Calling out requests at gigs – C/D?

Inspired by the 'Freebird' discussion, did a search but couldn't find anything specifically on this. The arguments against the practice are overwhelming – ppl calling for an obscure album track or B-side to advertise the fact that they are hardcore fans, for example. And yet, something in me finds it hard to resist doing this on occasion. I've even been successful a couple of times in getting bands to play songs. Anything that encourages a little humorous interaction between the artist and the audience has to be a good thing, right?

apparently Ryan Adams isn't keen

At an Elbow gig last week someone calling for "A Day Like This" was immediately followed by someone else shouting out 'play what you like!' to great applause.

Bands have setlists generally

Like literally the only time this is OK is if a) the band asks for it or b) its an encore that's clearly run past the limits of their setlist

yeah i don't think i've ever shouted a song title at a show in my entire life. once a band i like asked for requests on twitter and i made a few song suggestions.

Was watching Kiss at Rock Am Ring on TV the other night, and Paul Stanley asked for requests. He then prowled the front of the stage for about 45 seconds till someone finally called out for whatever was actually next on the setlist (Lick It Up, in this case). Have been at gigs where the singer has tried the same trick, only for no one to call out for the song they're going to play, and having to brush the actual requests under the metaphorical carpet.

But then I have been at gigs where bands have clearly made an impromptu setlist detour in response to a request, and like Anagram I think that's great. But shouting out for obscure B-sides to prove your knowledge is a massive dud, and should not be done by anyone over 16.

like it it was one guy near the stage who shouted one request a couple times clearly enough that the band could hear him and actually consider or respond to the request, that's okay, but it seems like when it rains it pours and there's like 20 dudes shouting a whole setlist's worth of requests between every song and it kind of puts a damper on the show.

On the Pavement "Live In Koln" album that they released last year for Record Store Day, there's a beautiful moment in which an audience members yells out, in heavily-German-accented English, "Cut Your Hair!" to which Bob Nastanovich replies, "You got it!" and they launch directly into the song.

We used to enjoy it until after Toys in the Attic but now people think it looks self-serving, like it's "show me that you like my stuff" which is a shame - if I ask for a request, it's sincere, it means the next thing on the list doesn't seem like it really fits the moment and I'm looking for ideas - but (no complaints) we're in arenas now & when people start yelling titles it's 1/3 mishmash of stuff you can't make out, 1/3 some joke song we did that people just yell because it's sort of our localized "free bird," and 1/3 "free bird" which always makes me go "well, I should know better than to ask for requests now" - still when I do An Evening With Steve Tyler shows, it's enjoyable to take requests, actual spontaneity can still be the best time you can have at a show imo

Dud. It actually makes me feel uncomfortable when people do this.

requesting the joke song or tossed off cover in the band's back catalog is the worst. like the fact that he covered "Since U Been Gone" has become the bane of Ted Leo's existence because now people feel the need to request it at every show.

^^ Agreed BUT I saw the Get Up Kids a while ago and someone requested their cover of "Close to Me" and I was all rmde at first but they were really nice about it and played it right away and the whole mood was of the show was sort of jokey and fun anyway. I was standing right at the front and thought well, fuck it, and jokingly shouted for their cover of Beer for Breakfast. Thankfully they laughed and thought it was awesome and went right into it.

Think that's the only time I've ever done that.

No, the worst thing is people requesting stuff by one of the band members former band.

Yeah, this mostly annoys me. There always seems to be someone or some group shouting for "Dirty Frank" between every single fucking song at Pearl Jam shows, so annoying. Like, great, I'm happy you are so clued in to know about their first album B-sides but a) that song actually sucks and no one really wants to hear it and b) SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP.

requesting the joke song or tossed off cover in the band's back catalog is the worst. like the fact that he covered "Since U Been Gone" has become the bane of Ted Leo's existence because now people feel the need to request it at every show.

lol, Ted should enjoy it now, because ten years from now it'll really be properly annoying but you're a huge dick if you do anything but smile about it

No, the worst thing is people requesting stuff by one of the band members former band.

― ka£ka (NickB), Wednesday, March 9, 2011 9:28 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

Yeah, that's pretty bad.

I've only ever done it after the main set when it's the encores. as stated above the main set is decided by setlist but things can be a bit more flexible during the encores.

I've seen both Aimee Mann and Lisa Loeb ask for requests at shows and actually play them. Someone asked Aimee to play "Jacob Marley's Chain" and she almost couldn't remember how. Had to sit down at the piano and figure it out.

I've seen Nina Nastasia do that as well.

