The Setlist

jimjam1982

Spiritual_Chaos said:

elvistheking44 said:

unknown said:

I think if you are being honest with yourself everyone is disappointed with a 20 song set

I’m in the minority, but I like a shorter, tighter set. I’m old and my feet hurt by the end. Give me 20 or so and I’m good.

You can always leave in the second encore break. Or take a short nap. 

This. You are not required to stay the whole show. Beat traffic leave at encore 1

static111

Tom Petty and the HBs during the last tour played an approximately 20 song 2 hr set and it was great from start to finish, flawless performances actually. PJ has earned the right to slow down and honestly I would like them to start touring with varying opening acts like they did in the past to help expose me to new music. A tight 2 hour 20 song set is nothing to complain about.

fall by the wayside

I’m not so much bothered by the length of the sets as much as what they are actually playing. Two of my favorite tours were 1998 and 2000 and the sets were of a similar length. The difference is they weren’t playing 7 songs a night from Ten then. This is supposed to be the Gigaton tour and they seem to have given up playing a lot of the new songs less than halfway through the tour. It’s also a shame that every other album after Yield is being virtually ignored. A lot of that material is what has kept me interested as a fan through the years. It is certainly the band’s prerogative to do what they want, but I think it’s fair to discuss how we feel about how radically different these shows are.

bootlegger10

Yeah, they don't owe us an explanation about why the shows are only 20-22 songs now.  It is on us to do what we want with that.  Instead of 10 shows we can cut back to 3-4.  Is what it is.  I'm not going to see 10 U2 shows or even 4 a tour because they don't change up their set enough.  Will I enjoy the hell out of 1 or 2 of their shows because they are awesome?  Sure. PJ is now closer to that U2 realm.   Just not what we are used to recently and we will need to adapt as fans and may need to change how we've followed PJ in the past.  

Get_Right

fall by the wayside said:

I’m not so much bothered by the length of the sets as much as what they are actually playing. Two of my favorite tours were 1998 and 2000 and the sets were of a similar length. The difference is they weren’t playing 7 songs a night from Ten then. This is supposed to be the Gigaton tour and they seem to have given up playing a lot of the new songs less than halfway through the tour. It’s also a shame that every other album after Yield is being virtually ignored. A lot of that material is what has kept me interested as a fan through the years. It is certainly the band’s prerogative to do what they want, but I think it’s fair to discuss how we feel about how radically different these shows are.

100% agree. I wish they would give the Ten songs a rest. Except for Release or Wash as an opener. Keep those. My guess is that they are doing this tour without much rehearsal and that means playing familiar songs. 

apirk72

I also would love to get a break from a lot of Ten as well but it isn't going to happen.  I don't know if it is because of COVID, musicians passing away or what but there seem to be a lot of first timers or people who haven't gone to shows in ages but are seeking nostalgia hitting up these shows, and kids.  These people desperately want to hear the hits and I think they are trying to keep a balance in keeping everyone happy, and it is impossible to do, especially when you are also promoting an album for the first time that came out over 2 years ago.

ForceofNature101

For me I am just so fatigued already only 2 months in regarding the setlist complaints lol, I dunno I think that there comes a point where you have to decide if seeing the list of songs one by one on a text post overrides the immensely satisfying experience of a live show that still is, Pearl Jam live in person

PJammer4life

If you want 30+ songs, see 2 shows 😎

Get_Right

ForceofNature101 said:

For me I am just so fatigued already only 2 months in regarding the setlist complaints lol, I dunno I think that there comes a point where you have to decide if seeing the list of songs one by one on a text post overrides the immensely satisfying experience of a live show that still is, Pearl Jam live in person

We over analyze this band. They set the bar very high over the years and it is fun to follow setlists, ask for requests, and hope to see that song they rarely play. But you are right. It is live music, with one of the best rock bands of all time. Go enjoy yourself. The only thing that makes a show less fun for me is bad sound. Otherwise, I always enjoy every moment I am in a venue with live Pearl Jam.

2-feign-reluctance

unknown said:

I think if you are being honest with yourself everyone is disappointed with a 20 song set

After years of waiting, disappointment  is not something I feel based on these shows I’ve listened to or will feel when I see them in the fall. But hey, I get the OPs sentiment. It must suck focusing on what you aren’t getting here. 

JBob87

Have seen a few comments here and elsewhere that variety has not decreased as well so I checked out the numbers.

In both 2022 and 2016 (most recent semi-comparable tour) there were 17 songs that were played at least 40%+ of the time.

13 songs were in this group in both 2022 and 2016 (Alive, Even Flow, Porch, Corduroy, Do The Evolution, Small Town, Given to Fly, Daughter, Better Man, Jeremy, Why Go, Black, Yellow Ledbetter).

4 songs were common in one year but not the other (Quick Escape, Clairvoyants, Superblood Wolfmoon, Seven O’Clock in 2022; Mind Your Manners, Lightning Bolt, Rearviewmirror, State of Love & Trust in 2016).

In 2022 with an average setlist of 21 songs / show this means that these 17 songs represent 80% of the setlist aka the average show gets ~4 relatively uncommon songs per night.

