Bands that you could watch for three hours

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Following the discussion on this thread,
so i'm reading this review of a broken social scene show in new york...
which bands could you watch play a three-hour set?

In addition, feel free to muse on the reasons why most (or perhaps none) of your favourite all-time bands wouldn't qualify (mine sure wouldn't). If I love Spiritualized so much, why do I have absolutely no desire to see them play for three hours, etc.

Affix a date if appropriate, e.g. you might have wanted to see the Stones play an ambitious three hour set in 1971 in support of "Exile on Main Street", but have no desire to see them crank out the same greatest hits set they've been playing for 20 years over the course of three hours in 2006.

Since we already have a thread about "bands/concerts you would have like to have seen", we should probably limit this one to bands/tours that we actually *have* seen.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Monday, 30 January 2006 08:50 (twenty years ago)

Of course, comments about three hour shows that you really did see are welcome.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Monday, 30 January 2006 08:51 (twenty years ago)

Orbital 1996 (supporting "In Sides", the actual gigs were 2h long, there was plenty left in the tank for a third hour)

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Monday, 30 January 2006 08:52 (twenty years ago)

there were a number of bands i would watch for three hours, but only if it was like in a club setting, with seats, and people, and dancing, and drugs. i could not stand still and stare in a crowd of people for 3 hours.

― sovietpanda (sovietpanda), Monday, 30 January 2006 09:05 (twenty years ago)

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan! (saw)
Fela Kuti! (did not see)
The Rolling Thunder Revue! (I only wish)

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 30 January 2006 09:09 (twenty years ago)

So they have to be bands....

[crosses out hugle list of solo artists including Ornette Coleman, Bob Dylan, Roddy Frame, Tom Waits, Brian Wilson...]

.... and they have to be alive / still together....

[crosses out long list of classic rock bands and dead jazz musicians]

.... and they have to have enough material to avoid continually repeating themselves....

[crosses out huge list of bands who've recorded less than 5 albums]

.... and all the members of the band have to have a better-than-evens chance of surviving a "normal" three-hour performance....

[crosses out Buzzcocks, The Damned, UK Subs, The Vibrators, and any number of other old punk bands, plus Brian Wilson again]

.... and I've got to be prepared to actually sit there and listen to them for all that time?

[ferociously crosses out U2]

OK, who have we got left?

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Chumbawamba
The Cure
Flaming Lips
The Magic Band
Mercury Rev
The Charles Mingus Big Band / Orchestra
New Order
Pere Ubu
Prefab Sprout
The Residents
Wilco
XTC

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Monday, 30 January 2006 10:17 (twenty years ago)

Kraftwerk! They'd have to sit down though at their age, or at least leave a few tracks to the robots.

― Matt #2 (Matt #2), Monday, 30 January 2006 10:36 (twenty years ago)

"Kraftwerk! They'd have to sit down though at their age, or at least leave a few tracks to the robots. "

i saw them recently and they were on for at least 2 hours I think - on fact, probably about the length of the minimum-mazimum album. The stood up all the way through, but were indeed replaced by robots at the end. Oh, and it was fantastic!

― Robin Goad (rgoad), Monday, 30 January 2006 10:45 (twenty years ago)

What Stewart and Matt said plus Underworld.

― StanM (StanM), Monday, 30 January 2006 10:52 (twenty years ago)

Kraftwerk! They'd have to sit down though at their age, or at least leave a few tracks to the robots.

You forget that at least one of them is still a championship bicyclist, if memory serves.

I wasn't at that particular show, unfortunately, but my brother went to see Red House Painters on the Blue Guitar tour, and Mark Kozelek came out and announced, "We're going to play for three hours." And did. He barely made it out alive.

I saw Pere Ubu for three hours once, but only by proxy - they played two back-to-back shows at the Knitting Factory one night during the Story Of My Life tour (plus a daytime show in Central Park). It was one of the best nights of my show-going life.