I've probably told this story before, but seriously one of the best moments at a show I can remember is when Dirty Three called out for requests. A woman in the crowd shouted something from Ocean Songs. Warren Ellis apologized and said he couldn't quite remember how it went, but could she hum it? She said, "I can play it on violin!" So he invited her up on stage and she actually played the part while Mick Harvey and Jim White dutifully backed her up.

who cares if people are requesting songs, the musicians are the ones with the mikes and the setlist

Alan Sparhawk from Low tends to ask audiences at gigs, but then get's into one of his long awkward 'so what's up' exchanges with a noisy audience member, everyone gets distracted and they plow on with the set anyway. (nearly everybody shouts for Two-Step btw)

Funny you should say that, that exact thing happened to me last time I saw them and yes, I called for "Two-Step". He said something like "you'll get yours" and sure enough they played it later on. although who's to say whether they would have played it anyway.

I've only ever done it after the main set when it's the encores.

this is the time to do it ^^

the worst thing ever is people calling out requests for "the hit" during the first 5-10 minutes of the show -- like, the Pixies are NOT gonna forget to play "gigantic" and "where is my mind" -- you don't have to request them immediately and frequently, and you are not doing them a favor by reminding of songs they play every fucking night

Craig Finn used to respond to shouted requests by saying: "Yes, that's one of our songs." Made me laugh first time I saw him do it.

XP - I've asked Low to play 'Swinging' a couple of times, nearly worked once at the Spitz club, but I got the impression the new bass guy didn't know it.

I only yell requests for "highway star"

First time I saw Lou Barlow solo he was up against obnoxious idiots chanting for 'Freak Scene' every 30 seconds. I was horribly drunk so shouted for thing like 'Land Of The Lords' and 'Queen Of The Scene', the latter of which was written by his wife who it transpired was standing next to me oh the embarrassment.

I've got a bootleg of a Greg Dulli / Mark Lanegan show where someone's yelling for a song, can't remember which, and Lanegan, who pretty much never talks on stage, said gravely, "How's about we play something we feel like playing?"

At a Dylan show in I think 1991 I yelled for "Man in the Long Black Coat" and he played it next, though I don't know if it was conicidence. He then proceeded to sing a verse from Sara in the middle of the song (the music is similar): "Now the beach is deserted except for some kelp..."

Heard on an REM boot (Hammersmith Palais '85)

Mid gig general shouting, requests for Wolves etc:

Mills (in a whiny voice) - Can I get a word in?
Stipe - *sigh*
Mills - this is how democracy works

Also: if you want to see Neil Young get pissed off, yell for Southern Man or Rockin' in the Free World during a quiet solo acoustic set at a nice theater.

Bands have setlists generally

― open jason segal (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, March 9, 2011 7:56 AM (2 hours ago)

srsly can't believe the Bieber/Weingarten Duo didn't play my request for "One Time" -- didn't u hear me screaming for it ;_;

Hear on a Meat Puppets bootleg (Italy early 90's radio broadcast gig iirc)

Guy - IN A CAR!!
Kurt - (incredulous) In a car??? wooaaah..
Chris - that was a different band man
Kurt - yea, we're a corporation now
Chris - like McDonalds

I sometimes do this cos I have a tendency to get a little over-enthusiastic when I'm drunk and excited, but then for the rest of the gig I'll be full of shame and embarrassment with the sound of my voice echoing over and over in my own head.

^^ That for me, too.

I may do this but I'm not insistent about it. They can always ignore me or refuse to play the request so I figure little harm is done.

I become more insistent throughout the gig until I'm onstage with the performers yelling in their faces HIGHWAY STAR HIGHWAY STAR

Guy - IN A CAR!!
Kurt - (incredulous) In a car??? wooaaah..
Chris - that was a different band man
Kurt - yea, we're a corporation now
Chris - like McDonalds

Guy totally missed his window not immediately shouting "Have it your way!" then repeating his request.

Best request I ever heard at a show was the guy who wouldn't stop screaming at the top of his lungs 'CHICKAMAUGA!!!" during a breather during a Wilco set.

omg

(i love that song)

It's lame in general cuz a. The band usually has a set and not-too-flexible setlist, and B. Some people use it more as a vehicle to brag about how old school a fan they are by requesting an early tune, C. They usually don't shut up about it until it's played.

That said, I still do it sometimes (lol). Also Brutal Truth actually asked the crowd what to play at a few points when I saw them last year...and obliged.

It's also easy to call out the bullshitters, like this dude at Deicide kept asking for one song, even after they played it. He didn't shut up until his mistake was loudly pointed out by me and others.

Also was annoying finally seeing Savatage for the first time, and hearing some fucknut say "Fuck this, play Sirens" anytime the band had the gall to play a song written after 1983

I only do this at stadium shows where it's impossible for me to be heard, like Cure concerts. I always shout for b-sides, usually "Home", "This Twilight Garden", "New Day", "A Man Inside My Mouth", "Descent" or "A Chain of Flowers". I do this partially as cathartic release but mostly because I am totally showing off for the people sitting around me wondering who the short black guy who wandered into the wrong venue is.

