“I don’t want to go hear a bunch of C and D tracks”: Should bands play their biggest hits live? Nikki Sixx thinks so – and here’s why
Should bands predominantly play their greatest hits at live shows? Or should they be free to delve into the deeper cuts of their catalogue and serve fans a show they’re not expecting? It’s a debate that sparks strong opinion on both sides.
On one hand, metal titans including Metallica and Avenged Sevenfold have expressed a disinterest in leaning entirely on the hits during live sets. In 2024, Metallica frontman James Hetfield spoke of the importance of “challenging” fans to enjoy deeper cuts from their catalogue at shows.
READ MORE: “Next thing you know, I get handed one of Kirk Hammett’s Les Pauls!”: System Of A Down‘s Daron Malakian reflects on filling in for James Hetfield during Metallica‘s Summer Sanitarium tour
“We know that people wanna hear the best stuff, and you gotta challenge them to listen to the new stuff as well,” he said. “Because we certainly don’t wanna be a legacy band that just plays the greatest hits and then that’s it, you know? It’s all part of it.”
But some musicians think playing the hits is important in putting on a good show and having the fans leave happy. In a recent interview with Utah’s 103.5 The Arrow, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx hints that during the band’s upcoming summer tour, they’ll be leaning heavily on the hits.
“We get in, and we know the fans want to hear the hits,” Sixx says [via Ultimate Guitar]. “I hate it when a band goes out and doesn’t play their hits. I just remember [David] Bowie doing that, and I was like, ‘He’s one of my favourite artists. I don’t want to go hear a bunch of C and D tracks off of records that I love. I want to hear songs like Rebel Rebel. At that point, he was like, ‘I’m so tired of playing the same songs.’”
Where most artists seem to agree is on playing the hits to keep the fans happy, but also interspersing the setlist with some lesser known tracks, too.
“We’re not tired of playing those hits,” Sixx goes on, “but we are excited about getting into a set list and diving into some songs that we maybe never played, or haven’t played in a long time, and shaking it up.
“If you’re playing a song from the first album, that’s going to dictate a lot of what production looks like, you know? So for us, it’s like this moving creative ball of energy. It’s super exciting.”
Elsewhere, shortly after the release of their latest album Life Is But a Dream… in 2023 – which came seven years after The Stage in 2016 – A7X vocalist M. Shadows explained his stance on staying artistically fresh as opposed to prioritising giving the fans a hit-packed setlist.
“I don’t even know how I’d feel if we had to go up there and play all of our old songs after five years of being off. I would feel like I’m stuck in the mud…
“Not only will bands veer away from new stuff live, because they’re worried – they want that pure energy setlist – but they also start allowing the fanbase to dictate, like ‘I paid money, I wanna see all the hits.’
“There’s bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden that continually play new stuff and reinvent themselves. And it pisses people off, but it allows them to be interested in what they’re doing.”
Meanwhile, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme isn’t shying away from playing the band’s biggest tracks.
“I understand that I’m always going to play No One Knows because I still like playing that song and that’s something that it’s an agreement with the audience,” he said in 2023. “I assume that this is a part of coming here to see us, and here you go.”
The debate will surely rage on, but what do you think? Should artists cater to the fans and fill their setlists with their biggest tracks? Would you be happy to pay money to see your favourite artist play a set predominantly loaded with deeper cuts?
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