Set List critique
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Bruce M. wrote:
It feels like we have the same discussion every tour (and the same converstation happens over on Steve Hoffman's board, too), but what the hell...
As Suzy has mentioned, Paul's said they hadn't had time to rehearse more than 3 new songs, but are working on more. I guess that's possible, but he played Confidante at Abbey Road and didn't do it in either Canada show, so I dunno. I do understand the reluctance to play I Don't Know, which IMHO is a beautiful song but one that seems to take folks a few listenings to warm up to. In concert, artists tend to go for songs that are more instantly appealing if the audience doesn't already know them. In this case, I'd say Dominoes and People Want Peace would fit that bill. And I'd personally love to see him put Confidante into the set list.
If he wants to keep the Beatles-heavy set list, which he clearly does, the easy thing is to drop In Spite of All the Danger and Four Five Second. I seriously doubt anyone's clamoring to hear those. But I'm glad he's keeping Queenie Eye and My Valentine. Paul's usual routine is to drop the new songs as soon as he's done promoting a particular album, and I'm glad he's moving at least slightly away from the file-'em-and-forget-'em habit.
But if it were up to me, he'd drop half the Beatles tunes and play Silly Love Songs, Old Siam Sir, Wanderlust, Somebody Who Cares, The World Tonight, Run Devil Run, Friends To Go, The End of the End and That Was Me, plus a couple more Egypt Station songs.
Hell will freeze over first.
Seriously Bruce, how much time do you think it would take a rock legend like McCartney and his touring band for over 15 years to learn more than three songs from Egypt Station well enough to play live. Especially since the band did record the songs with him so it is not like they are totally clueless on how to play them. Yes, the same discussion happens every tour because some of his fans are frustrated by lack of songs in the set list past 1981 if they are not his current album. Funny, how he could learn to play 6 songs from FITD on his 1989 tour right away and that band was brand new. We all get having to play the hits which is around 25 songs, it is the remaining songs some of us wish he would be more willing to get creative. I think BJ brings up a great point that he would rather play a "B" side Beatle song (In Spite of Danger, I Wanna Be Your Man) than some of his excellent solo songs. I agree with your wish list but like you said Hell will freeze over first - lol.
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Put yourself in Paul's position. He has a band that tours every year and in most cases sells out tickets the day they go on sale! Why fix something that's not broken??
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If he can keep doing My Valentine, then surely I Dont Know can get a go..
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DrivinFan wrote:
Put yourself in Paul's position. He has a band that tours every year and in most cases sells out tickets the day they go on sale! Why fix something that's not broken??
It is not that he needs to fix something, just happens that a bunch of people really like his solo music and current #1 album and would love to hear more of it live.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
DrivinFan wrote:
Put yourself in Paul's position. He has a band that tours every year and in most cases sells out tickets the day they go on sale! Why fix something that's not broken??
It is not that he needs to fix something, just happens that a bunch of people really like his solo music and current #1 album and would love to hear more of it live.
That.
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Nancy R wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
DrivinFan wrote:
Put yourself in Paul's position. He has a band that tours every year and in most cases sells out tickets the day they go on sale! Why fix something that's not broken??
It is not that he needs to fix something, just happens that a bunch of people really like his solo music and current #1 album and would love to hear more of it live.
That.
Exactly!
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
DrivinFan wrote:
Put yourself in Paul's position. He has a band that tours every year and in most cases sells out tickets the day they go on sale! Why fix something that's not broken??
It is not that he needs to fix something, just happens that a bunch of people really like his solo music and current #1 album and would love to hear more of it live.
And I agree...I would love to hear something I haven't heard live before when I see him...but I was just throwing out a different view.
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After the canadian gigs the tour will stop for 1 month, so I hope Paul and his band will rehearse and add others songs.
Maybe other 2 from Egypt (Ceaser rock and back in Brazil, my guess) but I would to hear "Hand in hand" and "Dominoes".
Silly love songs and Honey pie (My guess) but I hope "Martha my dear" and "Rocky Raccoon".
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corchians wrote:
After the canadian gigs the tour will stop for 1 month, so I hope Paul and his band will rehearse and add others songs.
Maybe other 2 from Egypt (Ceaser rock and back in Brazil, my guess) but I would to hear "Hand in hand" and "Dominoes".
Silly love songs and Honey pie (My guess) but I hope "Martha my dear" and "Rocky Raccoon".
If he did any of those last 4 songs, I would eat my hat!
He always said the piano in MMD is really difficult, so highly doubt he’d want to put the time in to re-learn that. -
If the piano part is too hard for him, Paul can play the bass and Wix the piano, with the real brass section to complete the arrangment.
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corchians wrote:
If the piano part is too hard for him, Paul can play the bass and Wix the piano, with the real brass section to complete the arrangment.
That would be wonderful, but I don’t see it happening.