OMG that was you yelling those at the Agganis? How embarrassing.

The Wedding Present honored 2 of my requests on 2 different occasions:
4.23.92: "Kennedy" (probably not a big deal, it was one of their usual songs)
5.23.93 "Crawl" (b-side that I was really feeling prior to that show and Gedge said "ah, good one", thankfully the band knew it).

weird, checking their concertography it was the same venue exactly 13 months apart.

xp: hahaha yes, yes it was

People do this a lot at Ween shows, but the weird thing is that it's always for dumb half-songs like "Big Jim" or "Fat Lenny" (well, "Big Jim" live is amazing). I think they are one of the few bands that actually does take requests from time to time. The Cat's Cradle set has a pretty funny version of what was posted above; Gene asks for requests and rattles off the songs that the audience is requesting, before saying "Nope, we don't do any of those live"...classic moment

"In The Mouth A Desert" was too long to shout all at once @ Pavement (my favorite song of theirs), so I kept at "In The Mouth" and got a couple stares before realizing what a fool I was making of myself. And thus have never done it again.

Dud generally, but the moment from Zappa's Helsinki concert where the guy yells for "Whipping Post" and FZ sort-of incorporates it into "Montana" is pretty classic.

I yelled for "Hobah" at a Masada show once and Zorn laughed/grimaced and said "you're killin' me here." (Not sure he's ever played that one live.)

theres plenty of bands ive seen where i called a request for them to stop playing

What about requests that aren't song specific, like "do some old!" or "play less music" (that last one was to Huggy Bear iirc)?

The Wedding Present honored 2 of my requests on 2 different occasions

Really? After I called out/requested "Heather" at one gig, Gedge replied "we do have a set list, y'know".

Same people probably go to comedy gigs and shout "The one about the car keys!"

requesting the joke song or tossed off cover in the band's back catalog is the worst. like the fact that he covered "Since U Been Gone" has become the bane of Ted Leo's existence because now people feel the need to request it at every show.

lol, Ted should enjoy it now, because ten years from now it'll really be properly annoying but you're a huge dick if you do anything but smile about it

― five gone cats from Boston (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, March 9, 2011 9:30 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

well, this has been going on for 6+ years now already. although he's generally had a sense of humor about it, and i actually saw him play it one time when the power in the club went out and he did a short spontaneous acoustic set to finish the show, but it's just annoying that people still hound him about that one cover.

What about requests that aren't song specific, like "do some old!" or "play less music"

people doing should just get I CRAVE ATTENTION tatted on their foreheads instead imo

Same people probably go to Shakespeare plays and shout "Do the balcony scene!"

well, this has been going on for 6+ years now already. although he's generally had a sense of humor about it, and i actually saw him play it one time when the power in the club went out and he did a short spontaneous acoustic set to finish the show, but it's just annoying that people still hound him about that one cover.

take it from me man. it's game over when you do a cover like that. 30 years from now people will be yelling "since u been gone!" at Ted. worse problems to have than 'people thought yr joke was funny,' obv, but this is the fact. enjoy it; people will never stop & even if the whole crowd yells "shut up!" those people will have enjoyed getting the attention of others.

whenever i got shakespeare plays i shout 'take off your top!' #kingleer (xp)

p sure 30 years from now all music will be played by holograms, in your spacepod, while you sleep

I saw Herbie Hancock in Edinburgh and just after he sat down at his piano and the other 3 in his quartet were just waiting to start, some guy in the crowd shouted "Play us a tune Herbie!" and Herbie & the whole of the hall burst into laughter, then he gave a big grin and said "that's what I'm here for".

theres plenty of bands ive seen where i called a request for them to stop playing

lol yes

heard @ a gig after first song is finished: "ONE MORE SONG!!!"

I saw Herbie Hancock in Edinburgh and just after he sat down at his piano and the other 3 in his quartet were just waiting to start, some guy in the crowd shouted "Play us a tune Herbie!" and Herbie & the whole of the hall burst into laughter, then he gave a big grin and said "that's what I'm here for".

Try that shit with Keith Jarrett. I dare you.

