Songs That You Can't Believe The Band Has Never Played Live

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I know the Stones have never played "Emotional Rescue" live. Maybe this tour.

I've always bummed that Queen never played "Dead On Time" live. That song seems made for the stage.

― ZionTrain (ZionTrain), Monday, 16 May 2005 15:13 (twenty-one years ago)

The Clash never played "Groovy Times" or "Gates of the West" live. Too Complicated, apparently.

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 16 May 2005 15:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember reading somewhere that Neil Young has never played "I Believe In You" live. Too emotional.

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Monday, 16 May 2005 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

R.E.M. has never played "Wendell Gee" live because apparently Peter Buck hates it. Damn shame.

― mr. drew (mr. drew), Monday, 16 May 2005 15:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Apparently the Cure never played "Doubt" live, but I could be wrong about that.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 16 May 2005 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

The Stones haven't played many tracks off "Dirty Work" either. A shame too – the stronger ones would benefit from the workout.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 16 May 2005 15:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Led Zeppelin rehearsed it just before Bonham died, but never played "Carouselambra" live.

― ZionTrain (ZionTrain), Monday, 16 May 2005 15:48 (twenty-one years ago)

U2 have never performed "Acrobat" live, which is pretty sad given that it would probably be amazing in that context.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Monday, 16 May 2005 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Sonic Youth have never performed "Wish Fulfillment," though Lee played it at least once with Jim O'Rourke and members of Pearl Jam.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Monday, 16 May 2005 16:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, and "Wendell Gee" has been performed live, just somewhat rarely and not since the mid 80s.

6 October 1984 - Graham Chapel, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
support: The dB's
set: Radio Free Europe / Harborcoat / West Of The Fields / Kohoutek / Pilgrimage / Seven Chinese Brothers / So. Central Rain / Hyena / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Barney Miller Theme / Chicken Train / Sitting Still / Letter Never Sent / Gardening At Night / 9-9 / Windout / Old Man Kensey / Pretty Persuasion / Little America
encore 1: Second Guessing / Paint It, Black / In The Year 2525 / We Walk-Behind Closed Doors / Femme Fatale / 1,000,000
encore 2: Moon River / Wendell Gee / I Can Only Give You Everything / Sloop John B / Born On The Bayou / Gloria

21 November 1984 - Rock City, Nottingham, England
support: The Lucy Show
set: Harborcoat / Second Guessing / Hyena / Talk About The Passion / West Of The Fields / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Auctioneer (Another Engine) / So. Central Rain / Sitting Still / Old Man Kensey / Gardening At Night / 9-9-Hey Diddle Diddle-Frogmore-Windout / Driver 8 / Pretty Persuasion / Radio Free Europe / Little America
encore 1: Wendell Gee / 1,000,000 / 20th Century Boy / Just A Touch
encore 2: We Walk-After Hours / See No Evil / Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars) / Moon River

23 November 1984 - University of East Anglia, Norwich, England
support: The Lucy Show
set: Femme Fatale / Moral Kiosk / Gardening At Night / 9-9 / Windout / Old Man Kensey / So. Central Rain / Seven Chinese Brothers / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Hyena / Swing Low Sweet Chariot / Sitting Still / Auctioneer (Another Engine) / Talk About The Passion / Driver 8 / Radio Free Europe / Pretty Persuasion / Little America
encore 1: Moon River / Second Guessing / Bandwagon / We Walk-After Hours / 1,000,000
encore 2: Ghost Riders In The Sky / See No Evil / Wendell Gee / Just A Touch

27 November 1984 - University of Leicester, Leicester, England
support: The Lucy Show
set: Just A Touch / Harborcoat / Talk About The Passion / Hyena / So. Central Rain / Seven Chinese Brothers / Auctioneer (Another Engine) / Driver 8 / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Letter Never Sent / Gardening At Night / 9-9-Hey Diddle Diddle-Frogmore / Windout / Old Man Kensey / Pretty Persuasion / Radio Free Europe
encore 1: Second Guessing-After Hours / We Walk-Falling In Love Again-Behind Closed Doors / See No Evil / Little America
encore 2: Moon River / Wendell Gee / Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars)

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Monday, 16 May 2005 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Weezer and like half their catalog. They notoriously avoided pinkerton for their summer 2000 tour, however they now play those songs. They havent ever play their "Songs from the black hole" songs, they don't play their b-sides anymore. And they have tons of other songs that fans have only heard of demos.

― ihope (ihope), Monday, 16 May 2005 16:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Weezer played almost everything from Pinkerton very frequently on tour in 2002, sometimes as much as 7 out of the 10 songs on the record in an 18/19 song setlist.

