Matthew Good 2011 Tour Dates!

[c0micb0y]

I'll be attending the meet n greet after the Mississauga show tonite. I actually had great seats, 8th row centre, but a friend of mine recently moved to BC and can't make it, so I bought her VIP ticket and my pal's gf is taking my ticket. I really dislike arranged interactions like this, hopefully it won't be too weird. Really looking forward to hearing this album live!

[uglyredhonda]

I paid like $60 for 6th row seats in non-vip. Suckas.

 

They definitely didn't block out the front rows for VIP. I had second row for London and front row for Kitchener, all non-VIP. (In fairness, both were singles. I also bought a second row for Hamilton that I didn't end up using.) I'd thought about doing the VIP, but I figured I've met Matt a few times and I wasn't sure if I needed the other stuff. (I probably ended up spending about the same across both nights by buying the Hammy ticket and a signed poster.)

 

Oddly - at London, the posters were selling for $25 either signed or unsigned. At Kitchener, they'd switched to $25/$15 signed/unsigned. (I'm glad I bought a signed one in London - I'd have been kind of upset had I bought an unsigned, then spotted it for ten bucks less the next night - though I certainly understand the price change.)

 

I have a setlist from Kitchener - I'll try and post it tonight. I thought the London setlist was the better of the two - ending the main set with "Weapon" always feels great (especially as they each walk off the stage while the song's still going). And I think this version of "Rabbits" is a perfect set closer. Having said that, I think the performance itself was maybe a touch better in Kitchener, but both were fantastic. I really enjoyed the hell out of both nights.

 

I especially love what Ian is bringing. Blake was great, too, but the little fills and whatnot that Ian's throwing in add a lot to me, especially (though not limited to) the MGB songs. (It seems like Matt usually likes a little less clutter, so it was a little surprising to me.) I was actually pretty impressed - it looks like Ian's got drum charts beside him for certain songs, which is definitely not an easy way to play. (I'm guessing that was what was on his music stand.)

 

The keyboard guy is awesome. I love how he's over there grooving away, and often looks like he's having a total blast.

 

Did anyone mention that there were horns on "Zero Orchestra"? They're just not live. Ian's (apparently) playing to a click track along with the studio recordings of the horns - at least, that's what it sounded like. (It didn't sound like synthesized horns, which was what I was expecting.)

 

The new guitarist is solid, but it seemed at times that he might be new-ish to this level. At one point (I think "Non-Populus" in Kitchener), he paused mid-solo to adjust his guitar tone. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm usually of the mind that tone doesn't really matter as long as the notes are there - nobody's going to notice the tone, but a few might notice the pause or the tone change. Having said that, I like what he's bringing, too. He's definitely not as technically precise as Stu, but I like that kind of less-polished style, too. This lineup has really great rock moments - "X-Rated" in London was one of the big highlights.

 

And, honestly, I have a feeling that these guys will be tight by the end of the tour - as of Friday, it doesn't sound like they're that far away. And that's saying a lot, considering the complexity of the newer material.

 

 

I hate being the contrarian, but I can't say I was that impressed with the opener. I've usually dug Matt's openers for the uniqueness of their style, but I really didn't hear anything unique here. For example, while Dala is pretty much straight ahead folk(-rock), if you heard one of their songs, you'd know it was them. But Wesley's music often sounded like a bunch of other bands - several of his songs sounded like Sublime being fronted by Jack Johnson. (I'll admit I had a little bit of an "Enh, really?" reaction to some of the casual drug references. Unless you're from Jamaica and/or related to Bob Marley, you can skip singing about "smok[ing] a little ganja".) The hooks were there at times, but it felt a little hollow and a little too polished. Man, they were tight, though - his bass player was spectacular.

Edited October 25, 2011 by uglyredhonda

[likeadeadstar]

I paid like $60 for 6th row seats in non-vip. Suckas.

 

EDIT: Might have been $80, but you get it.

