Albums performed live in their entirety
 

I just bought Heart's "Dreamboat Annie Live" DVD where they performed the entire album from beginning to end.

Wouldn't it be great if Stevie would perform one of her albums in concert live from beginning to end?....I would love to hear "Bella Donna" performed on stage from beginning to end. It would be a new challenge for her yet a great concept which I'm sure die-hard fans would love!

What would be your album choices to be performed live?

I'd be happy with any of her albums performed from beginning to end, though my choice would be Rock A Little. But you know Stevie. She would complain that this, that and the other song wouldn't transfer very well to the stage.

Would have to be Bella Donna. It would be awesome!

Saying that, is there any album of Stevie's that she has performed every track from. live? Not all on the one tour but at various points over the years? I think each album has at least one track that has never been performed live. It's a shame.

Street Angel . i think the songs if she put in a little emotion would take on a different life, live

No, they all have at least a couple of songs that she's never performed. If she ever did this, it would be Bella Donna. She's performed all but three songs from that album. I could also possibly see her doing In Your Dreams in its entirety, or maybe The Wild Heart. RAL, TOSOTM, and SA don't seem to exist to Stevie anymore, sadly. Although she did apparently at least mention TOSOTM in an IYD interview recently.

I would LOVE this! Bella Donna performed live from beginning to end. Heaven :nod:

I agree that it would be an amazing idea. Maybe if she did Bella Donna, she would add Gold and Braid? And maybe Blue Lamp since she performed it during her short tour in support of BD? And maybe also Sleeping Angel since it was recorded around the same time and it's one of my all time faves? :)

If any of your are into Lucinda Williams, you probably already know this, but a few years ago she played 5 concerts in LA and 5 in NY and in both cities she played her first 5 CDs al the way through from start to finish (each CD a different night), and then some newer songs after she finished doing each CD. She also recently did Car Wheels from start to finish here in SF at the Fillmore. And last year, Rickie Lee Jones did a show here in SF where she did her first two CDs from start to finish (though she left off The Returns, the last song from Pirates). I guess my point is that it wouldn't be unprecedented. :)

What I'd love even more is Tusk start to finish. If Christine came back and did that, even for just one show, I would fly anywhere in the world to hear that :)

Kevin

HELL YES!

Stevie solo, anything would be nice, but I have to agree about SA only because so little of it ever was done live. So little of it is even acknowledged by her. There aren't a ton of my favorite songs by her on that album but I think that would be the most "treatworthy" unusual.

I think Kind Of Woman is the only song from Bella Donna that Stevie's never sang live? I'm not too sure.

I think The Wild Heart, TISL or IYD would be her best album live, at least with the latter two, she can't argue that she can't pull it off vocally!

I agree. Probably because those happen to be my 3 favorite albums of hers. Yes, she can't soar as she did on Wild Heart anymore, but she could do the other two.

Michele

VivFox I'm laughing at your comment because I can just hear Stevie saying that the songs do not transfer to the stage well. I also would love to hear RAL

PattyFan I was unaware Lucinda Williams played her first 5 cds live. That is downright amazing! Wow!

:)

The Highway Man

The really cool thing is that you can buy the audio from those shows on her website. I have most of them and they are great to listen to :)

http://www.lucindawilliams.com/store.php

:)
Kevin

I could see her doing a live CD/DVD like this for some X-year anniversary of Bella Donna. A box set with the album, a live version of the album, a dvd of the live album, a disc of demos, and tons of pictures! Would be a chiffonheads dream.

My first choice would be TOSOTM, but like has already been pointed out that will never, ever happen... :distress:

I'd settle for TISL or RAL though.

I love Lucinda Williams and was so jealous of everyone in the US hwne I heard she was doing this! Those shows must have been fantastic. I had no idea Rickie Lee Jones did the same thing though, now that would have been really special!

I agree :) That would be my first choice. It would be the perfect re-examination of this underrated album and a way to put in in a totally different perspective for the fans.

I love that idea, though it's the least likely album ever to be considered.

Other than that, her first album, Bella Donna, or her last album, In Your Dreams.

Elton John did it with his Captain Fantastic album. He performed the whole album (and ended the show with a few hits) even before the album was released. He just came on stage and told the audience he was going the play his new album in its entirety, and essentially, deal with it!

I saw a Boston concert in the late '80s where they performed all of Third Stage from start to finish.

I think Wild Heart would be great to hear in its entirety on stage. And in an alternate universe....wouldn't it be great if Christine came back and FM performed the whole White Album on stage. I would absolutely love that.

Two.

