One thing that has interested me for some time is the relationship between location and setlist of a show.

In Nashville on Wednesday, the band performed a trio of country or country-esque numbers in 'Far Away Eyes', 'Wild Horses' and 'Dead Flowers', and reminded me of when they played 'Bob Wills Is Still The King' and 'Learning The Game' in Texas in 2006. This led me to have a quick look at other relatively recent setlists to see if there were other examples of location seeming to influence song selection.

One slightly subtler setlist choice that stands out to me is the number of pre-1968 songs played at the second 2012 London concert – 6 in total, with 5 of the first 6 numbers being from this era.

Compare with the US Dates on the same tour, where on the majority of occasions just 3 pre-1968 songs were played.

The number of pre-1968 numbers declines further into the '14 On Fire' tour. I haven't looked at all the European setlists, but certainly the concerts in Australia and New Zealand each featured just 1 or 2 songs from this era.

So in this instance did the band favour playing their earlier songs, songs written and released when they were very much a London-based outfit, on home territory? Did they want to make a statement by playing several early songs to start this particular show? If so, what statement?

Do others have any examples of when they think location may have effected setlist choice, or ideas on what leads the band to pick certain songs on certain occasions? Is there something about the rough urban industry of 'When The Whip Comes Down' that leads it to being performed in Boston (2013) over another city, to give one example? Or why has 'You Got Me Rocking' been performed so relentlessly at certain venues in recent years, yet has not featured in any of the last 5 UK shows?

Perhaps it is simply a case of anticipating what a given crowd wants. Any thoughts would be interesting to hear.

.....

Olly.

Well,the 1997 web-vote often featured songs that fit the local area :

- Factory Girl in New Jersey

- Far Away Eyes in (sound familiar?) Nashville

- No Expectations in Atlanta

- Imagination in Detroit

- She's a Rainbow in Hawaii

- Shine a Light in Oklahoma

That's to name a few.

"When the Whip Comes Down" actually has only ever been played twice in Boston (1 in 2013 and 1 in 1999) out of many shows over the years in that city.

"You Got Me Rocking" not being played in the last 5 UK shows is just timing. It was only skipped there while it was also being given a rest elsewhere as well. No "You Got Me Rocking" at the 2012 pay-per-view show in the U.S. either. (not at any 2012 full length concert)

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Winning Ugly VXII


"You Got Me Rocking" not being played in the last 5 UK shows is just timing. It was only skipped there while it was also being given a rest elsewhere as well. No "You Got Me Rocking" at the 2012 pay-per-view show in the U.S. either. (not at any 2012 full length concert)

True, but YGMR was one of two songs played at the 12 12 12 concert, and was back in the setlist for several US shows in 2013 (same tour as the London 2012 and 2013 dates) and was omitted again by the time the band played Hyde Park later the same year...

Interesting thoughts, much appreciated, Winning Ugly.

Olly.

I think the web vote in 1997 was clearly fixed. There was a big effort aimed at Norman Oklahoma to vote for Star Star by various internet fan sites and instead , Oklahoma got the religious themes Shine A light.

Interesting, further scepticism regarding the impartiality of the web vote, which I've read a lot of lately.

Olly.

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Olly
Interesting, further scepticism regarding the impartiality of the web vote, which I've read a lot of lately.

Olly.

Impartiality is too kind a word in this case. Besides unless they are tracking IP locations of the votes, the song vote is determined every time by the people accessing the web site, most likely a majority of which are where the online fans like us reside. Basically the Northeastern USA probably determines the winner for every show.

peace

Intresting perspective, Naturalust.

I'd be interested to hear any views you have on the fairly unique opening to the setlist at the 02 I mentioned, unusual to feature so many pre-1968 songs, no?

Olly.

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Olly
Intresting perspective, Naturalust.

I'd be interested to hear any views you have on the fairly unique opening to the setlist at the 02 I mentioned, unusual to feature so many pre-1968 songs, no?

Olly.

It's tough to speculate on that one Olly, since I don't know the London crowd or audience well. But since you asked..

They are certainly aware of the criticisms of their setlist so perhaps they were just trying out more rarely played songs in order to try to please the audience and to judge the reaction to determine whether to include them for the rest of the tour.

Its also possible they had old friends and/or family at the show who requested songs from that era. Their oldest friends are probably from London and old friends probably wanted old songs. I imagine even the Stones are somewhat partial to old friends and family.

peace

Good point regarding family, Naturalust.

I think this is quite common for London shows - I've read here that family members were on or near the stage at the final 02 show in 2007, and Theodora is shown at the 2003 Twickenham show on 'Four Flicks'.

Even the Stones have families to please, I suppose

The five shows in 2012, and the O2 shows in particular, were a celebration of their 50 years as a band, and the opening was themed as a 60s retrospective with Mick in a black and white outfit and four very early songs. By the second O2 they had already ditched the idea of opening with I Wanna Be Your Man, and by the Newark shows they had lost it altogether in favour of IORR, though Get Off My Cloud/The Last Time/Paint It Black remained as the "early" set, and they kept most of this throughout the 2013 US leg.

