Set List critique
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I think with McCartney, it could have been fun if he did a kind of low key tour, no hits, only "obscurities". A special night of surprises and no obvious songs. a 'different kind of tour', instead of trying to find a place for "Ode to a Koala Bear" in the stadiums. I'd buy the live album... from an exclusive tour like this...
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Hendrix Ibsen:
I think with McCartney, it could have been fun if he did a kind of low key tour, no hits, only "obscurities". A special night of surprises and no obvious songs. a 'different kind of tour', instead of trying to find a place for "Ode to a Koala Bear" in the stadiums. I'd buy the live album... from an exclusive tour like this...
He doesn't need to do something that extreme. He has done thirteen years of tours touting and promoting his Beatle Paul legacy. Why not play smaller arenas from now on and do a show that is two hours long, 50% Beatles and 50% solo from 1970 to the present representing every chapter in his career? What would be wrong with that? Maybe even do a 60 minute set of solo music, then take a short intermission, then come back and do 60 minutes of Beatles gems that HE wrote or had a significant hand in. JUNIOR'S FARM COMING UP TOO MANY PEOPLE SAVE US ONLY MAMA KNOWS OFF THE GROUND MY BRAVE FACE FLAMING PIE FINE LINE NEW TAKE IT AWAY/NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS MY LOVE QUEENIE EYE EVERYBODY OUT THERE LISTEN TO WHAT THE MAN SAID JET/LIVE AND LET DIE BAND ON THE RUN intermission ANOTHER GIRL CAN'T BUY ME LOVE ALL MY LOVING SHE'S A WOMAN/YOU WON'T SEE ME I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND FOOL ON THE HILL LADY MADONNA FOR NO ONE MARTHA MY DEAR MICHELLE HERE THERE AND EVERYWHERE TWO OF US/WE CAN WORK IT OUT YESTERDAY LET IT BE LONG AND WINDING ROAD HEY JUDE I SAW HER STANDING THERE/PAPERBACK WRITER HELTER SKELTER SOILY/GETTING BETTER SGT. PEPPER'S-THE END /songs can be switched out.
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We really should be making these suggestions to Brian and Rusty and Abe and Wix. I think they're the only ones that can convince him to add anything different.
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Well, perhaps it had been good for his whole live concept. I remember when Kisses came out, there were rumours about doing a "jazz tour", but it never materlialized. It was one exclusive show and back to business. He would be much freer to improvise on a tour maybe even marketed as something unusual. The whole tour would have a different vibe. not only different songs in the same old setting, maybe different enough for a live album... it's my conception of it.
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Hendrix Ibsen:
Well, perhaps it had been good for his whole live concept. I remember when Kisses came out, there were rumours about doing a "jazz tour", but it never materlialized. It was one exclusive show and back to business. He would be much freer to improvise on a tour maybe even marketed as something unusual. The whole tour would have a different vibe. not only different songs in the same old setting, maybe different enough for a live album... it's my conception of it.
Good idea!
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I haven't arranged it for a live adventure but here are some of the songs I'd like to hear on the legendary Hendrix Ibsen tour: Getting Closer Old Siam, Sir London Town With a Little Luck I've had Enough Temporary Secretary On the Way Bogey Music Tug of War Ballroom Dancing The Pound is Sinking Pipes of Peace The Other Me Keep Under Cover Stranglehold Press Move Over Busker Angry Spies Like Us My Brave Face Off the Ground Listen to What the Man Said One More Kiss Medley: Hold Me Tight/Lazy Dynamite/Hands of Love/Power Cut Mumbo Bip Bop Man We Was Lonely No Other Baby If You Wanna The World Tonight Yep, etc, etc. .. newer albums... there is room for Beatles songs too.
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favoritething:
audi:
I love that Mellencamp will not apologe for telling his audiences that they will be challenged. That's what growing older as an artist should be all about.
Hey, I agree, it would be nice. But the flip side of that is that Mellencamp seems annoyed at people who DO expect just the hits at his concerts, which means those people are there, and if you're a more discerning fan, you may have to sit next to them and endure their grousing about being challenged. This is what I've experienced at many Elvis Costello concerts. He ALWAYS challenges the audience, but the bigger the audience, the less tolerant they are, and if there's a row of drunk, noisy a-holes in front of you constantly going back and forth to get drinks (true story), then it's not exactly a fulfilling experience for the dedicated fans. The last time I saw Elvis, it was at a small theater, which was perfect, because he could do literally anything and have a good level of attention and appreciation from the fans. But, as RMartinez points out, it doesn't seem likely that Paul would mount a small-scale tour like that. But again, I don't know if Paul even WANTS to re-learn songs he hasn't played in years, or decades, obscure or not.
"But again, I don't know if Paul even WANTS to re-learn songs he hasn't played in years, or decades, obscure or not." I am sure he does not want to re-learn songs, maybe one or two at most. He is way too comfortable making huge money and getting adoration from easy to please Beatle crowd majority. People have said that Mr. McCartney should challenge his audiences and that is true IMO but the big problem is the audience never really has challenged Mr. McCartney.
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Well, remember that neither Costello or Mellencamp has written songs that are considered universal classics. They have some pop/rock classics, the best of their generation. Mellancamp talks about "Jack & Diane". It's his greatest hit, but at Paul McCartney's level this is like a top twenty Wings hit. With Costello, it is perhaps those who will hear "Oliver's Army", but neither he has written songs like "Yesterday"...
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Hendrix Ibsen:
Well, remember that neither Costello or Mellencamp has written songs that are considered universal classics. They have some pop/rock classics, the best of their generation. Mellancamp talks about "Jack & Diane". It's his greatest hit, but at Paul McCartney's level this is like a top twenty Wings hit. With Costello, it is perhaps those who will hear "Oliver's Army", but neither he has written songs like "Yesterday"...
