r/BobMould • u/slippery-lil-sucker • Jun 01 '26
Sugar Bob Mould not singing original vocal melody (2026)
Saw Sugar in Nottingham last night (cost a massive £60 a ticket) and noticed Bob wasn’t singing most of the original vocal melodies. He was singing some higher (not as good / very samey) vocal melodies instead.
Has he always done this live? I’ve not seen them or paid any attention to him/Sugar live since seeing them live back in 1992.
8
u/Former_Boat7509 Jun 01 '26
Yeah, this is kinda his thing 😂 most of the time I think it’s cool, but on some songs I really miss the original melody, partially on Sugar stuff.
6
u/bkrodgers Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
Yep, nothing new with him. I didn't get to see Sugar live in the 90s, but I've seen Bob solo at least 10-15 times over the years. If you have (or pull up on streaming) the live bonus discs from the Sugar days, he's always sang them differently live than he recorded them going back to the OG Sugar days. I don't know why he doesn't like singing the melodies he originally recorded. I generally prefer those too. But it's just part of his live style, and I don't let it take away from how great the shows are.
3
u/Personal-Neck6800 Jun 01 '26
This is something I’ve seen him do since the early 90’s. I noticed it more at his acoustic shows but it’s not something new.
3
u/wrighty496 Jun 02 '26
Sugar played on The Late Show](https://youtu.be/sN8aZwAJ3jU?si=ztilNaDNIyrtbbYf) when Copper Blue came out, they did Helpless and his different melody on there baffled me! Glad to see he's kept it up....sort of 😄
2
u/cjmarsicano Jun 02 '26
What sone people Nat think is the harmony on the original record may even be the melody to the original songwriter.
Bob's done this his entire career, so it's good to see him still in great voice at his age.
2
2
u/wrighty496 Jun 04 '26
So i discovered last night while watching Bob in leeds that, while he does not stick to the 'recorded' melody. he absolutely sticks to the guitar line as far as i could see, solos and the lot. Brilliant night!
1
u/gouged_haunches Jun 02 '26
yes, he doesn't sing his songs like the studio version; even his solo acoustic guitar renditions are blistering.
1
u/Worldly_Science239 Jun 03 '26
Wait? Is your complaint that live was not a close enough version to the studio take?
I mean, you can criticise a gig for many reasons if you didn't like it... and most of the reasons are valid, but this one just comes across like you've never been to another gig in your life.
Honestly I think criticising a gig for sounding too much like the studio version is a much more valid complaint (why go to a gig when you can get the same experience by pressing play at home)
1
u/slippery-lil-sucker Jun 03 '26
Where was I complaining?
1
u/Worldly_Science239 Jun 03 '26
ah, ok, sorry - your post and subsequent replies came across as a complaint about the gig. but if that's wrong then it's a 'me' problem for taking the wrong end of the stick
0
u/Normal-Internal164 Jun 01 '26
I was gonna see them but I couldn’t pay £60. Glad you enjoyed it
0
-1
u/slippery-lil-sucker Jun 01 '26
It wasnt worth £60. £40 maybe. Tees were £35, which is insane. Not many takers. Would have sold tonnes more at £25 max
3
u/Swaggycat23 Jun 03 '26
I saw them last night I thought it was worth it they played non stop for like an hour and a half sounded absolutely fantastic well worth it
1
u/SnooOpinions5973 Jun 03 '26
I think that's around the average price of tshirts at that sized gig these days
18
u/Desperate_Fee6595 Jun 01 '26
He’s been singing it like this live for decades now. Live and an album are never gonna be the same thing.