Bands That Deliver

[amish_ashaman]

This isn't necessarily a Rush question (it can be, if Rush is your answer), but this seems like the right place for this topic given all the criticism and other commentary regarding the Time Machine setlist.

 

I want to know who you have seen that really delivered in terms of the setlist. What bands have you seen that dug deep into the catalog and played pretty much everything you wanted to hear?

 

Judas Priest did a good job on the Ram It Down tour (1987?). They didn't play a long show, but they covered a lot of the bases, even breaking out some stuff like Beyond the Realms of Death and Sinner, and keeping staples like The Ripper, Victim of Changes, Electric Eye, Green Manalishi, Hell Bent For Leather, etc.

 

I saw the Dead (after Jerry's Death) and the second set had Help on the Way/Slipknot!/Franklin's Tower, Ripple, Eyes of the World and He's Gone all in it. Given their enormous catalog and the way they switch it up, I couldn't have asked for much more than that.

 

Yes, on the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe tour (1989) played a lot of good stuff, including an incredible Close to the Edge (best I've ever heard that song sound).

 

The last time Bright Eyes hit the road (2008), they were mixing it up each night, but we caught probably the best setlist they played all tour(at Gibson Ballroom in Memphis), and the encore was probably the best encore I've ever seen. It couldn't have been more perfect, starting with First Day of My Life (a song that makes me think of when I first met my wife), True Blue (while my Memphis Tigers were playing next door at FedEx Forum, the first game of that season that we recently got in trouble for---with Derrick Rose and crew), and they closed with Roosevelt Room (a song they'd written while on the road and started playing it and tweaking it along the way). yep, that was killer.

 

Wilco is the one band I can think of that always does the best job of playing everything I want to hear. I've seen them three times, and it's always amazing. Jeff Tweedy can be a moody bastard, but he really cares how they sound and they always play long shows, and they always play 90-95% of the stuff people want to hear. I only have one song left on my wish list with them (Passenger Side, if anyone is familiar).

Edited July 2, 2010 by amish_ashaman

[danielmclark]

The Cure. Hands down, the best band I've personally seen that digs deep into the catalog - and a few years ago they did a show called Trilogy wherein they played Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers in their entirety. That was a great show.

[amish_ashaman]

QUOTE (danielmclark @ Jul 2 2010, 12:53 AM)

The Cure. Hands down, the best band I've personally seen that digs deep into the catalog - and a few years ago they did a show called Trilogy wherein they played Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers in their entirety. That was a great show.

Nice.

[Faithless Mover]

IMO the only active acts that measure up to the greats (Rush, Pink Floyd, The Who, Queen) are Springsteen, Tool, Peter Gabriel & Fleetwood Mac. They consistently bring it live. Kings of Leon and Muse are getting better and better but don't have the catalog just yet, but it won't be long. Gary Moore, U2, Metallica, Queensryche, Van Halen, Prince, Bob Dylan & Iron Maiden are capable of amazing shows but are too inconsistent in my experience.

 

Leonard Cohen was amazing last year.

 

Never got to see Zeppelin, The Doors, The Clash, The Band or classic Yes. Born too late. If only I had a real time machine. Some people would change history. I would go to concerts.

[amylovesrush]

Muse are already there IMO - consistently excellent live - a trio; thinking man's lyrics; and excellent musicians. Sound familiar?

[WIDE-ANGLE WATCHER]

I have seen Jethro Tull six times and Yes ten times and they have both always gone in to the vault and played older tunes with an almost chronological approach.

[amish_ashaman]

QUOTE (Faithless Mover @ Jul 2 2010, 02:05 AM)

IMO the only active acts that measure up to the greats (Rush, Pink Floyd, The Who, Queen) are Springsteen, Tool, Peter Gabriel & Fleetwood Mac. They consistently bring it live. Kings of Leon and Muse are getting better and better but don't have the catalog just yet, but it won't be long. Gary Moore, U2, Metallica, Queensryche, Van Halen, Prince, Bob Dylan & Iron Maiden are capable of amazing shows but are too inconsistent in my experience. Leonard Cohen was amazing last year. Never got to see Zeppelin, The Doors, The Clash, The Band or classic Yes. Born too late. If only I had a real time machine. Some people would change history. I would go to concerts.

I used to like Kings of Leon until they changed their whole sound. I really liked some of the stuff on Youth and Young Manhood, and I liked the direction they were going. By the third album, I thought they had really refined their sound and then they changed it.

 

I agree on the consistency issues with Bob Dylan. I've seen him twice. Once he was fantastic and played some of his best material (Desolation Row!!!) and the next time he stunk.

