Confused about the "hows" and "whys" regarding LP setlists.

Discussion in 'On Stage' started by anotherlpfan, May 9, 2017.

  1. #1
    anotherlpfan

    anotherlpfan New Member

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    It’s impossible to please everyone with a 20 to 25 song setlist with how diverse the fanbase and music is, plus you can’t force the band to rotate through 50 or 60 different songs in one touring cycle. The logistics alone would be a nightmare.

    What I’ve been finding is that the more recent setlists try to do too much of everything. Outside of Hybrid Theory and maybe Meteora, not every album gets its due.

    For example, with the recent set in Argentina, THP was represented with only 1 song, and not even the most popular one from that album (as far as I know).

    On one hand, you could say that THP gets 1 slot so that it’s proportionate to its sales and popularity. You could say that because Wastelands follows a typical Linkin Park song structure, it’s a safe choice to play live because kind of everyone will be ok with it, so it’s fun.

    On the other hand, you could say that a lot of the recent set lists have been filled with “yeah ok, this is fine” material, but it lacks the oomph and passion that some of the more hardcore fans would want to see.

    Has the band ever talked about the setlist selection process? Do any of you have ideas about how and why they’re put together in the way they are? Does the live show have to be for everyone at all times so that they continue to fill bigger venues?

    I don’t know any of these details, but to me as a fan, it would “make sense” for them to cycle through 2 or 3 setlists with different themes for each. For example, Setlist A is aggressive while Setlist B is melodic. Would this alienate the more casual fan too much? Instead of having 25 songs in rotation though, you’d need more like 35, so it would be extra work for the band for sure, but maybe not too much extra work?

    Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts about this stuff! Cheers.
     
  2. #2
    The Joesen One

    The Joesen One Fun-employed LPA Super Member

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    Personally, their sets reflect what's the general vibe of the album + the hits.

    For Living Things, it's in a way merging all their sounds + reclaiming a few fans who were alienated by LT, so they kept the big hits from ATS (Catalyst, WFTE, Iridescent to an extent) and then added back lots of old songs and deep cuts like Somewhere I Belong, With You, Runaway, Points of Authority and A Place for My Head.

    For THP, it's a rock statement album, so their sets are mostly around rock shows, which is why their small sets, usually reserved for big hits, had stuff like One Step Closer, Given Up, Faint and Points of Authority. And yet, they have to remind people that they've gone into electronic territory, which is why they had the Joe set, the Mike set, Castle of Glass and the shortened songs.

    Take for instance this current OML tour. It's a pop but personal album. They brought back personal songs or songs that reflect the electropop nature of the songs - the full Leave Out All the Rest, Catalyst, Breaking the Habit, piano Crawling, and edm intro to What I've Done. They ditch the other non-single HT songs, most of the singles of THP since it didn't really have a hit song, and other heavy stuff like Given Up and From the Inside.
     
  3. #3
    Astat

    Astat LPA Super Member LPA Super Member

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    Wastelands was the only song from THP that even lasted for the entire duration of the THP cycle. I was surprised they even kept ANYTHING from that album, but if they're going to play one song, it's going to be that one. The faster stuff (Guilty All the Same, Rebellion, A Line in the Sand) was too physically demanding (in the case of ALITS, it was also a 6+ minute non-single - no way were they keeping it when it takes up the space of 2 songs), the band hates Until It's Gone, and Final Masquerade kept getting shuffled in and out throughout the THP cycle for whatever reason, so it wasn't likely to stick around either.
     
  4. #4
    minuteforce

    minuteforce Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance. LPA Team

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    Before "Living Things", their setlists essentially consisted of nearly every song from the album they were promoting plus a few things from earlier albums. Since "Living Things", the live sets really haven't been centered on new music at all.

    If you've been a fan of LP albums since "Hybrid Theory", that 2000-2002 era and the "Meteora" cycle after that might've been the best periods to see the band perform live. They basically just played every single song they had at the time
     
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  5. #5
    The Joesen One

    The Joesen One Fun-employed LPA Super Member

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    Where did they say that the band hates Until It's Gone?
     
  6. #6
    BTorio

    BTorio Well-Known Member

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    Obviously the big songs are kept around to please the general audience, but I've always felt there was a desire to balance the set and also "show off" their variety where they can. For example, the COG EDM drop is fun and I have no problem with it, but it kind of feels like a "let's show off how we have EDM songs that people probably don't know about". I'm not saying it's wrong in any way, the band deserves recognition that they're not just metal/rock anymore. I feel WFTE has been kept around for the same reason, especially when they play small sets and keep WFTE in among their staple rock hits.

    On the other hand, they do sometimes seem to bring in tracks that balance the setlist. For THP, even though they didn't play too many songs from it in one set, I felt like the Joe Hahn/Mike solos (and COG experience) were there to bring some brighter electronic moments to compliment GATS/Rebellion). Same with throwing QWERTY in with Victimized during LT where the setlists had LGM/COG/The Catalyst (lots of electronic or chill stuff). I am somewhat surprised we didn't get another QWERTY/Victimized kind of track in this setlist to offset the lighter tracks of OML, instead it seems they wanted the whole set to feel like OML as much as they could within reason (bringing in LOATR, Roads Untraveled Intro, etc.) But they also probably feel less inclined to play heavy stuff as time goes on too.
     
  7. #7
    Noosh

    Noosh Well-Known Member

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    I feel COG Experience fits way better with the current set. The Hunting Party sets, while alright overall, felt a bit skewiff to me because they kept trying to jam electronic oriented tracks into the set. With OML's sets, we've got a more poppier, electronic direction to begin with so COG Experience works way better in the context of the set.

    I get the feeling Wastelands is supposed to serve as that song within the set really given that it's one of the harsher songs within the set next to stuff like Breaking The Habit and Heavy. That said, I'm quite confused as to why Final Masquerade or Until It's Gone have been dropped really given that they could fit well with the personal songs from OML. Heck, the former could be played in it's acoustic form a la Crawling in the recent sets and the latter could serve as the offset song within the set potentially.
     

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