Would There Be Setlist Changes Every Night?

[presto123]

This is not intended to be a Neil bashing thread. I'm a huge Neil fan myself and Neil is the reason I started playing drums so long ago. My point is.............I've always had the feeling that it is mainly Neil that has resisted spontaneous setlists on a nightly basis. He is such a creature of habit and precision and even pre-planned daily itineraries that it seems to reason. Neil even single handedly vetoed Closer To The Heart when the other two wanted to add it on a European date once.

 

I know you might say their setlists are more static because of the back videos and such but if they REALLY wanted to change on a nightly basis I'm sure it could be done. Heck....I think Dream Theater sometimes didn't make out their setlist until the DAY OF THE SHOW and their catalog is just as complicated if not more so than Rush's. Anyhoo......not meant to be a bash thread(I think the setlist is killer currently) but anybody else suspect Neil has more to do with the static setlist than the other two?

Edited April 23, 2013 by presto123

[gudbuytjane]

I think it's more to do with the lights, videos, etc. Their show is very complex, so it must be hard to shuffle that around too much.

[Dscrapre]

Maybe, but I like the fairly static nature of the setlist. I'd be super pissed if the show before mine got something like Natural Science, and then my show didn't.

[losingit2k]

They'll probably alternate between Set A & B just like on the first leg. Now will it be the same songs? We'll find out within the next three days!

 

:codger:

[Lerxster]

I would think I'd be much harder for Geddy to adapt to spontanious set list changes, because of keyboard and pedal needs.

[Nate1647]

It amazes me that people still don't get what all goes into a rush show. Weeks of rehearsal and programming. Its an incredibly thought out and orchestrated process that involves so much more than the 3 guys on stage.

[TheBluePhoenix]

I hope I get to hear a couple/few different songs than I heard on the first leg.

[losingit2k]

Tonight in Ft. Lauderdale they played the "A" set list:

 

Subdivisions

The Big Money

Force 10

Grand Designs

The Body Electric

Territories

The Analog Kid

Bravado

Where's My Thing? (Part 4: Gangster of Boats Trilogy)/Drum Solo

Far Cry

 

(-Intermission-)

 

Caravan

Clockwork Angels

The Anarchist

Carnies

The Wreckers

Headlong Flight /Drum Solo

Halo Effect (with guitar solo intro)

Seven Cities Of Gold

The Garden

Manhattan Project

The Percussor (Electronic Drum Solo)

Red Sector A

YYZ

The Spirit Of Radio

 

Encore:

Tom Sawyer

2112 Overture/Temples/Grand Finale

 

Rush put on a great show in Ft.Lauderale tonight. They were in top form. Geddy's Vocals sound great but they would be too low in the mix at times and instantly correct. Everything else sounded great. specially the String Section and keyboards. You could hear them both, clear as bells. Alex was on fire, his acoustic solo before Halo effect was emaculate! Neil was his usual professor self teaching the masses how its truly done behind the skins. His three solo were impressive even though I felt he might have made a mistake or two during the first drum solo. But then again who the hell knows. He might had just wanted to play it that way. The lights were incredible except that they missed the video cue during the begining of 2112, (No video-just blackness). All the Explosions and pyro were right on the mark. Yes even Carnies had the full blown spectacle at the end. They were awesome, but I don't know why they don't do the flames at the end of the Overture anymore. I always thought that was a great effect. Anyway, all and all they delivered the good as they always do!

 

:Alex: :Neil: :geddy:

[D3strukt]

f**k YES, MIDDLETOWN DREAMS IN ORLANDO! f**k YEAH!

[Jaminbenb]

While I agree that it COULD be complex lights, videos and all of that, I think it's probably because of the era these guys came out of. Way back in the 70's and 80's NO bands (except for probably the Dead, and one or two others) ever changed the setlist more than a song or two from night to night... It's only the past 10-15 years that you're seeing bands do this...Seeing bands like Dream Theater do it (with their complex lights videos and all that) (not to mention complex arrangements) shows that you can't use that as an excuse to NOT do it...but I really feel that it's the era of the band's origins that dictates their setlist.

 

Don't you think that if they DID decide to change MORE every night that Neil would just practice THOSE tunes prior to the tour as well? Their set lists over the past several tours have changed constantly from year to year (except for "2nd leg" tours) No complaints here!

[Todem]

Great show last night indeed. The crowd however was dead as a door mail. Blech!!!!

 

Worst crowd I ever saw for a South Florida date

 

Come Orlando let's get crazy tomorrow night!

 

And yes Middletown Dreams!!!!!

[pony2112]

How big was the crowd?

[WavesandWindows]

I need my Natural Science and Freewill.

Please Vital Signs though. It would be awesome and fits in great with the other synthy stuff!

[Todem]

Floor full, lower bowl almost at capacity.

 

BB&T is a nice venue......but security was ridiculous and rude for a rock concert like Rush.

 

I guess with what happened in Boston I can understand....but people were really uptight and on power trips.

 

Never saw such ass clown attitudes like I did last night.

 

It will probably be worse in Orlando tomorrow night.

