I was lucky enough to catch one of my all-time favorite bands (Belle & Sebastian) playing their first 2 albums over 2 nights in Toronto. They’re doing a small world tour for the 30th anniversary of these albums. It was really nice, nicely done with cool videos and between most of the songs they talked about the recording process, or gave a bit of meaning behind the songs.
In 1999, I found myself in Washington DC catching Ben Folds Five - another favorite band - playing their newest album all the way though at a show. It was a few days before the album was released. The album was a lot “richer” than their first two albums (there was a gong!) and it was really amazing to not just hear the more poppy songs live, but ALL of them!
At all of the above-mentioned shows, they did play more than just the album. They added in some more songs after.
Have you ever seen a live show that covered a whole album? I’m not aware of other artists doing this but I am absolutely sure they do.
I see the Moody Blues did it with Days of Future Passed. They’re one of the bands I’ve seen the most live, but my MB days were over by the time they toured it in 2017.
I saw Jenny Lewis do a ten year anniversary tour of her first solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat, which was the entire album played live. Then a handful of other songs for the encore. Great album so I was definitely down for the experience.
It does feel like more of something you would do as an anniversary show than touring to promote a new album.
I saw Sufjan Stevens perform his full album Planetarium in 2017 as a promotion for its release that March, complete with a giant onstage globe that was lit with different colored patterns for each planet.
Flew down to Austin City Limits to see Elvis Costello perform “The King of America”, only to realize it was “…and Other Realms”, and they didn’t even cover every song on the album (but did do some others). That’s the closest I’ve come to the full album experience.
I saw the Zombies years doing the whole of Odyssey and Oracle, their classic 1968 album, for it’s 40th anniversary. And Brian Wilson toured the Pet Sounds album about ten years ago, backed by a band that included a couple of one-time Beach Boys.
Various classic prog bans have toured or are due to tour some of their classic albums; Yes, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, maybe?
I’ve seen a bunch of concerts like this and the idea is usually a lot more exciting than the experience. The bands tend to treat the performance like a recital or symphony that leaves little room for improvisation or audience interaction. When they finally get to the encore where you are rewarded with a few hits, I can’t help but imagine how awesome it would be if the whole show was like that.
I saw Roger Waters twice. At one of the shows* the second half of the concert was Dark Side Of The Moon in it’s entirety.
*I’m gonna have to check my old ticket stubs. I’d swear both shows were on the same tour, but it seems like that wasn’t the case and the other date I have in my head was just a regular mix of Pink Floyd songs.
The Offspring played their “Smash” album in its entirety for the 20th Anniversary of its release. I saw the show at the Orange County Fair. They did pause between some of the songs to talk about the album and how much it changed their lives. They also paused “Bad Habit” in their normal place to work the crowd up a bit. They are from Orange County, so it was a bit of a home show for them. I had a great time.
I’ve seen Quadrophenia a couple of times, Tommy (Who and Daltrey solo), Psychoderelict (Townshend), Dark Side Of The Moon (Pink Floyd '75), Schoolboys In Disgrace (Kinks '75) and Frampton Comes Alive (FCA! 35 tour).
In the “almost the full album” category: Brain Salad Surgery and Tarkus (ELP '73)
I only know his remixes of classic albums (heavy on the prog rock), so my first thought was:
Helllooo, Cleveland! Tonight I’ll be joined on stage by YES, who’ll play their Fragile album… while I sit over here at the board remixing everything on the fly, as they play it.
Then I’ll do the same with Deep Purple for their Made in Japan album, XTC for their entire Oranges & Lemons LP, then King Crimson will take the stage to perform all of Larks’ Tongues In Aspic!
It’ll be a late night, but I don’t mind. I’ll just be on this stool, twiddling buttons.
I saw the Black Crows perform their first album Shake Your Monymaker all the way through about five years ago, then they performed other huts. A very good show.
I’ve also seen the Who do encode performances of Tommy and Quadrophania in separate shows back in the nineties. Most excellent.
They Might be Giants does shows where they play their entire Flood album, and I saw one such show at The Fillmore in San Francisco a few years ago. They didn’t necessarily play the songs in album order, and they did play other songs as well, but they did make a point of playing every song from Flood.
I can think of two. One was Rush’s “Time Machine” tour, where the first set was the entire “Moving Pictures” album. The other one was Old 97’s on the 20th (25th?) anniversary of their “Too Far To Care” album, which they played in its entirety to open the show. (What was fun about that one was, Old 97’s traditionally end their show with the song “Timebomb”, which is the first song on “Too Far To Care” – so we got to hear it twice!)
I saw Yes perform their double album Tales from Topographic Oceans in 1974. My friends and I stood in line all day to get front row seats (general admission). We took some LSD before the show started. It was amazing!
I saw them many years ago when they toured for the anniversary of their first album, playing it in its entirety and in order. John Linnell screwed up the lyrics to 32 Footsteps, and he stopped the song and was like “Fuck it, we’re moving on” to the next track. It was pretty funny.