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Nancy R wrote:
corchians wrote:
After the canadian gigs the tour will stop for 1 month, so I hope Paul and his band will rehearse and add others songs.
Maybe other 2 from Egypt (Ceaser rock and back in Brazil, my guess) but I would to hear "Hand in hand" and "Dominoes".
Silly love songs and Honey pie (My guess) but I hope "Martha my dear" and "Rocky Raccoon".
If he did any of those last 4 songs, I would eat my hat!
He always said the piano in MMD is really difficult, so highly doubt he’d want to put the time in to re-learn that.I doubt he will do the songs mentioned above also but if he really did one of those Beatle songs, I think it would be "Rocky Racoon" which would be fairly easy for him to sing even now and fit in during acoustic part of show.
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Thoughts after seeing him for the first time since Out There 2014 at ACL last night.
- AHDN works very well as an opener, but nothing beats Magical Mystery Tour in my opinion
- Hi, Hi, Hi works very well in the 2nd spots
- the horns bring so much energy to the show, not that any was lacking
- My Valentine is still a down point
- the audience sat through the Egypt Station songs he played (Come On To Me, Fuh You),but he could've curated better ES picks for the crowd (Happy With You or Confidante? Who Cares could've worked too)
- the acoustic set works well, In Spite of All The Danger isn't my favorite choice (would rather have You Won't See Me).
- Lady Madonna rocked more than it ever has with the live horns
- Mr Kite was very cool with the visuals
- Ob-La-Di went over very well with the crowd and the singalong
- Live and Let Die was very cool with the horns
- Encore was great length for the fest
Overall, I had a great time at the show. Wonder if he'll change it up for next weekend
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FlowersOnTheRun wrote:
Thoughts after seeing him for the first time since Out There 2014 at ACL last night.
- AHDN works very well as an opener, but nothing beats Magical Mystery Tour in my opinion
- Hi, Hi, Hi works very well in the 2nd spots
- the horns bring so much energy to the show, not that any was lacking
- My Valentine is still a down point
- the audience sat through the Egypt Station songs he played (Come On To Me, Fuh You),but he could've curated better ES picks for the crowd (Happy With You or Confidante? Who Cares could've worked too)
- the acoustic set works well, In Spite of All The Danger isn't my favorite choice (would rather have You Won't See Me).
- Lady Madonna rocked more than it ever has with the live horns
- Mr Kite was very cool with the visuals
- Ob-La-Di went over very well with the crowd and the singalong
- Live and Let Die was very cool with the horns
- Encore was great length for the fest
Overall, I had a great time at the show. Wonder if he'll change it up for next weekend
"My Valentine" will never leave the setlist and we all know why, wish he would do another song for his wife Nancy. As for "Egypt Station" songs, "Who Cares" should definitely be in the set list IMO. Songs rocks and it is about timely subject. I am glad he has horn section with him this tour, it really does add something and I believe he has not had one since 1976. I know I am beating the subject to death but really wish he would replace a B side Beatle song like "In Spite Of Danger" with one of his many wonderful solo songs. I think "Little Willow" woud be excellent song in his acoustic part of the show.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
FlowersOnTheRun wrote:
Thoughts after seeing him for the first time since Out There 2014 at ACL last night.
- AHDN works very well as an opener, but nothing beats Magical Mystery Tour in my opinion
- Hi, Hi, Hi works very well in the 2nd spots
- the horns bring so much energy to the show, not that any was lacking
- My Valentine is still a down point
- the audience sat through the Egypt Station songs he played (Come On To Me, Fuh You),but he could've curated better ES picks for the crowd (Happy With You or Confidante? Who Cares could've worked too)
- the acoustic set works well, In Spite of All The Danger isn't my favorite choice (would rather have You Won't See Me).
- Lady Madonna rocked more than it ever has with the live horns
- Mr Kite was very cool with the visuals
- Ob-La-Di went over very well with the crowd and the singalong
- Live and Let Die was very cool with the horns
- Encore was great length for the fest
Overall, I had a great time at the show. Wonder if he'll change it up for next weekend
"My Valentine" will never leave the setlist and we all know why, wish he would do another song for his wife Nancy. As for "Egypt Station" songs, "Who Cares" should definitely be in the set list IMO. Songs rocks and it is about timely subject. I am glad he has horn section with him this tour, it really does add something and I believe he has not had one since 1976. I know I am beating the subject to death but really wish he would replace a B side Beatle song like "In Spite Of Danger" with one of his many wonderful solo songs. I think "Little Willow" woud be excellent song in his acoustic part of the show.
Yankeefan,
According to the Setlist I saw from Austin TX, he's now down to 2 ES songs. Just blows my mind with a #1 album. For the life of me I can't understand why he doesn't do:
Happy With You - great little new acoustic song as a tribute to Nancy
Who Cares - why would he drop this ES song...better than the 2 ES songs he is playing in my opinion and way better than a few of the "tired" Beatle and Wings' songs still in his setlist.