Elvis Costello and the Attractions played some epic-length set on the All This Useless Beauty tour in Chicago, including some six-minute, half-speed version of "Pump It Up" (which really defeats the whole purpose of the song). I swore off ever seeing him in concert again after that... even as a rabid fan, it was way too much for me, probably because they were soooo genteel. (Cue Rick Wakeman-esque laser light show/Pink Floyd planetarium synthesizer solo on "The Other End Of The Telescope"... ugh)

― Myke Weiskopf (Myke Weiskopf), Monday, 30 January 2006 11:52 (twenty years ago)

Pere Ubu & Nick Cave, good answers...
Also, for me;
The Fall
15-60-75
Go-Betweens
...
not many, really...

― Dave will do (dave225.3), Monday, 30 January 2006 13:36 (twenty years ago)

Kraftwerk! They'd have to sit down though at their age, or at least leave a few tracks to the robots.

But... but... I thought they were robots

― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Monday, 30 January 2006 13:49 (twenty years ago)

Miles Davis

― Dominique (dleone), Monday, 30 January 2006 13:52 (twenty years ago)

The Roots

― Don Rowlando (Sam Rowlands), Monday, 30 January 2006 14:33 (twenty years ago)

"The Fall"

I thought about The Fall, but I had too many concerns concerning Mr. Smith's ability / propensity to actually remain (a) sober (b) focused for the requisite three hours.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Monday, 30 January 2006 14:40 (twenty years ago)

So they have to be bands....

No, I wrote "bands" in the thread title when I should have written "artists" (some people have already chosen solo artists).

The Cure is a good choice (they played for nearly three hours when I saw them in 2000).

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Monday, 30 January 2006 16:12 (twenty years ago)

la monte young

― cancer prone fat guy (dubplatestyle), Monday, 30 January 2006 16:17 (twenty years ago)

Prince and any band (esp. the SOTT era band)

Pink Floyd, Pompeii-era

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Monday, 30 January 2006 16:20 (twenty years ago)

1970 amon düül II

― don't start a RYE-OTT! (plsmith), Monday, 30 January 2006 16:21 (twenty years ago)

Royal Trux

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 30 January 2006 16:22 (twenty years ago)

Sun City Girls

― sleeve (sleeve), Monday, 30 January 2006 16:46 (twenty years ago)

Merzbow.

But I wouldn't want to see any band for 3 hours without a comfy seat and a supply of snacks.

― The Man in the Iron-On Mask (noodle vague), Monday, 30 January 2006 16:49 (twenty years ago)

P.Funk god damn it

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Monday, 30 January 2006 16:54 (twenty years ago)

Glenn Branca, for sure, and probably Sigur Ros, in a big comfy recliner, on top of a glacier overlooking a windblown sea. I would pay [unbelievably great heaps of money] to see Disco Inferno play their entire discography, which I believe comes out to just over three hours, counting the "Mixing It" EP.

― owen moorhead (i heart daniel miller), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:01 (twenty years ago)

doesnt pfunk always play for 3 hours?

― AaronK (AaronK), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:03 (twenty years ago)

that's what I'm saying

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:10 (twenty years ago)

royal trux, sun city girls and fela are all good answers.

in addition, i'd say:
rolling stones
trad gras och stenar
fushitsusha
black sabbath

― Special Agent Gene Krupa (orion), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:18 (twenty years ago)

bands i could watch play one song for three hours:
amon düül II
1966 pink floyd
oneida
sleep/OM
terry riley
endless boogie
animal collective
1972 hawkwind
1997-2001 boredoms

― don't start a RYE-OTT! (plsmith), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:21 (twenty years ago)

Can.

― Danny boy, Monday, 30 January 2006 17:22 (twenty years ago)

King Crimson
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Ben Allison and the Medicine Wheel
Lo'Jo
Boris Kovac & Ladaaba Orchestra
The Science Group
Zemog

― Cliftonb, Monday, 30 January 2006 17:24 (twenty years ago)

If I could order dinner and smoke at the table (why hel-LO, Fez before the smoking ban -- don't mind if I do), and had a massive, shameless crush on the performer, I could probably get through 3 hrs of the Lucksmiths, Rhett Miller, Metric. Basically, fun music w/ quick-moving lyrics & turns of phrase that would require attention. Anything drone-y neet not apply.

― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:26 (twenty years ago)

Anything drone-y neet not apply.

boo!

― don't start a RYE-OTT! (plsmith), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:29 (twenty years ago)

I mean, whatever, drone away, but I hope you've got a pillow/shoulder ready because I'm going to be asleep inside of an hour.

― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:31 (twenty years ago)

Masada (not, however, electric masada)

― Øystein (Øystein), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:35 (twenty years ago)

Drifting in and out of sleep to music is awesome though.

― The Man in the Iron-On Mask (noodle vague), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:36 (twenty years ago)

ODB

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:38 (twenty years ago)

I could maybe sit through three hours of Mogwai, but they'd have to throw in a bunch of ballads to keep the cumulative noise level down and/or play 20-minute versions of songs like "Superheroes of BMX".

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:39 (twenty years ago)

If I had to pick one noise/drone artist, it would be Tim Hecker.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:40 (twenty years ago)

I suppose Robert Rich's sleep concerts could be something (does he do those anymore?)

― Øystein (Øystein), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:47 (twenty years ago)

Oh yeah, forgot about those.

― Cliftonb, Monday, 30 January 2006 17:50 (twenty years ago)

The Man in the Iron-On Mask OTM

― AaronK (AaronK), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:56 (twenty years ago)

I've seen three three-hour-plus concerts: Fela, King Sunny Ade (this was somewhere around the five-hour mark) and Fushitsusha (it was supposed to be two discrete sets, but Haino just never stopped). All were great. I would happily have sat for three or four hours of the 1973-75 Miles Davis band. I've seen Ornette Coleman, though, and the stuff he was playing (extremely fast, extremely dense, unbelievably beautiful) was best in a concentrated dose - I think he played for just over an hour, or just under 90 minutes. In any case, it was perfect just how it was.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Monday, 30 January 2006 17:56 (twenty years ago)

Belle & Sebastian is the only one that comes to mind offhand. I've seen the Magnetic Fields play almost-three-hour sets, which was way way too much.

― mike a, Monday, 30 January 2006 18:10 (twenty years ago)

I wouldn't listen to Belle & Sebastian play for three minutes, but hey, whatever.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Monday, 30 January 2006 18:38 (twenty years ago)

― Jim M (jmcgaw), Monday, 30 January 2006 18:40 (twenty years ago)

And no one's answered "no one" yet? My attention span is not long enough to listen to one band for three hours.

― Hillary Brown (Hillary Brown), Monday, 30 January 2006 18:45 (twenty years ago)

I thought of that, Hil, but it doesn't really answer the question, might as well keep quiet. So I stipulated food + cigarettes + comfortable seating and I figure I could get through 3 hours of just about anything. Except Mr Bungle.

― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 30 January 2006 18:49 (twenty years ago)

Query: Is one allowed to sleep during the show?

― Hillary Brown (Hillary Brown), Monday, 30 January 2006 18:54 (twenty years ago)

the only three hr (or three hr +) shows i've ever seen were Prince and P-Funk AllStars. Both were well worth the time.

My wife actually dragged me out of P-Funk All Stars at the 3 hour mark -- just when it was getting unbelievably good! It had been a long night and she was sleepy. Oh wel, such is the married life. A good time ws still had by all.

― Randy Reiss (undeadsinatra), Monday, 30 January 2006 19:18 (twenty years ago)

I don't think I could listen to 3 hours of songs by anyone. Miles Davis is a good call, Black Dice too, with Hisham Bharoocha ideally, because drums tend to make concerts better. I'd really like to have attended one of Terry Riley's all night concerts though, that's a great idea.

― Ogmor Roundtrouser (Ogmor Roundtrouser), Monday, 30 January 2006 19:55 (twenty years ago)

I've seen P-Funk play for 5 hours, 4 hours, 3 hours and 45 minutes. The five hour gigs are usually the best, though you have to pace yourself to start dancing when the drugs kick in and the set list loosens a little.

the spin off Original P also did 4 hours, minus the drugs and it was damn good.

Fela did about three hours when I saw him in 1987. As did Miles Davis. Both were hot shows.