However, we did get Lady Jane at the O2 (and nowhere else?) - and Ruby Tuesday is very much a "UK" song which we had at Twickenham and at Glasgow and Hyde Park.

PS: I think we heard Factory Girl because they needed to try it out before its reappearance as "Glastonbury Girl" - location probably had very little to do with it.

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Green Lady
and Ruby Tuesday is very much a "UK" song which we had at Twickenham and at Glasgow and Hyde Park.

Curious , what makes Ruby Tuesday a UK song?

peace

I'll tell you the reason "Factory Girl" was the web choice song for one of the Giants Stadium (New Jersey) shows in 1997. It was because someone I know had written a robot computer program that bombarded the voting website with hundreds or thousands of requests for that song. It's true! The band was very surprised to find out that song was voted as the top request and they had to rehearse it before the show in order to be able to play it that night. These days they would probably just skip it and play a song they are more familiar with.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-20 09:54 by TornAndFried.

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Naturalust

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Green Lady
and Ruby Tuesday is very much a "UK" song which we had at Twickenham and at Glasgow and Hyde Park.

Curious , what makes Ruby Tuesday a UK song?

peace

Ask the Stones. I don't know - but it is.

There is something quintessentially British about the track, although it's hard to pinpoint.

Brian's melancholic recorder, perhaps.

.....

Olly.

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Naturalust

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Olly
Interesting, further scepticism regarding the impartiality of the web vote, which I've read a lot of lately.

Olly.

Impartiality is too kind a word in this case. Besides unless they are tracking IP locations of the votes, the song vote is determined every time by the people accessing the web site, most likely a majority of which are where the online fans like us reside. Basically the Northeastern USA probably determines the winner for every show.

peace

i've always assumed the web vote was rigged...that Stones simply play what they want (yet make you feel like you are part of it).


IORR............but I like it!

It was odd, In Nashville, they didn't even acknowledge that Dead Flowers had won the web vote that night, they just played it…It was no surprise to me that it won especially with Paisley being there, but i still voted for Get Off My Cloud...

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aftergeography
It was odd, In Nashville, they didn't even acknowledge that Dead Flowers had won the web vote that night, they just played it…It was no surprise to me that it won especially with Paisley being there, but i still voted for Get Off My Cloud...

That's because the vote was rigged...

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TornAndFried
I'll tell you the reason "Factory Girl" was the web choice song for one of the Giants Stadium (New Jersey) shows in 1997. It was because someone I know had written a robot computer program that bombarded the voting website with hundreds or thousands of requests for that song. It's true! The band was very surprised to find out that song was voted as the top request and they had to rehearse it before the show in order to be able to play it that night. These days they would probably just skip it and play a song they are more familiar with.

Amazing that all of this happened for the one venue on the tour which was a stone's throw away from countless Factories.

Why didn't "Factory Girl" get rigged by computer bots in Madison,Wisconsin or Fort Worth,Texas ??

Also,I don't think that they were preparing for Glastonbury 2013 nearly 16 years in advance. Not as early as the first arena show of 2013 either. If they were preparing for Glastonbury,it would have been played towards the END of the 2013 U.S. tour,not at the very start of it.

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Winning Ugly VXII

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TornAndFried
I'll tell you the reason "Factory Girl" was the web choice song for one of the Giants Stadium (New Jersey) shows in 1997. It was because someone I know had written a robot computer program that bombarded the voting website with hundreds or thousands of requests for that song. It's true! The band was very surprised to find out that song was voted as the top request and they had to rehearse it before the show in order to be able to play it that night. These days they would probably just skip it and play a song they are more familiar with.

Amazing that all of this happened for the one venue on the tour which was a stone's throw away from countless Factories.

Why didn't "Factory Girl" get rigged by computer bots in Madison,Wisconsin or Fort Worth,Texas ??

It may seem coincidental but in this case there was no connection with the song choice and the venue location. There are factories everywhere, and the song wasn't written with New Jersey or even New York in mind. Anyway, as I said I know the person responsible for writing the bot that rigged the song vote in this case. I clearly remember him telling me on the afternoon of the show that night the winning song would be Factory Girl....and that it was.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-21 09:31 by TornAndFried.

I've seen eleven shows in London/Twickenham since 1990 and never heard Shattered and i've seen them play pretty much all the other semi regulars. They played it at the Shepherds Bush show but i think that's it. Slightly odd considering they try to avoid stuff they've played recently in the same city but it's still never turned up.

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still ill
I've seen eleven shows in London/Twickenham since 1990 and never heard Shattered and i've seen them play pretty much all the other semi regulars. They played it at the Shepherds Bush show but i think that's it. Slightly odd considering they try to avoid stuff they've played recently in the same city but it's still never turned up.

Have seen Shattered 3 times out of my last 6 shows attended. Batting 50% with it!

The song that I love and yet to see live after 20 plus shows is Ruby Tuesday. Resigning myself to the fact that I probably will not hear it as Buffalo is going to be my last Stones show unless they tour to support an new album.

