Should bands play all their hits in concert?

[bucky]

Recently, a small article caught my eye on Tom Petty. He said that he realizes fans pay good money for tickets to hear his hits but he would like to play other tracks from his albums which he feels are great songs. Unfortunately with playing all of his hits it does not leave him any room for those tracks. He says he doesn't want to be a human juke box.

I'm just curious how everyone feels about this. I know when seeing bands that I love such as Kiss, I would love more than anything if they dropped a couple of the regular tunes that they have played every time I've seen them & replace them with songs I've never heard performed live. I know there are other hardcore fans that think like me but I also realize that that majority is very small. The majority of the crowd are there to hear the hits or FM radio staples and are paying good money to hear them.

I was thinking could a medley of hits or vice versa a medley of a few obscure songs be an answer? So many bands we at this forum grew up loving have such huge catalogs yet most shows have basically the same set list other than 1-3 new songs off of their latest album which they are touring for

[Frank]

Classic bands unfortunately are stuck playing the hits. Where they make their money is thru their touring. If they do have a new album out they may not play any songs of it. Don't wanna up set their audience and hurt their pay check. If you notice they are split into two though. Those that play their hits only and those play their new album no matter what. Example Reo Speedwagon = Hits only band. Whitesnake = Give you 5 or 6 new songs but keep the audience happy. Bands I think cater to what their audience wants. That's just the music industry these days.

Thats my 420 feelings on the subject!

[Trexx]

I think there's a line of debarkation that is distinct with opinions on the two options.

I'd much rather hear an assortment of cool, songs that have been heard less than the well known radio broadcasts. If they're going to play a "hit" I find it more enjoyable and memorable when they "customize" the musical break, add a verse, have a new twist or something.

[bucky]

Frank, REO Speedwagon is really a great example of what Tom Petty is talking about as they have so many hit singles that to keep their paying fans happy they have to play their hits yet they have so many great tunes on their earlier albums that are not hits. In fact I am going to see them in a few weeks. I agree with T Rex as I love it when a band changes up a tune

[Jesse]

It's the curse of success. The more hits you've had, the less room you have in your set for either new material or more obscure non-hits. Lynyrd Skynyrd, for example, once they fill their setlist with all the songs they HAVE TO play, they have only enough room for 2 or 3 songs from their latest album. It's a shame, I've seen artists TRY to change it up and more often than not, it flops. I saw Charlie Daniels several years ago (Stop here if I've told this story before) he opened his show with top 10 Country hit "Drinkin' My Baby Goodbye" and the audience got up on their feet and went absolutely nuts. Next song was top 40 Pop hit "Legend Of Woolley Swamp" and the people kept it up. 3rd song was non-hit (but great song) "El Toreador" and everyone sat down and stayed quiet like they were in church or something. Now "El Toreador" was from the same million selling album as "....Woolley Swamp". I don't get it.

That's why Molly Hatchet has just the right amount of popularity IMO. They can fill a 15 song setlist with 5 or 6 Classics and not really miss any hits and that leaves 'em with 9-10 songs that were album tracks from their hit albums, songs from their non-hit '90's albums and some new material.......and all 50 members of the audience love it!

[Donny Doom]

My feeling is it must suck when a band just because a parody of their past. I love when bands shake up their set list with random rare songs that hardly ever make it past album form or new song that haven't even been recorded yet.

As much as I've loved seeing Sabbath over the years I wish they would break up the standard hits with some less known songs that you just as good. That is kind of why I get bored when Ozzy is back in the mix. Yes as a diehard fan it was cool getting to see the original line up the for the first time. But the next time I seen them after that the novelty wore off & I found myself thinking about how repetitive my experience was & feeling sad because my favorite band sounded like a parody act.

[Speedy]

There are bands that don't only play the "hits" and do just fine. Cheap Trick plays a different set just about every show. Judas Priest were never afraid to shake it up. Maiden always plays different things. I have seen Horton heat 5 or 6 times in the last 2 years and never got the same set.

Bands that only play the "hits" are chicken shit.

Bands like KISS don't even really have "hits" and yet still insist on playing the same shit over and over.

[duojett71]

Most of the time…..the hits are my least favorite songs from they bands I like…….or I am just tired of hearing them. I remember going to see Iron Maiden in 2006 in the Los Angeles area. I remember they played their current album 'A Matter Of Life and Death' from start to finish…..and then about 5 of the classic era songs. I actually thought it was cool that they did that. One of the reasons for that is that one of the songs off that album I really wanted to hear live and I didn't think they would do. Another reason was I really liked the new album. I remember as I was leaving the show a guy ahead of me complains to his friends saying "How do you not play "Run To The Hills" or "The Trooper". I wanted to slap the shit out of the guy. How many times do you want to hear those songs? Most of the time is the deep cuts from a band I want to hear.

[Frank]

Jun 20, 2013 0:21:28 GMT -5 duojett71 said:

Most of the time…..the hits are my least favorite songs from they bands I like…….or I am just tired of hearing them. I remember going to see Iron Maiden in 2006 in the Los Angeles area. I remember they played their current album 'A Matter Of Life and Death' from start to finish…..and then about 5 of the classic era songs. I actually thought it was cool that they did that. One of the reasons for that is that one of the songs off that album I really wanted to hear live and I didn't think they would do. Another reason was I really liked the new album. I remember as I was leaving the show a guy ahead of me complains to his friends saying "How do you not play "Run To The Hills" or "The Trooper". I wanted to slap the shit out of the guy. How many times do you want to hear those songs? Most of the time is the deep cuts from a band I want to hear.

Dio did the same thing when I seen him on his Magica tour. I thought it was great. It would have been awesome to see Maiden on that tour.

[duojett71]

Jun 20, 2013 10:30:46 GMT -5 Frank said:

Jun 20, 2013 0:21:28 GMT -5 duojett71 said:

Most of the time…..the hits are my least favorite songs from they bands I like…….or I am just tired of hearing them. I remember going to see Iron Maiden in 2006 in the Los Angeles area. I remember they played their current album 'A Matter Of Life and Death' from start to finish…..and then about 5 of the classic era songs. I actually thought it was cool that they did that. One of the reasons for that is that one of the songs off that album I really wanted to hear live and I didn't think they would do. Another reason was I really liked the new album. I remember as I was leaving the show a guy ahead of me complains to his friends saying "How do you not play "Run To The Hills" or "The Trooper". I wanted to slap the shit out of the guy. How many times do you want to hear those songs? Most of the time is the deep cuts from a band I want to hear.

Dio did the same thing when I seen him on his Magica tour. I thought it was great. It would have been awesome to see Maiden on that tour.

I saw Dio on the Magica tour. That was a cool show.

[Ricky]

I like to hear some different songs