Album versus CD setlists

1. Set up the slackline in the yard. Sixty foot span. Tight as a drum skin.

2. Met the neighbors–in more of a hang out and talk sense than a say “Hello–what’s your name?”

3. $2 pints at Specs with the crew.

4. New circus trick … involving a giant wood spindle and awesome walking skills.

5) Discovery of “Stop Making Sense” — and completely re-evaluating my idea of a “concert video.”

Also, this cool thought:

Concert set lists are arranged differently from album set lists. Each follows a general formula, and the two formulas are generally different.

It’s like this: if there’s a band that’s touring to support it’s new album, here are the set lists I expect to see, listed in terms of relative (and consensus, not absolute) goodness of songs. Assume each as 12 songs. (In reality, of course, any concert is filled with past favorite songs, typically between song number three and eleven.)

Concert
1. #4-ish best song. Best song off of previous album. Something to build energy.
2. Something … a pretty good song.
3 – 8. Some “okay” songs punctuated by a few hits.
10. #2 best song, or another previous #1.
11. Pretty good song.
12. Probably #1 best song. Really get the crowd going.

CD
1. #2 best song.
2. #3,4,5, or 6 best song
3. #1 best song.
4-9. Pretty good songs.
10. #5 best song, doesn’t match the band’s perceived style.
11. #3 best song, doesn’t match the band’s perceived style, or some random song.
12. If 11 is not #3 best song, then #2 best song that doesn’t match the band’s perceived style.

Or, stated differently:
Concert
1 – 3: High energy openers
4 – 9: Sine-wave energy–moving from high to low to high or low to high to low energy.
10 – 12: High energy build up and finish.

Album
1. High energy opener.
2. Pretty high energy.
3. Most catchy song.
4 – 9: high to low energy.
10 & 11: low energy, soulful songs
12. Something completely random–and possibly quite good, but different from tracks 1 – 9.

But, of course, there are some exceptions–like when Pink Floyd toured for Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall, or when The Who toured for Tommy. In these instances, the concert and album set lists were the same.

Really, it’s not all that “profound”–but I still find it interesting to think about why the same set of songs would be arranged/ordered differently on an album than at a concert. Differences in the way that the respective mediums are consumed, I suppose. Invokes Jean Epstein and Stan Brakahge and theories of media specificity.

This would be interesting to compare: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band — concert versus album.