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taz22

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still ill
I've seen eleven shows in London/Twickenham since 1990 and never heard Shattered and i've seen them play pretty much all the other semi regulars. They played it at the Shepherds Bush show but i think that's it. Slightly odd considering they try to avoid stuff they've played recently in the same city but it's still never turned up.

Have seen Shattered 3 times out of my last 6 shows attended. Batting 50% with it!

The song that I love and yet to see live after 20 plus shows is Ruby Tuesday. Resigning myself to the fact that I probably will not hear it as Buffalo is going to be my last Stones show unless they tour to support an new album.

Seen it three times including the last one, wanna swap tickets next time

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TornAndFried

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Winning Ugly VXII

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TornAndFried
I'll tell you the reason "Factory Girl" was the web choice song for one of the Giants Stadium (New Jersey) shows in 1997. It was because someone I know had written a robot computer program that bombarded the voting website with hundreds or thousands of requests for that song. It's true! The band was very surprised to find out that song was voted as the top request and they had to rehearse it before the show in order to be able to play it that night. These days they would probably just skip it and play a song they are more familiar with.

Amazing that all of this happened for the one venue on the tour which was a stone's throw away from countless Factories.

Why didn't "Factory Girl" get rigged by computer bots in Madison,Wisconsin or Fort Worth,Texas ??

It may seem coincidental but in this case there was no connection with the song choice and the venue location. There are factories everywhere, and the song wasn't written with New Jersey or even New York in mind. Anyway, as I said I know the person responsible for writing the bot that rigged the song vote in this case. I clearly remember him telling me on the afternoon of the show that night the winning song would be Factory Girl....and that it was.

Factories everywhere ...... obviously,but not in the high concentration of northern New Jersey. I don't think that "She's a Rainbow" was written about Hawaii either but,if you look at the songs that won in '97,there is an OBVIOUS pattern in many instances.

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still ill
I've seen eleven shows in London/Twickenham since 1990 and never heard Shattered and i've seen them play pretty much all the other semi regulars. They played it at the Shepherds Bush show but i think that's it. Slightly odd considering they try to avoid stuff they've played recently in the same city but it's still never turned up.

They don't try to avoid stuff they've played recently in the same city quite as hard / as much as they used to. Pittsburgh only had 2 songs new to the city ..... "Doom and Gloom" plus "Moonlight Mile". Maybe you could add in "All Down the Line" but,that was played at Hershey Park on the 'A Bigger Bang Tour'.

So,16 or 17 songs the same out of 19.

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still ill

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taz22

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still ill
I've seen eleven shows in London/Twickenham since 1990 and never heard Shattered and i've seen them play pretty much all the other semi regulars. They played it at the Shepherds Bush show but i think that's it. Slightly odd considering they try to avoid stuff they've played recently in the same city but it's still never turned up.

Have seen Shattered 3 times out of my last 6 shows attended. Batting 50% with it!

The song that I love and yet to see live after 20 plus shows is Ruby Tuesday. Resigning myself to the fact that I probably will not hear it as Buffalo is going to be my last Stones show unless they tour to support an new album.

Seen it three times including the last one, wanna swap tickets next time

I'm going to Buffalo......what's your next show? You could be on to something! LOL!!!

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taz22

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still ill

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taz22

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still ill
I've seen eleven shows in London/Twickenham since 1990 and never heard Shattered and i've seen them play pretty much all the other semi regulars. They played it at the Shepherds Bush show but i think that's it. Slightly odd considering they try to avoid stuff they've played recently in the same city but it's still never turned up.

Have seen Shattered 3 times out of my last 6 shows attended. Batting 50% with it!

The song that I love and yet to see live after 20 plus shows is Ruby Tuesday. Resigning myself to the fact that I probably will not hear it as Buffalo is going to be my last Stones show unless they tour to support an new album.

Seen it three times including the last one, wanna swap tickets next time

I'm going to Buffalo......what's your next show? You could be on to something! LOL!!!

My luck, i'll fly over and get RT!

Even though the actual Memory Motel is located on Long Island, the song was definitely selected to please the crowd in Boston in 2013, with Mick emphasizing the lyrics "back up to Boston, I'm singing in a bar."

Dead Flowers at Churchill Downs racetrack in Kentucky, and Sweet Virginia anywhere in California. They're not stupid - if there's a local reference, in it goes.

<<the relationship between location and setlist of a show.>>

Yes, there could be something to that:

[www.youtube.com]

However, despite what BostonLass indicates, Memory Motel on June 14, 2013 in Boston was among those songs listed for the special online fan vote, so it was the fans that selected it, though it most certainly was included on the fan vote list because of location and wasn't part of the fan vote at any other point on the tour... unless these fan votes are just for show and really are in fact selected by the band, but that's another topic for another thread, which I'm not going to start.

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BostonLass
Even though the actual Memory Motel is located on Long Island, the song was definitely selected to please the crowd in Boston in 2013, with Mick emphasizing the lyrics "back up to Boston, I'm singing in a bar."

Also Foxborough '94 , Boston '99 , and Boston '06 besides '13 .

Foxborough '94 "Memory Motel" is probably the only reason that it did not "win" the vote in '97. That was back when they cared more about avoiding repeat non-warhorses.