 

I've said in other threads, nobody digs as deep into their own catalog as well as everybody else' as Phish. The whole catalog is in play every night. You never know what they will play next, whether original or a cover. Highway to Hell, Purple Rain, Freebird, Sabotage (Beastie Boys), Good Times Bad Times, Walk Away, Tubthumping, whatever. I've never seen them live, though, so I can't say that they really bring it every night, but I've heard that the recent shows have been good. Part of me doesn't want to see them, because they are really hit or miss. The trouble with a band digging so deep is that if you don't like all of their stuff, there is a good chance you'll hear a bunch of stuff you don't like all that much. I would need to be able to see them 5-6 times in a row before I would really be wanting to see them. Does that make any sense?

[hrmavica]

Pearl Jam! Pearl Jam! Pearl Jam!

 

These guys play a different set each night

 

and and AND

 

they actually consider the last setlist played at each location when determining which songs to play for the next one.

 

This past October they played 4 shows in Philly (over 5 days) and just about played every single tune they have ever recorded (and some they haven't recorded) over the course of the 4 shows.

 

Also, at the show I saw in Toronto last year, the opening band was missing their lead singer and couldn't play, so members of Pearl Jam came out (solo) and played a mini set before the actual show!

 

Finally, they routinely break curfew to fit songs in.

 

Nobody treats their fans better than PJ.

[hughes&kettner]

alice in chains is touring with a wonderful setlist.

 

the last iron maiden tour- the powerslave era setlist...that was more a time machine, in a very big sense than rush's current list imo. whether you like maiden or not, what they did- basically played only songs from their live album from '86...it was awesome!!!!! now, that being said- rush has a much greater catolog to pull from, BUT- if rush were to be playing the moving pictures/exit...stage left setlist on this tour...sure we'd miss some gems from the later 80's and the 90's albums...but we'd get more jacob's ladder and less _______________(fill in the blank on which songs you don't need to hear on the current list...)

 

i love rush and can't wait to hear them play on july 9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hughes&kettner]

QUOTE (Faithless Mover @ Jul 2 2010, 02:05 AM)

IMO the only active acts that measure up to the greats (Rush, Pink Floyd, The Who, Queen) are Springsteen, Tool, Peter Gabriel & Fleetwood Mac. They consistently bring it live. Kings of Leon and Muse are getting better and better but don't have the catalog just yet, but it won't be long. Gary Moore, U2, Metallica, Queensryche, Van Halen, Prince, Bob Dylan & Iron Maiden are capable of amazing shows but are too inconsistent in my experience. Leonard Cohen was amazing last year. Never got to see Zeppelin, The Doors, The Clash, The Band or classic Yes. Born too late. If only I had a real time machine. Some people would change history. I would go to concerts.

have you ever seen maiden or especially metallica live???

 

inconsistent?

[Todem]

Porcupine Tree.

 

 

Amazing. Amazing. And even more amazing.

 

This is hands down the best progressive rock band currently playing right now in the world other than those 3 guys from Canada.

[trenken]

Ive seen many bands, and to me the best live band ive ever seen, and their name is very fitting too, is LIVE. They are very adventurous with their setlists, and they just had so much energy live, such a tight band, although they just broke up, so that's over with now. =(

 

[trenken]

QUOTE (hughes&kettner @ Jul 2 2010, 08:27 AM)

QUOTE (Faithless Mover @ Jul 2 2010, 02:05 AM) IMO the only active acts that measure up to the greats (Rush, Pink Floyd, The Who, Queen) are Springsteen, Tool, Peter Gabriel & Fleetwood Mac. They consistently bring it live. Kings of Leon and Muse are getting better and better but don't have the catalog just yet, but it won't be long. Gary Moore, U2, Metallica, Queensryche, Van Halen, Prince, Bob Dylan & Iron Maiden are capable of amazing shows but are too inconsistent in my experience. Leonard Cohen was amazing last year. Never got to see Zeppelin, The Doors, The Clash, The Band or classic Yes. Born too late. If only I had a real time machine. Some people would change history. I would go to concerts. have you ever seen maiden or especially metallica live???   inconsistent? Oh yeah, Metallica too, forgot about them. Really great live band.   Some great bands arent great live though. Mars Volta who Neil is a fan of really is a great band, my favorite of all the modern prog bands, they really remind me of old rush, very different though, but when they play live they just go on these long tangents where they just have all these weird sounds going on, not much actual song there, its kind of annoying.

[tangy]

Steely Dan.

[Todem]

QUOTE (trenken @ Jul 2 2010, 08:37 AM)

Ive seen many bands, and to me the best live band ive ever seen, and their name is very fitting too, is LIVE. They are very adventurous with their setlists, and they just had so much energy live, such a tight band, although they just broke up, so that's over with now. =(

Love them and I have seen them 8 times. They were one of the very best no question.

