Paul Needza Friend
SPB: What do you think of band’s playing a record in its entirety for a tour concept?
Paul: I suppose that depends on the integrity of the album in question. If there's only a couple choice tracks on the latest record, then maybe the band should consider performing their "Best Of..." album, if they even have one :P Then again, aren't most concerts really just a "Best Of..." album played live with the track order shuffled and maybe one or two bonus cuts from the latest record?
Which also primes one to take into consideration whether or not the order of songs on a given record would translate properly in a live situation. I would think that concept albums or "rock operas" might fare a bit better in such cases, since from their inception the songs were written to be played in a specific order.
Most new bands only have one album's worth of material anyway, so they wouldn't really have a choice but to play that only album in its entirety when they are on tour. Normally, the order of the songs must be changed to suit a live situation anyway. Not only is producing an album and playing live two completely different art forms, but I know from having toured all throughout Europe and North America, that you need to be able to tailor your set list to the audience on the fly in order to invoke the optimal enthusiasm from the crowd.
Although, there are certain predictable patterns that apply to almost any crowd, one should be on one's toes. When I first started touring, I made the mistake of trying to perfect a set list and then play it the same way every night. Consequently, some nights I would blow the crowd away, and other nights I heard crickets. It didn't matter how well I sang. That's because the "one size fits all" (or one setlist fits all) approach doesn't pay off in the long run. It wasn't until I figured out how to tailor my setlist and performance to any given night's specific audience that I started being able to ignite audiences with reliable and predictable consistency.
I suppose if I were to do the kind of tour you are asking about, it would have to be a concept record with some sense of theatre involved.