The concept is the same. If all people want to do is go and hear Jack and Diane and Little Pink Houses, Mellancamp would rather not have to do just that. He said if he puts a year and a half into writing an album, and recording it, he should be able to play it live and have his fans listen to it.
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Yeah, artistic preferences. I remember seeing Dylan in the 90s and he re-arranged every song to the unrecognizable. Springsteen's been a stadium artist since 1984, but in 1995 he did a low key tour with "The Ghost of Tom Joad". It required a different atmosphere, more intimate. he still play the title track on stadium shows but with other arrangements. It becomes a different song. I think in clubs and indoor venues you can play whatever because there's an intimacy. But stadiums are big and windy and those in the back follow the artist on the screen. One creates intimacy through familiar songs. I've always prefered clubs, in the 80s and 90s I was at concerts several times a week, but seeing someone like McCartney in a club, there is little chance.
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Hendrix Ibsen:
...Mellancamp talks about "Jack & Diane". It's his greatest hit, but at Paul McCartney's level this is like a top twenty Wings hit...
I beg to differ. I think his biggest hit is "Pink Houses," which is considered an anthem (although its meaning goes over most people's heads*, but that's another discussion). Nonetheless, if "listen-while-you-work" FM-radio is any indication, "Jack & Diane" is just as relevant as "Maybe I'm Amazed." *=the same can be said for Springsteen's "Born In The USA"
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audi:
Hendrix Ibsen:
...Mellancamp talks about "Jack & Diane". It's his greatest hit, but at Paul McCartney's level this is like a top twenty Wings hit...
I beg to differ. I think his biggest hit is is "Pink Houses," which is considered an anthem (although its meaning goes over most people's heads*, but that's another discussion). Nonetheless, if "listen-while-you-work" FM-radio is any indication, "Jack & Diane" is just as relevant as "Maybe I'm Amazed." *=the same can be said for Springsteen's "Born In The USA"
Quite true about the meanings, but "biggest hit" in chart positions is not "Pink Houses" (it peaked at #8 ). "Jack & Diane" is his only #1 hit, and he hit #2 with "Hurts So Good" and "R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.", #3 with his cover of "Wild Night" in 1994 (strange but true), and #6 with "Lonely Ol' Night" and "Small Town." And "Cherry Bomb" also hit #8. A case could be made for "Pink Houses" being his most enduring hit, but that's another subject.
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I have "Amerian Fool" with "Jack & Diane" but it's probably not the most played Mellencamp album on my stereo. However .,. "Scarecrow" and the folky "The Lonesome Jubilee". I consider those two classics in my record collection. Both Mellencamp and Springsteen are very American type of artists. Springsteen released a rather political album a couple of years ago with "Wrecking Ball". It's not my favorite, not his most universal maybe, but it's still only rock & roll and I like it.
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Incidentally, my favorite Mellencamp album is Big Daddy (1989), not as big commercially, but it's a melancholy masterpiece. To me, it's Mellencamp's Chaos & Creation... But I love Lonesome Jubilee and Scarecrow almost as much. Fantastic albums. Mellencamp had a pretty nice return to the charts in '97, if memory serves.
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I'll add that his 1994 single "Human Wheels" is perfection -- and I didn't blame Mellencamp one bit for openly criticizing Mercury Records for their lax promotion at the time. Mellencamp referred to it as the best song he's ever written.
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Hendrix Ibsen:
Yeah, artistic preferences. I remember seeing Dylan in the 90s and he re-arranged every song to the unrecognizable. Springsteen's been a stadium artist since 1984, but in 1995 he did a low key tour with "The Ghost of Tom Joad". It required a different atmosphere, more intimate. he still play the title track on stadium shows but with other arrangements. It becomes a different song. I think in clubs and indoor venues you can play whatever because there's an intimacy. But stadiums are big and windy and those in the back follow the artist on the screen. One creates intimacy through familiar songs. I've always prefered clubs, in the 80s and 90s I was at concerts several times a week, but seeing someone like McCartney in a club, there is little chance.
I saw Springsteen in Albuquerque in 1995 on the "Ghost of Tom Joad" Tour, and it was great! A small venue (2,500) and just him, and acoustic guitar, and a spotlight. Amazing.
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Yeah, I have the LP. I remember when "Big Daddy" came out that Mellencamp said the kind of things in interviews that he would rather be at home and paint than being a rock star. So, I thought that he might have more commercial resistance in him. Springsteen had the dark and melancholic "Tunnel of Love" in the late 80s but he's still a stadium performer. If I have to pick a favorite with Mellencamp, I think it is "The Lonesome Jubilee". Lots of fiddle and accordion on it. Lisa Germano play the fiddle when I think about it. I have a record with her.
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Here is Springsteen in 1995 acoustic:
Paul should try this! -
RMartinez:
Here is Springsteen in 1995 acoustic:
Paul should try this!I remember the 60 Minutes profile on Springsteen during this tour. At the time, I didn't see a need for McCartney to do something this radical -- but, Lordy, is it ever time now.
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RMartinez:
Here is Springsteen in 1995 acoustic:
Paul should try this!A Paul acoustic tour is my dream tour! But I am not holding my breath. Have seen acoustic Springsteen on the Joad tour and also on his subsequent Devils and Dust solo tour in in 2005. Wonderful stuff and he did all sorts of songs that you don't often hear with the full band. Also, while he is a stadium artist as the poster above stated (especially in Europe), in the US he still plays arenas and sometimes will play theatres when he is guesting with other friends. But he has always been flexible with his set list while Paul hasn't, so it's not really fair to compare the two of them. And like Paul and Mellencamp and most other artists, Bruce also gets the people who show up just wanting to hear the hits like "Born in the USA" (which he rarely plays).