Small Is Beautiful

One thing I like about seeing small bands is you never know what you're going to get. They never feel obliged to play a 'greatest hits' set; usually because they don't have a greatest hit! I can go and see Broadways Not Ready twice in a week and hear a totally different set each time. This also extends to bands that have never really had any songs in the charts, such as Rancid and NOFX - as popular as they are, they don't have to bow down to popularity and play their number one hits at every gig.

Don't get me wrong, Green Day are a great band and equally great live but recently it just seems like you've seen it all before. You know exactly what's going to be played and in what order before you've even got there. Still, it's a good show - and it IS just that: a choreographed-to-perfection show.

There are also bands in the middle, with some limited success, such as The Offspring and Therapy? - both of whom always seem to vary their setlist but throw in a couple of obvious 'hits' - but not for the entire set. I'd love to see Green Day again but to have them throw in a few surprises like 'Aramtage Shanks' or 'Scattered' instead of just the songs released as singles.

NOFX and Rancid have massively varied setlists from night to night and tour to tour - both big bands but lacking the 'we need to keep the kids happy by playing only the songs the radio played' thoughts. Reports from the current MxPx UK tour are looking good - some nights they've just taken requests and torn up the setlist! Again, with no real hits, they're more free to do it that way.

It does make me wonder though: does the record label have a say in what songs get played live? And, if so, does it really affect their sales that much? Surely they'd get more sales with some more obscure songs played live as this would make people want to go out and find more songs from the band by buying the albums instead of just the singles promoted by Radio 1...

Just a thought.

MaFt