The 30+ song set lists done for good?

Merkin Baller

Weston1283 said:

I don't mind the idea of 20-25 songs, and I certainly don't have to hear "Dirty Frank" or "Other Side" to have it be a good show

But, there are entire albums and portions of the bands career that get sacrificed with the new show length (2000-2009).  Songs like Life Wasted, WWS, I Am Mine, even The Fixer.... I could go on.  There are going to be great songs that were usually commonly played that will sadly go by the wayside if the setlists stay around 22 songs.  

So to clarify for myself, its not the lack of specific rarities or white whales, but overall lack of diversity that will drive me to travel to less shows

Agree 100%. 

aisleseats

Weston1283 said:

I don't mind the idea of 20-25 songs, and I certainly don't have to hear "Dirty Frank" or "Other Side" to have it be a good show

But, there are entire albums and portions of the bands career that get sacrificed with the new show length (2000-2009).  Songs like Life Wasted, WWS, I Am Mine, even The Fixer.... I could go on.  There are going to be great songs that were usually commonly played that will sadly go by the wayside if the setlists stay around 22 songs.  

So to clarify for myself, its not the lack of specific rarities or white whales, but overall lack of diversity that will drive me to travel to less shows

And this is why I don't think it's very smart of them to do this. When you reduce the number of songs played, you limit the potential for variety. When there's a lack of variety, the hardcore fans are going to go to fewer shows. And the hardcore fans are really their bread and butter. Let's face it, the person who's going to be excited to hear Even Flow or Alive isn't the person who's lining up for merch at 10a.

drakeheuer14

Will less songs per night = more tour dates per year?

That would be a great trade off 

JimmyV

drakeheuer14 said:

Will less songs per night = more tour dates per year?

That would be a great trade off 

Not this year. High hopes for 2023!

devonfz

Plus the idea that only Even Flow or corduroy will get the crowd going is ridiculous they have dozens of other amazing hard rocking songs that aren't getting played such as go animal whipping spin the black circle MFC breaker fall grievance save you green disease comatose got some Johnny Guitar and I could go on and on then they have a ton of other songs such as faithful Lightyear's parting ways thin air breathe in hiding they aren't just getting rid of a couple covers and a couple shity songs here and there

Merkin Baller

devonfz said:

Plus the idea that only Even Flow or corduroy will get the crowd going is ridiculous they have dozens of other amazing hard rocking songs that aren't getting played such as go animal whipping spin the black circle MFC breaker fall grievance save you green disease comatose got some Johnny Guitar and I could go on and on then they have a ton of other songs such as faithful Lightyear's parting ways thin air breathe in hiding they aren't just getting rid of a couple covers and a couple shity songs here and there

Johnny Guitar? 

JimmyV

Mike McCready's guitar playing during Evenflow is insane every single time. 

on2legs

It’s probably time we took a vote on if we want the 30+ song shows to return.  Then we can let the band know the results so they can adjust the set lists for the rest of the tour. 

evenflow82

Johnny Guitar???

(In Obi Wan Kenobi voice) "That is a name I have not heard in quite some time...."

RS151862

Merkin Baller said:

devonfz said:

Plus the idea that only Even Flow or corduroy will get the crowd going is ridiculous they have dozens of other amazing hard rocking songs that aren't getting played such as go animal whipping spin the black circle MFC breaker fall grievance save you green disease comatose got some Johnny Guitar and I could go on and on then they have a ton of other songs such as faithful Lightyear's parting ways thin air breathe in hiding they aren't just getting rid of a couple covers and a couple shity songs here and there

Johnny Guitar? 

Lol.. well done.

CarryTheZero

aisleseats said:

elcazador83 said:

Way back to the '16 tour, I went to Jax with a buddy. I had a great time and so did he. When they played evenflow, he was blown away as was most of the crowd. At the same time, when they played Of The Earth and Ghost you could almost here a pin drop. The rarities only appease a small percentage of us while the vast majority enjoy the hits.

I don't know where you were sitting, but I remember quite a bit of excitement when they busted out Ghost.

It can feel different in different parts of the arena for sure. I was at Greenville ‘16, and in the upper deck opposite stage. I was super excited but people around me seemed bored (even during Vs.!). I know the floor was jazzed!

As for Jax, I was GA, right in front of Ed, three people back. We were losing our minds to Of the Earth, Rival, and Ghost! A whole lot of fun to see the spotlight on the ghost during the performance!  “That’s a friendly ghost!”