 

Ah, but us VIP folk got the signed litho (retail value $25) and a t-shirt (I don't know, $25 or $30? Tonight's my first one this tour). So for an extra $39, there's the M&G and those goodies, PLUS the seat. I think it's a sweet deal, and considering my usually lousy luck for tickets, I was happy to spoil myself this tour (2nd row is fine by me!). They definitely didn't hold all of them back, though; I snagged fifth row for my dad, brother and I at a Toronto show from general onsale. I'm actually happy they didn't hold them all; it's more fair to fans who just couldn't afford VIP.

 

Long time lurker, btw. Hi! For the Twitter-savvy, I'll be live-tweeting the Mississauga set if signal holds. I'll hashtag it as #mglac :) For another artist I follow, we coordinate live-tweeting of sets so those at home can see what's happening (or not happening).

[michiforsberg]

Ok, it just over two weeks to go until the Calgary shows and my VIP package hasn't shown up yet... should I be freaking out yet??

[adrianf74]

I'll be attending the meet n greet after the Mississauga show tonite. I actually had great seats, 8th row centre, but a friend of mine recently moved to BC and can't make it, so I bought her VIP ticket and my pal's gf is taking my ticket. I really dislike arranged interactions like this, hopefully it won't be too weird. Really looking forward to hearing this album live!

Sorry to hear you won't be able to make it as you had seats that were two or three rows behind me.

 

And nevermind the wooks in Hamilton, I wanna see someone yell out "Rico" tonight. I'd PAY to see that. :D

[likeadeadstar]

Ok, it just over two weeks to go until the Calgary shows and my VIP package hasn't shown up yet... should I be freaking out yet??

 

I got my package for next week's Toronto gig YESTERDAY and that was expedited shipping. Don't panic yet. What shipping did you choose?

 

 

MISSISSAUGA SETLIST!

 

While We Were Hunting Rabbits

Lights of Endangered Species

The Boy Who Could Explode

Born Losers

What If I Can't See The Stars, Mildred?

Zero Orchestra

Load Me Up

Hello Time Bomb

Non Populus

Apparitions

Weapon

 

Giant

Set Me On Fire

Shallow's Low

 

 

This was my first of this tour, and it was a really awesome set to start off on. Rabbits gave me the chills - I kinda never want to hear it with the band now, to be honest. I love the solo piano. It was the set I predicted for this city: lots of MGB material, singles focus, and that's not a bad thing at all. I hadn't heard Weapon in a while live, so that was awesome. There are songs I'd still like to hear, but I've got two more shows this tour, maybe three if the Mr. gets impetuous and we head out to Oshawa.

 

Matt was very chatty tonight, too. After Explode, the band jammed out a very funk-ish piece they were "working on earlier"... I feel like I should be able to name it, but just can't get it. Anyone else know what it was? Matt then reacted to a guy shouting random things by telling us of the mind process of the 'random shouter' and how he never hears what they say, anyway. This somehow led to chat of old earpieces and wedges? It was so random. After Bomb, he started teasing the guitarist about how he'd jumped ahead a song. "I can't see anything without bending right over, but you have perfect vision... What's your excuse?" To the band's credit, it was seamless - I had no idea they'd gone out of order at all. Matt then tried to get the bassist's dad on stage to take over so he could take a break, then quipped about if the mall was closed, because he wanted to get 'things from The Gap'. This evolved into a discussion of his love of v-necks, Catholic school nuns caning him in a v-neck, him setting fire to a garbage can to escape Catholic school ("in grade one"), and is best summed up with this: "Strange how the association goes: caning by a nun; v-neck; that's a good look!" I hope video surfaces, but doubt it; the ushers were awful. They even made people sit down during Giant and were constantly waving their little flashlights at photo takers. It was ridiculous. The seats were also the opposite of comfortable. Good thing the show was great and distracted me!

[c0micb0y]

Sorry to hear you won't be able to make it as you had seats that were two or three rows behind me.

