making setlists is harrrrrrrrrd

[solarbird]

Making setlists is toooooo haaaaaaaaard and I'm sleepy. Somebody make them for me.

Also, if you play out - how do you make your setlists?

Comments

[tereshkova2001.livejournal.com]

Sooj and Vixy&Tony have flashcards with their song titles on them, and they sort of look through the stack and go "this one is fun, not that one, maybe this one" and then they all have a cheerfully spirited discussion about what song should go in and in what order. The cards can be rearranged and reordered, so it's a nice visual aid.

[solarbird]

Mmmm, sensible. I tried doing that with the actual music but it's too sprawly, a more compact form might help. So I'm trying it now (prompted by this) in list form. Thanks.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i try to open and close each set with something good.

i usually end with "hbd" cuz that's kind of my one-wonder hit.

since i tend to write in two tunings, i like to do two sets so that i can retune in between. if i don't have time for two sets or to do my own retuning, i throw in some a capella or whatnot in between.

i try not to play two songs in the same key in a row, with the exception of the open-tuning set.

i go from quieter to louder to closing quiet (see hbd above, it may just happen that my one hit is quietish, ymmv.)

hth...

[solarbird]

i try to open and close each set with something good.
I try to make all the songs good! ^_^ But yeah, I know what you mean.

Here's what I think of as good openers (tho' not all good for live shows) right now:

Great Big Sea (Traditional)(Zouk)
Goin' Up (Cover)(Zouk)
Something's Coming (Zouk)
Stars (Mandolin)
When You Leave (Mandolin)
Artefacts (Mandolin)

Here're what I think of as good closers at the moment:

Old Black Rum (Trad)(Zouk)
Come to the Labyrinth (Cover)(Zouk)
Stay Away (Zouk)/Shout at the Desert (Zouk) (paired)
Getting Away With It (Zouk)(The problem with this one is pulling it off; fuck, it's hard. I been workin' on it all week)
Last Saskatchewan Pirate (Cover)(Mandolin)
Stars (Mandolin)
My Boyfriend (Mandolin)

I tend to want to end high-energy. Possibly these are also my best songs. (C.f. Shout at the Desert.)

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

my issue with ending high-energy (i've done it) is that then i usually need to find an encore, and i don't actually like doing encores, so i may as well end the thing first.

otoh maybe it sells albums your way better, i dunno :)

[solarbird]

Oh, okay. So far I've almost always been playing within a rather set timeframe and playing 'till the end of it, so there you are. BUT I should remember this advice for later!

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

also i usually sort of hate my songs. i cannot tell if they are good. my relationship with my work is much more complicated than that, though "try to make them all good" is def high on the list i can't tell if i accomplish it, and making that the end point would totally stifle me :)

[solarbird]

Ah, I think you're overly self-critical. This shit's hard enough as it is! ^_^

[maellenkleth]

Ayuh, but when it works and the crowd gets into it, it's a priceless feeling.

[maellenkleth]

When You Leave makes a great start to the second half of your gig.

[solarbird]

I ended up starting my second set with it, as part of a little triptych of songs about difficult decisions and consequences. I think it worked.

[maellenkleth]

Yes, that would fit together nicely, in thematic terms. We had our Sunday night song swap up here yesterday and I briefly thought about singing it from over the little keyboard we have here, and concluded it was a bit too 'complicated' for the crowd of mostly young Quebecois guys. Sang Mon Gars for them instead, which had them stomping and shouting and banging cups on the tables. Now they're all yelling 'caresse-moi!' at me...

I take it you left America In Amber at home? ^_^

[maellenkleth]

Scrolled up and looked at the setlist, and opening with Artefacts would be definitely right-on; actually that might be your strongest song so far, vocally at least. Stars is stronger on the mandolin.

Here, have an Official Raven.

[solarbird]

I haven't posted a setlist; those are just songs I think are good openers and closers, respectively, for sets.

The actual setlists ended up being:

----- SET 1:
OPEN: Stars (M)
Last Saskatchewan Pirate (C)(M)
Artefacts (M)
Spirit Cat (I)(F) as an intro to:
General Taylor (T)(A)
Lukey (T)(Z)
America in Amber (Z)
Great Big Sea (T)(Z)
Cascadia (How I Have Missed You) (I)(Z)
Something's Coming (Z)
Mari Mac (T)(Z)
CLOSE: Stay Away (Z)

BREAK 15 minutes

----- SET 2:
OPEN: When You Leave (M)
Where is Your Heaven (M)
January (I)(M)
Let Me Help (M)
Dancing with Missis White (T)(I)(F)
Outbirds (Z)
Come to the Labyrinth (C)(Z)
Where Are You (My Love) (Z)
I'm a Rover (T)(Z)
Captain Kidd (T)(Z)
Thought You Knew (Z)
Goin' Up (C)(Z)
The Old Black Rum (T)(Z)(M)
Shout at the Desert (Z)
CLOSE: Getting Away With It (Z)

Shout at the Desert was supposed to be the closer for set 1, but see posted problems with the Zouk, and moving it on the fly to the second set. In Redmond, it'll be the closer for one of the sets. (I'm thinking of moving Getting Away With It to close set 1, and Stay Away/Shout to set 2.) Also, I ran about 15 minutes over, but that was okay. It might not be okay in Redmond, in which case I'll drop, hm, it'll depend. Where is Your Heaven? and maybe Dancing with Missis White and Captain Kidd - actually I should ask about that. HOW IMPORTANT IS CLOSING TIMES OK!