# What musicians/bands refuse to play their hits in concert? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037 "2010-03-02T21:07:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/61 "2010-03-04T14:58:24Z")
> [@Rrose\_Selavy](#): > > To turn the thread around a little has anyone been at a concert where the band play some new stuff that happens to be a future classic and the best they’ve ever done so far? While not quite on the level of The Beatles, I saw Guster in 2003 just a few days before they released their fourth album **Keep It Together**. The crowd was there to hear all their previous hits and were treated to a show that was 75% off the album (including the first public performance of one of their now signature songs, “Come Downstairs and Say Hello”). We all went nuts because it was such a great show and at the next concert they played in the area, all of those unheard of songs were their new hits. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/62 "2010-03-04T15:13:30Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I remember seeing an interview on VH1 with Pat Benetar. And she explained she could never understand why artists don’t perform their older hits. She went on to say that artists have an obligation to perform them. She said that while she may be personally fed up with a song, that particular song could have very special meaning to the fan, and it’s a duty of artists to perform their best known works as well as new stuff > > Made me respect her a lot. This made me respect her a LOT. I mean, most artists are so wrapped up in their own egos they forget HOW they got to where they are now. Similar thing, on one of those VH1 “Where are they now/ One hit wonders” shows they interviewed Mike Score, who still plays as Flock of Seagulls. He mentioned that he despises the song _I Ran_, but plays it every concert because he knows that that song is what people payed money to hear. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/63 "2010-03-04T16:07:41Z")
> [@Rrose\_Selavy](#): > > To turn the thread around a little has anyone been at a concert where the band play some new stuff that happens to be a future classic and the best they’ve ever done so far? I don’t think the world is such that Rush songs are big hits, but I saw the Snakes and Arrows tour and I do believe that ‘The Main Monkey Business’ and ‘The Way the Wind Blows’ are two of the best songs they’ve ever recorded. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/64 "2010-03-04T17:11:16Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Around 2003-2004, I saw Styx live and they performed very few of their classics. Most of their greatest hits they DID perform were squished into a fairly brief hit medley towards the middle of the show. I think some legal difficulties may be partly to blame, but it was pretty lousy to pay something like $50 per ticket to hear them mostly play tracks off their crummy most-recent album. I’ve seen them twice in the past 18 months. If it were legal issues which caused that issue back then, they’ve been resolved (possibly as part of the same legal settlement which let Tommy Shaw and James Young keep the Styx name). In recent concerts, they’ve played pretty much all of their old hits. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/65 "2010-03-04T17:56:01Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Bobby McFerrin does not perform “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” at all. It was more popular than it deserved, It hink. Plus, it really doesn’t fit with well with majority of his other works as I understand it. > [@Marley23](#): > > I realize this varies with different people depending on how often they go to concerts and other things, but I hate this attitude. Why do you feel it’s your right to show up at a concert and dictate to the performer that he has to keep playing songs that he wrote several decades ago? What is that about? ‘I was 18 when your songs were playing on the radio, so stop trying to evolve as an artist?’ If you feel that way, why shell out for the concert at all? It’s a shlep, tickets are expensive, and the beer costs a ton. Presumably you already have the CDs at home. There are couple of bands out there that I’ve seen a lot of times, and I wouldn’t do it if they played the same songs or the hits every time. As I said in the OP, then don’t sell the tour as a legacy act and then fail to fulfill the legacy part. But yes, I realize that if you go to a million concerts, you’ll tolerate a deeper cut into the albums. > [@ghardester](#): > > Free Bird!!! We wanna hear Free Bird!!! “Get to the ‘workin’ overtime’ part!” > [@Mangosteen](#): > > OK, but can you imagine how many songs Bob has written in his career? There’s just no way he would be able to remember them all. I think it is more the peyote than the production! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/66 "2010-03-04T18:19:54Z")
I saw Elton John back around 1995. He had no band, it was just him on the piano with a percussionist (Ray Cooper, IIRC). Elton stated at the beginning that he wasn’t going to play his new stuff or a lot of his biggest songs that night, but would instead be concentrating on “things we probably hadn’t heard in a while.” Not being a huge fan, I didn’t recognize a lot of the songs, but they sounded good and the audience ate them up. In one intro, he stated that there was a song he had sworn never to sing again, but would break that promise because this version would be a bit different. Turns out it was “Crocodile Rock.” He sang it. Very. Slow. Like a funeral dirge. It worked. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/67 "2010-03-04T18:25:19Z")
