Concerts thread: Best/Worst/Next/Last one you attended?

There's no ulterior motive here. I'm not complaining. I don't need to see Pearl Jam play "Ten" front to back. I don't want to see Pearl Jam play "Ten" front to back. I'm legitimately wondering how bands think about their old material after they have shifted direction.

 

I do think there is a difference between an act who is probably performing before many people who have never seen them live before (or in a long while) and acts like Buffett and James Taylor, who have drawn a lot of the same crowds for the last 30 years. In the case of the latter, I think you have to juice up the set and play with some arrangements just to be "as good" as you've been in previous years.

 

I think Radiohead is a good example of what I'm talking about here. Radiohead completely altered direction, from a guitar-based alternative rock band to robots from the future making ambient noise for 70 minutes. Taylor Swift is another. The Rolling Stones don't have to play "the hits" (although they do) to be the Rolling Stones that people fell in love with. They are still, basically, that band. Taylor Swift is no longer the Taylor Swift who played "Our Song." But it was a massive hit. What does she think about it now? Does he hate it? Does Radiohead hate "Creep"? Does Wilco hate that it used to be the band that wrote "Casino Queen"?

 

It's really odd these days. Checked the Doobie Brothers current tour. They play some casinos for 30 bucks a ticket, then hit some arena shows with "Steely Dan" where they're asking for $150.
And despite Henley saying the Eagles were "done" after Frey's death, they're still going and charging $200 plus a ticket, with Vince Gill singing the Frey solos.

 

Radiohead Tour Statistics | setlist.fm

Radiohead setlist statistics.

 

Culture Club is touring with the B52s and one of the Thompson Twins. The ticket might be worth it just to see the hair, make-up and outfits of the audience.

 

That's a strangely expensive ticket, too. I expect to see a lot of Culture Club Groupon appearances.

 

The one that really seems strange to me is Dylan. He's probably recorded 500 songs at this point. He tours constantly.... and plays the same set, night after night after night. And it's frequently covers of stuff no one on earth wants to hear him sing. I would think he would mix up the set just to avoid going crazy.

 

I think that changes enormously from act to act, and over time I think most tend to become comfortable with the whole history.

I saw Joe Jackson in 1984 touring to support "Body and Soul," which was essentially a jazz record. He played very few of his older songs and the ones he did play were totally reworked. Someone called out for "Look Sharp" and he snapped back "This band doesn't even fucking KNOW 'Look Sharp!'" It was sort of odd, given that his "old stuff" was only 5 years old at the time.

I saw him a year ago and he was great -- played stuff from every era of his career (including "Look Sharp") and seemed to really enjoy the older songs. A lot of them are totally reworked -- "Steppin' Out" is barely recognizable these days -- but others are played very much in the original style. (He used to rework "Is She Really Going Out With Him" so absurdly, he put three versions of it on one live album and they were totally different. He's back to the original arrangement.)

 

That's the Prince/Bowie thing, fuck you I do what I want (paraphrasing the Starship's "Stairway to Cleveland")....

 

And he's certainly earned that, but man... why would you want to do that? That just seems so boring for a guy who's touring because he enjoys it.

 

They need to charge a lot, ever since their side business as mercenaries dried up in the late 80s.