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- mister saint laurent
- Rep: 31
Re: you can't please everyone
saw the smashing pumpkins again tonight and really wanted to finally write about it. what does this have to do with guns n' roses you ask? a lot actually. see, it's a very common complaint amongst hardcore GNR fans that the band relies too heavily upon songs from their first album. fans engage in similar set list debates for most bands i'm sure. hardcore fans tire of hearing the same singles tour after tour while casual fans want to hear the hits.
while axl may use appetite as a crutch, billy corgan's choices for the set list of his just finished tour were certainly on the opposite end of the spectrum. while an obsessive fan like myself went absolutely bonkers for some of the obscure selections, the majority of the fans (especially on wednesday) were left scratching their heads. out of the 21 songs played, LESS THAN HALF appear on any of smashing pumpkins' proper albums.
that's right, the majority of the set consisted of unreleased songs, b-sides, soundtrack contributions, covers, and tracks only available on imports. while axl may be criticized for trying too hard to placate the casual audience, seeing so many older fans leave early on wednesday during what seemed like a 30 minute guitar solo made me think about how unfair it is to the majority of the audience to not focus on material they're familiar with.
like all things in life, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle. i've always felt that trent reznor of nine inch nails has done a fantastic job through the years of finding a balance between the hits and deeper cuts while also throwing in one or two songs for the dedicated fans. so while i wouldn't expect axl and company to rip through crash diet on the next tour, would it be too much to ask for more than one original song each from use your illusion I & II when the band only has three proper albums to their credit?
Re: you can't please everyone
All valid points. I do agree that a middle ground has to be found. Axl/GNR can please hardcores and casuals if they would put more effort into it. I prefer the "moving forward" approach to the "living in the past" approach.
M.I.A. a perfect example. On the last tour, she played from 2 to 5 old songs(depending on the show), the rest was new material. Trent does this as well. A few classics sprinkled in with new material.
I think this is the future, although strictly nostalgic acts would always be the exception. Album sales are tanking, and a way to get your new music heard is to actually play it.
Never saw the Pumpkins live. Wish I had back in the mid 90's.
- Mikkamakka
- Rep: 217
Re: you can't please everyone
When you keep saying that you're working on something magnificent and how this is a new era, then you'd better don't live off your old and hated buddies' material. Move on. You have valid points and most fans had bad experiences with bands who played mostly their last (often mediocre) album with some old hits added, but hell, Axl plays/played more AFD than the UYI line-up. I can tell you that casual fans aren't interested in hearing My Michelle, Think About You, Out Ta Get Me etc. They don't even care about It's So Easy or Mr. Brownstone. Give them some November Rain, SCOM, PC, Jungle etc. and they'll be happy. But Out Ta Get Me every night? Please.
- warriorpriestess
- Rep: 5
Re: you can't please everyone
yeah. i always wanted to hear 'Breakdown' live. haven't gotten to yet. maybe someday...i have hope!
Re: you can't please everyone
It'll be interesting to see how the setlist changes once the album comes out. I think you could say that we may not have heard many new songs at all if it weren't for the leaks, so once the cat is out of the bag I would expect more new stuff to be played. There are definitely some songs from AFD they could replace, then people will be complaining how "Out Ta Get Me" is never played anymore. Round and round we go.
- Mikkamakka
- Rep: 217
Re: you can't please everyone
Rotation is the word ;-) BTW I can live without hearing Out Ta Get Me on the 'next' tour.
Re: you can't please everyone
I know, my point is you can't possibly please everyone. Somone is always gonna have a complaint at one show or another about a certain song being played or not being played. I've kind of given up hope that they'll delve deeper into the UYI's. If/When the album comes out I would expect the setlist to be split between the new material and AFD. With an occasional gem here and there.
