well, it's too bad i didn't know you were going; i went on my own, too.
i thought the show was pleasant, but entirely uncompelling. i mean, the band were nice, they sounded fine, so that was all good. however, i left after an hour, and i really haven't even thought about it again until just now.

I can understand why bands would be less inclined to play their major hit simply because of the people that only come to hear that one song. And I know this betrays my unhipsterness, but isn't the whole point of playing a concert to give the fans what they want? I mean, if you're just out to play for yourself you might as well just play in your garage and not invite hundreds of people to pay inflated prices to watch you. What's the hurt in taking 3 minutes out of a long concert to satisfy 60% of your audience?

Also, I heard that Arlo Guthrie refused to play his hit "Alice's Restaurant" in concert for like 20 years, simply because he was sick of it. But then, that song was something like 40 minutes long.

matt - i totally thought i saw you there but wasn't positive it was you. were you up front stage left? and yes, i agree with your assessment of the show. nothing amazing, but nice. nada surf isn't going to start any riots with their music or anything.

julie - i disagree....i mean they've had like 2 or 3 albums since popular, and like i mentioned, it's not really at all representative of what their music sounds like. i mean, it would have been fun, but since i really like their other songs more it wasn't a big deal for me. what i really don't get is people who come out to see bands whose only song they like is a single from 98. what's up with that? did you seriously have nothing else to do that night?

Yeah... it'd be one thing if the band deserved to be a one hit wonder -- but they don't. They've done better stuff since then, and gotten good notices for it. They deserve to move on, and part of that is forcing your audience to move with you. People who take their music careers serious generally don't want to feel like they're in a cover band, even if they're covering their own songs.

It seems like a name change would be (or would have been, maybe an album or so previously) the right move. The t-r-u fans will follow the band to its new name, and the hardcore can't credibly demand that they play the old songs. Do they play any other songs from their first album?

Plus, the new name might interrupt the kneejerk balk that some potential fans might exhibit at the idea of listening to a one-hit wonder.

I understand what you guys are saying, and I think that the people that go to a concert to hear only one song are idiots, I mean is it worth the money?
This by the way, is why I don't go to many concerts. Either the band is popular enough and I know enough of their songs but am unwilling to pay the high price, or I only know like one song and find standing through the rest probably isn't worth the ache in my knees later that night.

Anyway, my point is that there are always going to be people willing to pay the ticket price to hear one song and they are always going to be pissed off if they don't hear it, these people are idiots. At the same time, I'm guessing that a lot of the band's revenue is coming from these people and for bands that don't have day jobs (I must admit I don't know if Nada Surf fits this category or not) these idiots are their major clients. They're paying the bills!

If the band's other music is that good, then they shouldn't be afraid of playing it side by side with their major hit. People who are willing to open their eyes, will, and people who are stubborn idiots will still go away happy. I just don't see the harm in playing the song.

i'm pretty sure most of nada surf's current revenue isn't coming from fans of "popular" - frankly i thought "popular" was the most annoying song ever when it was out and didn't think about nada surf till years later when tommy or some publication or something alerted me to how awesome their last cd was. i mean, it seemed like a lot of people wanted to hear "popular" at the show, but i'm guessing these aren't the same people who are buying the cds. if they were, they wouldn't care if they played their hit single.

i think a name change would have been weird...i mean, i don't think "popular" is a HUGE problem for the band. it probably goes both ways. i mean recognition is always a good thing, even if you eventually become annoyed/haunted by your hit single. but i agree with tommy's comment - the band's done excellent things since then, and i'd hope people would realize that.

I think I'm with Julie--ambivalent but overall on the side of playing the dumb hit single (if that's what Julie thinks). I mean, perhaps it's lame that all these people came to the show just to hear the song that was a #5 billboard single a decade ago, but they still pay the bills. And, more than that, they are the ones who enable the band to tour and play the really good stuff for the handful of TRUE FANS who would NEVER think to ask them to play that dumb old single.

