Do fans really want to hear new songs?

[Grotelul]

Do fans that attend DDY and Styx concerts really want to hear new songs? Sure the tiny amount of hardcores that prowl here may but for the average fan do they really care to hear anything new? For sure they want the hits because DDY and Styx are looked at by the average fan as oldies performers and way past their prime. People here sometimes cry about Styx playing the same setlist but that is what the majority of people seem to want from them.

Most bands from that era are in the same boat. Rush for example played 8 new songs the other night..granted they play around 3 hours but during those new songs, people were either hitting the head, getting some cold brews or sitting quietly in their seats. Nothing wrong with the new songs, but they are kind of looked at as ehhhh...give me the ones I know!

[LifeGiver]

I know that I really like to hear the new songs. I think that most people who care enough about a band to shell out money for a ticket would at least be curious about new songs.

-Shane

[sadie65]

I think that depends on what stage the band/artist is at in their career and popularity. For many baby boomers, that sense of nostalgia combined with the deep price of tickets...I would imagine they would want to hear what they know. Sort of like going to a restaurant you frequent...on occasion you may order something different, but usually you will order something you've tried and liked before.

If you are younger and at the top of the popularity heap for the moment....I suspect your fan base would be more inclined to hear what you have that's new.

I can still hear Rick Nelson....

[GrandIllusionist725]

I would like to hear new songs honestly. But never drop some of the classics you know? I will forever be in favor of "Everything is Cool" being apart of the set. Not that its a new song but its a newer one from what they have played. They just never gave it a chance!

[StyxCollector]

The 10% of the audience that is die hard/sick of the hits? Yes.

The other 90% who paid their $50 to see the hits, no.

[AndrewCP]

I would have used to agree with you until I saw REO this past weekend. They played three new songs - heck, they opened up with a new song! People didn't head to the exits or sit down. They really enjoyed them.

[Abitaman]

Yes, new songs please at least three form a new cd.-ERIC

[stabbim]

I'm always in favor of a band pushing forward, but there's plenty of room in a set list for both the past and the present if it's planned right.

[DerriD]

I agree that it depends on the time in the band's career. Wouldn't it suck to go the Main Event Tour and have Styx only play one 'new' song off Piece of Eight? If the new music is really good, people will enjoy it even if they are unfamiliar with it.

I've always thought that a band's creative energy flows alot like a runner's energy. As long as you keep momentum, you're fine. If you stop, you risk being unable to start back up again (that's why runners, jog in place at stoplights). The longer the stop, the less likely you'll be able to pick back up again. It's hard to think of a band with an extended layoff that picked up where they left off.

So as long as a band is in the groove, bring on the new music. Do spread it out over the course of the concert though. I saw a band once that put over and hours worth of new (and unpopular) songs. COMPLETELY killed the concert. People were actually sleeping during that period....seriously!

[stabbim]

I've always thought that a band's creative energy flows alot like a runner's energy. As long as you keep momentum, you're fine. If you stop, you risk being unable to start back up again (that's why runners, jog in place at stoplights). The longer the stop, the less likely you'll be able to pick back up again. It's hard to think of a band with an extended layoff that picked up where they left off.

Hey, an analogy that makes sense! :APPLAUSE:

(fans of pro football and fast food, take note)

So as long as a band is in the groove, bring on the new music. Do spread it out over the course of the concert though. I saw a band once that put over and hours worth of new (and unpopular) songs. COMPLETELY killed the concert. People were actually sleeping during that period....seriously!

It's all in the timing.

When I saw Porcupine Tree last year, they opened the show with an entire hour of new, as-yet-unreleased material. While I applaud a move that gutsy, I had trouble connecting with the show right away for that reason. This year they played the same "new" songs (having been released a couple of months earlier as their Fear Of A Blank Planet album) but interspersed them between more familiar cuts, and the concert was much more satifying overall.

[ratcity10]

I agree that it depends on the time in the band's career. Wouldn't it suck to go the Main Event Tour and have Styx only play one 'new' song off Piece of Eight? If the new music is really good, people will enjoy it even if they are unfamiliar with it.

I've always thought that a band's creative energy flows alot like a runner's energy. As long as you keep momentum, you're fine. If you stop, you risk being unable to start back up again (that's why runners, jog in place at stoplights). The longer the stop, the less likely you'll be able to pick back up again. It's hard to think of a band with an extended layoff that picked up where they left off.

So as long as a band is in the groove, bring on the new music. Do spread it out over the course of the concert though. I saw a band once that put over and hours worth of new (and unpopular) songs. COMPLETELY killed the concert. People were actually sleeping during that period....seriously!