 

too bad the band broke up. But that writing was on the wall after Birds of Prey. Clearly the music went in a more short and pop direction with Ed writing everything top to bottom and the rest of the band clearly not having really any input or influence.

 

The Distance to Here is their Moving Pictures.

[trenken]

QUOTE (Todem @ Jul 2 2010, 08:49 AM)

QUOTE (trenken @ Jul 2 2010, 08:37 AM) Ive seen many bands, and to me the best live band ive ever seen, and their name is very fitting too, is LIVE. They are very adventurous with their setlists, and they just had so much energy live, such a tight band, although they just broke up, so that's over with now. =( Love them and I have seen them 8 times. They were one of the very best no question.   too bad the band broke up. But that writing was on the wall after Birds of Prey. Clearly the music went in a more short and pop direction with Ed writing everything top to bottom and the rest of the band clearly not having really any input or influence.   The Distance to Here is their Moving Pictures. Oh yeah, once Ed was doing all the writing they really lost their edge. Plus as he was getting older he started suffering from the same thing geddy did, loss of range and control.   And yeah, distance is their MP.

[alphseeker]

QUOTE (danielmclark @ Jul 2 2010, 12:53 AM)

The Cure. Hands down, the best band I've personally seen that digs deep into the catalog - and a few years ago they did a show called Trilogy wherein they played Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers in their entirety. That was a great show.

Two years ago they played a THREE HOUR SET in San Diego -

 

"Open," "Fascination Street," "A Night Like This," "The End of the World," "Lovesong," "Want," "Pictures of You," "Lullaby," "The Perfect Boy," "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea," "Kyoto Song," "Hot Hot Hot," "The Only One," "Charlotte Sometimes," "Torture," "Sleep When I'm Dead," "Push," "Inbetween Days," "Just Like Heaven," "Primary," "Us or Them," "Never Enough," "Wrong Number," "One Hundred Years," "End"

 

(first encore) "At Night," "M," "Play for Today," "A Forest"

 

(second encore) "Three Imaginary Boys," "Fire In Cairo," "Boys Don't Cry," "Jumping Someone Else's Train," "Grinding Halt," "10:15 Saturday Night," "Killing an Arab"

 

It left me exhausted and voiceless for a week - greatest concert i have ever been to -

[Faithless Mover]

QUOTE (hughes&kettner @ Jul 2 2010, 08:27 AM)

QUOTE (Faithless Mover @ Jul 2 2010, 02:05 AM) IMO the only active acts that measure up to the greats (Rush, Pink Floyd, The Who, Queen) are Springsteen, Tool, Peter Gabriel & Fleetwood Mac. They consistently bring it live. Kings of Leon and Muse are getting better and better but don't have the catalog just yet, but it won't be long. Gary Moore, U2, Metallica, Queensryche, Van Halen, Prince, Bob Dylan & Iron Maiden are capable of amazing shows but are too inconsistent in my experience. Leonard Cohen was amazing last year. Never got to see Zeppelin, The Doors, The Clash, The Band or classic Yes. Born too late. If only I had a real time machine. Some people would change history. I would go to concerts. have you ever seen maiden or especially metallica live???   inconsistent? I've seen Metallica 10 times and Maiden 7 times. I love them dearly but they have issues that keep them from that top tier of live acts. Kirk and Cliff Burton are the only truly great musicians in Metallica. They've never been as transcendent in concert since Burton died. Maiden was never that tight to begin with and take too many songs "off".   It's really not criticism, just observation/opinion. However, I won't disrespect Rush, Floyd, etc... by trying to claiming Maiden, Metallica, etc... belong in that club, no matter how much I love them. Who they are is what makes them great and great live acts, but not equal with the truly greats ultimately.   Of course it's a credit to any band if they have a large enough body of work for people to criticize that they don't mine their catalog enough.

[quickfree]

QUOTE (hrmavica @ Jul 2 2010, 08:13 AM)

Pearl Jam! Pearl Jam! Pearl Jam! These guys play a different set each night and and AND they actually consider the last setlist played at each location when determining which songs to play for the next one. This past October they played 4 shows in Philly (over 5 days) and just about played every single tune they have ever recorded (and some they haven't recorded) over the course of the 4 shows. Also, at the show I saw in Toronto last year, the opening band was missing their lead singer and couldn't play, so members of Pearl Jam came out (solo) and played a mini set before the actual show! Finally, they routinely break curfew to fit songs in. Nobody treats their fans better than PJ.

Agree on this one.

 

The tour stop last fall had them playing almost ever song not touched recently in the catalog in Philly especially. Some of the stuff they did to the songs (Bugs with an Orchestra??) was bizarre but they played anything just to get it out there.

 

I'll be kind of sad if Matt Cameron leaves permanently for Soundgarden. They'll never get back to being this prolific again, the chemistry just jelled with these guys through good and bad times.

