How the set-list is made for an "Alice Cooper Show" ?
First you have the songs that you have to play :
I'm 18/Under my wheels/School's out/Billion Dollar Babies/No More mr.nice guy/Only Women/Poison
Songs from the current album (3 to 5)
Why he always play songs like :Feed my...., instead of Hey Stoopid ?
No songs from the Kane Roberts era ?
Give us rare stuff from early 80.
Why He's Back (only for Sweden) ? , it was a major hit here in Canada too !
What songs do you think will survive from the era Brutal Planet to Diamonds for the next show ?
Is this because some songs are not easy to do live ?
maybe the lyrics ?
What is your opinion on this ?
How the set-list is made ?
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Shoesalesman
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Not sure how the setlist gets planned. I think maybe 80% is the standards like you mentioned and the other 20% could be songs that apply to the particular stage show Alice puts on that tour. And that's just skimming the surface here, probably a more complicated process than what I suggested above.
If I may put forward a slice of personal colostomy...
Re: How the set-list is made ?
Well, they haven't played in Sweden since the Dragontown tour actually.Erickana wrote:Why He's Back (only for Sweden) ? , it was a major hit here in Canada too !
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Coopenstein
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Re: How the set-list is made ?
Hey this is an interesting subject...
I know this is a bit like swearing in church, but I think it might be a case of laziness? First of all - a performer does not HAVE TO play exactly what the audience wants. It's just easier to do more familiar stuff, and it also gets better response from the more casual fans...
I agree that there are certain hits that most people who go to an Alice show expects to hear. My guess is that "Eighteen" (break-through hit), SO (UK #1 and an all-time rock classic), BDB and NMMNG (two classic rock songs, from what might be the best known Alice Cooper album) are the hits that most people expect to hear... I can go along with "Poison" as well, because the younger and the more casual fans probably expect it. And that's about it for me... Four or five "must-do"-songs only. The rest 10-15-20 slots (depending if he does complete versions or medleys) are up for grabs...
When it comes to the theatrical songs there's plenty to choose from... My guess is that most people who go to an Alice show wants to hear (and see) at least one or two out of Ballad Of Dwight Fry, Dead Babies, Killer, Gutter Cats, I Love The Dead, Sick Things, Steven and Welcome To My Nightmare, together with some cool theatrics? Fine by me... But You COULD also take other/new songs with theatrical lyrics, and put them in the show together with some new effects/theatrics, right?
If Alice feels he HAS TO do a ballad (or two) - again, fine by me... But why is it in 90% OWB that he chooses to do!? That wasn't his biggest success with a ballad. "I Never Cry" got higher up on the charts, didn't it? And, I'm not sure, but I think both "You And Me" as well as "How You Gonna See Me Now" was about as popular as OWB? (I'm not sure, but I don't think that the chart positions were VERY different?) And I don't think too many people comes to the shows to actually hear OWB. I do like it though. It's a great song! But it's been done on every tour/show since 1975, hasn't it?
What about Alice playing a bigger show, with the "ordinary" set lists (many hits/standards) the first night he is in town, and then playing smaller venues (maybe even clubs?), with a show that is more for the "crazy" fans that'd like to hear things off "Easy Action" and "Special Forces" etc...!? Who of us wouldn't wanna see both shows...? Well, as I said in the beginning (wonder if someone is still reading?), the performer, in this case Alice, doesn't HAVE TO play what the audience wants. But, does Alice really know what we want him to play...? Why not have a poll on the new official site... Other artists do this don't they? Stones had that on-line poll on the Bridges To Babylon Tour in -98, and they did it onstage! (Maybe it was faked, I don't know?)
Well, I'm sure You've had enough of my ramblings. Wasn't really meant to sound too negative. I'm very thankful that Alice has been doing some cool songs the last ten years or so. "Raped And Freezin'", "Who Do You Think You Are", "From The Inside" and "Wish I Was Born In Beverly Hills" for instance. I just wish he had the courage to mix up the set list a little bit more...
I know this is a bit like swearing in church, but I think it might be a case of laziness? First of all - a performer does not HAVE TO play exactly what the audience wants. It's just easier to do more familiar stuff, and it also gets better response from the more casual fans...
I agree that there are certain hits that most people who go to an Alice show expects to hear. My guess is that "Eighteen" (break-through hit), SO (UK #1 and an all-time rock classic), BDB and NMMNG (two classic rock songs, from what might be the best known Alice Cooper album) are the hits that most people expect to hear... I can go along with "Poison" as well, because the younger and the more casual fans probably expect it. And that's about it for me... Four or five "must-do"-songs only. The rest 10-15-20 slots (depending if he does complete versions or medleys) are up for grabs...
