Musicians who don't play hits live

musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
edited July 2008 in Other Music
Who would be on such a list?

I saw Bright Eyes a few months back, he played Four Winds, but shyed away from other hits.

And its been said Dylan back in the 70's refused to play his big hits.

Any other singers who do this?
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • IgottagoIgottago Posts: 483
    Bright Eyes has hits?
  • JordyWordyJordyWordy Posts: 2,261
    i saw Rufus Wainwright at a festival and he didnt play any of his better-known songs. Oasis didnt play half their stuff whatsoever for a few years (maybe still dont) which meant many great songs were struckk off their setlists.

    cant think of anyone else off top of my head
  • JulienJulien Posts: 2,457
    in the late 90's, radiohead refused to play creep.
    2006: Antwerp, Paris
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    2009: Rotterdam, London
    2010: MSG, Arras, Werchter
    2012: Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin
    2014: Amsterdam, Stockholm
  • BrainofdzBrainofdz Posts: 1,617
    Lou Reed is fairly well known for doing this
    Sonic Youth has gone through some phases of not playing well known material
    "Stunned by my own reflection, It's looking back, sees me too clearly and I swore I'd never go there again, Not unlike a friend that politely drags you down,down,down"

    When you see me on the street, yell out "FAVO!!!"

    I've been to alot of Pearl Jam shows;So fucking what.
  • Incubus don't play Pardon Me and Drive much.
  • audiodaveaudiodave Posts: 1,623
    Incubus don't play Pardon Me and Drive much.
    They play Drive quite a lot. :confused:
    ~AKA Dave-of-the-dead~

    I don't wanna think, I wanna feel

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  • Syd-era Floyd used to play an unholy racket called Reaction in G, any time people called out for See Emily Play.
  • JordyWordy wrote:
    Oasis

    It's difficult to play hits when you haven't got any.
    ***Astoria, UK - 2006***
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    ***Nijmegen, Holland - 2007***

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  • VartVart Posts: 291
    And its been said Dylan back in the 70's refused to play his big hits.

    He was the first person that came to mind when I read the subject line.

    I saw him a few months ago, and he still doesn't play his hits.
    PJ: 8/27/00 4/29/03 9/15/05 5/12/06 6/28/08 6/30/08 8/21/09 5/15/10 5/21/10 9/11/11 9/12/11 9/14/11 10/25/13 10/27/13 10/29/13 10/30/13 8/5/16 8/7/16 9/2/18 9/4/18
    EV: 8/09/08 8/10/08 6/08/09 6/09/09 6/18/11
  • JordyWordyJordyWordy Posts: 2,261
    It's difficult to play hits when you haven't got any.

    pffft.

    Hits meaning songs that casual listeners would know. Oasis have got tons of those.

    Awful live band though
  • audiodave wrote:
    They play Drive quite a lot. :confused:
    I'm sure there was a period of time when they didn't. Ah well.
  • TroubledSoulTroubledSoul Posts: 1,366
    i saw the pumpkins a few mths ago and billy the ego maniac steered clear of a lot of hits... leaving the crowd a bit restless.
    Yeh I've seen Pearl Jam, too. But I can't remember the dates.
  • audiodaveaudiodave Posts: 1,623
    I'm sure there was a period of time when they didn't. Ah well.
    I've seen them four times over the past five years and i've heard Drive three times.
    ~AKA Dave-of-the-dead~

    I don't wanna think, I wanna feel

    Dublin 23/08/06 Lisbon I 04/09/06 Lisbon II 05/09/06 Paris 11/09/06 Verona 16/09/06

    London 18/06/07 Dusseldorf 21/06/07 Copenhagen 26/06/07 Nijmegen 28/06/07
  • memememe Posts: 4,695
    My brother saw Radiohead in June, and he said they kept mostly to the latest stuff. I know they never play Creep.
    ... and the will to show I will always be better than before.
  • PaukPauk Posts: 1,084
    I saw Bright Eyes a few months back, he played Four Winds, but shyed away from other hits.
    At his recent Sao Paulo show he played quite a few of hits (First Day of my Life, We Are Nowhere & Its Now, Hit The Switch etc.), but I agree usually he seems to just play the new songs with maybe 1 or 2 favourites.

    As for Radiohead it depends on the night. Some nights they play loooooooads of hits, others they hardly play any. Good for people who see them multiple times, maybe not so good for first timers. They won't play any of Pablo Honey (although they occassionally pull out Creep for special occassions), they won't play 5 of the 12 from The Bends, they won't play Electioneering from OK C, the list goes on so I guess they are quite bad for it. But it doesn't wreck the quality of the setlist so I guess it doesn't really matter.
    Paul
    '06 - London, Dublin, Reading
    '07 - Katowice, Wembley, Dusseldorf, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
    '09 - London, Manchester, London
    '12 - Manchester, Manchester, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen
  • clark_kentclark_kent Posts: 166
    Julien wrote:
    in the late 90's, radiohead refused to play creep.

    i was under the impression they still wont play creep, most of the bends, and a solid chunk of ok computer. they're the prototype for this.

    bright eyes didnt seem to play any of their well known early tracks.

    modest mouse played the weirdest set i ever saw when opening for r.e.m. i dug it cos i know their catalogue well, but anyone who wasn't a die hard seemed pretty put out.
    "You've never been out of college, you don't know what it's like out there. I've worked in the private sector... they expect results." -Ray