In 2016 with an average setlist of 31 songs, the 17 common songs were 55% of the setlist, leaving room for ~14 unique songs per night.

So objectively they are playing much more standard setlists on this tour than they have previously. I think it would go a long way to making people happy if they considered rotating a few of the ol standbys a bit more often. 

mr bungle

BlueLedbetter said:

unknown said:

I think if you are being honest with yourself everyone is disappointed with a 20 song set

Of course we are but its early days I'm sure they can work it out to keep everyone them and us happy, a bit of tinkering with timings and order etc to make it to 26 or 27. I'm sure it will happen 

I've always thought post 98,  27 songs was there sweet spot.  Anything more is just a cherry on top.  Going all the way down to 20 songs is jarring. 

Discopij

I appreciate the many who are sticking to facts here:  and it’s been repeated by many but what hits me the hardest is how sudden and significant the change is.  That cannot be debated.  Going from 30+ songs at every show to 20-22 is a fact… and the change happening immediately is a fact … and the resulting reduction in set list variety is a data driven fact.  How this impacts your desire to see a show is up to you but you can’t pretend the changes aren’t real.

BelieveYouMe

I have no issue with the band shortening their sets if it means tighter performances with songs played closer to the tempo of their studio recordings.  I get it, they're older.  I'm all in with eliminating cover songs if it means we get to hear more PJ songs.  However, what is surprising and disappointing is the lack of variety in their setlists.  The band not repeating songs from one night to the next is what made these concerts so unique.  It set them apart from U2 and other similar touring bands.  Beyond the band ignoring most of their material from No Code to Gigaton, the first three albums contain so many gems that are not being played.  Ten is more than Even Flow, Alive, Black, Jeremy, and Porch.  Vs is more than Animal, Daughter, and Elderly Woman.  Vitalogy is so much more than Corduroy and Better Man etc etc.

BALLBOY

As the line in Brain of J goes, "The whole world will be different". It definitely is now & they have to be part of it

Cropduster-80

elvistheking44 said:

unknown said:

I think if you are being honest with yourself everyone is disappointed with a 20 song set

I’m in the minority, but I like a shorter, tighter set. I’m old and my feet hurt by the end. Give me 20 or so and I’m good.

I totally agree. 

I’m not  that old but I like getting home before midnight. Most of us have baby sitters etc.  it’s not the 90’s or 2000’s anymore. 

I had that realisation this summer at DMB.  All of a sudden it dawned on me that literally  everyone is 40 or older unless they brought their kids. These are the exact same people who I probably saw at 20 at shows.  It’s almost the exact fan base it was.  20 years ago I remembered seeing that random old guy in a vintage concert t shirt among the crowd. Today that’s everyone there.  We are that guy.

The band is old, but so are we 

BF25394

unknown said:

I’ve been a fan since the beginning.  I can’t sit back anymore and not say something.  Why are these sets so short ? 20 songs? What happened?  This isn’t the band I know.

to put things in perspective, third eye blind just opened their summer tour with a 3 hour , 26 song set.

The solution is obvious: Pearl Jam should play sets of no fewer than 26 songs, but they must all be Third Eye Blind songs.

BF25394

Discopij said:

I appreciate the many who are sticking to facts here:  and it’s been repeated by many but what hits me the hardest is how sudden and significant the change is.  That cannot be debated.  

Um, sure it can.  They did not play any shows from September 4, 2018, until September 26, 2021.  Anything that happens only after a three-year hiatus cannot fairly be described as a "sudden" change, especially when those three years included a year-and-a-half when the whole world was upside down.

Cropduster-80

BF25394 said:

unknown said:

I’ve been a fan since the beginning.  I can’t sit back anymore and not say something.  Why are these sets so short ? 20 songs? What happened?  This isn’t the band I know.

to put things in perspective, third eye blind just opened their summer tour with a 3 hour , 26 song set.

The solution is obvious: Pearl Jam should play sets of no fewer than 26 songs, but they must all be Third Eye Blind songs.

I just had a visual of Ed doing that intro to semi charmed life . Doo doo doo, doo doo doo-doo

PJNB

Cropduster-80 said:

elvistheking44 said:

unknown said:

I think if you are being honest with yourself everyone is disappointed with a 20 song set

I’m in the minority, but I like a shorter, tighter set. I’m old and my feet hurt by the end. Give me 20 or so and I’m good.

I totally agree. 

I’m not  that old but I like getting home before midnight. Most of us have baby sitters etc.  it’s not the 90’s or 2000’s anymore. 

I had that realisation this summer at DMB.  All of a sudden it dawned on me that literally  everyone is 40 or older unless they brought their kids. These are the exact same people who I probably saw at 20 at shows.  It’s almost the exact fan base it was.  20 years ago I remembered seeing that random old guy in a vintage concert t shirt among the crowd. Today that’s everyone there.  We are that guy.

The band is old, but so are we 

Home before midnight tells me you are going to a home show. I think everyone can agree that your opinion on the matter is going to be vastly different than someone that is spending thousands to hit a show in your hometown. That is not a knock on either fan just a different mindset and investment for each show with time and money. Also 40 is not old damn it! Lol