Set List critique
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And if I'm belaboring this topic, well, that may be true -- because none of us are getting any younger.
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I bet the next setlist will include some "new" Wings songs.
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5th-beatle:
I bet the next setlist will include some "new" Wings songs.
If time tells us anything, it's that this man has patterns to his setlists. It's usually obvious which songs will have a shorter lifespan than others, of course there are exceptions (who'd a thunk Mrs. Vandebilt would spend five years on the set!?) I suspect that we'll probably lose the following on his next tour... -Save Us -Listen To What The Man Said -1985 -Another Day -Queenie Eye -All Together Now -Everybody Out There -Ob La Di, Ob La Da -Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite! ...and maybe a surprise in the encore? I dunno. It's depressing work, criticizing this show.
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5th-beatle:
I bet the next setlist will include some "new" Wings songs.
That's always welcomed, but we've been there/done that*****. It's time for him to get reacquainted with his "Paul McCartney" albums. * = Mrs. Vandebilt/Too Many People/1985/Letting Go/Venus & Mars/Ram -- nice surprises from the Wings era
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Silly Love Songs Beware My Love Helen Wheels Big Barn Bed Getting Closer Goodnight Tonight The Backseat Of My Car Call Me Back Again Monkberry Moon Delight
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Maybe a few from the last 30 years?
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5th-beatle:
Silly Love Songs Beware My Love Helen Wheels Big Barn Bed Getting Closer Goodnight Tonight The Backseat Of My Car Call Me Back Again Monkberry Moon Delight
"Goodnight Tonight" and "Helen Wheels" are probably the only two on that list he can still sing.
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And how cool would it be for him to open with "Coming Up"? It worked at that iTunes gig in '07.
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audi:
And how cool would it be for him to open with "Coming Up"? It worked at that iTunes gig in '07.
How cool would it be if he even decided to play it!?
With the exception of the rooftop Letterman gig in '09, I can't think of a single time it has appeared since.
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WixRocks!:
audi:
And how cool would it be for him to open with "Coming Up"? It worked at that iTunes gig in '07.
How cool would it be if he even decided to play it!?
With the exception of the rooftop Letterman gig in '09, I can't think of a single time it has appeared since.
He did it in Rio in 2011. Quite an enjoyable surprise!
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oobu24:
Maybe a few from the last 30 years?
I would love that, but that list was a follow-up to my previous post regarding possible "new" Wings songs.
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By the way, I sent that list of Wings requests to Brian, Abe and Wix on twitter. Hopefully they will find it interesting.
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He did "Coming Up" last year for one of those small BBC 6 shows. Despite the bass-fail at 01:31, this is a decent performance:
I need to check out that 2011 Rio version. -
Good points, all!
LiveForever:
Question: do you all think Paul is hurting or tarnishing his legacy in any way by his tour habits (be it the setlist, the show, the stops, etc.).
Not tarnishing his legacy in any way. Frankly, even if he would be releasing and performing sub-par things in the current age, his legend was cemented in 1970, and that will never change. BUT... he's definitely doing his post-1970 work a huge disfavor, and that also won't ever change. It's pretty obvious he regards everything post-1970 as B-work. I'm super gracious he performed cuts like 'Junior's Farm', 'Letting Go', 'Hi Hi Hi' and 'Listen To What The Man Said' lately - actually it's crazy talk I'm considering this as so super special, 4 solo hits! -, such a huge chance since the pre-2010 days. (Even though many of those songs will never make it to the fans in Europe, yeah, don't think I miss a chance to stab at that, hehe). But those songs will still be 'packed in' Beatles hits, very early in the set. 'Hi Hi Hi' is the big exception, 'Hi Hi Hi' in the encore in 2014! If I would be wishing that a few years ago in a post I would probably be banned, hahaha. Having said that, one more recent positive example still doesn't change the fact that in every step McCartney is taking there's a certain insecurity about his non-Beatles work. Apart from the obvious setlists choices, when did you ever hear him talk as fondly in public about writing, recording or performing any of the solo songs, like he does for any random Beatles song? I can't blame him not remembering every little detail about all of the songs he wrote, of course not. But it's mainly his tone. With the brand new 'Venus & Mars' and 'At The Speed Of Sound' reissues as perfect example. This is the chance to get into details about all the things you won't get out of any general McCartney interview. This isn't promotion for a Beatles release, or a new solo release who seems to need some brand new anecdote about writing with John Lennon. The deluxe sets are being bought by fans who are buying that because they love those tunes, and would love to hear anything from it and about it. But yet... While band members from Denny Laine to Joe English - in his first post-music industry interview (?) - have joyful, insightful stories about the whole period, about specific songs and what all not, McCartney's reactions are mainly devious, almost negative, and far from detailed. Whether it's for personal reasons or bad memories from that period, I think it's telling. Always when a random 'deeper cut' would be mentioned in an interview, which is rarely, McCartney would react in a way like "it wasn't too bad after all". Not even to mention the endless "a kid came up to me on the street and said 'London Town' is his favourite"-spins, again in a way like he thinks we know he's taking the piss. Hell, 'Ram' can be revalued as post-Beatles masterpiece in every way possible, he still promotes it as some kind of afterthought. Tell me if I'm reading too much in it, but to me announcing 'Ram' as "an album from a long, long time ago, when the world was different, [..] an album that is part of my history" doesn't sound like the way the fans are considering the album. Where was the Jools Holland special for that one? Yeah, the big promotion was all 'used up' for the re-re-re-release of 'Band On The Run'...
