After checking out Whitesnake earlier this week and immersing himself in the new Black Country Communion record, Self Made Man is back with more of his trademark musings.

Look out for our resident blogger right here every week! 

I often wonder what the audience reaction was when Led Zeppelin played Stairway To Heaven live for the very first time ahead of the release of their legendary fourth album,

Or what Pink Floyd fans thought when during the closing stages of their Dark Side Of The Moon tour in 1974, the band introduced two new compositions called Raving And Drooling and You’ve Gotta Be Crazy _ songs which eventually gelled into Shine On You Crazy Diamond on the following year’s Wish You Were Here release.

Do we instantly respond to good music or does there have to be some sort of familiarity or even just recognition to truly enjoy a piece?

The thought crossed my mind during The Union’s support slot ahead of Whitesnake’s headlining concert earlier this week.

For my sins, I hadn’t previously heard The Union’s debut album but listening to them live, it occurred to me how much more enjoyable their short set would have been to these ears had I been au fait with their material.

The band was tight, musically accomplished and the bluesy tone of vocalist Pete Shoulder was right down my street.

And yet much as I enjoyed them, I’d be lying if I said I can recall a single tune of theirs. Who can, after just one listen?

It was probably just the same all those years ago when Zeppelin decided to give arguably the most famous song in classic rock history its first airing.

Stairway To Heaven, with its light and shade, mystical lyrics and thunderous guitar-laden climax is so beautifully composed that it probably made an impact with everyone who heard that debut performance.

But I bet it didn’t get as good a reaction as songs such as Dazed And Confused, Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker or Immigrants Song, which had been around for much longer.

Floyd were renowned for including “works in progress” in their setlist and anyone who owns a bootleg copy of one of their 1974 live concerts will have heard the polite applause which greeted the two songs which were to become Shine On You Crazy Diamond in stark contrast to the explosive noise which followed Eclipse from Dark Side Of The Moon or Echoes.

Bruce Springsteen too prefers to play new songs live, fine-tuning and adapting them before laying down the definitive version on the subsequent studio album.

Anyone who has just bought the recently released _ and quite outstanding _ Main Point Night 1975 _ widely acknowledged as one of his most famous concerts, will hear a very familiar song with an unfamiliar title.

Wings For Wheels is actually Thunder Road Mark I eventually evolving into the Springsteen classic on Born To Run which came out five months later. The song is instantly recognisable save for the girl’s name on this early working being Angelita or Rosalita rather than his eventual homage to Mary.

Born To Run itself was already a staple in Springsteen’s live set long before the same-titled album came out and it’s testimony to another of rock music’s most enduring songs that, judging by audience reaction on the live album, it is already firmly established as a firm fans’  favourite.

Set lists are a subject of intense debate which often divide public opinion. A fortnight ago, Journey were castigated for introducing four songs from their freshly released Eclipse album while Foreigner were widely praised for their excellent set, having played the safe card of sticking to a Greatest Hits package.

We’ll end where we started. Most of us attend gigs not to discover the unknown but to wallow in the safely familiar. The louder the applause, the more successful a concert is judged to have been. It is only later, on message boards and facebook that the die-hards moan about the conservative choice of songs.

It is those bands which can achieve that delicate balance, promoting fresh material without upsetting the momentum of the show, who can really lay claim to be the kings of live music.

Ian Murtagh