Artists refuse to play certain difficult songs live for many different reasons. Sometimes, they hate the song, sometimes it’s too emotional, and sometimes it’s haunted. Occasionally, a song comes along that is so difficult for an artist to replicate live that they simply refuse to add it to a setlist. Here are just three examples of songs that are so difficult to play that they’ve either never been performed or have appeared in a setlist only once.
3 Difficult Songs That Have Never Seen a Setlist
“Panic Song” — Green Day
“Panic Song” was released on Green Day’s 1995 album Insomniac, and although it’s a fan favorite track, the band has never played it live in nearly 30 years. The difficult song is brash, fast, and appropriately panicky, evoking acute feelings of fear and anxiety. With Green Day’s usual set already high-energy, the inclusion of “Panic Song” might just push them over the edge into exhaustion. That’s simply not sustainable for a live show. However, Billie Joe Armstrong once told Alternative Press that “Panic Song” is “too hard,” adding, “and I’m too lazy.”
Videos by American Songwriter
“Hardware Store” — Weird Al
Weird Al’s original tune “Hardware Store” was released on Poodle Hat in 2003, and in 20 years, he has never played the song live. Allegedly, the fifth and sixth verses, where Weird Al names all the random things at the hardware store (allen wrenches, gerbil feeders, toilet seats, electric heaters, to name a few), are simply too fast and complicated to perform live. In fact, it may be impossible to do without taking a breath. On the record, it’s most likely several recordings edited together to make it seamless, which in turn makes it a difficult song to replicate for a concert.
“The Angel and the One” — Weezer
To this day, Weezer has played “The Angel and the One” from the 2008 offering Red Album only once. The band played it at a Melbourne, Australia show in 2013, but have not performed it since. Unfortunately for fans, this difficult song quickly became a favorite. It’s even a band favorite, as drummer Patrick Wilson has named it his favorite song from Red Album, according to the album’s liner notes.
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