 

And nevermind the wooks in Hamilton, I wanna see someone yell out "Rico" tonight. I'd PAY to see that. :D

 

What? Nah I was there, second row centre! Fucking lights were BRIGHT! Enjoyed the show, found the pianist awesome and the new guitarist a bit rough... but he brought some energy to the older material (time bomb/load me up), they really rocked out. I must say that though I am no longer moved by 'apparitions' live, it was a great throwback to hear organ played as in the original recording, neat! Rabbits was indeed a great surprise this tour, akin to when they started playing Suburbia again. Met Mr. Good afterwards, standard meet n greet. Had some records and a beautiful midnight poster signed - would have gone round to the tour bus to try and track down Ian, but it's raining pretty steadily tonight. Perhaps after the Toronto show next week... all in all good show and a good night, ran in to a few people I haven't seen in years as well (like 15 years!) crazy. Buh.

[uglyredhonda]

Days late, but here's the Kitchener setlist from last Friday:

 

Lights of Endangered Species

Last Parade

Born Losers

What If I Can't See the Stars, Mildred?

Zero Orchestra

Hello Time Bomb

Load Me Up

Non-Populus

Apparitions

Weapon

Shallow's Low

 

While We Were Hunting Rabbits

How It Goes

Set Me on Fire

[Moonlight_Graham]

any body have the setlist from Kingston?

[RileyLewis]

Seems like he's settling on 14 songs per show now. Not bad. Hopefully the crowd is better than last time he came to Saskatoon. He shorted everyone 2 songs (compared to the rest of the tour's dates) because the crowd was so horrible.

[likeadeadstar]

14 songs felt fine - but only because they're such long songs.... He played what, an hour and forty-something last night? Considering how long this tour is and the meet and greet time, if that's what it takes for him to keep as healthy as possible, I support it. Of course, I am greedy and as a fan, would love to hear two or three more short songs a night (Carmelina, Put Out Your Lights, most anything from WLRRR except Blue Skies, which I'm so bored of live), but I appreciate what Matt's doing. Changing up band personnel right before tour also screws things up, I think. He COULD do a solo song a night, like Fine Art of Falling Apart (really want to hear this one, but doubt I will this tour).

 

And I agree - the lights were BRIGHT. I was up in the dress circle and getting blinded by them frequently.

[adrianf74]

This was my first of this tour, and it was a really awesome set to start off on. Rabbits gave me the chills - I kinda never want to hear it with the band now, to be honest. I love the solo piano. It was the set I predicted for this city: lots of MGB material, singles focus, and that's not a bad thing at all. I hadn't heard Weapon in a while live, so that was awesome. There are songs I'd still like to hear, but I've got two more shows this tour, maybe three if the Mr. gets impetuous and we head out to Oshawa.

 

Matt was very chatty tonight, too. After Explode, the band jammed out a very funk-ish piece they were "working on earlier"... I feel like I should be able to name it, but just can't get it. Anyone else know what it was? Matt then reacted to a guy shouting random things by telling us of the mind process of the 'random shouter' and how he never hears what they say, anyway. This somehow led to chat of old earpieces and wedges? It was so random. After Bomb, he started teasing the guitarist about how he'd jumped ahead a song. "I can't see anything without bending right over, but you have perfect vision... What's your excuse?" To the band's credit, it was seamless - I had no idea they'd gone out of order at all. Matt then tried to get the bassist's dad on stage to take over so he could take a break, then quipped about if the mall was closed, because he wanted to get 'things from The Gap'. This evolved into a discussion of his love of v-necks, Catholic school nuns caning him in a v-neck, him setting fire to a garbage can to escape Catholic school ("in grade one"), and is best summed up with this: "Strange how the association goes: caning by a nun; v-neck; that's a good look!" I hope video surfaces, but doubt it; the ushers were awful. They even made people sit down during Giant and were constantly waving their little flashlights at photo takers. It was ridiculous. The seats were also the opposite of comfortable. Good thing the show was great and distracted me!

 

Nice summary of the show. I didn't find the seats that brutal - the seats at Massey Hall are worse than those.

