beavis69

Saw Megadeth play Rust in Peace and it was fantastic. Also saw Weezer play Blue Album and Pinkerton both in one concert. Was cool cause they told stories between songs about the time period from both albums. Would kill to see Opeth do My Arms, Your Hearse. If you know going in that they are doing that I think its fine. I wouldn't want to be surprised with a full album though.

bd007h

I'll be seeing Third Eye Blind play their 1997 eponymous debut in full this summer as they tour for it's 20th Anniversary.

The Offspring will also be playing their 1997 album Ixnay on the Hombre in full this summer for it's 20th but not anywhere near me .

Jason

I saw Rush play Moving Pictures in its entirety on the Time Machine tour. I was also one of the unfortunate souls who saw Dream Theater play The Astonishing last time around.

Speaking of Dream Theater, I thought the full album cover thing was something they did when playing multiple shows at the same venue. They also released several of these as unofficial bootlegs. I have Master of Puppets, Dark Side of the Moon, Number of the Beast and Made in Japan. After seeing the last tour, I can't believe they were ever cool enough to do this type of thing.

Edit: Also saw Roger Waters perform The Wall. Epic stuff.

[email protected]

I actually enjoy the concept. Most of the bands who are doing it are classic rock acts, who have been touring for decades. Do I really need to go see Steely Dan for the fifth time, playing the same greatest hits setlist? Not so much. But the last time I went, they played 'The Royal Scam' and 'Aja' in their entirety, and it was a blast.

mndtrp

I like it, but only if the band is doing what is essentially two sets. One set being the album, another set of the hits or whatever else. If a band is ONLY doing the album, and maybe one or two other songs, I'm not as pleased.

Full albums I've seen live:

Roger Waters - The Wall This was only that album, since it's so long.
Roger Waters - Dark Side of the Moon Hits, then the album, then a few more songs from other albums.
Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle The album first, then another set of his hits.
Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising Again, album first, then another set of hits.
Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual I think they had a couple of songs planned for after the album, but they got cut short.

Chrisedge

I saw X do albums as well, but they only did one album per night, for the first four albums, four nights in a row...So they did a ton of songs each night besides the "album"...I recorded (audio/video) the entire thing and it's around if you look.

I also saw Bob Mould do Copper Blue, Rush doing Moving Pictures and Jane's Addiction do Ritual de lo habitual...And U2 is coming up doing the Joshua Tree and I am doing two nights of that.

Paff

Well, I'm still on the fence about it after seeing Adam Ant perform Kings of the Wild Frontier last night. It was good to hear a lot of those songs, which I'm almost willing to bet they didn't always perform when that album was new. And I remember seeing Adam Ant solo in the 80s, and we always hoped he'd play some old Ants songs. So it was fantastic to hear nearly an hour straight of JUST Adam and the Ants songs.

But still, it felt so....scripted. He played about 45 more minutes after the Kings album, and I loved the unpredictability of that part of the concert (even though it's the exact same songs he's played this entire tour; I chose not to look that up till later in order for it to be a surprise for me).

So ultimately I think I prefer a balance, where they mix in obscure songs from their library and not just do a "greatest hits" concert (which let's face it, many older touring acts are basically their own tribute band), but in a mix and not just in the order of a single album.

B5Erik

I saw Iron Maiden on that tour, too. It was a great show. The crowd was surprisingly into the new material (not as much as the classics, but there was genuine enthusiasm there).

inri222

Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime
Rush - Moving Pictures
Gary Numan - Pleasure Principle
Dave Smalley (Dag Nasty) - Can I Say
Peter Hook (Joy Division) - Closer

majorjoe23

I saw Public Enemy perform "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" twice. But Flavor Flav wasn't there the second time and it was pouring rain, so that performance kind of sucked.

I find it interesting when bands do this, because the most popular track on an album (or a band's entire catalog) might be song 3 on that album, so what is usually saved for the last song of the set is suddenly an early show song. It really changes the energy and dynamic of a performance.

For those complaining about the lack of spontaneity, don't look at band setlists online. Unless they're a jam band or a solo singer-songwriter, the setlist they played in Cleveland is likely the same one they played in Chicago and Des Moines and Omaha and Denver and on and on.