> [@KSO](#): > > At the top of the page is a search box for every tour. I know - which is how I found “Pride” in the setlist for the current tour. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/68 "2010-03-04T18:34:06Z")
> [@Rrose\_Selavy](#): > > To turn the thread around a little has anyone been at a concert where the band play some new stuff that happens to be a future classic and the best they’ve ever done so far? > > I can see it now > "Hi, we’re the Beatles, ok we’re gonna forget about all those cover versions of old skiffle tracks we normally do ..here’s something a couple of the band put together …hope you like it…it’s called “Love Me Do”… I saw Guns 'N Roses open up for Aerosmith in ‘88, when "Sweet Child O’ Mine" was at the top of the charts. At one point Axl Rose said they were going to play a new song from an upcoming EP. Then he started in with this whistling, accompanied by a very slow (electric) guitar part. The crowd was silent - there was an almost audible sense of “WTF is this shit” floating in the air. The song was called “Patience.” Not exactly a future classic, but it became one of their bigger hits after _Lies_ was released. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/69 "2010-03-04T18:37:14Z")
Elvis Costello did a tour with a fun, if somewhat problematic way of addressing this issue. During the show, he revealed a big gameshow-like Spinning Songbook with a bunch of songs on it. Audience members came up and spun the wheel to pick the next song to be played. I say it was problematic because the night I saw the concert, he ended up playing _Alison_ three times–each with a slightly different arrangement. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/70 "2010-03-04T18:55:53Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Of course, serious Rush fans actually _want_ to hear the new stuff and not just the hits 😃 And we recognize that Geddy sang _ridiculously_ high when he was younger (Geddy himself has said as much) and we don’t begrudge him the fact that, at 50+ years old he can no longer shriek like he did at 23 and so can’t really do those older songs. When I saw them in '08 the did only one song from 2112 and nothing from before that. For the record, on the Snakes & Arrows Tour, Rush played most (9 or 10 out of 13 songs) of the new album. I don’t think there’s a band of this stature that does a better job of combining the “Greatest Hits” material with the Recent stuff. I’ll also give them credit for not changing the keys of those early songs to accommodate Geddy’s aging voice the way most (And I’ll offer a hearty “You Suck!” to Phil Collins for changing the key of every cool song he’s ever sang) dinosaur bands do. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/71 "2010-03-04T19:19:42Z")
> [@AndyPolley](#): > > For the record, on the Snakes & Arrows Tour, Rush played most (9 or 10 out of 13 songs) of the new album. I don’t think there’s a band of this stature that does a better job of combining the “Greatest Hits” material with the Recent stuff. I’ll also give them credit for not changing the keys of those early songs to accommodate Geddy’s aging voice the way most (And I’ll offer a hearty “You Suck!” to Phil Collins for changing the key of every cool song he’s ever sang) dinosaur bands do. Actually, the key on “Circumstances” was dropped something like a minor 3rd, and you’ll notice Geddy plays that red Jazz Bass on much of the older stuff - it’s also tuned down a 1/2-step or a full step. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/72 "2010-03-05T00:58:55Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > I saw Guns 'N Roses open up for Aerosmith in ‘88, when "Sweet Child O’ Mine" was at the top of the charts. > > At one point Axl Rose said they were going to play a new song from an upcoming EP. Then he started in with this whistling, accompanied by a very slow (electric) guitar part. The crowd was silent - there was an almost audible sense of “WTF is this shit” floating in the air. > > The song was called “Patience.” Not exactly a future classic, but it became one of their bigger hits after _Lies_ was released. “Patience” is a freaking classic! ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/73 "2010-03-05T01:05:57Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Elvis Costello did a tour with a fun, if somewhat problematic way of addressing this issue. During the show, he revealed a big gameshow-like Spinning Songbook with a bunch of songs on it. Audience members came up and spun the wheel to pick the next song to be played. I say it was problematic because the night I saw the concert, he ended up playing _Alison_ three times–each with a slightly different arrangement. I have seen Elvis Costello play live several times, a couple shows here in Salt Lake, once in San Francisco (with Ben Harper, John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison) and a few times in New Orleans, and I am always struck at what a great job he does in concert—He is always keeping it fresh by changing up his song arrangements, pulling out obscure old chestnuts from his back catalouge, playing random cover songs etc., all while still playing many of his most popular songs for the casual fan. He has the best of both worlds, playing new innovative stuff, yet still making sure the average listener gets to hear what they want as well… ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/74 "2010-03-05T01:58:02Z")
