Poison (live)

[bigbradwolf]

Just want to see what people think on this. For me the live performance of Poison has dropped off since A Fistful of Alice. The backing vocals sound tired and Alice doesnt sing it as well as he used to. I aint knocking, more of an observation thats all, for me its just the one song that isnt as strong as it used to be. At the gigs it sounds alright but I was listening to Brutally live today and it hit me as to how different it sounded. Maybe some people prefer it?

[James1981]

I would say i have to agree with you on this point. If you listen to the version on fistful it sounds so much better. I remember they played it live on strictly come dancing a few months ago and it sounded amazing. I wish they would do it live like this more often.

[bigbradwolf]

the perfomance on strictly was alice singing but the rest of it was the original in the background. the band were just 'pretending to play'.

[scotty]

I thought the clips I've heard from the current gig sounded much tighter than the previous few tours...it might get old playing some of the same songs for some of the guys (like chuck and damon maybe). now,school'sout never seems to suffer that problem!!!

[Spot and Jerome]

IMHO, though I like the song very much, it NEVER sounded really good live.
Still it is great to hear it when you are in the audience, it always sets the temperature of the place very high, but on a strictly musical point of view, I think it is not a "live song" at all!

[wind_up_toy]

The original version was very polished so it will always be difficult to capture that in a live show.

The Trashes the World version was the best for me, haven't liked it in any of the recent tours.

[Pitta]

I think it's a good live song, but the band played it in garage rock style since 1997, and the background vocal is horrible, like a dying cat. It is better in this tour, but the best was the Hey Stoopid tour version.

[SickThings]

the perfomance on strictly was alice singing but the rest of it was the original in the background. the band were just 'pretending to play'.

All true, except, if memory serves, the music was actually a new version recorded when the Alice Does Alice tracks were recorded. That version of "Poison" hasn't been released, but it was used for that show.

Hunter

[While Heaven Wept]

'Poison' is an extremely heavily produced song, it would be almost impossible to recreate authentically live. Just listen to the amount of vocals on the original, there are literally hundreds of voices going on in there.

For me, i'm not really a fan of it live, Alice appears to sing the harmony line now as opposed to the main melody on the original. But there's every reason for him to continue playing it, given that a large proportion of the people attending his gigs will have been turned onto his music as a direct result of that song.

That said, i thought it sounded great at the 100 club show..... but then i was in a state of absolute euphoria so maybe my judgement was clouded!

[Kristian]

I vividly remember hearing it live last year and thinking: hey - this is a pretty solid song, when you take away the cheese of the "Trash" production. Same thing with the songs Costello had on "Goodbye Cruel World" - some very good material, watered down by whatever seemed "hip" to the producer at the time...

[WickedYoungMan]

The current version sounds really good. For a while it was being treated as a basic rock song live but they've really tightened it up this year and it sounds closer to how powerful it should sound. The best live versions of the song were played in the 1990s, IMHO.

[ThePainAddict]

Always seems to be the consensus on here that the song isn't that strong live. However, most on here also realize that it was a huge it and is not going to be leaving the set.

[evil syd]

The original version was very polished so it will always be difficult to capture that in a live show.

The Trashes the World version was the best for me, haven't liked it in any of the recent tours.

I agree, and this is the best version recorded. I have a few boots that are just as good, or even better. But, mostly, it hasn't worked for a long time because throughout the years the chorus has changed, which has severely changed the tempo, and it even works better when there's a female voice in the chorus. So, I advice Alice to go back to it's original hokey, but great style, make it a lot more heavier, and it will become a great live experience.

[Shoesalesman]

Sounds fine any old way.

[Street Schizo]

I agree that it sounded best on the Trash tour. However I think this song could use a rest for a couple of tours. How this song become a mainstay over several "Greatest Hits" songs is beyond me. I like the studio version the best. Feed My Frankenstein is another song I don't need to hear for awhile.

[Shoesalesman]

How this song become a mainstay over several "Greatest Hits" songs is beyond me.

Other than it being a HUGE hit when it came out (and still gets a big roar from the crowd to this day), it's that one song that best describes that era in his career for him, just like Feed My Frankenstein, Lost In America and Dirty Diamonds does for their times. One could lump Vengeance Is Mine into that bunch too. Besides, Poison is a nod to the ladies too, when he points to them throughout the song.

Feed My Frankenstein is another song I don't need to hear for awhile.

While I agree somewhat, it has great visual appeal. I'm sure Jaded doesn't mind terribly when Alice points to Chuck and indicates his tattoos are melting in the heat.

[RemarkablyInsincere]

I can do without "Feed My Frankenstein"... but "Poison" is an essential song in the set in my opinion due to it being his biggest hit in that era. For a lot of casual fans, that's Alice's biggest song in their opinion. I've seen/heard the comments.

I used to not care for FMF, but over time I've come to enjoy it live somewhat. But does anybody really *love* the song?

[Shoesalesman]

But does anybody really *love* the song?

Wayne and Garth maybe?

[Holly Grail]

In my opinion listening to Poison while watching a dvd(BP-Montrewx-Hammersmith) may not be that great but singing it along with Alice during a gig is really really cool..Here in Greece we had lightened some fireworks during that song and made a crazy 4-minuite party in 2004!
And something maybe off:I don't like the bands backing vocals at all!!I mean when Alice leaves the microphone the backing vocals set the the song down..The worst example that comes to mind is the "Gimme" chorus in Montreux Live.(Ok he doesn't have Zakk Wylde on guitar but... )
Though,Chuck gives quite aggressive and cool vocals on "I love the dead"

[SickThings]

I used to not care for FMF, but over time I've come to enjoy it live somewhat. But does anybody really *love* the song?

I have since the first time I heard it.

Hunter