When it comes to the theatrical songs there's plenty to choose from... My guess is that most people who go to an Alice show wants to hear (and see) at least one or two out of Ballad Of Dwight Fry, Dead Babies, Killer, Gutter Cats, I Love The Dead, Sick Things, Steven and Welcome To My Nightmare, together with some cool theatrics? Fine by me... But You COULD also take other/new songs with theatrical lyrics, and put them in the show together with some new effects/theatrics, right?
If Alice feels he HAS TO do a ballad (or two) - again, fine by me... But why is it in 90% OWB that he chooses to do!? That wasn't his biggest success with a ballad. "I Never Cry" got higher up on the charts, didn't it? And, I'm not sure, but I think both "You And Me" as well as "How You Gonna See Me Now" was about as popular as OWB? (I'm not sure, but I don't think that the chart positions were VERY different?) And I don't think too many people comes to the shows to actually hear OWB. I do like it though. It's a great song! But it's been done on every tour/show since 1975, hasn't it?
What about Alice playing a bigger show, with the "ordinary" set lists (many hits/standards) the first night he is in town, and then playing smaller venues (maybe even clubs?), with a show that is more for the "crazy" fans that'd like to hear things off "Easy Action" and "Special Forces" etc...!? Who of us wouldn't wanna see both shows...? Well, as I said in the beginning (wonder if someone is still reading?), the performer, in this case Alice, doesn't HAVE TO play what the audience wants. But, does Alice really know what we want him to play...? Why not have a poll on the new official site... Other artists do this don't they? Stones had that on-line poll on the Bridges To Babylon Tour in -98, and they did it onstage! (Maybe it was faked, I don't know?)
Well, I'm sure You've had enough of my ramblings. Wasn't really meant to sound too negative. I'm very thankful that Alice has been doing some cool songs the last ten years or so. "Raped And Freezin'", "Who Do You Think You Are", "From The Inside" and "Wish I Was Born In Beverly Hills" for instance. I just wish he had the courage to mix up the set list a little bit more...
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NotSoPerfect
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Re: How the set-list is made ?
Well, among us, I bet a lot of people would go to both the big and small shows. But I don't know as if there are enough hardcore fans localized in many locations to make this feasible for him to do.Coopenstein wrote:
What about Alice playing a bigger show, with the "ordinary" set lists (many hits/standards) the first night he is in town, and then playing smaller venues (maybe even clubs?), with a show that is more for the "crazy" fans that'd like to hear things off "Easy Action" and "Special Forces" etc...!? Who of us wouldn't wanna see both shows...?
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Coopenstein
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Erickana wrote:
> Songs from the current album (3 to 5)
More like 1-3 lately!
> Why he always play songs like :Feed my...., instead of Hey Stoopid ?
> No songs from the Kane Roberts era ?
> Give us rare stuff from early 80.
Don't know the answers, but I guess he does FMF because of the recognition from Wayne's World.
He has done "He's Back" and "Teenage Frankenstein", but not very often. And as You all know, "He's Back" mostly gets played in Sweden.
I'm hoping for the RYFAY trilogy "Time To Kill/Gail/Roses On White Lace" next year. because I think they fit the serial killer theme...
Also, "Wind-Up Toy" and full version of "Steven" may fit/be cool...?
> What songs do you think will survive from the era Brutal Planet to Diamonds for the next show ?
My guess is he'll only play DD, and maybe BP... A long shot would be "Detroit City" from Eyes...
> Is this because some songs are not easy to do live ?
> maybe the lyrics ?
I think most (not all) songs can be done live... The more produced songs, can be rearranged for the show, but might not work as good...?
It probably has to do what will work within the show's concept, lighting issues and most of all what Alice wants to play/thinks the audience want to hear...?
In a few cases (songs with sex lyrics from "Trash") the lyrics...
> Songs from the current album (3 to 5)
More like 1-3 lately!
> Why he always play songs like :Feed my...., instead of Hey Stoopid ?
> No songs from the Kane Roberts era ?
> Give us rare stuff from early 80.
Don't know the answers, but I guess he does FMF because of the recognition from Wayne's World.
He has done "He's Back" and "Teenage Frankenstein", but not very often. And as You all know, "He's Back" mostly gets played in Sweden.
I'm hoping for the RYFAY trilogy "Time To Kill/Gail/Roses On White Lace" next year. because I think they fit the serial killer theme...
Also, "Wind-Up Toy" and full version of "Steven" may fit/be cool...?
