What about Stockholm? Too many things to mention but here’s a few.
What about the the 2009 live debut and only performance to date of Billy?
Or the 2017 one-off performance of Standing In The Doorway, first since 2005?
Or the additions of Can’t Wait and Girl From The North Country in 2019, first performances of the songs since 2012 and 2014 respectively?
Gothenburg?
In 2014, Gothenburg was one of the rare 2013/2014 locations where Bob did not perform a single song from his then latest album Tempest, and has played rarities of that era like Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues.
London?
From 2003, you have rare performances of Jokerman, Dear Landlord, Yea! Heavy And A Bottle Of Bread, Romance In Durango.
From 2005, you have rare performances of Million Dollar Bash, Waiting For You, London Calling.
In 2013, he did play a rare Roll On John, didn’t he?
What about other locations?
Glasgow could be special as well, as he has been kind to Scottish audiences, especially in the late 80s and early to mid 90s, but probably even after that.
Amsterdam could be interesting as well. It might not bring out the rarities, but some of his Amsterdam shows, like the ones in 2003 and 2009, have produced some superb sound quality concerts and performances altogether. I don’t see why it wouldn’t be like that again?
The Paris shows could be in for a treat as well.
I don’t want to disregard the German shows and the one in Brussels and such. I’m sure they’ll most likely have special performances to.
But, if you want possible surprises or rarities, or permanent setlist changes, they’ll happen in one of the locations I’ve mentioned most likely.
I want to make myself clear that I don’t expect setlist changes on every show. But I do expect the setlist to be different than it was so far and I believe that there might be a few more songs added to the list of songs played.
And this is not a wishlist. This is based on legitimate research, even though I still could be wrong. I’m never saying that that’s not the case.
I’ve been asked recently why I even bother researching this?
Well, I want to encourage people to keep close attention. Because, if they don’t, they might be shocked when something happens. If they want to be shocked, great, they don’t have to read what I have to say.
I do believe I contribute somewhat to the excitement of people. At least I try to.
How much has the list of songs shortened?
In 2013, usually refered to as the static year and one of the most static ones, because it was the first, has had about 60 songs played across the year.
In 2014 and 2015, it was around 40-45.
In 2016, it was around 35-40 I believe.
In 2017 and 2018, it wasn’t different compared to 2016, but in 2019, I believe, it was barely over 30. Yet, 2019 is always praised and rarely criticized. A rare year that where the “static setlist” argument never gets brought up.
Even though in 2013 Bob played two times more songs than in 2019.
So, when are people going to just stop talking in generalities, without checking the facts first?
We don’t have to be specific about everything, but we could at least not tell each other lies, and then keep repeating them to death until it becomes the truth.
In 2022, Bob has played 19 songs so far only. That’s the reality.
We’ve also had the longest running same setlist streak this year, which is the reason for that.
I expect him to play at least 4 more songs, if not more, which would then make it 23 or more. But, that’s just me.
What’s also the story of 2022?
No songs from Time Out Of Mind, Love And Theft, Modern Times, Together Through Life and Tempest were played, giving more room for the Rough And Rowdy Ways songs to shine.
Will this continue in Europe? Possibly. But I wouldn’t bet completely against that.
If Bob was to bring any songs back to the set, it’s hard to say at this point which ones would they be. Will it be really old material or something newer? Hard to say as well.
That’s why the anticipation should be very high.
We don’t know which songs in the current set are safe.
I wouldn’t even count on the Rough And Rowdy Ways ones. Just because Bob used to, in 2013 and 2014, have concerts where he completely disregarded the Tempest songs, not playing a single song from there on multiple shows in those two years. Which of course was a laughable number compared to the number of concerts that did feature Tempest songs in those years. But about 10 concerts had 0 Tempest songs, and two of them happened on the European Fall Tour, the same tour that also had two concerts with 7 Tempest songs in the set. Talk about extremes and talk about contrasts.
No song is safe.
No song is sure to be played, and no song is safe not to be played at this moment.
There might still be many similar songs in the set, but the order of the setlist might change drastically.
The band members might be featured on different instruments more often, particularly multi-instrumentalist Donnie Herron, who might be featured more on violin this time compared to previous tours, or he might bring his accordion again, or he might even bring his trumpet after a while.
For anyone able, and who’s not attending the shows at all, I recommend getting on the internet, particularly Expecting Rain or maybe a YouTube live setlist discussion premiere (if one occurs at all) and follow the setlist from the very first Oslo concert on September 25.
Witnessing the songs one by one in order being reported by presumably trustworthy people, may not be as exciting as actually being there in attendance, but I guarantee it’s the best experience you can ask for outside of attending the actual show.
Can’t wait to see you there!
What are my personal setlist guesses…?
Maybe I’ll let Tony Attwood know in September, when we’re much closer to kick-off. I’ll know better by then.
Until then, I’ll be enjoying my break and I’ll also do some research when the time is right, but I won’t tire myself with it at this moment.