[traeplien]

Great thread. I've seen so many excellent concerts in my life but perhaps the best setlist of all was the Yes Masterworks tour in 2000 when they played in the following order;

 

Close To The Edge

Starship Trooper

Gates Of Delirium

Leaves Of Green

Heart Of The Sunrise

Ritual

I've Seen All Good People

Roundabout

[danielmclark]

QUOTE (alphseeker @ Jul 2 2010, 09:52 AM)

QUOTE (danielmclark @ Jul 2 2010, 12:53 AM) The Cure. Hands down, the best band I've personally seen that digs deep into the catalog - and a few years ago they did a show called Trilogy wherein they played Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers in their entirety. That was a great show. Two years ago they played a THREE HOUR SET in San Diego -   "Open," "Fascination Street," "A Night Like This," "The End of the World," "Lovesong," "Want," "Pictures of You," "Lullaby," "The Perfect Boy," "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea," "Kyoto Song," "Hot Hot Hot," "The Only One," "Charlotte Sometimes," "Torture," "Sleep When I'm Dead," "Push," "Inbetween Days," "Just Like Heaven," "Primary," "Us or Them," "Never Enough," "Wrong Number," "One Hundred Years," "End"   (first encore) "At Night," "M," "Play for Today," "A Forest"   (second encore) "Three Imaginary Boys," "Fire In Cairo," "Boys Don't Cry," "Jumping Someone Else's Train," "Grinding Halt," "10:15 Saturday Night," "Killing an Arab"   It left me exhausted and voiceless for a week - greatest concert i have ever been to - Now that's what I'm talkin' bout. For you folks that aren't Cure fans, them playing a song like Torture or Kyoto Song is like Rush playing In the End or Different Strings.

[Faithless Mover]

QUOTE (hrmavica @ Jul 2 2010, 08:13 AM)

Pearl Jam! Pearl Jam! Pearl Jam! These guys play a different set each night and and AND they actually consider the last setlist played at each location when determining which songs to play for the next one. This past October they played 4 shows in Philly (over 5 days) and just about played every single tune they have ever recorded (and some they haven't recorded) over the course of the 4 shows. Also, at the show I saw in Toronto last year, the opening band was missing their lead singer and couldn't play, so members of Pearl Jam came out (solo) and played a mini set before the actual show! Finally, they routinely break curfew to fit songs in. Nobody treats their fans better than PJ.

I've tried t get into Pearl Jam. Really tried. Worked hard at it. But just can't.

 

I'm always tempted to go. Would I enjoy a show anyway?

 

I just realized I'm a hypocrite. I'm always telling non Rush and Springsteen fans, you just gotta go to a show. You can't not like it.

[amish_ashaman]

QUOTE (Faithless Mover @ Jul 2 2010, 10:03 AM)

QUOTE (hrmavica @ Jul 2 2010, 08:13 AM) Pearl Jam! Pearl Jam! Pearl Jam! These guys play a different set each night and and AND they actually consider the last setlist played at each location when determining which songs to play for the next one. This past October they played 4 shows in Philly (over 5 days) and just about played every single tune they have ever recorded (and some they haven't recorded) over the course of the 4 shows. Also, at the show I saw in Toronto last year, the opening band was missing their lead singer and couldn't play, so members of Pearl Jam came out (solo) and played a mini set before the actual show! Finally, they routinely break curfew to fit songs in. Nobody treats their fans better than PJ. I've tried t get into Pearl Jam. Really tried. Worked hard at it. But just can't.   I'm always tempted to go. Would I enjoy a show anyway?   I just realized I'm a hypocrite. I'm always telling non Rush and Springsteen fans, you just gotta go to a show. You can't not like it. Definitely true with Pearl Jam. I never liked them until I saw them live, and hrmavica was exactly right when he said that nobody treats their fans better. They bring it every time, and they always tailor the ever-changing setlist to the city, the venue, the times, etc.

[Del_Duio]

Midight Oil.

 

The setlist was different every night and they not only played staples like Beds are Burning & Blue Sky Mine they'd go all over their catalog which started in 1978.

 

The first show I saw them at they played No Time for Games which was off a 1980 EP for Chrissakes. They aren't afraid to play new album stuff and any album is subject to get represented on any given day.

 

They are the most energetic band I've ever seen too. Even in their 40s they played harder than bands in their 20s. Unreal!

 

I love Rush, but the Oils are the best live act I've ever seen. And by a lot too.

Edited July 2, 2010 by Del_Duio

[Del_Duio]

QUOTE (amylovesrush @ Jul 2 2010, 02:50 AM)

Muse are already there IMO - consistently excellent live - a trio; thinking man's lyrics; and excellent musicians. Sound familiar?

Primus?