People Want Peace - another great ES song and again very timely to a young crowd.
Confidante - another great little acoustic song...want to hear this live and we might even get a better vocal than the studio release
Dominoes - great new mid tempo song
I could go on and on. The band had plenty of time to rehearse well before the tour so they could play 6-8 songs from this great album. I'll never understand!
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FlowersOnTheRun wrote:
Thoughts after seeing him for the first time since Out There 2014 at ACL last night.
- AHDN works very well as an opener, but nothing beats Magical Mystery Tour in my opinion
- Hi, Hi, Hi works very well in the 2nd spots
- the horns bring so much energy to the show, not that any was lacking
- My Valentine is still a down point
- the audience sat through the Egypt Station songs he played (Come On To Me, Fuh You),but he could've curated better ES picks for the crowd (Happy With You or Confidante? Who Cares could've worked too)
- the acoustic set works well, In Spite of All The Danger isn't my favorite choice (would rather have You Won't See Me).
- Lady Madonna rocked more than it ever has with the live horns
- Mr Kite was very cool with the visuals
- Ob-La-Di went over very well with the crowd and the singalong
- Live and Let Die was very cool with the horns
- Encore was great length for the fest
Overall, I had a great time at the show. Wonder if he'll change it up for next weekend
Exactly why you wont see a ton of ES songs. Crowd was snoozing. You think Confidante or People Want Peace would go over any better?!?! People will pay $50-$2000+ per ticket, but wont bother to spend $10 on the new record, or listen for FREE with the copy they got with their ticket purchase. That being said the album was numero uno for a week. Whats the point of recording an album if you dont play it. In Spite of All the Danger is a bit of a dud at this point. Its time Paul lowers the key to most of his songs. His voice is barely hanging in there, and you can hear the strain he is putting into it.
From the first "Its been a.." in AHDN throught The End you can hear him fighting to hit the right key. Lowering the key would help TREMENDOUSLY for him, and 99% of the audience would hardly notice.
Ditch the 15 song soundcheck too. That cant help his voice either for the main show. And for gosh sakes..take a sip of water!!
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Maccaroni1974 wrote:
FlowersOnTheRun wrote:
Thoughts after seeing him for the first time since Out There 2014 at ACL last night.
- AHDN works very well as an opener, but nothing beats Magical Mystery Tour in my opinion
- Hi, Hi, Hi works very well in the 2nd spots
- the horns bring so much energy to the show, not that any was lacking
- My Valentine is still a down point
- the audience sat through the Egypt Station songs he played (Come On To Me, Fuh You),but he could've curated better ES picks for the crowd (Happy With You or Confidante? Who Cares could've worked too)
- the acoustic set works well, In Spite of All The Danger isn't my favorite choice (would rather have You Won't See Me).
- Lady Madonna rocked more than it ever has with the live horns
- Mr Kite was very cool with the visuals
- Ob-La-Di went over very well with the crowd and the singalong
- Live and Let Die was very cool with the horns
- Encore was great length for the fest
Overall, I had a great time at the show. Wonder if he'll change it up for next weekend
Exactly why you wont see a ton of ES songs. Crowd was snoozing. You think Confidante or People Want Peace would go over any better?!?! People will pay $50-$2000+ per ticket, but wont bother to spend $10 on the new record, or listen for FREE with the copy they got with their ticket purchase. That being said the album was numero uno for a week. Whats the point of recording an album if you dont play it. In Spite of All the Danger is a bit of a dud at this point. Its time Paul lowers the key to most of his songs. His voice is barely hanging in there, and you can hear the strain he is putting into it.
From the first "Its been a.." in AHDN throught The End you can hear him fighting to hit the right key. Lowering the key would help TREMENDOUSLY for him, and 99% of the audience would hardly notice.
Ditch the 15 song soundcheck too. That cant help his voice either for the main show. And for gosh sakes..take a sip of water!!
DITTO!
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Maccaroni1974 wrote:
FlowersOnTheRun wrote:
Thoughts after seeing him for the first time since Out There 2014 at ACL last night.
- AHDN works very well as an opener, but nothing beats Magical Mystery Tour in my opinion
- Hi, Hi, Hi works very well in the 2nd spots
- the horns bring so much energy to the show, not that any was lacking
- My Valentine is still a down point
- the audience sat through the Egypt Station songs he played (Come On To Me, Fuh You),but he could've curated better ES picks for the crowd (Happy With You or Confidante? Who Cares could've worked too)
- the acoustic set works well, In Spite of All The Danger isn't my favorite choice (would rather have You Won't See Me).