I feel that there is a lot more music being released today than there was 25-30 years ago. The number of new bands and musical styles is overwhelming. New songs don't catch on as fast as they once did. It was said in an earlier post that Rush are playing 8 new songs on this tour. I saw them at PNC in Jersey and this is the truth. Problem is, they pretty much grouped them together. I got the new album the day it came out, and could not get into it. Once i heard the new stuff live, it turned it around for me. I now can't stop listening to it. Now when I see them at MSG, the new songs will mean all that much more, and I will know them all by heart.

[gr8dane]

I agree that it depends on the time in the band's career. Wouldn't it suck to go the Main Event Tour and have Styx only play one 'new' song off Piece of Eight? If the new music is really good, people will enjoy it even if they are unfamiliar with it.

I've always thought that a band's creative energy flows alot like a runner's energy. As long as you keep momentum, you're fine. If you stop, you risk being unable to start back up again (that's why runners, jog in place at stoplights). The longer the stop, the less likely you'll be able to pick back up again. It's hard to think of a band with an extended layoff that picked up where they left off.

So as long as a band is in the groove, bring on the new music. Do spread it out over the course of the concert though. I saw a band once that put over and hours worth of new (and unpopular) songs. COMPLETELY killed the concert. People were actually sleeping during that period....seriously!

Are you running around the block or a marathon.?
I get your drift and for some it works.
But to to mention the other side of your anology.
ZZ Top took what was supposed to be a 3 months break way back.Those 3 months turned into 3 years and they exploded
with Deguello and went on a major rampage.
The break worked for them.
Recharging the old batteries as they say.

[DerriD]

I agree that it depends on the time in the band's career. Wouldn't it suck to go the Main Event Tour and have Styx only play one 'new' song off Piece of Eight? If the new music is really good, people will enjoy it even if they are unfamiliar with it.

I've always thought that a band's creative energy flows alot like a runner's energy. As long as you keep momentum, you're fine. If you stop, you risk being unable to start back up again (that's why runners, jog in place at stoplights). The longer the stop, the less likely you'll be able to pick back up again. It's hard to think of a band with an extended layoff that picked up where they left off.

So as long as a band is in the groove, bring on the new music. Do spread it out over the course of the concert though. I saw a band once that put over and hours worth of new (and unpopular) songs. COMPLETELY killed the concert. People were actually sleeping during that period....seriously!

Are you running around the block or a marathon.?
I get your drift and for some it works.
But to to mention the other side of your anology.
ZZ Top took what was supposed to be a 3 months break way back.Those 3 months turned into 3 years and they exploded
with Deguello and went on a major rampage.
The break worked for them.
Recharging the old batteries as they say.

I think you hit the key...WAY BACK. They were still young then and had the fire. If that 'break' had happened 10 years later, I bet the result would not have been the same. What great album has ZZ top made since Afterburner? None.

[stabbim]

Are you running around the block or a marathon.?
I get your drift and for some it works.
But to to mention the other side of your anology.
ZZ Top took what was supposed to be a 3 months break way back.Those 3 months turned into 3 years and they exploded
with Deguello and went on a major rampage.
The break worked for them.
Recharging the old batteries as they say.

It's a question of degree, certainly, and there are exceptions. Rush (some of us just can't stop beating that drum, can we? ) also took an unplanned break for half a decade or so, and it only made their fanbase more rabid when they did return. But then, as has been mentioned, they tend to be the exception to a lot of music industry cliches.

Styx, unfortunately, became so closely identified with a certain moment in time and vanished from the pop culture lanscape to such a large degree when they broke up in the mid-80s, that building up enough momentum to escape the nostalgia box, while certainly possible, would have involved more risk, sacrifice, and effort than I think anyone in the organization was really willing to put in (and of course the split in '99 didn't help matters.)

[brywool]

I most certainly DO want to hear NEW Styx music.

[gr8dane]

I most certainly DO want to hear NEW Styx music.

So do I,and would not have a problem if they chose to drop TGI tunes all together.

[M. J. Perry]

I expect to hear at least three new songs by the group if they have a new album out. When I saw the Rolling Stones, The Who, Guns & Roses (still waiting for that new album), and most recently Rush, I wanted to hear some of their new material. The Who and G & R did not have their new material out quite yet or not at all and I wanted to hear their new stuff.

When I saw Queensryche at The Moore Theater and they performed Operation Mindcrime I & II, I knew what I was going to see and the encore songs, "Empire" and "Jet City Woman" was just extra.

I plan on taking that 64 mile drive south to see Foreigner, Styx, and Def Leppard when they perform at the White River Ampitheater in Auburn, WA and for this show I expect to hear the hits or popular songs since they do not have any new albums they are promoting. But if they had a new album out, yes I want to hear a few of the new songs live.