Generally it's a dud. Many moons ago I went to the Blur b-sides gig in camden. This dude kept shouting for them to play parklife. Damon was not amused. It just makes the requester look like a cock in my opinion.

i have a couple memorable experiences of doing this, mostly while v.drunk

still probly looked like a cock tho

having a memorable experience is not a good reason to come off like a dick imo but I think our present historical moment disagrees with me on this count

in one case, i later met a dude who recognized me as "that drunk guy from the mountain goats show"

he told me that at one point i yelled out "play anything, they're all awesome!", which still makes me lol, so i guess maybe i escaped cockishness by way of enthusiasm in that instance

Sighing so fucking heavily over here

iunno what to say man, i plead youth and drunkenness

watched a stream of the ACL Festival show where TMG honored a crowd request for something ("georgia" maybe? cant recall now) so maybe non-drunken and nicely asked requests just go over better?

probably applies to lots of bands im sure, ppl just dont like to acknowledge drunk assholes amirite

i feel weird dancing around the fact that A.) I actually had a lot of fun doing this; B.) I was pretty drunk tho, so my version of events, in which all in attendance were delighted by my antics, is not super-reliable; C.) another ilxor was at that show and could probably confirm this latter suspicion

I was pretty drunk tho, so my version of events, in which all in attendance were delighted by my antics, is not super-reliable

hah, this is some Being Drunk 101 ish right here

I kind of want to do a dissertation on drunk logic; at the very least, the research would be AWESOME

i feel like if i was in a band that got tons of annoying request shouts i'd start doing more long medleys of multiple songs or just plowing from one song into the next Ramones-style

or stop giving titles to yr songs

then they'd just shout the titles of the old songs that did have titles

well you could always change the titles of those songs and not tell them the new ones

... no wait that wouldn't work at all

lol

kinda always been tempted to shout out for "wonderwall" at p much every concert i ever go to

i never do

A few months ago I saw Helmet.. Page can still throw down but he's not pushing his voice like he use to, staying safe..

Anyway, he asked the crowd what they wanted to hear.. a shit ton of casual fans were instisting on Unsung, but he didn't want to play it.. he played some other requests instead, which were brilliant requests.
He asked again for requests.. 'Unsung, Unsung..' the meatheads shouted.. "I'm not playing it, I don't know that one, never heard of it.."
A particular request cuaght his ear, I did'nt hear the title, but he went into this whole thing about this song inparticular..'ooow, yeah, I don't know,.. ah, That song is really hard.. the verse is in like 11 or something, and the chorus is too high for me to sing anymore, the rhythms in that song are really tricky- and this band doesn't know it... great song though!"
I lol'd.. he got all technical to the crowd, I thought it was rad..
Finally he tells the band off mic, 'Unsung".. they go "what?, really? are you sure?", from the bass player. Page says, agitated, ' Just fucking play it!"
It was a great show..

I would request "rumble" at a helmet show

at the very least, the research would be AWESOME

Would sponsor

I requested, 'Sinatra' he looked right at me and said , "No" lol!

A friend (who brought mini bottles of vodka and good weed) kept yelling at Dean Wareham to "play the new song" back in the day. As I had to point out to her, 'Season of the Witch' wasn't exactly new, strictly speaking. Also, they had just played it. Good times.

some of this ish almost belongs in Heckling; C/D?

If anyone seriously has a problem with this they need to lighten the fuck up. It's people's night out, it's fun, it's not actually disturbing the band or ruining their set in any way. And it occasionally leads to enjoyable banter between the band and the audience.

Yeah, jeez, I can't possibly think of how it might be annoying for someone to constantly yell things out while you're trying to listen to music.

In my experience it mostly happens between the songs, when the band are likely to hear it.

Next time I come to your house for dinner, I'm just gonna yell "POTATOES" during every lull in the conversation.

part of me is wondering what terrible thimble-sized PAs ppl are seeing bands play through that can't drown out the idiots who shout during the songs

Are people really that prissy about their bands?

At a Supersuckers show back in the day, I screamed for them to play their awesome version of Ice Cube's "Dead Homiez" when they came out for an encore. Eddie Spaghetti, from the stage, said that he would play it if I gave him five bucks. I gave it to him, they played it.

Best five bucks I ever spent.

hahaha Matt how long have you been posting here???????

Sorry, stupid question. Maybe people shouldn't cheer when other people are trying to listen to music either.

I'm not saying this is always a bad thing, just some of the time. The annoyance comes more from repetition than anything else. I don't care if I'm the only one hearing it, I don't need the dude next to me shouting the same song title over and over again throughout the course of the show.

Next time I come to your house for dinner, I'm just gonna yell "POTATOES" during every lull in the conversation.

Actually, if there was the potential for there to be cooked potatoes in the kitchen that I was about to bring out for the next course, I would be happy for you to do this.

h8 this shit unless the band have given express permission - audiences need to stfu and remember that they are not the show

The annoyance comes more from repetition than anything else. I don't care if I'm the only one hearing it, I don't need the dude next to me shouting the same song title over and over again throughout the course of the show.

This is basically what I'm talking about too. I've got this Paul Westerberg bootleg that's nearly ruined by some frat dude screaming "IF ONLY YOU WERE LONELY!" between each track.

IT IS A NIGHT OUT IT IS NOT A FUCKING CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERT.

And thank you for the potatoes, Matt, but you'd only be encouraging me.

maybe it should be more like a classical music concert! :D

I bet Matt DC talks through movies too and gets all indignant when someone shushes him, "THIS IS MY NIGHT OUT TOO YOU KNOW".