Kind Of Woman and The Highwayman were never performed live on stage.

You're right...I was thinking she'd never performed Think About It, but she did.

Think about it before you post:laugh:

I thought she must have since it hadn't been menioned but I've never seen or heard any live versions. Whe did she do it? On the White Wing Dove Tour? Can anyone help me out? I love that song (possibly my favourite from the album) and wish there was at least one great live performance!

Bella Donna! Although any of her albums would be wonderul!!
I own the Heart DVD where they did this...it was a learning experience for them...Nancy Wilson said it made her realize how much her guitar playing had changed over the decades.

I couldn't find any higher quality ones. :(

Wow, thanks so much for posting that. I was at that show so it's really special for me. If my memory serves me well, she opened with Gold Dust Woman but Think About It was the 2nd song :) It's one of my favorites from Bella Donna. Thanks again :)

Kevin

During one of her Aussie interviews in November, Stevie discussed why she hasn't performed "I Can't Wait" since RAL....

No, it’s because we had such a horrible experience trying to sing that in concert. That’s the only song I ever did that was really on a loop. I didn’t write that track – it was already done. So I just went out and sang that vocal once, and then I sang it 3,000 more times, but it never compared with that initial vocal. But you can’t just play that, obviously. We had to use it with the loop onstage one night, and it was a train wreck. Nobody in my band is used to playing along with loops – it’s very hard. It was a nightmare, and when you have that experience with a song onstage…I’ve never tried it again.

The only thing I can say about that song is that I love singing it, and so do my backup singers. Maybe one of these days, for the next tour I do, I should bring it in and simply tell the audience I’m using a backing track, give my band a coffee break and send them backstage. Then me and my girls could stand in the middle of the stage with microphones and sing it. That would be great – but trying it out with an 11-piece band? That was crazy. So not singing it live has nothing to do with how I feel about the song and everything to do with how badly we butchered all those years ago.

Oh, wow! I'm surprised, but happy to hear her discussing songs from that album at all. Even just to explain why she doesn't sing them. What was the context for her bringing that up? Did the interviewer ask her?

I was never in love with I Can't Wait and I can see how it would be hard for the band to perform it, but there are other songs from RAL (and TOSOTM) that they could definitely pull off. But at this point, I think I'd be happy just to hear her talk about those albums, even if she never sang a note of any of the songs from them again.

Yes, the interviewer specifically asked her about "I Can't Wait" and asked her to comment on her songs being remixed.

The band performed it just fine. If you listen to any of the live recordings you'll hear how good they were.
We're just getting another one of those silly Stevie excuses. If the band couldn't perform to the loop they would have determined that in the rehearsals and the song would have never seen the "live" light of day.

I have to say that I agree with VivFox on this one! I kept hearing how bad it was so I checked it out and what I heard live was awesome!!! She and the band sounded great (whether with or without a loop).

Stevie even did a little "Vogue" dance during the breakdown of the song which sent the audience into a cheering frenzy!!!

Strike a pose!
:)

The band performed it just fine. I think the problem with the song was Stevie. In the performances I've heard she seems to struggle to find her place and her words. Often her timing is off. However that was typical in a lot of her performances on that tour.

I think you're right PenguinHead.

Here is an '86 live performance of "I Can't Wait" that I have at my YouTube Channel. It starts strong, but Stevie does seem a bit lost as the song progresses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJp2NJKn0as

I didn't like where it was stuck in the set, as I recall. On some nights, it immediately preceded "Stand Back," which only detracted from the momentum of both.

Good point. I'm not fond of Stand Back as a set opener. Much better to be a song people are salivating to hear.

I believe the first time she used SB as an opener was at a benefit concert at Caesar's in December 2006. I saw the set list before the show started and was convinced it must have been in error. For the first few shows thereafter, I hated it as the opener because, as you said, it's better to have people salivating and then bring the house down with it. It's grown on me as the opener though. OTR was never one of my favorite songs, and that was the opener for WAY too long. I never understood GDW as an opener.....not the right kind of energy. SB really has what it takes: lots of energy, familiarity, a sing-along vibe. While there is something to be said for saving SB for later in the show, I'm not sure what should take its place. I liked Enchanted as an opener, but I know lots of people are sick of that.

Completely agree. For me, the only opener is Outside The Rain going into Dreams.

Naw, that scene has been played to death.

Although I love those songs Outside The Rain/Dreams, I was over it being used as the concert opener for years and years and years!

Why not shake things up?...Open with some obscure gem like Sisters of the Moon (Never gonna happen)...or something brand new off the new album!

Just saying...