 

What? Nah I was there, second row centre! Fucking lights were BRIGHT! Enjoyed the show, found the pianist awesome and the new guitarist a bit rough... but he brought some energy to the older material (time bomb/load me up), they really rocked out. I must say that though I am no longer moved by 'apparitions' live, it was a great throwback to hear organ played as in the original recording, neat! Rabbits was indeed a great surprise this tour, akin to when they started playing Suburbia again. Met Mr. Good afterwards, standard meet n greet. Had some records and a beautiful midnight poster signed - would have gone round to the tour bus to try and track down Ian, but it's raining pretty steadily tonight. Perhaps after the Toronto show next week... all in all good show and a good night, ran in to a few people I haven't seen in years as well (like 15 years!) crazy. Buh.

 

Maybe I was on crack when I read your original post. :)

 

Yeah, the lights were blinding. I actually found the new guitarist decent (energy-wise) as he was bringing his own stuff to the table instead of just "playing the record." The keyboardist was awesome (as you say) as well and looked to be having a good time. "Apparations" is dead boring to me and even "Weapon" has lost it's allure. No offence to Ian (or fans of said drummer) but I felt that he phoned in his part -- especially on the latter. There just wasn't any real hammering to it. Even though Matt was in a chatty mood, my better half also noted that his performance seemed lackadaisical for lack of a better word. He was quite, "Meh... whatever." She was excited as well since she (and I) were caught in the downpour of the Mississauga Waterfront Festival back in '08 and she hadn't had a chance to see him live until yesterday. I only wish she could have seent the 2008 Oshawa show as that, by far, was the best show I'd seen next to the Spring 2003 Hamilton show.

 

14 songs felt fine - but only because they're such long songs.... He played what, an hour and forty-something last night? Considering how long this tour is and the meet and greet time, if that's what it takes for him to keep as healthy as possible, I support it. Of course, I am greedy and as a fan, would love to hear two or three more short songs a night (Carmelina, Put Out Your Lights, most anything from WLRRR except Blue Skies, which I'm so bored of live), but I appreciate what Matt's doing. Changing up band personnel right before tour also screws things up, I think. He COULD do a solo song a night, like Fine Art of Falling Apart (really want to hear this one, but doubt I will this tour).

 

And I agree - the lights were BRIGHT. I was up in the dress circle and getting blinded by them frequently.

 

1 hour, 38 minutes and some seconds by my count -- but how I'm counting this is another story. :)

 

Your suggestions would be great. Hell, I'd love to hear "Black Helicopter" again. If I can't have "Near Fantastica," I'll settle for "Blue Skies" but then again, "Non Populus" does a good job of that as well.

 

As far as the personnel changes, I think he picked some good players.

 

BRIGHT to the point of a bloody headache when I left (and still have it this morning).

 

My only other complaint would be directed at the usherettes and their insistance of people NOT taking pictures during the show. I saw one person with a smartphone get shut down. I also had a flashlight pointed at me about two or three times (I was using a Canon G11 with NO FLASH). I managed to get a bunch of good pics which I'll ty and get up in the coming days. I wish these people would understand that even though it's a theatre, it's a ROCK CONCERT and photography is gonna happen. These people were worse than the ones at Casino Rama for crying out loud.

 

Enjoy the rest of the shows, guys. I think I'll be sitting the rest of this tour out especially as the set list isn't changing much from night to night.

[likeadeadstar]

1 hour, 38 minutes and some seconds by my count -- but how I'm counting this is another story. :)

 

Your suggestions would be great. Hell, I'd love to hear "Black Helicopter" again. If I can't have "Near Fantastica," I'll settle for "Blue Skies" but then again, "Non Populus" does a good job of that as well.

 

As far as the personnel changes, I think he picked some good players.

 

BRIGHT to the point of a bloody headache when I left (and still have it this morning).

 

My only other complaint would be directed at the usherettes and their insistance of people NOT taking pictures during the show. I saw one person with a smartphone get shut down. I also had a flashlight pointed at me about two or three times (I was using a Canon G11 with NO FLASH). I managed to get a bunch of good pics which I'll ty and get up in the coming days. I wish these people would understand that even though it's a theatre, it's a ROCK CONCERT and photography is gonna happen. These people were worse than the ones at Casino Rama for crying out loud.