Rudely talking or shouting requests through a song, especially a quiet one = dud

Shouting things in between a song = fine

actually that night i got home post-glasser and was angry about the rude audience constantly talking over her, i was like "jazz or classical audiences would never behave in such an ill-mannered way"

My favorite thing is when the singer will lambaste someone for calling out a song they played previously in the set.

This has happened to me so many times, I lost count (which is to say I witnessed it, not was lambasted).

Lambaste would make a good band name.

/ Lambaste.

Yeah, jeez, I can't possibly think of how it might be annoying for someone to constantly yell things out while you're trying to listen to music.

uhhh when a band is playing you have to shout into someone's ear just to talk to them; how is this bothering you exactly?

TBH classical concerts would be greatly improved if they encouraged audience requests

frogbs has never been to an intimate acoustic gig i take it

naw you guys it's not "yelling requests is bad," that would be a bullshit take for sure, but if you've ever been standing next to the person who yells the same request from before the band plays the first song & subsequently between every song & during song intros & basically at every available opportunity, then your "let people have a good time!" deal is kinda off. your good time of yelling the name of a band's biggest hit (like they're gonna play that shit in the first ten minutes of the show anyhow, c'mon) does not override the right of people who are not stupid to enjoy the show, imo

I am imagining an orchestra finishing the first movement of B9 and having someone yell "PLAY MAHLER 8" at them and it is bringing me nothing but joy

seriously Matt DC what is your favorite band, I bet I can quickly sketch a scenario in which you will understand how this can be an utter drag

leave it to Mr. Tyler to speak it clearly and more eloquently than I was bothering to do

or say, in the pause before one of the soprano arias in "Aida", shouting "DO QUEEN OF THE NIGHT"

yeah i mean in theory its cool that people are having fun and wanna hear their favorite songs but the reality is once you do this you turn into a giant dickweed and you're basically yelling "HEY!!!!! I'M A GIANT DICKWEED"

naw you guys it's not "yelling requests is bad," that would be a bullshit take for sure, but if you've ever been standing next to the person who yells the same request from before the band plays the first song & subsequently between every song & during song intros & basically at every available opportunity, then your "let people have a good time!" deal is kinda off. your good time of yelling the name of a band's biggest hit (like they're gonna play that shit in the first ten minutes of the show anyhow, c'mon) does not override the right of people who are not stupid to enjoy the show, imo"

STFU and play Walk This Way

I actually would support a more Italian approach to opera -- bring the kids, yell when it sucks, as many people as can fit in the orchestra pit, that sounds like a party to me which is what opera should be

I recently saw a string quartet and had to mightily suppress the urge to shout "BARTOK! BAAAAAAARTOK!" at them

fortunately they were playing Bartok that night so it was easier for me to control myself

i don't like it when audiences feel entitled to The Big Hit either and totally admire any artist who leaves it off

lol I thought you weren't indie, Lex!

"Hey before we start I want to say my cousin Little Jimmy Tyler died this week. He was gonna come to this show, and --"
"MAMA KIN!"
"--he was our biggest fan. Ever since we were playing in Boston clubs. So if you're up there Little Jimmy, just know that --"
"MAMA KIIIIIIIIIINNNN!!!!"

I actually would support a more Italian approach to opera -- bring the kids, yell when it sucks

this is not what it was like when i went to the opera in italy! (albeit i only did that once.)

I mean what one hears about Italian opera from ages back - I'm sure it's fully stuffy-shirt everywhere now

audiences need to stfu and remember that they are not the show

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 9 March 2011 22:58 (5 minutes ago)

sorry but that's bollocks

you guys should all come to MA in the summer and we'll all make a trip out to Tanglewood for a weekend of getting blitzed on the lawn while listening to awesome classical music, followed by partying with orchestra folk at the semi-trendy bars in the vicinity

that is living

frogbs has never been to an intimate acoustic gig i take it

yeah i have but i've never encountered people who literally shout requests at every possible opportunity, in general people don't really yell during the songs

i agree, the audience is just as much of the show as the performer, but the audience is usually pretty shitty at performing xp

yeah i have but i've never encountered people who literally shout requests at every possible opportunity, in general people don't really yell during the songs

I am telling you, Tourettefest is not to be missed

Anyway the original premise of this thread is complaining about something that is basically fine. Repeatedly shouting the name of the band's biggest hit is less so.

