You have to realize that popular culture was very tightly controlled and restricted by the Polish communist government at this time. This photo was taken at the Jarocin festival, which was a rare chance to see many bands play that otherwise had no radio play or record contracts and often played styles of music that were viewed with great suspicion by the establishment. Recording these live performances and trading tapes was often the only way people got to hear many of these bands.

I grew up in a neighboring country during this time, but I wasn't much into the rock scene then - I was into folk music, which had a similar scene in my country - many folk artists were straight up banned by the government, so it was impossible to hear them on the radio or buy their records, but tape recordings of live performances existed and were traded among the fans. Same of my favorite music from this period only existed in this form. There were even recordings of shows that got shut down by the police mid-set.

The 80s were a period of economic stagnation in eastern Europe, resulting in a lot of pent up anger and angst in the youth, and at the same time, the establishment was slowly losing its grip on the population. As a result artists were getting increasingly bold in channeling this anger and dissatisfaction, of pushing the boundaries of what was allowed, sometimes crossing them and getting slapped down - but you never knew what could happen at a large gathering of the youth back then - taping was an important tool to document and spread this to the wider population.

sometimes they get it from the board which is great

I remember hearing a live version of some Garth Brooks song years ago on the radio during a car ride where the audience was so loud, Garth stopped singing and basically told everyone to STFU. It's always the first thing I think of when I hear the phrase 'live recording.'

i feel the same way but i make an exception for the live album “stop making sense” by the talking heads. specifically the songs “crosseyed and painless” and “once in a lifetime” sound so much more energetic on the live album. depending on my mood, i sometimes pick the live versions over the studio recordings. they feel like different songs to me

I have liked exactly one live album and it's was the Wilco Kicking Television: Live in Chicago album. Any other live album I've wanted to check out a window.