What goes around

Gigs in which bands play a classic album from start to finish have been packing venues in the UK. Now they're coming to Ireland, writes Jim Carroll

Somewhere in your record collection are a couple of albums you turn to time and time again. They're your time capsule albums, the ones that withstand the years, your fickle attention span and the flood of new music you listen to week in and week out. You don't just put on such touchstone albums in the background and walk away to do some mundane chore; you play them and concentrate on what you're hearing.

Of course, other music fans feel the same way about these records. Albums become seminal albums because of shared collective opinions about the merits of the music. So when the act in question decides to play that album in its entirety, as has become increasingly common, you won't find yourself alone in the stalls.

Once it was heritage acts such as Brian Wilson (Pet Sounds) and Roger Waters (The Dark Side of the Moon) who used a classic album gig to sell a tour when the new material wasn't up to the task. But now a whole bunch of leftfield and alternative acts have jumped on the same bandwagon.

This trend most recently came to light when the much-admired UK festival All Tomorrow's Parties persuaded a rake of acts to play classic albums note for note. The Stooges, Belle & Sebastian, Gang of Four, Lemonheads, Mudhoney, Cat Power, Múm, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Dirty Three and Sophia responded to the challenge, which led to a special season of Don't Look Back shows in London in late 2005.

The idea took off and, since then, the likes of Sonic Youth (Daydream Nation), House of Love (House of Love), Tortoise (Millions Now Living Will Never Die), Cowboy Junkies (The Trinity Sessions) and many others, including legendary film score composer Ennio Morricone, have performed classic albums in full.

Don't Look Back shows have also taken place in Glasgow, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Italy. Later this month, the Kentucky band Slint will perform their hugely influential Spiderland album in full in Dublin.

For fans and performers, these nostalgia gigs are hugely appealing on many levels. For those who have lived with the album for years and know every twist and turn of its tracks intimately, it's an opportunity to hear a favourite without any of the "here's a new song" distractions that occur during a conventional gig. You know exactly what you're going to get when you pay for your ticket.

It's also an ideal opportunity for fans who may have been too young to see the band perform those songs the first time around to experience a live take on the album. The act knows that the audience are going to pay attention from start to finish and listen to the album as they intended it to be heard. Fans can't shuffle from one track to another and leave out the difficult ones at a gig like this.

Of course, some acts may lament the lack of experimentation which the formula entails and would prefer to be looking forwards than over their shoulder. The upside is a new awareness about their back catalogue.

Most of the albums featured in the Don't Look Back series have grown enormously in stature since their initial release. Thanks to the internet's ability to spread word of mouth about an act far and wide (and even how long-tail economics have made the underground as accessible and profitable as the mainstream), far more music fans are now aware of albums that were once merely niche affairs. This means that the bands get to play to audiences which they would never have been able to reach or attract back when the album was first on the shelves.

It will be interesting to note where the Don't Look Back curators go next for their classic albums. So far they've concentrated on the 1990s and the grunge/hardcore scenes for inspiration, but there is undoubtedly huge scope for more (see panel for our wishlist) given the appetite of fans to relive the past. Nostalgia, it seems, never goes out of fashion.

Slint will perform Spiderland at Tripod, Dublin on August 18th

Albums we'd love to hear live

Zen Arcade, by Hüsker DüWhile it probably will never happen due to ongoing "issues" that individual band members still have with one another, this awesome hardcore masterpiece would make for a mesmerising live performance.

Screamadelica, by Primal ScreamThe Scream have been approached about the possibility, but claim they couldn't perform the album live. Maybe they just need some rehearsal time or some drugs.

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, by Public EnemyIn 1988 hip-hop exploded with this frightening barrage of sound. Could PE pull it off today?

Low, by David BowieThe Thin White Duke was at his most spellbinding as he underwent a creative metamorphosis from pop star to experimental dabbler in the course of one album in Berlin.

The Stone Roses, by The Stone RosesWe're sure someone will eventually tempt the various members with an offer they won't be able to refuse. This one could go either way.