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Magneto and Titanium Man is superb live and I would like to see him do that again. And those that say the concerts are the same every night are wrong. The state flag at the end is always different.....
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"ZING!" And, by the way: Preach it, "nobodytoldme"!
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nobodytoldme:
Good points, all!
LiveForever:
Question: do you all think Paul is hurting or tarnishing his legacy in any way by his tour habits (be it the setlist, the show, the stops, etc.).
Not tarnishing his legacy in any way. Frankly, even if he would be releasing and performing sub-par things in the current age, his legend was cemented in 1970, and that will never change. BUT... he's definitely doing his post-1970 work a huge disfavor, and that also won't ever change. It's pretty obvious he regards everything post-1970 as B-work. I'm super gracious he performed cuts like 'Junior's Farm', 'Letting Go', 'Hi Hi Hi' and 'Listen To What The Man Said' lately - actually it's crazy talk I'm considering this as so super special, 4 solo hits! -, such a huge chance since the pre-2010 days. (Even though many of those songs will never make it to the fans in Europe, yeah, don't think I miss a chance to stab at that, hehe). But those songs will still be 'packed in' Beatles hits, very early in the set. 'Hi Hi Hi' is the big exception, 'Hi Hi Hi' in the encore in 2014! If I would be wishing that a few years ago in a post I would probably be banned, hahaha. Having said that, one more recent positive example still doesn't change the fact that in every step McCartney is taking there's a certain insecurity about his non-Beatles work. Apart from the obvious setlists choices, when did you ever hear him talk as fondly in public about writing, recording or performing any of the solo songs, like he does for any random Beatles song? I can't blame him not remembering every little detail about all of the songs he wrote, of course not. But it's mainly his tone. With the brand new 'Venus & Mars' and 'At The Speed Of Sound' reissues as perfect example. This is the chance to get into details about all the things you won't get out of any general McCartney interview. This isn't promotion for a Beatles release, or a new solo release who seems to need some brand new anecdote about writing with John Lennon. The deluxe sets are being bought by fans who are buying that because they love those tunes, and would love to hear anything from it and about it. But yet... While band members from Denny Laine to Joe English - in his first post-music industry interview (?) - have joyful, insightful stories about the whole period, about specific songs and what all not, McCartney's reactions are mainly devious, almost negative, and far from detailed. Whether it's for personal reasons or bad memories from that period, I think it's telling. Always when a random 'deeper cut' would be mentioned in an interview, which is rarely, McCartney would react in a way like "it wasn't too bad after all". Not even to mention the endless "a kid came up to me on the street and said 'London Town' is his favourite"-spins, again in a way like he thinks we know he's taking the piss. Hell, 'Ram' can be revalued as post-Beatles masterpiece in every way possible, he still promotes it as some kind of afterthought. Tell me if I'm reading too much in it, but to me announcing 'Ram' as "an album from a long, long time ago, when the world was different, [..] an album that is part of my history" doesn't sound like the way the fans are considering the album. Where was the Jools Holland special for that one? Yeah, the big promotion was all 'used up' for the re-re-re-release of 'Band On The Run'...
Great post. I think you nailed it when you use the word insecurity. As unfathomable as it may be for most of us to think McCartney is insecure about anything, I think it's clear that he is...especially with regards to his competing legacy with the aforementioned John Lennon, hence all the Lennon anecdotes. This insecurity, in some respects, reared its head in the song Early Days where he feels the need to defend himself from those who "weren't where it was at." I think it is this insecurity that fuels a lot of what he does, from a touring and setlist perspective anyway.
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He ain't so insecure when it comes to those ticket prices. But, seriously, who in his camp can knock some sense in his head and tell him to grow a pair????
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I think part of the reason he can justify ticket prices that high is because of the Beatles-centric setlist. There are some, clearly many in this thread, who would be more inclined to shell out big dollars for a solo setlist, but that is not the majority.
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I like that two-concert idea that U2 is considering, which somebody mentioned the other day.