SINGING the band's biggest hit at every opportunity is, however, indefensible - esp the crowd of dudes behind me at Springsteen who kept singing 'Born In The USA' surely in the knowledge that he was never in a million years going to play it.

i don't like it when audiences feel entitled to The Big Hit either and totally admire any artist who leaves it off

i dunno it's kind of a dick move when you know that 90% of the audience is there as a direct result of that hit. it's one thing if you're Gary Numan and touring your new material that doesn't really mesh with the old stuff, it's another when you're say Devo or Thomas Dolby or The Knack, give the people what they want, what's the big deal?

singing at any volume whereby it is remotely audible to anyone around you is unacceptable

lolololol you remember the recent Natalie Merchant tour where she was playing all of those songs she wrote based on Elizabethan poetry and was wandering around the stage wearing that stupid mask? Imagine how much better that would have gone had she inserted "Like The Weather" or "Because The Night".

it's another when you're say Devo or Thomas Dolby or The Knack, give the people what they want, what's the big deal?

Wait, what? I don't even know what Devo song is meant to be their single hit here. 'Mongoloid'?

"Whip It"

Ah, right. Do they really have a large fanbase who just think they're a one-hit wonder? Because that's just nuts.

yeah i have no clue what this imaginary difference is between gary numan touring new material and devo or thomas dolby or the knack.

"cars" similar to "whip it" no?

Tend to assume that Devo and Thomas Dolby have pretty fanatical fanbases who wouldn't care.

Would love to see The Knack go on and play My Sharona first in response ot a load of shouts, just to see those ppl shuffling around and looking bored for the remaining hour or so.

Do they really have a large fanbase who just think they're a one-hit wonder?

Yes, it's called "America"

in general i don't understand treating a live show like a jukebox! people who call out requests are sort of doing that. it just seems like a mismatch to me.

HORSE WITH NO NAME

lolololol you remember the recent Natalie Merchant tour where she was playing all of those songs she wrote based on Elizabethan poetry and was wandering around the stage wearing that stupid mask? Imagine how much better that would have gone had she inserted "Like The Weather" or "Because The Night".

Now this is the kind of show where you buy a ticket for the express purpose of getting hammered and yelling "FREE BIRD!!!"

I saw Devo twice and it seemed pretty split between those who knew all the band's material and those who only knew "Whip It" and maybe the "Satisfaction" cover. Did you really not know that Devo had one really big hit??

The difference is not "imaginary"; Gary Numan has really overhauled his entire image into a heavier, more NiN-like act, so "Cars" doesn't really fit though he'll play it every other night regardless. Obviously you'd love to hear "Cars" but he's dedicated to the new stuff and it's easy to respect that. Thomas Dolby and The Knack on the other hand haven't released new material in 20 years so it's not like they're touring under the impression that people are coming to see what they sound like now.

remember Pulp opening with 'Common People' the one time I saw them but I reckon that was more because it had started raining heavily just as they came on (this was an outdoor festival).

Tend to assume that Devo and Thomas Dolby have pretty fanatical fanbases who wouldn't care.
Would love to see The Knack go on and play My Sharona first in response ot a load of shouts, just to see those ppl shuffling around and looking bored for the remaining hour or so.

I've seen all three of these acts and I think you're generally right about this, I guess you have to seperate acts like Devo and Thomas Dolby (who probably have some fans who showed up to hear the big hit but probably most who know the artist better than that) from ones like The Knack or something, like say if Deee-Lite reformed and didn't play "Groove is in the Heart", or the B-52's didn't play "Love Shack" or "Rock Lobster". I saw Stan Ridgway too and of course "Mexican Radio" was the big highlight of the night even those everyone there seemed to know all his solo work. I mean if it's one of your best songs and a big hit you kind of owe that to your audience.

BTW I have heard of Devo opening with "Whip It"...when I saw the Knack, "My Sharona" was of course at the end, but it was a free show at a local music festival so I doubt too many people there really knew anything else.

you guys should all come to MA in the summer and we'll all make a trip out to Tanglewood for a weekend of getting blitzed on the lawn while listening to awesome classical music, followed by partying with orchestra folk at the semi-trendy bars in the vicinity

that is living

so fully all about this idea

Actually the last time I saw Pulp they opened with Common People done in a Krautrock style but they'd have been pretty confident it wasn't the only song the audience were waiting for.

kinda weird how lex's posts here make him seem like he is the least fun person in the history of the world tho

frogbs, are you in the States? Because while I know there's a small hardcore of proper Numan fans, he's the sort of act that I really would imagine people turning up to see the one hit. I can't imagine anyone who only wanted to hear 'Whip It' and nothing else turning up to see Devo. (I would say they have the thing of people wanting to hear their old stuff more than their new, but not 'The Hit' in the way you've been talking about.)

i like to go to shows & play nintendo ds while loudly narrating my progress in etrian odyssey III to the crowd...

