Hammond, were all serious soloists, but played very ensemble in backing each other. First band I saw where every amp, the drum kit, monitors, everything on stage painted white which was big fun for the lighting contractor. Seth had these Leslies with the grills removed, the rotating horns chomed, and emergency lights mounted just above them. Wolf was absolutely manic as a frontman.
In those days they were quite blues and R+B faithful. The later, MTV/Centerfold days I chalk up to a chance to make some money finally, but it was near beer after the straight-no-chaser of the old days. J was like Schon or Gilmore in that he pretty much played the same-shaped solo live as the recordings. They were just so strong, and tight as a hatband: They could really stop on a dime and give you nine cents change.
There just aren't bands like them anymore.