It's hard to imagine most stuff working beyond the 2:30 mark. The longest set I've ever played w/ blowfly was 1:45 (three encores) and I was wiped. When people want more after that, they should have a beer and buy the damn record.

― Uncle Tom (Uncle Tom), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 08:24 (twenty years ago)

Badly Drawn Boy, at the Royal Albert Hall.

One of the last of his 'rambling'' gigs, just before the "About a boy" ness, I remember coming out and saying to Dawn "He was onstage for three hours!" and what was noticeable was it only seemed about half that.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 16:17 (twenty years ago)

Neil Young. Some years back he did a solo tour and played for 2 1/2 hours, talking in between songs and bringing out some less often played songs. It didn't seem like nearly that long (he took a break midway thorugh, bringing the whole event to nearly 3 hours).

― patita (patita), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 20:46 (twenty years ago)

ween

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 22:27 (twenty years ago)

Spacemen 3
Funkadelic
electric-era Miles Davis
"Night Tripper"-era Dr. John
Led Zep (obviously - can't believe they haven't been namechecked yet!)
Prince, particularly 80s-era
maaaaaaybe Royal Trux
the Cramps

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 22:34 (twenty years ago)

- Stereolab
- Belle & Sebastian

― beaux knee (boney), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 22:52 (twenty years ago)

only jonathan richman and the modern lovers or a dj could do this.

― Vintage Latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 00:03 (twenty years ago)

And yeah to Oneida and Animal Collective for 3 hours. I totally would.

― beaux knee (boney), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 01:11 (twenty years ago)

five months pass...

Deerhoof

― shake (shake), Monday, 3 July 2006 04:20 (nineteen years ago)

-no-neck blues band
-the who (circa 1968 or so) (how have they not been mentioned?)
-prince
-stereolab all the fucking way to the grave

and i will say excepter. but i'd have to be fucked out of my mind enough to not flip.

― trees (treesessplode), Monday, 3 July 2006 04:35 (nineteen years ago)

The only band I can think of watching for 3 hours is Steely Dan.

― ramon fernandez (ramon fernandez), Monday, 3 July 2006 04:37 (nineteen years ago)

michael jackson and prince come to mind immediately.

If you count standing around waiting for folks to come onstage, I've seen MANY three hour sets.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Monday, 3 July 2006 05:38 (nineteen years ago)

three is too long for me. some of my favorites that i could watch for two:

Sonic Youth
Pavement
Flaming Lips
Prince
Ween
the White Stripes
PJ Harvey
modest mouse
the CURE
le tigre
BECK
Olivia Tremor Control
Brian Jonestown Massacre

― nicky lo-fi (nicky lo-fi), Monday, 3 July 2006 07:03 (nineteen years ago)

Bjork

― Ned Beauman (NedBeauman), Monday, 3 July 2006 11:44 (nineteen years ago)

I'll tell you who I couldn't watch for three hours: Guided By Voices. God, that was miserable. One-hour mark: "This is the greatest show ever!!" Two hour mark: "Wow, that was pretty awesome, I'll sleep well tonight!" Three hour mark: "God, I wanted to punch that guy in the face."

― Doctor Casino (Doctor Casino), Monday, 3 July 2006 13:58 (nineteen years ago)

I can't think of anything I'd want to do for three hours straight (including that) but doesn't/didn't Springsteen have the rep for making a marathon show exciting? I've never seen him. Can anyone here report on the quality of a Bruce show, especially during the circa-1980 peak?

― bendy (bendy), Monday, 3 July 2006 16:01 (nineteen years ago)

I've seen a 35-song 2-hour Pixies set, and that was before Trompe Le Monde was even thought of, so ....

― Si.C@rter (SiC@rter), Monday, 3 July 2006 17:02 (nineteen years ago)

I saw HIM live but it was more like half an hour
I'd like to see them again for three hours...
And then prob:
Queens of the stone age
Marilyn Manson
Green Day

these guys can't possibly get boring.......

― bam psycho (bam_psycho), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 13:30 (nineteen years ago)

Wilco and Springsteen (obviously) put on the best long shows I've ever attended.

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 19:00 (nineteen years ago)

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