part of it is that it's kind of the first time i've had an overabundance of songs that i'm excited about doing, so i'm going to have to leave out stuff i really want to play. then there's the whole thing of finding balance and flow in the set, etc.
it could just be that i, in general, overthink setlists. not (just) mine. i find looking at setlists endlessly fascinating. i'm even intrigued by setlists of bands i don't listen to, or don't even like. i just love to pore over selections made; seeing when rarities crop up; how the show is opened and closed; what's played in the encore(s) - if there is any; seeing how different songs from different stages in the band or artist's career are sequenced together.
i sometimes go through websites devoted to a band's tours or even their entire "gigography": [sonic youth], [r.e.m.], [bruce springsteen], etc...
i get extra excited by pictures of actual setlists: are they handwritten or printed? do they have any special notes???
actually, going through my guitar cases i found this from the last gig i did in nagasaki, setting off a bout of nostalgia:
[note 1: due to time constraints, 'charm offensive' wasn't played]
[note 2: i usually don't actually write down setlists, as it's usually just myself playing...]
but then there are bands that don't bother with setlists at all and just improvise the entire set - fugazi and the white stripes jumping to mind. seems to have worked well for them, and it wouldn't really be difficult at all considering it's just myself...
is it the way to go?
as a sort of public rehearsal-type thing [but mainly just for the laugh], i'm going to set up in one of the shopping arcades in hiroshima on thursday night from about 21:30/22:00 and run through some songs.
swing by if you're around.
hopefully after that i'll have an idea of how to go about the show.
0 comments:
post a comment