Angus doesn't have any reputation as a live player other than good stage presence.

I agree.

Yeah, his presence really shines through on this classic live album:

Page > Angus is really obvious.

Any thoughts on Page vs. Townshend?

Improvisation

Ritchie Blackmore
Duane Allman
Jimi Hendrix
Eric Clapton
Jimmy Page

Stage Presence

Jimi Hendrix
Pete Townshend
Jimmy Page
Angus Young
Stevie Ray Vaughan

Reputation as a live player

Ritchie Blackmore
Duane Allman
Jimi Hendrix
Eric Clapton
Stevie Ray Vaughan

Overall:

1. Ritchie Blackmore
2. Jimi Hendrix
3. Eric Clapton
4. Duane Allman
5. Stevie Ray Vaughan
6. Jimmy Page
7. Michael Schenker
8. Pete Townshend

I love his playing, but there are probably hundreds of guitarists with better stage presence than Blackmore.

You're right.

I'm a bit surprised by this, as I've always found Blackmore to have some of the best stage presence of any rock guitarist. With his unpredictable actions and widely imitated moves, he's always the main focal point of any Purple or Rainbow gig.

Is Stevie Ray Vaughan considered rock? If he is rock on here he should be on the greatest rock guitarists list too.

This is not an official list, though.

..very surprising, I almost thought this was one of Blackmore`s greatest strengths as a live performer and was well honed from his theatric days with Lord Sutch in the early 60`s ... and one of his most noted areas within a live performance ... Take care

Lord Sutch interview

What were you looking for in backing musicians? A bunch of guys who became famous backed you in different lineups of the Savages.

We taught the Savages to be visual and move around a lot. I'd run around a lot on the stage, so we taught the band to move as well. That's one of the main factors. There was a marching routine with the baton and bass player, they would march forward, left-right left-right and go towards the crowd. The drummer and the pianist [would move] side to side. Then jumping across the stage and leaping up in the air, all this sort of stuff was taught to the likes of Ritchie Blackmore, who used to just stand in the corner when we first got him. We had to drag him 'round the stage and put a bit of life into him.

So he went off and joined Deep Purple, and it took off. When they did the stage shows, they said Ritchie Blackmore was taking over, because he was so visual. He was streaks ahead of all the others. They could equal him maybe musically, but not visually, because he had the Screamin' Lord Sutch and the Savages training. The others, they were just plain musicians. A lot of Keith Moon, a lot of his stage presence and his routines and his actual show [was] from Carlo Little, which was our original drummer, who taught him and was giving him drum lessons for 50 pence a time, 10 bob in the old money.

Ok, wow, well I guess I'll take your guys' word for it. I've watched a small handful of Purple and Rainbow gigs (probably 4 or 5) and most of what I have seen is mostly him standing in one spot and occasionally making some hand gesture. I don't mean that to be derisive of him; like I said, I think his playing is consistently fantastic. I just have never seen him being especially an especially entertaining visual performer.

Just the first YouTube video I clicked on when I typed in "Deep Purple Live" basically exactly what I always expect to see from Blackmore:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0mc5TX_Fo4[/youtube]

Please indulge me my friend ... and give this one a full listen / look .... Take care

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV3C0AO4CAI[/youtube]

Blackmore had amazing stage presence, and there are tons of guitarists with better improv than Page.

Blackmore in full feedback driven improv flight ... with a closing 4 minutes of guitar olympics ...Take care

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAcd2xhuQVw[/youtube]