- Lady Madonna rocked more than it ever has with the live horns
- Mr Kite was very cool with the visuals
- Ob-La-Di went over very well with the crowd and the singalong
- Live and Let Die was very cool with the horns
- Encore was great length for the fest
Overall, I had a great time at the show. Wonder if he'll change it up for next weekend
Exactly why you wont see a ton of ES songs. Crowd was snoozing. You think Confidante or People Want Peace would go over any better?!?! People will pay $50-$2000+ per ticket, but wont bother to spend $10 on the new record, or listen for FREE with the copy they got with their ticket purchase. That being said the album was numero uno for a week. Whats the point of recording an album if you dont play it. In Spite of All the Danger is a bit of a dud at this point. Its time Paul lowers the key to most of his songs. His voice is barely hanging in there, and you can hear the strain he is putting into it.
From the first "Its been a.." in AHDN throught The End you can hear him fighting to hit the right key. Lowering the key would help TREMENDOUSLY for him, and 99% of the audience would hardly notice.
Ditch the 15 song soundcheck too. That cant help his voice either for the main show. And for gosh sakes..take a sip of water!!
15 song soundcheck will not disappear because then he can't make tons of money he charges for people to attend them. Once again, he plays around 25 Beatle/Wings hits every night and that is more songs than most artist do for an entire concert. He should be of the mindset that the other 10 songs I will play a bunch of songs from my new album that was #1 for a week and if people want to snooze and not try to enjoy something new with them than "Who Cares" - lol. Why should he lower the key, according to another thread on this board he stills sounds "F Good". - lol. I am just having some fun and I agree with you about his current voice. There is no shame in getting older and why not adapt and change the key to help yourself vocally. I assume he does drink before a show but if you are going to sing for close to 3 hrs, you need to keep it up during the show.
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B J Conlee wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
FlowersOnTheRun wrote:
Thoughts after seeing him for the first time since Out There 2014 at ACL last night.
- AHDN works very well as an opener, but nothing beats Magical Mystery Tour in my opinion
- Hi, Hi, Hi works very well in the 2nd spots
- the horns bring so much energy to the show, not that any was lacking
- My Valentine is still a down point
- the audience sat through the Egypt Station songs he played (Come On To Me, Fuh You),but he could've curated better ES picks for the crowd (Happy With You or Confidante? Who Cares could've worked too)
- the acoustic set works well, In Spite of All The Danger isn't my favorite choice (would rather have You Won't See Me).
- Lady Madonna rocked more than it ever has with the live horns
- Mr Kite was very cool with the visuals
- Ob-La-Di went over very well with the crowd and the singalong
- Live and Let Die was very cool with the horns
- Encore was great length for the fest
Overall, I had a great time at the show. Wonder if he'll change it up for next weekend
"My Valentine" will never leave the setlist and we all know why, wish he would do another song for his wife Nancy. As for "Egypt Station" songs, "Who Cares" should definitely be in the set list IMO. Songs rocks and it is about timely subject. I am glad he has horn section with him this tour, it really does add something and I believe he has not had one since 1976. I know I am beating the subject to death but really wish he would replace a B side Beatle song like "In Spite Of Danger" with one of his many wonderful solo songs. I think "Little Willow" woud be excellent song in his acoustic part of the show.
Yankeefan,
According to the Setlist I saw from Austin TX, he's now down to 2 ES songs. Just blows my mind with a #1 album. For the life of me I can't understand why he doesn't do:
Happy With You - great little new acoustic song as a tribute to Nancy
Who Cares - why would he drop this ES song...better than the 2 ES songs he is playing in my opinion and way better than a few of the "tired" Beatle and Wings' songs still in his setlist.
People Want Peace - another great ES song and again very timely to a young crowd.
Confidante - another great little acoustic song...want to hear this live and we might even get a better vocal than the studio release
Dominoes - great new mid tempo song
I could go on and on. The band had plenty of time to rehearse well before the tour so they could play 6-8 songs from this great album. I'll never understand!
BJ, I think the answer is simply his ego needs to hear loud thunderous (lol) approval after every song which he pretty much gets for the Beatle tunes and it probably drives him crazy to hear polite applause after a solo song. Strange that he played a bunch more songs live from other albums when he was promoting them and now this album reached #1 in the charts and he does 2-3 songs from it - smh.
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audi wrote:
titorules007:
I disagree with you on the new album. I love it and wish he would add more to the live show.
I believe he means "NEW," not the most recent new album. I tend to agree with him. Most of the songs have been done to death. Paul has his idea on what people who attend his concerts expect or want to hear...but many of what he chooses don't necessarily fit that criteria. And certainly not for the 100th time! Some he just can't sing anymore...."Maybe I'm Amazed." Please stop doing this song....or make it a soft acoustic number. There are scads of Beatles' songs people are aware of....do 'em!!!! Change it up! Just an opinion, folks!