I'm sure I've seen you play before...

do that at crystal castles gigs and no-one would notice

kinda weird how lex's posts here make him seem like he is the least fun person in the history of the world tho

it is possible to have fun without yelling

it's not possible to have fun while thinking everybody else is doing it totally wrong tho

au contraire, my friend

it's not possible to have fun while thinking everybody else is doing it totally wrong tho

Ha ha, I know jazz dudes for whom this is not only their favorite thing in the world, but pretty much their only source of fun.

ha, point taken

Weird how the Sleater-Kinney masturbator would always request that one Crash Test Dummies song at every show no matter who was playing #indiesexpestsof2002

oooww thats a pet peave... Don't yell the title of a song of a member of the band's other band... I'll snap!

yelling a request for a 15-year-old zine flexidisc b-side: better or worse than yelling for the hit?

i think worse, but whatevs

better than yelling for the hit.. There was a song that Deftones did for one of the Crow movie soundtracks that I'd love to hear live..

lolololol you remember the recent Natalie Merchant tour where she was playing all of those songs she wrote based on Elizabethan poetry and was wandering around the stage wearing that stupid mask? Imagine how much better that would have gone had she inserted "Like The Weather" or "Because The Night".

― ancient, but very sexy (DJP), Wednesday, March 9, 2011 5:17 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yo hold up...WHAT??

i have not been doing my due dilligence on wtf natalie merchant tours

nabisco to thread

i actually did this drunk at the richard bishop show i saw last year cuz he was playing all that spaghetti middle eastern surf music and between songs i yelled "BEACH BLANKET BONG-OUT!" cuz all of a sudden i really wanted to hear some JFA because i love JFA and i figured he might actually know it cuz he used to play shows with JFA back in the day. but he didn't play it. and i felt like a big drunk idiot.

Merchant ref reminded me that I flew American Airlines a couple weeks ago, and in both Los Angeles and Chicago, the plane piped "Like the Weather" through the cabin immediately upon landing.

yelling a request for a 15-year-old zine flexidisc b-side: better or worse than yelling for the hit?

worse. yelling for the hit = "I wanna hear the fucking hit!" yelling for the flexidisc b-side: "look at me! I am so cool!"

people who don't play the one hit. bad or good? do people actually do this though? people who play their one hit twice! bad or good? i actually enjoyed this when i saw musical youth in the 80's.

Also Brutal Truth actually asked the crowd what to play at a few points when I saw them last year...and obliged.

omg I would be the total ass that requests "Prey"

worse. yelling for the hit = "I wanna hear the fucking hit!" yelling for the flexidisc b-side: "look at me! I am so cool!"

exactly. there's no way the band remembers how to play it anyway

At a 1999 Who show someone yelled out "Happy Jack!" They all looked at each other, said, "Hmm, do we still know that one?" and tore through it (with a bump or two along the way). It was the first time they'd played it live since 1970. So if a moment like that can happen at a show, I'm all for it (provided it's done in a non-dickish way, which is probably asking the impossible).

trying to think of instances where i've seen a band open w/ their biggest hit. here's one. Tool, 2001-02, Lateralus tour, band comes out, drunk asshole in audience: "Sober!!!" and Maynard looks at him like "o rly?" and the band TEARS through it

saw T.Swift open w/ "You Belong with Me" but obv that one was planned.

people who don't play the one hit. bad or good? do people actually do this though? people who play their one hit twice! bad or good? i actually enjoyed this when i saw musical youth in the 80's.

― scott seward, Wednesday, March 9, 2011 7:56 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

has there ever been a thread about that? i feel like there should've been but i don't remember one.

ON the Vapor Trails tour, Rush was opening with 'Tom Sawyer'... It definitly set a tone, like.. holy shit, this is gonna be an amazing set!
And it was! 1hr, 30 minutes, 15 minute break,, then another hour and 20 mins... and stil there was shit that didn't get played, like Xanadoo(sp?)

Probably the best heckle of a band: The band (doesn't matter who; you can try it yourself if you want!) plays their first song and up front some guy is enthusiastically applauding and screaming "One more! One more! One more!"

A friend did this and the singer looked at him with a hurt look and said, "Dude... We just started!"

How about "after the gig"?

I asked Moe Tucker about not playing "Guess I'm falling in love" the second time I saw her (this time with Sterl), "ah, we can't play everything every night you know" she replied. "Oh, I know.." I started at which point she turned to the rest of the band and said "actually, we haven't played that one for a long time!"

So, if you watched Moe and band after they played Reading Uni, or the VU reunion, that "Guess I'm falling in love" you heard was down to me.

that's pretty cool. one time i interviewed a band before a show and at the end of the interview they started writing out the setlist and asked me if I had any suggestions, and they added one or two of my favorites to the set, which was awesome.

Springsteen has this thing whereby audience members write requests on signs and he collects them all and chooses the ones he likes. That's pretty fun. But the best thing happened the last time I saw him. This girl was near the front on someone's shoulders and the camera zoomed in on her. She was wearing a T-shirt with "JERSEY GIRL" written on it. She took off the T-shirt (she had a bra on underneath) and passed it forward so that it got handed up to him onstage. Bruce held it up to the camera and said "Well, I never expected that.... I guess we're gonna have to play this one for ya." He hardly ever plays it and had never played it before outside the US.