> What songs do you think will survive from the era Brutal Planet to Diamonds for the next show ?
My guess is he'll only play DD, and maybe BP... A long shot would be "Detroit City" from Eyes...
> Is this because some songs are not easy to do live ?
> maybe the lyrics ?
I think most (not all) songs can be done live... The more produced songs, can be rearranged for the show, but might not work as good...?
It probably has to do what will work within the show's concept, lighting issues and most of all what Alice wants to play/thinks the audience want to hear...?
In a few cases (songs with sex lyrics from "Trash") the lyrics...
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Coopenstein
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NotSoPerfect wrote:
> Well, among us, I bet a lot of people would go to both the big and small shows.
> But I don't know as if there are enough hardcore fans localized in many locations
> to make this feasible for him to do.
May be true...? I don't know much about the economics of doing a rock show. But I'm thinking small places that take maybe only 500-1000 persons. Maybe even smaller? With the equipment already in town, the costs wouldn't be too high. Probably the show would also be more "Bare Bones" (doesn't have to), which would also mean low production costs...
Hell, Alice could do the old Brooms N' Pillows tricks from the PFY/EA era, and I would go crazy! Throw in a water melon and a hammer as well for good measure... :-)
> Well, among us, I bet a lot of people would go to both the big and small shows.
> But I don't know as if there are enough hardcore fans localized in many locations
> to make this feasible for him to do.
May be true...? I don't know much about the economics of doing a rock show. But I'm thinking small places that take maybe only 500-1000 persons. Maybe even smaller? With the equipment already in town, the costs wouldn't be too high. Probably the show would also be more "Bare Bones" (doesn't have to), which would also mean low production costs...
Hell, Alice could do the old Brooms N' Pillows tricks from the PFY/EA era, and I would go crazy! Throw in a water melon and a hammer as well for good measure... :-)
Bits N Pieces, Coopenstein Inc.
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Shoesalesman
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Re: How the set-list is made ?
Really? I think it's his "connection to the female attendees" song, where we see the sensitive side to the character and he singles out the ladies (points to them at times) during the song. The last few tours I've seen Only Women Bleed came off as a success.Coopenstein wrote:And I don't think too many people comes to the shows to actually hear OWB.
If I may put forward a slice of personal colostomy...
Thank you it was a good read !!
My dream is this hear Wind-Up toy , complete version live,
i have it on cd somewhere but it was not complete , a medley with OWB, and they cut the song at the wrong moment (cool part with "preachers crucified me....")
I'm a guitarist and know that some songs are not easy to play completely live , or to learn by heart, maybe it's the case....
I'm sure his new band can't get close to Kane Roberts for solos, it's the reason that they don't play these songs...
For a singer it's easier to sing the same songs , over and over again , he don't have to learn the lyrics...
When you do an album, you create some songs that you don't care about, or that you don't believe in it, so when you create your setlist, they choose what they love to play (some songs are cool to play live, some are a mess)
For me, my favorite songs of Alice to play are (not because i love those songs, only because they are cool to play) :
Caught in a dream
No More mr nice guy
Escape
spark in the dark
House of fire
Hell is living without you
Just a example , i love the song Hey Stoopid, but i hate playing it, Satriani and Slash, and the rhythm parts are a mess !
what do you think ?
My dream is this hear Wind-Up toy , complete version live,
i have it on cd somewhere but it was not complete , a medley with OWB, and they cut the song at the wrong moment (cool part with "preachers crucified me....")
I'm a guitarist and know that some songs are not easy to play completely live , or to learn by heart, maybe it's the case....
I'm sure his new band can't get close to Kane Roberts for solos, it's the reason that they don't play these songs...
For a singer it's easier to sing the same songs , over and over again , he don't have to learn the lyrics...
When you do an album, you create some songs that you don't care about, or that you don't believe in it, so when you create your setlist, they choose what they love to play (some songs are cool to play live, some are a mess)
For me, my favorite songs of Alice to play are (not because i love those songs, only because they are cool to play) :
Caught in a dream
No More mr nice guy
Escape
spark in the dark
House of fire
Hell is living without you
Just a example , i love the song Hey Stoopid, but i hate playing it, Satriani and Slash, and the rhythm parts are a mess !
what do you think ?
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Shoesalesman
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WickedYoungMan
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<Quote>I'm sure his new band can't get close to Kane Roberts for solos, it's the reason that they don't play these songs...
I'm sure they could play them perfectly easily, especially as the majority of the audience haven't a clue who Kane was and have probably never heard those song anyway.
