2024 Setlist Discussion Thread

[andylgr]

Here we go its the annual thread to discuss the setlist for the latest tour. Be warned that if you're trying to avoid spoilers then don't read on.

[darrell1]

I've never been a fan of a band only playing half of a song. Only half of DHTH or TSB?!?! I've always said that Def Leppard have done so little with so much. Adrenalize has sold around 8 million copies and gets no love this tour? They only ever play 90 minutes anymore. Springsteen is 75 and plays for 3 hours with ease. You know DL could at least do a 2 hr show regularly. Thoughts?

[wabowarrior]

Jul 21, 2024 18:56:03 GMT -8 darrell1 said:

I've never been a fan of a band only playing half of a song. Only half of DHTH or TSB?!?! I've always said that Def Leppard have done so little with so much. Adrenalize has sold around 8 million copies and gets no love this tour? They only ever play 90 minutes anymore. Springsteen is 75 and plays for 3 hours with ease. You know DL could at least do a 2 hr show regularly. Thoughts?

Springsteen tends to be the exception, not the rule, when it comes to show length. 

Def Leppard could do a two hour show, and they probably would, but they are in the mindset that they'd rather co-headline or top a triple-bill and play bigger venues. 

[whitelightning625]

Jul 21, 2024 18:56:03 GMT -8 darrell1 said:

I've never been a fan of a band only playing half of a song. Only half of DHTH or TSB?!?! I've always said that Def Leppard have done so little with so much. Adrenalize has sold around 8 million copies and gets no love this tour? They only ever play 90 minutes anymore. Springsteen is 75 and plays for 3 hours with ease. You know DL could at least do a 2 hr show regularly. Thoughts?

I think the answer is two fold. Personally asked myself the same question after seeing the 'short version' of DHTH being performed. It's not the full song, but it's still a sight to see being played. The other side of this is that the guys have never done this really. Bar none though having the song in the set while touring stadiums in the US is a statement.

The short version of TSB can be summed up to a short break for the other members I'd say. Beyond this I don't think there's a movement to cut the tracks down. With Die Hard it's probably more of a time factor.

At this point discussing Adrenalize tracks not being performed should have its own thread/topic lol.

[andylgr]

I really don't mind if they do abbreviated versions of some tracks, especially if it means squeezing more in to a set. Another example is Rocket, they're playing the single version on this tour and they've played that many time over the last 30 years to save time in a show. Rock! Rock! is another good example, they don't always play the full intro and in the past have cut that out completely. BOTH has been abbreviated before with the acoustic version missing out chunks of the first half of the track. The 2012 acoustic medley was a good way of playing some rarer material. So its not an entirely new thing.

They're never not going to play at least 6 from Hysteria, theres no point in even asking them to cut those down, its not going to happen.

I couldn't think of much worse than sitting through a 3 hour Springsteen concert though. It would be interesting to poll the people that go to these shows. Do the die hard fans love it? Are there massive lulls in the set? Do you lose the crowd at a certain point? Speaking from experience I sat through a 3 hour GnR show a few years back. It was terrible, too many self indulgent moments with too many solos and cover versions or even someone else singing a track. Even though I love Appetite & UYI there were tracks that they played I didn't care for. Sure the highs were high but the low moments are my one abiding memory. People were drifting off from the crowd for a while to get food or drinks, the mood and atmosphere definitely took a dip at various time as well. It made me think back to the 2 hour shows I saw back in the 90's from them and they were much better. So whilst a 3 hour show may sound great on paper I'm not convinced they work, I think its too long to keep the attention and atmosphere for that entire time.

I think back to my time watching Leps live and the 2 hour Adrenalize and X shows were probably the best in terms of show length and getting a good mix of tracks in there. So whilst nowadays 90 minutes is not be enough, I think 2 hours would be plenty.

Look at it from a cynical business point of view too, if you could play for 90 minutes and earn the same amount of money as you were playing 2 hour shows which would you choose? Its like the old adage of why play triple the amount of shows in theatres when you can play a third of the amount of shows in arenas and earn more money for less work. Now its the same logic but applied to arenas and stadiums.

[edwardcreighton]

105 minute set time works best for me, Iron Maiden sets are about that. If a band does 150 minutes tendency is to get bored, GnR lose all momentum doing 3 hours.

21 song set list for Lepps means 3 extra deep or newer cuts, always going to play the hits. Don't mind cutting down couple of songs or making a medley out of the more acoustic type songs.

[whitelightning625]

In the past I've expressed great interest in the band to play more from Pyromania. For a time it was only the three main singles plus Rock Rock and TLFL once in a while. Beyond that the rest of the album was untouched. Ironically though a majority of the tracks from Pyro have been performed at least once, if not on multiple tours.

Again going back to Die Hard The Hunter Joe even sounds better on the track today as opposed to in 2019 for the last residency.

[paul1982]

I saw Springsteen earlier this year and it certainly didn’t feel like 3 hours, and I’d say I knew 80% of the set. Absolutely fantastic.

Saw Bryan Adams earlier this year in Sheffield, 2 and a half hours and 29 songs. Again, absolutely brilliant and had the feeling of not knowing what was coming next and throwing songs in on the fly including crowd requests. I’d much rather this than everything having to be so rigid as it has to sync up to the graphics ffs.

I’d love to see Leppard go back to doing a 2 hour set in arenas and 22-23 songs with one decent support act. The package tours aren’t for me but it’s take it or leave it. Had to endure Whitesnake twice/Motley Crue who would’ve held absolutely zero interest for me 20/30 years ago and even less so now. But you can guarantee it’ll be 2 thirds full stadiums next time they tour the UK instead of going back to arena as, ultimately, it’s less work to play for more people for more money. People seem to think it’s having a go at them so say that, it’s not, it’s just a fact.

[wabowarrior]

Aug 17, 2024 20:18:32 GMT -8 paul1982 said:

I saw Springsteen earlier this year and it certainly didn’t feel like 3 hours, and I’d say I knew 80% of the set. Absolutely fantastic.

Saw Bryan Adams earlier this year in Sheffield, 2 and a half hours and 29 songs. Again, absolutely brilliant and had the feeling of not knowing what was coming next and throwing songs in on the fly including crowd requests. I’d much rather this than everything having to be so rigid as it has to sync up to the graphics ffs.

I’d love to see Leppard go back to doing a 2 hour set in arenas and 22-23 songs with one decent support act. The package tours aren’t for me but it’s take it or leave it. Had to endure Whitesnake twice/Motley Crue who would’ve held absolutely zero interest for me 20/30 years ago and even less so now. But you can guarantee it’ll be 2 thirds full stadiums next time they tour the UK instead of going back to arena as, ultimately, it’s less work to play for more people for more money. People seem to think it’s having a go at them so say that, it’s not, it’s just a fact.

You're not alone.  I would love to have an arena show with a longer set, one support act, and let's be honest, much better sightlines than we get with the stadiums.  

Like you said though, it comes down to math and money.  Here in Orlando, Camping World Stadium holds 60,000.  The Kia Center, two blocks away, holds 21,000.   So, I expect they will keep coming back with two support acts and draw 45-50,000 in the stadium instead of doing the arena for two nights.