 

Enjoy the rest of the shows, guys. I think I'll be sitting the rest of this tour out especially as the set list isn't changing much from night to night.

 

Massey is also brutal - I hate it, too. I have early-onset arthritis among other things (from a mosh pit disaster in 2000, funny enough), and my knee was so jammed, it started shuddering violently last night. Then again, Massey was built a very long time ago, whereas LAC was built in 1994 and well, the general population was bigger overall, so what the hell? I was SO annoyed by the ushers - their flashlights were distracting me in the dress circle far more than the cameras. And the one who made people sit during Giant? IT'S A ROCK SHOW. It's the encore, who cares? Is fun against the LAC rules?

 

I really wish Matt would bust out more MGB non-singles, even acoustic and solo. I am doomed to never hear Change of Season. I haven't heard Symbolistic White Walls since my first show. It might make a nice change to do Everything is Automatic more and Load me Up less, or bust out Alabama Motel Room for variety. Tripoli acoustic, anyone? I do hope he does an acoustic tour soon, and takes such thoughts to heart. I'm also bummed at the lack of Hospital Music tunes this tour, and the absence of Vancouver National Anthem.

 

I still love Apparitions - I will never ever tire of it. It's like Precious Things by Tori Amos: she's played that at like, 26 of the 33 shows I've seen, but I never tire of hearing it. Weapon is one of my favourites, and maybe it's the number of shows I've seen comparatively, but I've only heard it 4 times live? I think? I was really happy to hear it again. This is sort of the catch-22 artists face as their catalogue grows: long-time fans, particularly those who will see multiple shows, start to tire of long-standing hits, but forget that new fans, or fans that just never get to see shows, really want to hear that song. Matt's trying to make everyone happy. My dad has been a fan since Beautiful Midnight and has seen Matt live ONCE because he's disabled and GA shows and many venues are out for him. His first show was the first Toronto show on the Vancouver tour and he was disappointed not to hear more old tunes, like Hello Time Bomb, Alert Status Red, Weapon...

 

In any case, my meandering thoughts TL; DR to this: the price we pay for seeing many shows is perhaps souring on old hits, but not everyone has the ability to see many shows. I try and remember that when Tori Amos plays Cornflake Girl for the 28th time for me and some people squeal in excitement, because it's show number four for them. :)

 

(Songs I'm sick of live by Matt, though: Avalanche; Blue Skies Over Badlands; Great Whales Of The Sea)

[Guest jjazz]

I'm kind of disappointed about the lack of acoustic songs in the setlist. Matt said He was going to try and rotate some of these songs into the show, granted there was time in the set and he remembered how to play the songs. But we haven't seen any of them. Got me really excited when he announced this tour.

1. Metal Airplanes
   
2. Prime Time Deliverance
   
3. Tripoli
   
4. Advertising On Police Cars
   
5. So Long Mrs Smith
   
6. Strange Days
   
7. Fated
   
8. True Love Will Find You In The End
   
9. Hopeless
   
10. Generation X-Wing
    
11. Suburbia
    
12. Empty Road
    
13. Bright End Of Nowhere
    
14. 99% Of Us Is Failure
    
15. Sort Of A Protest Song
    

[adrianf74]

@likeadeadstar: Sorry to hear of your health issues; sitting in any seat would probably give you issues. I often prefer standing now when I can just because I can, albeit very limited, still move around for the show. I got a thank you email from LAC after the show asking for feedback - I think those two issues are going to be brought up in my reply.

 

I'd love to hear SWW again -- it's been almost a decade (2003 tour in Hamilton for me) so he really should bring it back. I heard Automatic last in 2008, I think, in Oshawa. He commented that that was one of his favourite shows from that tour and it was probably my second favourite after the second night at the Mod Club during his three night stint.

 

I know what you're saying about the Catch-22 but for someone like MG, many of his fans are diehards and would love to hear "SONG X" which hasn't been played in forever. I'm sure he (or one of his people) read the comments on the boards so I don't see why it would be difficult to just include a single bone (even if he played it every night of the tour)? I also know when an artist moves on they like to concentrate on their more recent work but to see the non-existence of "Hospital Music" tracks or the slim pickings from "Vancouver"... well, ugh.