Ultimately, of course, it's the band's prerogative, but if I went to see, say, the Shins, and they refused to play anything from the Garden State soundtrack, I would probably be irritated. Not because I came for those songs, but because it seems like a calculated move meant to punish fans who don't like the "right" part of the catalog.

I didn't really mean to be that antagonistic, but I guess my point is that it just seems coy and cruel to not play a song that you know half the crowd not just wants to see but specifically came to see.

jake and julie i think i would agree with you if it were nearer in time to when popular was a hit. but (and i just officially looked it up) it was a hit in 1996. i don't think i'm a TRUE FAN and that's why i didn't think they should have to play it; i think it's TEN YEARS LATER and, uh, people need to move on.

You're probably right, the people buying the more recent CD's aren't the people that only want to hear "Popular" and I wouldn't expect Nada Surf to put that song on every CD they make. And they probably make more money from CD's than they do from concerts, I don't know much about that stuff. But why not play the song first or something, get it out of the way, let the people who came to hear it leave if they want and then let the rest of the audience actually listen to the rest of the concert?

Alright, sorry I believe I'm just going in circles now.

The Flaming Lips play "Vaseline" all the time.

I'm just saying.

Not long ago, I saw Beck, and I thought, "Hey, I should shout 'Play "Loser!"' It would be, like, ironcally dorkily hip." Then I thought, "With these young whippersnappers all around me, saying 'I got into Beck because "Loser" was such a great song' probably gives me old school cred." (I'm 34, iow practically dead, you 25-year-old crones.) But then Beck sang "Loser" as like the third song, and everyone sang along.

jake: they also pour fake blood over themselves and have people in bunny costumes dance along :) but point taken. if they had done it, i bet it would have been fun and people would have enjoyed it. but i don't think they're under any obligation to do so.

Of course not. But, you know, there's something to be said for giving the audience what they want (assuming you want them to keep giving you money for the privilege of seeing your show).

Honestly, I understand why Radiohead might be reluctant to play "Creep," or Nada Surf might be reluctant to play "Popular," or Outkast to play "Hey Ya!" (in 2009 or so)--in addition to feeling like they're sort of beyond material that old, I'm sure they're just sick to death of playing it every night. But you know, to me it's ultimately a question of who's there for whose pleasure--and it's the band, for the audience's.

All that said, if an artist wants to move on (and realizes that he/she/they might be alienating many fans), that's fair enough--they just shouldn't be surprised by the backlash.

i guess it's difficult for me to come at it from that angle in this case because i enjoy nada surf's other songs so much and don't care for popular. but if i went to an outkast concert and they didn't play hey ya, that would totally suck, yo.

I went to a Prince concert last year. The rumor is that that was the last concert where Prince would EVER sing any of his old hits. I've been a long time Prince fan and I can understand how frustrating it must be for him to not be able to move on and grow, but let's face it, his old stuff is what made his career. If he's not going to sing old hits, there's no way the high ticket prices can be justified. I think it SHOULD BE about pleasing the audience.

Frankly, if people really are coming to hear a band with one "hit" song, then yeah, I think that I expect to hear it. It takes three minutes, and then everyone leaves happy. Maybe sells some merch. Its not as if the band is sitting there, going, jeez, if we play our hit, we're totally going to have to reallly mull over which song we're going to ditch. You play some new stuff, you play some old stuff, close out with the "hit" and your new single.

If its a band with a lot of hits, then sure, you figure that they if they're just going play their hits, then they don't get a chance to play the new album. So they mix it up and half of the audience goes home without hearing their favorite song, but they get the new stuff out there.

indeed. well, i see all yall's points. it would have taken very little effort for nada surf to play popular, but on the other hand, i think most of their stuff is much better than that song so i still had a good time! and in the end, it's all about me. having a good time. screw everyone else.

Regarding Prince: I saw him on that tour, too, and he found a good way to handle it -- he rearranged most of his hits so that they were almost completely different songs but still recognizable. I thought it was a great way to please the fans while probably making it more interesting for him by making the songs feel new again. Also, that's the kind of stuff that makes live shows cool, as opposed to bands who sound exactly like their albums in concert.

You got it right C. As long as you enjoyed the show, who cares? Seriously.