So there's a message for all female gig-goers. Taking your top off can get your request played.

yeah that's probably a good way to handle it for someone like Springsteen where requests are inevitable. i wonder if anyone in a band has ever just pointed someone out in the crowd at random and gone "you! got any requests?"

PJ fans did similar stuff...once during an entire North American tour everyone would come with 'BREATH' signs

but becuase they're so Grateful Dead-like now with their shows they've slowly been rolling through all their b-side random stuff so the signs kind of petered out. But yeah, there's always the 'Dirty Frank' shouters who are just kind of w/e

Richard Thompson has always taken a lot of requests but some of the shows on his upcoming tour are going to be all-request shows. I think that's pretty awesome and can't think of any other artist who's played a show like that.

can't think of any other artist who's played a show like that.

Really?

I hope he still likes playing "Shoot Out the Lights".

can't think of any other artist who's played a show like that.

Really?

OK then who else

To start: Yo La Tengo, every year, since like forever.

Also this:

http://www.pollstar.com/blogs/news/archive/2009/05/14/666987.aspx

It's the lesser-known cousin of the "playing the whole album" schtick.

I didn't know Yo La Tengo did it. But that voting thing is not the same.

Yo La Tengo does it on WFMU every year. People call in and pledge money and they'll play literally any song, really. It's great fun. I don't really see how the voting thing is different. I love RT, but if it's just a show where every person in the audience is gonna yell loudly after every song for their own personal favorite/obscure tune it sounds like a nightmare tbh.

Think Beck did it a few years back

Decemberists too.

Elvis Costello has done it too.

Well that's the point of the RT one, that it's done right there with the audience at the same time and in the same room. That makes it different from the voting thing and, if I'm understanding you correctly, the YLT one (if the set is essentially decided by phone callers). I don't think such a show would be a nightmare, it would also be great fun

xxp

I mean not that your average RT audience is a bunch of hooligans but it would suck to be surrounded by a sold-out theater of 500 people and only like 1 in 10 got to hear the song they wanted.

i'd go if they banned all post-linda material

but then you'd miss "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" which is actually his best song ever

Didn't the Placemats sometimes play whatever fool song was called out by the audience?

Belle and Sebastian do that.

Bowie did this on a "final" tour ... which may have even been his final tour

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a7hckw4GyS0/TST8CNLTUOI/AAAAAAAAAGI/IpixMNRRSes/s1600/ween_all_request_live-735218.jpg

have seen Smudge do this at a duo show, when A. Ga11oway was having a babby, by handing out a handwritten sheet of every song they could do without drums, and asking that it be passed around and a new person be ready to call for something off the list when each song was done

trying to think of instances where i've seen a band open w/ their biggest hit. here's one. Tool, 2001-02, Lateralus tour, band comes out, drunk asshole in audience: "Sober!!!" and Maynard looks at him like "o rly?" and the band TEARS through it

I saw the Charlatans on one of their early US tours and they opened with "The Only One I Know."

OK then who else

Jon Brion has (or used to have, anyway) a night at the Largo where he'd play two sets; the first one would be all original material, while the second would be 100% cover songs. apparently the audience used to try to stump him but never did.

as much as I hate this practice I find myself doing this at Deicide shows all the time, but mostly because it's really hilarious to hear a bunch of nerdy metalheads shouting out blasphemies:

"DEAD BY DAWN!!!!1"
"HOMAGE FOR SATAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN!!!!"
"BEHEAD THE PROPHET!1!!!1"
"WHEN SATAN RULES HIS WORLD!!!1!"

To the drunken 20somethings that were in the bar not attending the show, they might have thought a coven was meeting

(the setup is interesting - the venue is a small room in the back of a three room bar, with separate admission for the concert venue, meaning that regular patrons don't have to pay to get into the bar. in the first room of the bar, a DJ plays music and they show music videos, usually of pop and hip-hop tracks. the second room is outside the venue and has a smaller bar and beer pong tables, and then there's the venue.

has really shitty sound which is disappointing but it's funny because you'll see all these well dressed preppy kids grinding on each other in the first room and every time a band stops playing, all these hairy smelly tattooed metalheads walk out into their bar and get strange looks from the non-concert goers.

i've shouted requests at tiny venues (and occasionally, esp when i comprised 10% of the audience, have been humored). my fave request i've ever made tho was shouting for seven nation army at a von bondies concert in 2004

when I saw Momus play in Manchester some guy kept shouting really loud for him to do 'The Guitar Lesson'

"Paint it black you devil!" - get yer yayas out

"Play a good song!" - pcppep

Only ever did this once. I requested "Kick you in the head" at a Built to Spill show. No regrets.