Songs that need to be dropped from live sets?

[AK47]

I have been listening to a lot of bootlegs lately and have come to the opinion that there are certain songs that sound worn out and could be dropped for better songs. I consider the following worthy of being put to rest now:

It's Not War (Just The End Of Love)
Everything Must Go
You Stole The Sun From My Heart

Ocean Spray
Tolerate


I would love to see these make a live return:






Found That Soul
Prologue To History
Ready For Drowning

[mar]

I don't agree with these ones:

Everything Must Go
You Stole The Sun From My Heart
Ocean Spray
Tolerate

But it would be difficult to pick some to be out...

[tzb]

You Stole The Sun From My Heart has needed to go for about 10 years now, although the older I get the more likely it is I'll need a piss 2/3 through a gig so eh... personally wouldn't mind never hearing The Everlasting (acoustic) again either.

I'd like to hear more Lifeblood, 1985, A Song For Departure, SSI... I think Black Dog on my Shoulder would be a good acoustic replacement for The Everlasting as well. And really they could pepper any set with some JFPL and give it a massive lift, Me & Stephen Hawking seeming an obvious candidate to slot into their "normal" sound.

[hummingbird]

Watch the crowd when you stole the sun is played. There's bouncing almost all the way to the back. It gets as good a response as Design for life

I would like to see much more variety with the acoustic songs instead of the same 3 or 4

[AK47]

Originally Posted by tzb

You Stole The Sun From My Heart has needed to go for about 10 years now. Personally wouldn't mind never hearing The Everlasting (acoustic) again either.

I'd like to hear more Lifeblood, 1985, A Song For Departure, SSI... I think Black Dog on my Shoulder would be a good acoustic replacement for The Everlasting as well.

Agree completely. The Everlasting loses power acoustically.

[tzb]

Originally Posted by hummingbird

Watch the crowd when you stole the sun is played.

Oh I do. As in turn away from the stage.

[mar]

Here people go crazy with Tolerate, I don't mind them not playing it anywhere else but in Barcelona is a must.

[tzb]

Oh and they need to drop all of PFAYM. Like all of it, tedious stage props included.

[hummingbird]

Originally Posted by tzb

Oh I do. As in turn away from the stage.

Originally Posted by tzb

Oh and they need to drop all of PFAYM. Like all of it, tedious stage props included.

I wouldn't miss much but i do like the title track tho. That one can stay

[tzb]

If I had to pick one to stay it'd be that, but I don't, so I won't.

Just so long as It's Not War gets flushed fully past the u-bend I'll be able to venture into a Manics gig in relative safety again... come back Autumnsong, all is forgiven!

[mar]

Originally Posted by tzb

Oh and they need to drop all of PFAYM. Like all of it, tedious stage props included.

Agree with this one.

[yanushka]

Originally Posted by mar

Here people go crazy with Tolerate, I don't mind them not playing it anywhere else but in Barcelona is a must.

I think it's a must everywhere, and I don't think some of those more well known tracks should be dropped especially in the places where they don't play so often (rest of Europe, Asia, US), because people there don't have a chance to see them so often (maybe once in a lifetime), so we want to hear all of those.
When they play the UK, they can experiment, I don't give two shits!
Edit: Ocean spray is meh, I don't care about that one.

[bachelorette]

Originally Posted by AK47

I have been listening to a lot of bootlegs lately and have come to the opinion that there are certain songs that sound worn out and could be dropped for better songs. I consider the following worthy of being put to rest now:

It's Not War (Just The End Of Love)
Everything Must Go
You Stole The Sun From My Heart

Ocean Spray
Tolerate


I would love to see these make a live return:






Found That Soul
Prologue To History
Ready For Drowning

Totally agree with ones you want back! I have a soft spot for EMG, but agree with most of the rest. I think that some songs with more introspect lyrics either get trivilialised by focussing on upbeat-rock by numbers routines - Ocean Spray live has no intimacy left in most cases. (Hamburg last year without keyboards was an exception.) Or the band doesn't bother learning them and they get that obligatory acoustic treatment which can sometimes feel predictable. This sounds very negative, I don't feel that the Manics go through the motions at gigs generally, it's more like a niggle.
It's Not Love shouldn't be played at every gig, it feels a bit bland without the duet dynamics.
And if they continue this malarkey of stopping with Tolerate instead of ADFL at Euro gigs in Britain, I'll stay in Britain! It's like having brilliant sex and then afterwards the guy starts foreplay!

[yanushka]

In Britain, they should do whatever, but everywhere else, they should play Tolerate and ADFL. End of.

[tzb]

Ending with foreplay... well, they do say "Leave 'em wanting more"?

Agreed, if they're playing somewhere they rarely go they should be playing a greatest hits set, no question. But the fact is their homegrown fanbase is somewhat stagnant, most gigs played to a room composed of people who've probably seen them play YSTS 5, 15, 50 times. It gets old!