 

Oh... don't get me started on TA. I could get into that one, too, but I'll refrain. :)

[Computer]

Here's my (shitty) video of WWHR, it's solid audio though.

[JacqWazz]

Wow. That piano version of Rabbits is amazing. I hope he plays that at one of the shows I've got tickets for.

 

I'm shocked that there is a lack of Everything is Automatic. That's been a favorite for a long time and I haven't heard it live in a couple of years.

[RileyLewis]

After this many shows with no new songs, I would guess what we've heard so far is it. I doubt anything new will be added after this many shows. So unfortunately no Automatic or other things we want...but the current list is pretty good. I would like maybe another short song or two (like someone else said before), but 14 songs is decent.

[eclipse]

After this many shows with no new songs, I would guess what we've heard so far is it. I doubt anything new will be added after this many shows. So unfortunately no Automatic or other things we want...but the current list is pretty good. I would like maybe another short song or two (like someone else said before), but 14 songs is decent.

 

Didn't Matt play The Future is X Rated halfway through the last tour? There's still a shot. Besides, I don't see anybody talking about how much of a surprise that was. It's such a great song to hear.

[adrianf74]

After this many shows with no new songs, I would guess what we've heard so far is it. I doubt anything new will be added after this many shows. So unfortunately no Automatic or other things we want...but the current list is pretty good. I would like maybe another short song or two (like someone else said before), but 14 songs is decent.

 

Of the known set lists that have been published, here's what has been played so far of the 10-ten shows posted.

 

(10 plays) Apparations, Weapon, Shallow's Low, Load Me Up, Born Losers, What If I Can't See.., Non Populus, Zero Ochestra, Set Me On Fire

(8 plays) While We Were Hunting...

(6 plays) Future Is X-Rated, Giant, Lights of Endangered...

(4 plays) Hello Time Bomb, Hornets, The Boy Who Could...

(3 plays) How It Goes, Last Parade

(2 plays) Great Whales..., A Silent Army..., Alert Status Red

(1 play) It's Been A While...

 

As I said above, I know there's a fine line for any artist trying to satisfy the die-hards vs. casual/new fans but it would've been nice for Matt to play SOMETHING that we're dying to hear even if it meant playing that same song EVERY night. I was rather ho-hum about the whole setlist I saw on Tuesday night (especially with the lack of Hospital Music and Vancouver tracks) and that feeling hasn't improved at all since.

[AnOceanPearl]

At the same time though, he is playing with 3 new musicians (yes, at this point in time, Ian Browne is a new musician for all intents and purposes), one of which came in during the last few days of rehearsals. I'm okay with them taking 20 or 25 songs and getting them supertight sounding- it's better than adding 5 or 10 more and possibly having the whole show suffer for it. And who knows, maybe some new stuff will be thrown is as they do soundchecks etc etc.

[Kenwell]

Definitely excited for the Ottawa show Friday night! Regardless of the setlist, I am looking forward to hearing the new album live.

[Guest jjazz]

I'm fine with the setlists. They've been pretty standard since the HM tours really, with the addition of new albums.

 

I'm just wondering why Matt posted on M+ that he was going to rotate some of those songs in acoustically, and he hasn't yet, Just curious, that's all. It was definitely something to look forward to.

[Curtster]

I'm just wondering why Matt posted on M+ that he was going to rotate some of those songs in acoustically, and he hasn't yet, Just curious, that's all. It was definitely something to look forward to.

I remember prior the 08 full band tour he posted a list of acoustic songs he intended to rotate, and I think he only did a couple at the Toronto show that ended up being the Massey Hall album.

[likeadeadstar]

@likeadeadstar: Sorry to hear of your health issues; sitting in any seat would probably give you issues. I often prefer standing now when I can just because I can, albeit very limited, still move around for the show. I got a thank you email from LAC after the show asking for feedback - I think those two issues are going to be brought up in my reply.