I can't blame bands for not playing unreleased/non-album music. I think it's better when they focus on material that the majority of the audience is familiar with. You tend to get a better energy from the crowd from familiarity.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Monday, 16 May 2005 16:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Sonic Youth have never performed "Wish Fulfillment,"

didn't they do it errr, two years ago in central park? the free show where they parks people kept turning them down. i seem to remember being furious at being on the thurston side of the stage and therefor not being able to hear lee sing...

but i could be wrong.

― b b, Monday, 16 May 2005 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

nevermind...that was eric's trip i couldnt hear

― b b, Monday, 16 May 2005 17:08 (twenty-one years ago)

R.E.M. setlists from 1984 make me wish for a time machine.

when did lee and jim play "wish fulfillment" with pearl jam? random.

― rajeev (rajeev), Monday, 16 May 2005 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I heard SY do Eric's Trip... in 1992 at the Castaic Lake Amphitheatre in outer L.A.

― donut debonair (donut), Monday, 16 May 2005 17:10 (twenty-one years ago)

do belle and sebastian ever play "me and the major"?

― rajeev (rajeev), Monday, 16 May 2005 17:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Ha, "Eric's Trip" is probably the most frequently played song in Sonic Youth's discography! It's been a set staple for nearly every tour since 1988.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Monday, 16 May 2005 17:27 (twenty-one years ago)

The "Wish Fulfillment" thing happened when Sonic Youth was touring with Pearl Jam in 2000. Kim and Thurston had a sudden family obligation, and the remaining members had to figure out a makeshift opening set with some of the Pearl Jam guys for a night or two. I know that it's recorded and in circulation, like everything else Pearl Jam has ever done. (It wasn't commercially released though.)

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Monday, 16 May 2005 17:29 (twenty-one years ago)

pittsburgh 2000 - ?bootleg/2000
01 | parting ways
02 | mote
03 | wish fulfillment
04 | something in the air ~
05 | ghost ship in a storm *
06 | nyc ghosts & flowers
07 | naked eye
08 | baba o'riley (or teenage wasteland) +
* jim o'rourke, lee ranaldo & steve shelley live at the sonic youth & pearl jam gig at the "post-gazette pavillion" at the "star lake amphitheater" in burgettstown, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, september 5th, 2000.
~ "thunderclap newman" cover
+ "the who" cover performed by lee ranaldo and jim o'rourke who joined pearl jam for an encore after this mini-concert

the original planned sonic youth opening act to pearl jam was cancelled due to a some emergency (sickness, family emergency) involving kim gordon and thurston moore. the rest of the sy members played a few songs with eddie vedder to please the crowd. tracks 1 & 7 were performed by jim o'rourke, lee ranaldo, steve shelley and eddie vedder. tracks 2, 4 & 6 were performed by lee ranaldo, steve shelley, jim o'rourke and eric (a guitar technician). track 3 was a solo performance by lee ranaldo

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Monday, 16 May 2005 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

wish fulfillment is the only sonic youth song i like, so im a little satisfied in an odd way that they never/extremely rarely play it.

― AaronK (AaronK), Monday, 16 May 2005 17:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I think Belle and Sebastian played Me and the Major when I saw them in Dublin in 99. But I could be wrong. Stuart ended the show by smashing his guitar and kicking the pieces around stage. So I remember that more than anything.

― wmlynch (wlynch), Monday, 16 May 2005 17:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Did Led Zep do Fool in the Rain live? I don't think I've ever heard a live version (but I'd like to).

Do NOFX play that one 30 min song live?

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 16 May 2005 17:44 (twenty-one years ago)

did the smashing pumpkins ever play "hummer" live? i know i was always hoping for it, but i never got it.

― rajeev (rajeev), Monday, 16 May 2005 17:50 (twenty-one years ago)

"I remember reading somewhere that Neil Young has never played "I Believe In You" live. Too emotional. "

He said this for some Spin interview in the late 80s/early 90s...? However, I have seen him play it live and it was awesome (Santa Cruz Civic Center '92 or '93)

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 16 May 2005 17:57 (twenty-one years ago)

do belle and sebastian ever play "me and the major"?
-- rajeev (rajeev...), May 16th, 2005.

barbican, london, september 2005 - whole album end to end.
me and my b+s loving mate are currently touting on EBAY uk
to the tune of £285

― piscesboy, Monday, 16 May 2005 17:58 (twenty-one years ago)

next ill get into remembering xpressway as actually being lee is free.

― b b, Monday, 16 May 2005 18:03 (twenty-one years ago)

piscesboy - yeah i know, i'd love to see that show. i've seen them a few times but never the first three songs of 'sinister.' to hear them consecutively would almost be too much!