Keep in mind, it might be a good thing a group doesn't perform that song you enjoy to hear live when you see them. But when they come back around and perform that song you enjoy hearing live, it will sound fresh.

Just my opinion...

[DarwinNebraska]

Yes, when they're good.

[Jodes]

I don't know.. I thought Recycler was a pretty good Album, and it did have a lot of hits on it too.

Antenna was so so and pretty much everything else they've done has not had the same Vibe since they released that GH package..

[styxfanNH]

The band is obligated to play new music if their choice is to continue writing it. How else would the masses find out about it, wspecially in today's day and age. I am not saying they should play 8, but 2 or 3 throughout the set is expected. Over time that will probably dwindle down as a song or two into the greatest hits package that most classic rock bands are today. Enough to keep the "this is from our new album" line in the concert chatter.

We all realize that the die hards are looking for the ever changing set list, but bands aren't playing to those that go to 10+ shows a year, they are playing to the casual fan that is at the concert these days.

I want to hear the new stuff, but realize that the average concert goer is there to hear the hits. Certainly, there can be alternative set lists that play on different hits centered around the 8-10 must plays. But this doesn't happen much. At least not with Styx.

[DarwinNebraska]

I don't know.. I thought Recycler was a pretty good Album, and it did have a lot of hits on it too.

Antenna was so so and pretty much everything else they've done has not had the same Vibe since they released that GH package..

Recycler was horrible paint-by-numbers ZZ Top.

They got in a serious rut after Eliminator with each successive release getting worse and worse.

[Jodes]

True Darwin, but they were still getting tons of radio play and you have to admit that tracks like Doubleback, Heads In Missisippi, etc are songs that are still played today and get a good response at concerts.

I think "Antenna" was the beginning of the end of their ability to get stuff on the radio, etc. Did Grunge contribute to that?

I think they realized that after Recycler they needed to distance themselves away from the "polish" of the albums since Eliminator and try to go back to their roots. Unfortunately that was easier said then done. Antenna I think was their first CD that "stiffed" in well over 12-14 years I really tried to like it, but alas I just couldn't get into it at all.

Some say their newer stuff (Post 1994 - weird saying "newer in 2007) is their best while others don't even bother to try and give it a listen.

I guess with them leaving their long time management, we may never see a new ZZ Top album.

[DarwinNebraska]

I read some fascinating stuff not too long ago from their producer, Bill Ham, confirming that it's been basically a Billy Gibbons solo act since Eliminator.

In fact, Frank Beard doesn't even play on any of the albums from Eliminator on.

[DerriD]

The band is obligated to play new music if their choice is to continue writing it. How else would the masses find out about it, wspecially in today's day and age. I am not saying they should play 8, but 2 or 3 throughout the set is expected. Over time that will probably dwindle down as a song or two into the greatest hits package that most classic rock bands are today. Enough to keep the "this is from our new album" line in the concert chatter.

We all realize that the die hards are looking for the ever changing set list, but bands aren't playing to those that go to 10+ shows a year, they are playing to the casual fan that is at the concert these days.

I want to hear the new stuff, but realize that the average concert goer is there to hear the hits. Certainly, there can be alternative set lists that play on different hits centered around the 8-10 must plays. But this doesn't happen much. At least not with Styx.

When Def Leppard toured to support the 'X' album they began by playing 6 new songs. Then the bathroom breaks started, so they started trimming the new songs. It was like a countdown 6-5-4-3-2 and finally just one. Joe Elliot tells practically anyone who asks that the band feels obligated to please the fans and the fans want the hits. He did say last year during the "Yeah" tour as he introduced the new songs, that bands HAD to keep writing new material to keep the juices flowing.

[GrandIllusionist725]

Fans want classics, what more can we say? Can't get around that period!

[mikemarrs]

i just read a great zz top book.when they were making eliminator billy gibbons had put a drum machine on there and when the drummer went in to do drums and realized it was already done he threw a fit and i think he thought he was fixing to be let go by management.

[Concert Queen]

Hell yes! If I just wanted to hear the dirtyl dozen I would stay at home and watch the dvd. I want to hear and see the new stuff live and fresh! They all make such great music together you know the new stuff will just keep getting better!

[piecesofeight]

I most certainly DO want to hear NEW Styx music.

So do I,and would not have a problem if they chose to drop TGI tunes all together.

Ditto, Lawrence just sounds awful on them.

[gr8dane]

I most certainly DO want to hear NEW Styx music.

So do I,and would not have a problem if they chose to drop TGI tunes all together.

Ditto, Lawrence just sounds awful on them.

Ahh,fieces,you are on fire.How could I possibbly top that one.