Set Lists - Discuss :) - Page 2 - Forever Delayed

Napoleon Bonaparte · #16 06-01-2011, 17:26

The petulance, the petulance.

Takk · #17 06-01-2011, 17:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beat Poet

The thing is, it only takes a few gigs for a rarity to become a regular.

Maybe, but I saw them 6 times on that tour (3 x 2 back to back nights) and didn't get bored once.

Takk · #18 06-01-2011, 17:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abby Grissom

When I read the quote I thought it was Nicky and I still do. I do think its lazy that they don't play anything rare very often and they stick to a basic set list through entire tours with not a lot of variation. Now they're this far in their career they can afford to play their earlier/rarer songs. I can kind of understand it back in the early days due to them wanting to be the biggest band in the world but now they're not going to get any bigger they can afford to change more often. They shouldn't aim to please people that only know the greatest hits, because they're not into the band as much as fans that know their albums, and if they complain at songs they don't know being played then they should make more of a fucking effort to hear/learn the songs before going to a gig. For stuff like the NME Big Gig and maybe some festivals if they headline a stage, bust out the big guns with EMG and DFL and whatnot, but for smaller academy gigs then yeah, learn your songs and give them a bit of variation. If you've only heard Forever Delayed and you go to a Manics gig you're still discovering the band and it'd be good to hear other stuff and get some perspective.

Sums up this perfectly.

Beej · #19 06-01-2011, 17:52

Exactly!

River Boy · #20 06-01-2011, 17:57

I agree that there should be big songs on their setlist but not that setlists should be made up almost entirely of singles.

What was the point of Empty Souls being on the setlist for example. It was there because it got to no.2 and was preferable to Nixon, but did they really think it made a massive difference that it had chart coverage, as if people are ticking off their favourites - 'A Design for Life, Motorcycle and Empty Souls, yep I'm happy!'?

They should also champion their latest album more. Only JFPL has had this since EMG - even SATT, which they claim to be a big success (propaganda?), only had a select few.

Radiomanic · #21 06-01-2011, 18:02

How many hits do they actually have? Since when have You Love Us, Motown Junk, La Tristesse etc...been hits? Never, they were in the charts but that is all and they didn't chart well. So when the band says 'we always play the hits', they are correct in the sense of Motorcycle Emptiness, Design for Life, Tolerate, YLAINE and whatever their latest single is. But that is all the average joe is going to know anyway, so they still have a good 15 songs to put in! Basically what they are saying is 'We'll always play the songs we are used to playing', which is a completely different thing and in my opinion, dead lazy. Grow some balls lads.

And all this about hating seeing bands play songs other than the hits...well surely the point of a band playing live is to showcase songs and entice people to listen to more of them? Clearly the Manics never got that idea then, shame. They could learn a thing or two off their mates Super Furry Animals that is for sure, they've played a completely different set every time i've seen them and yet most of their best known songs are still included.

sculptureofabloke · #22 06-01-2011, 18:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by River Boy

What was the point of Empty Souls being on the setlist for example. It was there because it got to no.2 and was preferable to Nixon, but did they really think it made a massive difference that it had chart coverage, as if people are ticking off their favourites - 'A Design for Life, Motorcycle and Empty Souls, yep I'm happy!'?

They're probably aware of fans getting disgruntled about setlists. Early on the tour they were making a point about playing at least one song off every album and seeing as Lifeblood is probably the album that divides fans more than any other, they probably felt like they had to play it safe with it.

centralscrutiniser · #23 06-01-2011, 18:17

Personally I don't think the majority of the setlist criticism is directed at 'the hits' (which I see as their 'big' songs - Tolerate, YSTS, ADFL, YLU, La Tristessa etc). I think the greater frustration is their insistence on playing songs which aren't hits and aren't popular. With the best will in the world Autumnsong, Ocean Spray, EMG, SKON, etc aren't hits. Nixon and Empty Souls both went to number 2 - they are hits but they don't get played.

This 'playing the hits' excuse doesn't wash with me. There are, I feel, three elements to a gig. The big hits which they could never leave out (ADFL, Tolerate, YLAINE etc), the new stuff they're (supposed to be) trying to plug (INW, SKON) and then there's the other third which is where we have the problem, because it's this section that they could and should be making a little more exciting. Ocean Spray, Autumnsong, Tsunami etc are all great occasionally but this is the bit where having 12 or so songs to shuffle about in a tour would go down really well. It's a shame Sleepflower, Empty Souls, Peeled Apples, Jackie Collins all fell by the wayside but they could all be included in that final third. Have they forgotten how to play Born To End, Rendition, 2nd Great Depression etc already?

I don't think it's right to say we're bored of 'the hits' because generally most people aren't, it's the middle third that gets so stale so quickly.

centralscrutiniser · #24 06-01-2011, 18:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by River Boy

They should also champion their latest album more. Only JFPL has had this since EMG - even SATT, which they claim to be a big success (propaganda?), only had a select few.

I agree completely about playing the current album, but I don't think that's right about SATT. I only saw two nights of that tour and I still heard 7 of the 10 songs.

Radiomanic · #25 06-01-2011, 18:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by sculptureofabloke

They're probably aware of fans getting disgruntled about setlists. Early on the tour they were making a point about playing at least one song off every album and seeing as Lifeblood is probably the album that divides fans more than any other, they probably felt like they had to play it safe with it.

They should've kept to that, at least. Even they admit Lifeblood is a good album, it's just they think nobody else does.

sculptureofabloke · #26 06-01-2011, 18:24

Yeah, they were doing 5 SATT songs a night on the first tour. In Birmingham they were down to 3 PFAYM songs, which is a load of shit considering there are two extra tracks on the album too.

Takk · #27 06-01-2011, 18:25

Aye SATT got all played...I think not playing lots of songs is the norm, look at lifeblood, postcards or know your enemy. It makes you wonder whether they see the non-played songs as filler, or what....

Don't see why empty souls needed airing, so many better songs on that album.

They have about 5 or 6 hits as people said, and a couple more really staple cloud pleasers on their set. So that's stil well over half of a set that can be varied.

Beat Poet · #28 06-01-2011, 18:27

Does anybody who regularly meets the band after the gigs ever mention this kind of stuff to them?

Radiomanic · #29 06-01-2011, 18:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Takk

Aye SATT got all played...I think not playing lots of songs is the norm, look at lifeblood, postcards or know your enemy. It makes you wonder whether they see the non-played songs as filler, or what....

On Lifeblood they played most of it at some point apart from 3 songs. On KYE the only ones not done were Dead Martyrs, His Last Painting, My Guernica, Convascelent and Epicentre. Not bad for a 16 track album really, its the recent tour where they've really let down. Not that i'd wanna hear the rest of the new album anyway, but still they should've given it a shot.

They could've toured Lifeblood again and done the other three songs not played (Glasnost, Emily, Always Never), but chose not to but then we got PPF which nobody is complaining about!

centralscrutiniser · #30 06-01-2011, 18:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radiomanic

They could've toured Lifeblood again and done the other three songs not played (Glasnost, Emily, Always Never), but chose not to but then we got PPF which nobody is complaining about!

PPF was really disappointing. I can't believe they didn't play England Is A Bitch...