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  • JordyWordyJordyWordy Posts: 2,261
    they didnt play Creep for year, up until around 2002 i think. been on setlists quite regularly since then. Planet Telex from the Bends has made a comeback recently too.

    none of Pablo Honey gets played, but most of its very poor anyway compared to the rest of their stuff so thats understandable

    kinda similar to PJ in that it depends what night you see them.
  • meme wrote:
    My brother saw Radiohead in June, and he said they kept mostly to the latest stuff. I know they never play Creep.
    they've played it probably 5 times in the past 7 or so years.
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  • i know they can't really be called "hits" per se but silverchair never play songs from frogstomp anymore i don't think :(
    2006 - Astoria, Dublin, Leeds
    2007 - London
    2009 - London, Manchester, London
    2010 - Dublin, Belfast, London
    2011 - Alpine Valley x2
    2012 - Isle of Wight, Manchester x2
  • PaukPauk Posts: 1,084
    i know they can't really be called "hits" per se but silverchair never play songs from frogstomp anymore i don't think :(
    Last tour they hardly played anything from Neon Ballroom (Just emotion sickness I think). That's pretty much a crime for them seeing as the last 2 albums have kinda sucked.
    Paul
    '06 - London, Dublin, Reading
    '07 - Katowice, Wembley, Dusseldorf, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
    '09 - London, Manchester, London
    '12 - Manchester, Manchester, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen
  • fowls wrote:
    Last tour they hardly played anything from Neon Ballroom (Just emotion sickness I think). That's pretty much a crime for them seeing as the last 2 albums have kinda sucked.


    yeah i saw them and was pretty crushed by this. i do like young modern but if they carry on in that vein then they are just gonna be too "poppy" for me to enjoy anymore. emotion sickness is one of my favourite songs ever though.
    2006 - Astoria, Dublin, Leeds
    2007 - London
    2009 - London, Manchester, London
    2010 - Dublin, Belfast, London
    2011 - Alpine Valley x2
    2012 - Isle of Wight, Manchester x2
  • FatalFatal Posts: 821
    Springsteen shied away from playing many of his better known hits on his most recent solo tour (supporting Devils & Dust).
    Shows: Montreal 98, Barrie 98, Montreal 00, Montreal 03, Montreal 05, Ottawa 05, Toronto 06, Vancouver Night 1 08 (EV), Vancouver Night 2 08 (EV), MSG1 08, MSG2 08, Montreal Night 2 08 (EV), Toronto Night 1 08 (EV), Toronto 09, Hartford 11 (EV), Ottawa 11, Ottawa 16, Ottawa 22.


  • evenflow524evenflow524 Posts: 128
    Black Crowes are pretty infamous for steering clear of the biggies focusing on rare tracks and stuff. They always put on a great show though so you dont really miss not hearing Hard To Handle, She Talks To Angels, Jealous Again, Remedy etc. Usually you only get about one hit per show.
    5/24/06 Boston, 6/28/08 & 6/30/08 Mansfield
  • mertmert Posts: 167
    i know they can't really be called "hits" per se but silverchair never play songs from frogstomp anymore i don't think :(

    They never, ever play "Tomorrow" anymore - in fact, their latest DVD has a drunken singalong with members of Powderfinger, and Dan says that's the most you'll hear of "Tomorrow". But they definitely play "Israel's Son" from time to time.

    The Tragically Hip rarely plays "38 Years Old" live, even though it's one of their biggest hits, but that's out of respect to Downie's family - he didn't really think when he wrote it, but it's first person and talks about his older brother Mike being jailed for murdering his sister's rapist. This did NOT happen, but it doesn't help that Downie has a brother named Mike and several sisters.... ;)
  • riffrandallriffrandall Posts: 685
    Uncle Neil has a pretty lengthy speech that involves him not being a human jukebox- but you can still get a good dose of "Sugar Mountain" out of him, esp at Bridge. When he's solo on tour though, he doesn't play too many.

    Joni Mitchell's in the same vein, she'd rather not play any hits of hers. (Not that she tours.)

    Also not that I've ever seen her live (or will) but isn't Madonna pretty adamant about not playing anything that made her famous?
    "If you're looking for someone to pull you out of that ditch, you're out of luck."
  • Get_RightGet_Right Posts: 12,858
    supergrass wont play "alright"
    not huge here, but a big hit in the UK
  • suns22suns22 Posts: 94
    Dave Matthews is pretty similar to Pearl Jam in that just about every song is fair game from their catalog. A buddy of mine was pretty pissed when he went to his first Dave show, and they didn't play 'Crash into Me.'

    Silverchair mostly steers clear of Frogstomp and Freak Show, except for a couple of songs.
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  • LukinFanLukinFan Posts: 29,040
    meme wrote:
    My brother saw Radiohead in June, and he said they kept mostly to the latest stuff. I know they never play Creep.
    beat me to it
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  • LukinFanLukinFan Posts: 29,040
    Pearl Jam doesn't play "Bugs"


    ;)
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    1996: Ft Lauderdale
    1998: Birmingham
    2000: Charlotte, Tampa
    2003: Tampa, Atlanta, Phoenix
    2004: Kissimmee
    2008: West Palm Beach, Bonnaroo, Columbia
    2010: MSG2
    2012: Music Midtown
    2014: Memphis
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    2018: Wrigley 1, Fenway 1
    2022: Nashville
    2023: Ft. Worth II
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