Set Lists - Discuss :)

[beautifuldistortion]

I was browsing through Simon Price's book 'Everything' a minute ago and noticed this:

'The Manics - deeply imbued with a working-class understanding of their role, first and foremost as entertainers- have always, always played greatest hits sets. "When we were younger we hated going to concerts and hearing songs we didn't know, they just drift over people unless you're a really hardened fan...It's also the fact that we don't like practising anyway! When we decide to do a new song or resurrect and old song it takes us fucking years!"'

Now unfortunately the book doesn't seem to state which Manic said this, but the first part of it IMO makes sense. A lot of people only know the hits and it does create a better atmosphere when a crowd knows a song.
I'm not saying I agree completely because there are way to many songs I want to hear live than I can list here, but then I'm an avid fan.

The second part of that statement i.e. 'we don't like practising anyway' should seem lazy and unforgivable, but I think we should take in the fact that there may be a hint of self deprecitation going on
Although saying that after watching the 'No Manifesto' outtakes, it does seem to confirm it

Anyways, I thought with all the discussions about set-lists on the forum at the moment, this was an apt passage to quote.

[beautifuldistortion]

Oh and I'm not for one minute suggseting that they keep doing the same old set-lists, I think they should have tried more PFAYM songs live (I would love to hear Billion Balconies) as that's the album they are currently promoting.
Also there are some fantastic b-sides that need an airing live!

What I mean is vary the sets by all means but there is definitley a need to keep the biggest hits in the sets.

[Deets]

no, the setlist thread, not again!

[MSPKYE]

They're just lazy fucks who despise half their back catalogue, simple as really

[sculptureofabloke]

Hmm, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I reckon it sounds like something Wire would be most likely to say seeing as he's often took the piss out of his musical abilities. Still, with it being in Everything that makes the quote at least 12 years old? They've all improved as musicians since then, doesn't sound like a great excuse for not rotating so much.

[beautifuldistortion]

I agree, it shouldn't be used as an excuse, but there is a valid point IMO regarding keeping the hits in the sets.

[ZiZi]

Originally Posted by MSPKYE

They're just lazy fucks who despise half their back catalogue, simple as really

Sean and Nicky are just lazy fucks who despise half their back catalogue, simple as really

[Beat Poet]

Originally Posted by sculptureofabloke

They've all improved as musicians since then, doesn't sound like a great excuse for not rotating so much.

While their performances in the studio have improved, I reckon they've regressed as a live band since they started using a second guitarist. I think the reason they're reluctant to practise is that they despise jamming - they don't like sitting around practising as a band (they certainly don't write songs that way) and consequently they don't have the discipline to sit in a room and work out/re-learn old songs, as a band. If they can't even get old songs together as a three-piece, they certainly can't be bothered taking the time to teach the sidemen how to play them.

[beautifuldistortion]

Hmmm might have to agree with some of that Beat Poet.
However I will take into account the fact they are not getting any younger so performance wise they were always going to change.

I do think they could do without a second guitarist.
It would be nice for them to do something more raw soon.

However I will say that as live bands go, theres not a lot out there to trouble them at the moment. Especially in regards to British bands.
I've seen most bands who I like live and I still get more 'up' for the Manics than any other.
I'm going to see Stiff Little Fingers (5th time ) in March, I would dearly love to see the Manics play with the amount of raw power that they do.
But I think a lot of it depends on the venue as well.

It is a shame that with such an immense back catologue of tracks that we don't hear enough of them live.

[Bathtub]

Best tours of my recent memory have been PPF, JFPL and SATT first tour.

Why? Because they brought out some curios (a hell of a lot in the JFPL cases!) and played stuff that wouldn't get into a Greatest Hits set. Was anyone pissed off? Probably not and fuck them if they are. People who just go to see the songs they know and then talk through anything they don't or get pissed off when they don't play hit X should stay home.

As a live band I think they've lost the mojo a bit, but they have in the past in my opinion, and got it back so I'm hopeful. It's disappointing that they seem to play festival sets at their own gigs these days.

[Takk]

If they play a good gig, casual people will go home happy, regardless of whether they played every hit on FD. What curious did they play on JPL?

PPF was perfect, they could play that every night and it would be fine.

[Bathtub]

The whole of JFPL is surely a curio as much of it hasn't( and I guess won't) been touched since.

Feel you on the PPF love. A perfect mix of songs you know to jump about to and "fuck me they're playing that" moments of wonder.

[Beat Poet]

Originally Posted by Takk

PPF was perfect, they could play that every night and it would be fine.

The thing is, it only takes a few gigs for a rarity to become a regular.

[Beej]

When I read the quote I thought it was Nicky and I still do. I do think its lazy that they don't play anything rare very often and they stick to a basic set list through entire tours with not a lot of variation. Now they're this far in their career they can afford to play their earlier/rarer songs. I can kind of understand it back in the early days due to them wanting to be the biggest band in the world but now they're not going to get any bigger they can afford to change more often. They shouldn't aim to please people that only know the greatest hits, because they're not into the band as much as fans that know their albums, and if they complain at songs they don't know being played then they should make more of a fucking effort to hear/learn the songs before going to a gig. For stuff like the NME Big Gig and maybe some festivals if they headline a stage, bust out the big guns with EMG and DFL and whatnot, but for smaller academy gigs then yeah, learn your songs and give them a bit of variation. If you've only heard Forever Delayed and you go to a Manics gig you're still discovering the band and it'd be good to hear other stuff and get some perspective.

[Midlands_Junk]

So they'd rather be a karaoke machine than interesting artists? Fair enough, if they think ignoring the wealth and diversity of their back catalogue is entertaining.