[QUOTE= He has the best of both worlds, playing new innovative stuff, yet still making sure the average listener gets to hear what they want as well…[/QUOTE] Plus he’s married to Diana Krall. Obviously William Tecumseh Sherman wasn’t an artist but I find it amusing that he HATED the song “Marching Through Georgia” which a band played at almost every Civil War reunion he attended. On a similar note John Lennon didn’t care for having a violinist play “Yesterday” every time he ate in a restaurant. It was essentially a Paul song although Lennon realized the violinist couldn’t play “I am the Walrus”. I don’t think Lennon played that many Beatles songs on the few concerts he played in the 1970s. The 1972 concert released as “Live in New York” had “Come Together”. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/75 "2010-03-05T02:41:07Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I have seen Elvis Costello play live several times, a couple shows here in Salt Lake, once in San Francisco (with Ben Harper, John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison) and a few times in New Orleans, and I am always struck at what a great job he does in concert—He is always keeping it fresh by changing up his song arrangements, pulling out obscure old chestnuts from his back catalouge, playing random cover songs etc., all while still playing many of his most popular songs for the casual fan. > > He has the best of both worlds, playing new innovative stuff, yet still making sure the average listener gets to hear what they want as well… I guess my mileage varies. The two times I’ve seen him, the only thing approaching an old obscure chestnut was I Don’t Want to Go to Chelsea – which I counted the first time I saw him, so that is one – but then that was also the only relatively obscure old song he did the second time I saw him, too! And it’s not it would be hard to find a song that would qualify in my book – basically anything non-famous from MAIT, TYM, or Brutal Youth, plus Tart and Long Honeymoon. Then again, he put on a good show both times. Especially the second time, where he even got moral props from the fact he was recovering from throat surgery. Probably because of this, he didn’t do a lot of talking in between songs, going right from the final drumroll at the end of a song right into the guitar riff of another one (holding up his guitar when the drums were still rolling if he needed to change his axe.) If that’s what it takes to make every concert rock so hard bring on more throat surgery for other musicians 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/76 "2010-03-07T10:09:19Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > I’ve read that Madonna won’t do Like a Virgin any more. Which is perfectly fine because a 50 year old woman prancing about on stage singing that song would be ridculous Like a Virgin was part of Madonna’s 2007 Confessions tour. Check it: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zANEOfqLhDk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zANEOfqLhDk). It’s got all the elements: aforesaid 50 year old woman, bondage/equestrian gear, and a mechanical horse/stripper pole! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/77 "2010-03-07T18:08:18Z")
> [@Jervoise](#): > > Like a Virgin was part of Madonna’s 2007 Confessions tour. Check it: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zANEOfqLhDk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zANEOfqLhDk). It’s got all the elements: aforesaid 50 year old woman, bondage/equestrian gear, and a mechanical horse/stripper pole! I wonder if the X-rays were supposed to be a reference to Yankovic’s “Like a Surgeon” (which was Madonna’s idea to begin with)? ---
**Author:** ![LittleGreenRosetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c77e96/32.png) [@LittleGreenRosetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LittleGreenRosetta)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/78 "2010-03-08T06:43:22Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I have seen Elvis Costello play live several times, a couple shows here in Salt Lake, once in San Francisco (with Ben Harper, John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison) and a few times in New Orleans, and I am always struck at what a great job he does in concert—He is always keeping it fresh by changing up his song arrangements, pulling out obscure old chestnuts from his back catalouge, playing random cover songs etc., all while still playing many of his most popular songs for the casual fan. This is pretty much what Springsteen does as well; I think he does a pretty good job of keeping the diehards (reasonably) happy, while playing at least a few of his big hits. The last couple of tours, he threw a couple of new elements in. First, he started taking requests from the audience by means of signs which fans would bring, often times for cover songs, some of them rather obscure. The end of the last tour, he started playing his albums in their entirety, doing 6 different albums in all (including all 20 songs off the River). ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/79 "2010-03-10T11:09:35Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I wonder if the X-rays were supposed to be a reference to Yankovic’s “Like a Surgeon” (which was Madonna’s idea to begin with)? No, it was a reference to Madonna injuring herself after falling off her horse in her “Let’s do what upper class English people do” phase. I don’t even know why I know that. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037/80 "2010-03-10T11:19:39Z")
I don’t think Prodigy play much of their early acid house stuff… would sound weird putting Android along side Warriors Dance (even though their Experience era tunes are by far their best). Likewise Moby doesn’t drop many UHF / Voodoo Child tunes when he plays these days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musicians-bands-refuse-to-play-their-hits-in-concert/531037.md?page=5)