 

I'd love to hear SWW again -- it's been almost a decade (2003 tour in Hamilton for me) so he really should bring it back. I heard Automatic last in 2008, I think, in Oshawa. He commented that that was one of his favourite shows from that tour and it was probably my second favourite after the second night at the Mod Club during his three night stint.

 

I know what you're saying about the Catch-22 but for someone like MG, many of his fans are diehards and would love to hear "SONG X" which hasn't been played in forever. I'm sure he (or one of his people) read the comments on the boards so I don't see why it would be difficult to just include a single bone (even if he played it every night of the tour)? I also know when an artist moves on they like to concentrate on their more recent work but to see the non-existence of "Hospital Music" tracks or the slim pickings from "Vancouver"... well, ugh.

 

Bearing weight long term doesn't work for me anymore, either. I really can't win! That's what I get for attending hundreds of shows. ;)

 

I'm a die-hard that just kept missing tours, so I'm in that weird spot of wanting to hear stuff that has long been shafted live, while still happy to hear the staples. jesse's list is filled with songs I want to hear live and wish Matt would rotate in, even acoustically. I totally agree: throw us a single bone each night! Even if it's one of 6 rotating bones, it's still variety for the die-hards (and also is a treat for ANY fan).

 

I just don't want him to swing the other way, either, and outright stop doing a song because of its long-standing hit status. NIN did that during the Wave Goodbye tour and ditched Closer, and while yeah, it's played a LOT, I still really love that track live. It was a bummer.

 

In my magic ideal universe (which of course does not exist!):

 

1. Matt would do three of the following (max) per night and rotate around: Load Me Up, Hello Time Bomb, The Future Is X-Rated, Everything Is Automatic, Apparitions, Weapon, Alert Status Red, Born Losers. I'd also say Strange Days here too, but since it's become an acoustic song, it's different. That's 8 big hit songs that a die-hard with 15 shows under his or her belt may not want to hear as often, but doing a max of 3 allows a sprinkling and also variety. Right now, I've noticed that if a set has Time Bomb, I tend to always hear Load Me Up or X-Rated that night, and while I don't mind, I see how that predictability gets tiresome.

 

2. Matt would do one or two acoustics a night, mid-set. Pick 6 'easy to play' tunes that are lesser-played, polish them up, rotate them in. Rabbits is wonderful this tour! Strange Days could come in here. Fated. Fine Art. Alabama Motel Room. Tripoli. SWW even. Just make it the routine. Again, adds a little more Russian Roulette surprise to the setlist.

 

3. It's okay to tour an album and not make half the set said album. Just sayin'. Not everyone makes every tour. I missed the Avalanche tour entirely. I apparently will never hear 90% of that album live ever now. :( I would love to see a song from every/most albums each night for variety and also, juxtaposition. I thought this tour's version of Rabbits sounded amazing sliding into Lights. New combinations that add richness and meaning can only happen when there's a mix.

 

I know a lot of this is affected by costs, rehearsal time, the fact Matt is solo and not in a built-in band that knows everything like he does. I'm accepting and okay with it. But in my dream world, we could see a set like this on this tour (and I would meltdown in joy):

 

1. Rabbits (piano)

2. LOES

3. Automatic

4. Weapon

5. Tripoli (acoustic)

6. Fine Art (acoustic)

7. Change of Season (c'mon! we have PIANO! why is this not being taken advantage of?)

8. Mildred

9. Zero Orchestra

10. The Future is X-Rated

11. SWW

 

12. Champions of Nothing

13. Buffalo Seven

14. Empty's Theme Park

 

 

All over the damn place, a little of everything, 3/9 new tracks, still has a few commercial hits for the casual fans/few shows seen crowd. The next night of this imaginary dream tour, he could swap in Time Bomb and Born Losers for the 'hits', do Sort of a Protest Song and Strange Days solo, maybe bust our Carmelina and Put Out Your Lights.... You can't teach a band a catalogue this big in a few weeks, but if teach one or two per old album and half the newest one.... It's feasible. Or at least, I'll dream that it is!