With a longer Setlist you can hit those rare songs and get variety for everyone. But, I’m cool for the shorter. Just excited for Vegas and whatever they play. Life is too short and I’m thankful for the band! 

devonfz

I threw in Johnny Guitar to see if anyone was paying attention:-)

CantKeepmedown

If 10-12 songs are set in stone, then the other 10-12 HAVE to be changing up on a regular basis.  Shit, they played 94 different songs over the course of 3 shows in 2003 (included 11 covers, but still).  

As of now, through just 4 shows (if my math is correct), they have played 60 different originals (9 covers including Ed's presets). Nothing from Riot Act or Avocado. Only one song from Binaural, and 2 each from Backspacer and Lightning Bolt. 3 non PJ album songs (Long Road, Id, and SOLAT. 

As someone else mentioned, that's 1 song from 3 albums worth of songs. And albums that people feel strongly about.  

Quick Escape, Alive, Small Town, Porch, and Even Flow are the only songs to have been played at every show. 

I don't think they should be taking out Porch, Alive, Small Town and songs like that. I love those songs and I love seeing arenas go nuts when they are being played. And I want to hear some Gigaton songs as well. But I'm hopeful that they can mix it up and hit some of that 2000-2006 era as well. 

nicknyr15

I cannot understand anyone wanting less songs. I’m not insinuating anything negative towards the first few shows or people who said the shows were great. I just can’t understand choosing less songs. “More focused” “tighter”. That’s most rock shows because of a static set list. The sometimes sloppiness of a Pj show is because they were willing to try and play ANYTHING at any given time. Put me in the “more songs” camp any day.  

on2legs

nicknyr15 said:

I cannot understand anyone wanting less songs. I’m not insinuating anything negative towards the first few shows or people who said the shows were great. I just can’t understand choosing less songs. “More focused” “tighter”. That’s most rock shows because of a static set list. The sometimes sloppiness of a Pj show is because they were willing to try and play ANYTHING at any given time. Put me in the “more songs” camp any day.  

I don’t think I want less songs.  But I would prefer more focus on Pearl Jam than you usually get at a 3 hour baseball stadium show.  For instance… at Fenway in 2016 I don’t really need to see Kevin Youkilis on stage or have them bring up Tom Hamilton to play Draw The Line.  I would also have been fine with dropping 2 of the 3 encore covers.  It’s not that they don’t do them well but I just prefer tighter and more Pearl Jam centric set list.  But I also realize it’s not my band and they can do whatever they want and I will like it. 😁

HughFreakingDillon

nicknyr15 said:

I cannot understand anyone wanting less songs. I’m not insinuating anything negative towards the first few shows or people who said the shows were great. I just can’t understand choosing less songs. “More focused” “tighter”. That’s most rock shows because of a static set list. The sometimes sloppiness of a Pj show is because they were willing to try and play ANYTHING at any given time. Put me in the “more songs” camp any day.  

I'm not sure how many WANT fewer songs, but are just looking at the potential silver lining of such an occurrence. Like I said before, one of my favourite bands, The Watchmen, play 21-25 songs per show. They have several staples they "have" to play at every show, and the rest are a toss up. You never know what those other songs are going to be, so to me, hearing a variety of 12-15 songs that might surprise me, I find more enticing than 20 songs I know will be played and hoping to hell I hear 1 or 2 I've never/rarely heard. I don't know, it ups the excitement factor; for me, anyway. 

But of course, all that being said, I'm not going to bitch if PJ play 4 hours if I'm in attendance. lol

nautical_disaster

Holy smokes - haven't thought of the watchmen since the 90s. "In the trees" is an all timer!

nicknyr15

I don’t know man. Looking back at set lists from 2006-2018 and it’s just no contest. I’m excited as anything for my two September shows but there is a weird feeling in my gut looking at these sets so far. 

Merkin Baller

nicknyr15 said:

I don’t know man. Looking back at set lists from 2006-2018 and it’s just no contest. I’m excited as anything for my two September shows but there is a weird feeling in my gut looking at these sets so far. 

Can't disagree... w/ no New England shows planned this year, I have zero PJ shows scheduled, and experiencing no FOMO whatsoever. If I hadn't burned some vacation time seeing a few different Tool shows earlier this year, I might have tried for MSG, but have no qualms about not being able to make it. 

I do look forward to seeing them again when I can, but I definitely don't feel the same urgency I did from 2010-2018. 

HughFreakingDillon

nautical_disaster said:

Holy smokes - haven't thought of the watchmen since the 90s. "In the trees" is an all timer!

haha. Just saw them live a few weeks ago, and an outdoor "block party" was just announced for The Watchmen/I Mother Earth/Bif Naked. that'll be awesome.