Something I always like to do before going to a gig/concert/show (delete as necessary) is look up the setlists from the bands last few shows. I like to obsess over which songs are being played, what they open and close with, which songs are saved for the encore, whether they mix it up each night or not.. I scrutinise every minute detail and for me this helps me get excited for the show. Yet sometimes when I share this habit of mine with people they feel I’m doing the wrong thing..
By looking up the setlist in advance they say I’m ruining the surprises that the show may have to offer. And to be fair it’s pretty rare I’ve seen a band and had an ‘OMG they’re playing this song!’ moment.. So many bands don’t mix up their setlist each night of a tour that if you do look it up beforehand you know for sure what you are getting and the whole show will just be going through the motions.
But when I saw The XX on Monday they actually changed the order of their songs from the previous two shows on the tour and this worked really well and I enjoyed it, still as a surprise, but one that was only a surprise to me as I already had an expectation in my mind of what I was getting.
Personally, I’m not going to change, as I love the build up to a concert. I search the # of the band on instagram beforehand and look through hundreds of photos and videos and this is all part of my experience. But I understand it is different for a load of people! I’d love to hear some other opinions on this topic!
