Paul McCartney...too popular for setlist variation?

[quasi1970]

I was just looking at the McCartney set lists from this year's tour and every single show from the first show to the current is IDENTICAL to a tee.

http://www.macca-central.com/macca-concerts/index.cfm?d1=2005

OBSERVATIONS: I guess he has to do this because he is probably the most well known rock star in the world and people expect to hear certain songs. Also, if you only went to one McCartney show, it'd be a treat that's for sure. 36 songs is pretty awesome (most of them classics of rock and roll). It almost seems like more of a Broadway show/classical concert than a rock concert (not meant as an insult). The chance to hear Paul sing just "Blackbird" live may be worth more than a seeing a full concert by anybody else. However, it might be nice to see at least 4-5 songs rotate in and out.

I checked out the Stones setlists from this year and they seem to be doing a pretty good job of mixing it up (taking into account the production). Seems like they're switching 4-5 songs a concert.

http://www.iorr.org/tour05/

Makes me appreciate U2's efforts to change it up even a little bit.

 

[U2Man]

36 songs in one concert is pretty amazing

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

I think when you're playing 36 songs there is no need for much setlist variation. I think Paul McCartney would not even feel confortable not playing songs like Let It Be and Yesterday cause he knows those are songs that everybod wants to hear.


The Rolling Stones always mix their setlists up really well. Specially last tour.

 

[typhoon]

Paul McCartney pretty much resigned himself to a nostalgia act back in the eighties. Which is a shame, since he has a bunch of great solo tunes that are worth remembering (despite what people here say).

He does at least vary it up from tour to tour. His current set stretches from 1958 ("In Spite of All the Danger") to 2005 (the four songs from Chaos and Creation...), which is impressive in its own right.

U2's setlists are still pretty boring, regardless of what anyone else is doing.

 

[quasi1970]

Good point. I just compared his 2005 setlist with the 2002 list (when I saw him in Portland) and of the 36 songs, only 13 songs are repeated from 2002, which means 23 new songs for this tour.

The repeated songs for this current tour are: Jet, Let Me Roll It, Maybe I'm Amazed, Long and Winding Road, Blackbird, Eleanor Rigby, Band on the Run, Back in the USSR, Hey Jude, Live and Let Die, Yesterday, Let It Be and Sgt. Pepper's are repeated. All these are like U2's "Streeets, One, Pride" and probaby could never be left out.

Yeah, it's a slow day here.

 

[tuwie]

yeah, he should definitely keep repeating those repeated songs.
36 songs takes mad skill.
i love him.

 

[timothius]

Quite frankly if you churning out 36 songs, cries of setlist variation have less validity.

I'm looking foward to seeing him in Australia next year.

 

[quasi1970]

Another good point. What if he did only 23 songs on average (like U2)...we're getting 13 "bonus" songs a night!

 

[U2Man]

One thing you gotta remember, though...a lot of McCartney's songs are only 2-3 minutes long so if he only played 23 songs like U2, the show would probably only last some 75 minutes or so.

 

[typhoon]

Yeah, both acts end up with 2-hour-ish shows.

 

[sami0201]

Yeah, both acts end up with 2-hour-ish shows.

when I saw McCartney in September the show was almost, if not, 3 hours


and he was amazing

 

[timothius]

when I saw McCartney in September the show was almost, if not, 3 hours

That will totally make up for the $120+ ticket prices.

 

[U2Man]

when I saw McCartney in September the show was almost, if not, 3 hours


and he was amazing

 

[sami0201]

That will totally make up for the $120+ ticket prices.

it most certainly will

 

[indra]

I've never really cared how static or varied a setlist is as long as the show is good.

 

[Canadiens1131]

Paul McCartney...too popular for setlist variation?

In a word....yes.

Wish he was doing more from the new album though.

 

[ZOOTB]

when I saw McCartney in September the show was almost, if not, 3 hours


and he was amazing

Same here and agreed. No complaints here.

 

[Lila64]

I saw him in 2002 (Maddy's first concert), and it was entertaining. Bought the DVD for her when it came out. Same setlist, same stories in between. I haven't searched his site or setlists, but I'm sure they are same from night to night. We'll be seeing him on the 29th of the month here at Staples Center/L.A.

Now if I jsut had the right answer to a trivia question today, I could have won tickets for tomorrow's Macca show... oh well...

And the Stones do change their setlists... I believe they played "As Tears Go By" live for the first time at the Hollywood Bowl on 11/8. My husband called during the show - he was outside the Bowl listening. Said it was awesome. Ticket prices were just to astronomical for me to go, and we coudn't find anything reasonable on ebay...

 

[yolland]

GigWise.com 11/12/2005


Space-aged Macca is set to become the first musician to broadcast live music to an audience in space, when his rendition of ‘Good Day Sunshine’ is beamed to the international space station crew tomorrow.

Paul decided to make the link-up from his concert in Anaheim, California - after Nasa used the song to wake the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery. He comments on his website: “I was extremely proud to find out that one of my songs was played for the crew of Discovery this summer. In our concert we hope to repay the favour.”

Good Day Sunshine will be sung in special honour of the crew’s two members Nasa astronaut Bill McArthur and Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarey. Paul will also play his recent song, 'English Tea'.

 

[Lila64]

I've got tickets for the next 2 McCartney shows today & tomorrow. Quick question for anyone who's seen the show this tour. There's no opening band, right?