Quoting David Lucky:
"Changing
a set list doesnt necessarily mean doing a bunch of obscure songs in
one concert. it could be just one tune here, one tune there. Then
100% of the people would be surprised, not just the new fans but even
the fans who saw the show the night before for example. As I have seen
them a couple of back to back times. One song new lets say they played
Man in suitcase once is not going to upset the casual fan. Beside so
many big bands do this and still are very successfuly touring bands
such as bruce Springsteen (every show is different) pearl Jam, heck
even the Who shows are different night to night. However there are
also other bands that dont change the set list like the VanHalen
reunion tour and others Ive seen like Oasis that don't change it up.
It
just would seem with such great musicians like these 3 we;'ve got and
with hopefully no over tracking, sampling and really playing live that
they could swap in and out a couple songs and keep it fresh."
Exactly! Nobody's saying it makes economic sense to do a show designed purely for hardcore fans, or that the band should do so for the entire tour (though indeed, a small, secret show for an invited hardcore audience would be lovely). I think we understand how casual fans feel. I took my boyfriend to the Dublin show - he's not a fan, but enjoyed the show. The only time his interest flagged was when the odd song he didn't know (probably Truth Hits Everybody and Voices Inside My Head) came up, as he told me afterwards. We can assume a lot of people at the shows would feel that way.
BUT - a lot of people who aren't hardcore fans of a band will go to a show because they love live music and want to see good musicianship and have a few surprises. And those people will be happy with a mix of pop hits and other stuff. Honestly, I don't think it's asking for the moon.
And I may be going out on a limb here, but I'd guess that most of us who are complaining about the unchanging setlist would have been happy if there'd just been a rotating two-song slot each night, to give the less well-known songs a chance to get an airing, and to give the band the chance to experiment with different segues and running orders and (above all) jams. You only have to look at how they handled Wrapped Around Your Finger on this tour to see how amazing a new arrangement of a song can be.
Angeline