Edited April 27, 2013 by Todem

[HalfwayToGone]

I

While I agree that it COULD be complex lights, videos and all of that, I think it's probably because of the era these guys came out of. Way back in the 70's and 80's NO bands (except for probably the Dead, and one or two others) ever changed the setlist more than a song or two from night to night... It's only the past 10-15 years that you're seeing bands do this...Seeing bands like Dream Theater do it (with their complex lights videos and all that) (not to mention complex arrangements) shows that you can't use that as an excuse to NOT do it...

Aside from the trend away from selling physical albums and a greater reliance on ticket sales in the industry, I disagree. While many bands back in the day had consistent sets, there were lots of groups that made up the setlist during the show, especially before stage shows became huge computerized productions. When it was all done by humans and on the fly, bands could play whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, and the crew could just go with the flow. In the 60s and 70s, rock bands jammed a lot more on stage, and not just the Dead. Most of the Woodstock era rock groups came from a tradition of being able to play anything on a moment's notice. Frank Zappa's shows were never the same twice, because the entire show was just the band itself, with no extra anything. Setlists became more rigid as automated, computer controlled show effects became more standard around the mid-90s. You could see the evolution in a band like Pantera for example—they never had setlists at all when they toured their first major label album, and as time went on the show became less flexible, although they always changed a little if they played the same venue twice in a row. Rush has always been a band that was much more rigorous about doing things consistently, even to the extent that almost every drum fill is in the same spot in every song as on the studio version. That approach is applied to the entire live show, to minimize inconsistency of performance from night to night, because that was the standard Rush set for themselves from the get-go. At this point, the band seems to be struggling to incorporate more spontaneity into their shows, and now we have minor changes in setlists, and more improv wherever possible. In Rush's case, it's probably a combination of personal factors and wanting more fans at multiple shows that is driving the change of approach, but I think it has little to do with their "era." Much more related to their timing is the fact that they are excellent musicians who don't need to rely completely on the technology to sound like they can play live, although they definitely have embraced the technology that some others cannot exist without.

[Jon2112]

Seems to me they could switch it all up from night to night if they really wanted to.

 

If they had the sets figured out say... that day, they could rearrange the cues for the lighting, sample triggers, pyro etc as needed, wouldn't you think?

[Snaked]

This again?

 

[LedRush]

I also wish that they would mix it up a little more. It's harder for Rush than for most as they have so many triggers and such a show, but that's a bit of a cop out. We know that even within the same songs that they don't like to deviate from the studio version, even on songs where they once did this. It's a choice. Fortunately, it's a choice they're moving away from now.

[tsanph]

Agree they probably can't because of complex show these days. but they never did. And how I wish they would. I saw them 6 times on one tour...and it got boring. And if they should ever "improvise"...God forbid. i guess i should have spent my hard earned following the Black Crowes or suchlike...

[Slack jaw gaze]

There probably wouldn't be post 1975 Rush setlists if Neil wasn't in the band.

 

Neil even single handedly vetoed Closer To The Heart when the other two wanted to add it on a European date once.

He did veto it, but Alex thanked him afterwards because he didn't want to add it either.

[WavesandWindows]

Neil even single handedly vetoed Closer To The Heart when the other two wanted to add it on a European date once.

He did veto it, but Alex thanked him afterwards because he didn't want to add it either.

 

Really? When?

[FountainOfSyrinx]

Neil even single handedly vetoed Closer To The Heart when the other two wanted to add it on a European date once.

He did veto it, but Alex thanked him afterwards because he didn't want to add it either.

 

Really? When?

Not sure.. It was in Roadshow. I remember that much.

[FountainOfSyrinx]

[enter FoS post about how the DMB setlists are awesome and DMB is awesome in general]

 

 

No but seriously. The DMB sets are created the day of the show. Always random. Not one song is played every night. For instance, Crash Into Me (biggest hit) was only played at 7 of the 49 shows in 2013. Belly Belly Nice, a single from their most recent album, made an appearance at 29 of the 49 shows.

 

Now, as a diehard Rush fan that has seen them 9 times, I'd love to see some random tunes broken out and be surprised at every single show I attend. I'm also sure a lot of the setlist bitching would die down on this forum is Tom Sawyer was only played once every seven shows.

 

I understand different shows would go to different people, but I think that's an advantage rather than a disadvantage. The casual fan wouldn't care too much. Hell, throw in TSOR, Red Barchetta, Tom Sawyer, and Freewill every night, but mix up the other 20 or so songs from night to night. I really don't think it's too much to ask for.

 

 

 

 

DMB throws in random songs like JTR, that haven't even appeared on a studio album.

 

Imagine if Rush pulled out Countdown once or twice a tour. Neurotica. Alien Shore. Jacob's Ladder. Emotion Detector. Best I Can. I mean, some of their material just flat out doesn't work with Ged getting older, but I think they could find a significant amount of material to choose from. War Paint? Red Tide? AFTK?

 

There are endless possibilities with a random set. You can experiment. With them in their sixties now, it's becoming more and more difficult. But it is something that is not impossible, and could definitely have been part of the 70's, 80's, and 90's.

Edited October 30, 2013 by FountainOfSyrinx

[chasekratzer]

I think that their set list stays the same or almost the same for each tour.

[Slack jaw gaze]

Neil even single handedly vetoed Closer To The Heart when the other two wanted to add it on a European date once.

He did veto it, but Alex thanked him afterwards because he didn't want to add it either.

 

Really? When?

R30 tour per Roadshow. Edited November 3, 2013 by Slack jaw gaze