Live Performances
Just over half of this album has been played live over the course of the band's career, most of the performances coming from the then farewell tour in 1982 supporting the album.
"Dangerous" was the first song from this album to be played live, as the third song on the band's first 1982 concert. Its live performances did not deviate too far from the studio cut.
"Athena" was played sporadically on the 1982 tour, sometimes as an encore and other times in the regular set. The band hated playing the song and thought that their performance on it was not up to their standards, so they dropped it in the middle of the tour.
"A Man Is a Man" was also played sporadically on the same tour, and was its last performance also came during the same concert with the last performance of "Athena".
"It's Hard" was played the entire 1982 tour and regularly featured a short full-band jam at its conclusion.
"Cooks County" was only played once, on 6 October 1982 at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago, in place of "It's Hard". This was because the song was written by Townshend after seeing a television documentary on Chicago's Cook County Hospital.
"Eminence Front" was one of two songs (the other being "Cry If You Want") from this album to last until after the 1982 tour, and the only to become a staple of the band's concerts. It was played in the tours of 1982, 1989, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. A highlight of these live performances was the guitar solo before the lyrics came in, where Townshend would play the solo differently every night.
"Cry If You Want" was played in every 1982 concert except one. These performances featured Townshend playing an extended guitar solo as an outro. In 2006, Daltrey requested that it be brought back, and it was for the first leg of the tour. However, it did not stay in the set list for long, only lasting three concerts. Later, the band would start incorporating it into their jams of "My Generation", albeit in a shorter and jazzier form, where it has lasted until 2009.
Read more about this topic: It's Hard
Famous quotes containing the words live and/or performances:
“And do not pity C. Q. One had to choose between him and H. H., and one wanted H. H. to exist at least a couple of months longer, so as to have him make you live in the minds of later generations. I am thinking of aurochs and angels, the secret of durable pigments, prophetic sonnets, the refuge of art. And this is the only immortality you and I may share, my Lolita.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“At one of the later performances you asked why they called it a “miracle,”
Since nothing ever happened. That, of course, was the miracle
But you wanted to know why so much action took on so much life
And still managed to remain itself, aloof, smiling and courteous.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)