They don't have a problem with Feed My Frankenstein and the Vai/Satriani solo.
I don't think you give the guys enough credit. You don't think Jason and Keri could shred if they so wished??
I'm sure they could play them perfectly easily, especially as the majority of the audience haven't a clue who Kane was and have probably never heard those song anyway.
They don't have a problem with Feed My Frankenstein and the Vai/Satriani solo.
I don't think you give the guys enough credit. You don't think Jason and Keri could shred if they so wished??
Last edited by Si on Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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WickedYoungMan
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While I agree with the notion of doing smaller shows for the "hardcore." I could only really see a few of those shows happening if it happened. This is open for correction, but the smaller shows likely aren't going to be able to make the same or pay out the same kind of money that a regular venue and their promoters might be able to. There's still booking fees, etc. involved even before the show begins.Coopenstein wrote:NotSoPerfect wrote:
> Well, among us, I bet a lot of people would go to both the big and small shows.
> But I don't know as if there are enough hardcore fans localized in many locations
> to make this feasible for him to do.
May be true...? I don't know much about the economics of doing a rock show. But I'm thinking small places that take maybe only 500-1000 persons. Maybe even smaller? With the equipment already in town, the costs wouldn't be too high. Probably the show would also be more "Bare Bones" (doesn't have to), which would also mean low production costs...
In any case, for the small club shows to work, they would really have to *want* to do this for the fans in order for this to work as the Alice's people likely will not be benefiting too much economically. Alice may want to do something like that, but he isn't the one booking the tours either.
Me = Winning
I would think that the setlist is based around the overall feel to the show that he wants to put on, rather than just picking a bunch of random songs along with the "must-do's".
It can't be an easy task to come up with the setlist with all those albums to choose from. That's tons of material! Way more songs are always going to get the shaft than not.
Personally, it's irrelevent what songs Alice decides to do for any given setlist. I'm there to see the overall thing. But hey, that's just me!
It can't be an easy task to come up with the setlist with all those albums to choose from. That's tons of material! Way more songs are always going to get the shaft than not.
Personally, it's irrelevent what songs Alice decides to do for any given setlist. I'm there to see the overall thing. But hey, that's just me!
"Same as always, different as ever"
WickedYoungMan wrote:Someone types it up in a Word Processor, then it's printed up on a piece of paper.How the set-list is made for an "Alice Cooper Show" ?
Or what WYM posted is also how it happens! I know what that's like, since I'm the guy who's done that for my band!
"Same as always, different as ever"
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NotSoPerfect
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Well, hey...sometimes they're hand written or even laminated, too!Jason wrote:WickedYoungMan wrote:Someone types it up in a Word Processor, then it's printed up on a piece of paper.How the set-list is made for an "Alice Cooper Show" ?
Or what WYM posted is also how it happens! I know what that's like, since I'm the guy who's done that for my band!
Schooooooooooooool's Ouuuuuuuuuuuuut. FOR. EVER!
It would be cool if the set lists were made with newspaper clippings (LIKE A RANSOM NOTE) sorry. then photocopied for the gigsNotSoPerfect wrote:Well, hey...sometimes they're hand written or even laminated, too!Jason wrote:WickedYoungMan wrote:
Someone types it up in a Word Processor, then it's printed up on a piece of paper.
Or what WYM posted is also how it happens! I know what that's like, since I'm the guy who's done that for my band!
We All know Alice is going to fill the set list up with the "Classics" then throw in something new 2-3 times then give us a rarity or 2 for good measure.
Some feasible rarities for me At least songs I havent heard live yet:
MY STARS: -has to be done NEXT TOUR please...
Generation land slide - I missed hey stoopid tour and have regretted it since
Raped and freezin come on october
Anything from Constrictor or ryfal that's when I got into the coop and those albums can do almost no wrong ( the end of RYF WOULD work VERY WELL with new album theme
Pass the gun around or I love America
anyways rant over...
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Shoesalesman
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Haven't thought this through completely, but if Alice did a show, one show of nothing but non-regular songs in a small venue, tape it, then sell the recording via official site or even limited DVD for the "hard cores". Of course there's a million factors that influence this that I'm not aware of and never could be aware of, but the fans wanting to hear the "hidden gems" could see/hear them and Alice could continue with the normal shows. In mind, seems like a plan that could work, on paper... well, not so sure how it would all come together. Just ramblings from my head.WickedYoungMan wrote:While I agree with the notion of doing smaller shows for the "hardcore." I could only really see a few of those shows happening if it happened.
If I may put forward a slice of personal colostomy...
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NotSoPerfect
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