― rajeev (rajeev), Monday, 16 May 2005 18:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Pink Floyd never once played "Fearless" live. Why I have no idea.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Monday, 16 May 2005 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

did the smashing pumpkins ever play "hummer" live? i know i was always hoping for it, but i never got it.

Yes, at pretty much every show of the Siamese Dream era, plus it was used as a tag on one of the songs (I think "Porcelina"...) on the Mellon Collie tour.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Monday, 16 May 2005 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)

really? damn. i never saw them till the 'mellon collie' tour. the closest i got was a tease on the "silverfuck II" jam.

― rajeev (rajeev), Monday, 16 May 2005 19:34 (twenty-one years ago)

do belle and sebastian ever play "me and the major"?

Yes... Mitchell Library, 1996. Played the whole album in fact.

― KeefW (kmw), Monday, 16 May 2005 19:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I never saw the Smashing Pumpkins, full stop. I really wish that I had. I'm looking forward to their inevitable reunion tour.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Monday, 16 May 2005 19:49 (twenty-one years ago)

After all the bad blood? Can't wait to see if James and Billy ever make up.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 16 May 2005 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

OK, we've established B&S play Me and The Major a lot. Have they ever played Electronic Renaissance live?

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 16 May 2005 19:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Ha ha ha. Dude, the Pixies got back together. Time heals and money is persuasive. I get the sense that James Iha has pretty much resigned himself to being a full time scenester til Billy gets around to asking him to come back for the victory lap.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Monday, 16 May 2005 20:00 (twenty-one years ago)

When the Pumpkins get back together, it will be way bigger business than the Pixies too. There's a huge number of people who grew up obsessed with them all over the world. It's going to be really intense. They just have to time it just right, when the world really wants them back again. It's too early right now. Just wait a while longer til the 90s retro thing kicks in and there's a whole bunch of bands aping them.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Monday, 16 May 2005 20:02 (twenty-one years ago)

why does james hate billy?

― charleston charge (chaki), Monday, 16 May 2005 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Bob Dylan's never played "John Wesley Harding," "Time Passes Slowly," "Nothing Was Delivered," "Million Dollar Bash," "Sweetheart Like You," "On a Night Like This" or "I'll Keep It With Mine" in public.

And he's only played "Buckets of Rain" and "New Pony" in public once apiece.

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 16 May 2005 20:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Hi Ailsa, not that I've seen. Maybe they can't play synthesizers. They should get Jan Hammer in.

― KeefW (kmw), Monday, 16 May 2005 20:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I once saw them doing A Spaceboy Dream live, so anything, as Will Young so rightly said, is possible.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 16 May 2005 21:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Has Black Sabbath played Planet Caravan live?

― Bryan Moore (Bryan Moore), Monday, 16 May 2005 22:47 (twenty-one years ago)

a lot of the late beatles songs!

― dogonwheels (dogonwheels), Monday, 16 May 2005 23:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Harry Nilsson just never performed live. Ever.

― everything, Tuesday, 17 May 2005 01:44 (twenty-one years ago)

He did a couple of times, on television.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 17 May 2005 02:53 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't think the shins ever play "fighting in a sack," which is unfortunate.

do the magnetic fields play "luckiest guy on the lower east side"?

and i'm guessing they used play the songs lots when the album came out, but spiritualized phased most of 'lazer guided melodies' out of their setlists way too quickly.

― rajeev (rajeev), Tuesday, 17 May 2005 03:01 (twenty-one years ago)

how do you know what these people have played live? Is it lore that's passed down and collected or are there comprehensive playlists somewhere that someone has analyzed? just curious, being someone who's only had a vague idea of the playlist even at shows I was at.

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Tuesday, 17 May 2005 03:36 (twenty-one years ago)

For the Dylan stuff, db.dylantree.com is a phenomenal resource.

The Magnetic Fields have played everything on 69 Love Songs. They did the whole album as a two-show thing quite a few times.

― Douglas (Douglas), Tuesday, 17 May 2005 04:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Neil Young performed "I Believe in You" when the Silver and Gold tour went to NJ (sometime in August 2000) and it fucking ruled.

― Christopher Alexander, Tuesday, 17 May 2005 05:03 (twenty-one years ago)

There are online setlist archives for a great many artists, tremendoid.

I don't know if she's added it to her set since, but I was really disappointed that M.I.A. didn't perform "Bingo" when I saw her perform. Ditto LCD Soundsystem and "Disco Infilitrator."

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Tuesday, 17 May 2005 10:46 (twenty-one years ago)

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