2014 Setlist Predictions Thread

[wasteland]

I don't think they will. They will likely come up with a well though out setlist revolving around James, with a few hard songs well dispersed among a sea of easier songs or instrumental breaks. Their catalogue is vast enough to allow them to do so without compromising at all the quality of the show. Hell, that's what they have done with ADTOE and that's also why James reached the DVD shooting at full power! They will surely do that again! 

[?]

Well, I'll trust your instinct However, James has had a long career and his voice has gone through a lot, so I wouldn't blame him at all if they were forced to transpose songs.

[cyberdrummer]

So on the upcoming tour I think we can safely assume that at least ONE song from Images and Words will be played. Now, I was thinking that the only song from IAW that didnt get played on the Dramatic Tour was Take The Time. So could we see it this time around?

That's my line of thought too! But with a caveat: Metropolis is too big, beloved and anthemic song for the band to leave it completely out of the picture for an entire tour cycle (so far it only happened once, in 2002). Plus, the song was played only a handful of times in Europe, and never during the main tour in promotion of ADTOE. I would say it's not unlikely for it to make an appearance in the early stages of the tour.

The other two songs that got a small stage time last time (and generally in the last 7 years) are LTL and Another Day. They could make a return, but I don't see that happening for the only reason that songs as vocally challanging as they are may not be a great idea to preserve James's voice intact for a full world tour of 2,5/3h shows.

So, Take The Time is the most reasonable option, yes.

I agree that Take the Time is likely to make a comeback, but I'm not sure it's actually any easier to sing than LtL. If anything, there are longer, more difficult passages. I just hope they don't cut out any sections like they did when it was last played - I think that was an MP decision, so fingers crossed.

[aprilethereal]

Metropolis is too big, beloved and anthemic song for the band to leave it completely out of the picture for an entire tour cycle (so far it only happened once, in 2002). Plus, the song was played only a handful of times in Europe, and never during the main tour in promotion of ADTOE. I would say it's not unlikely for it to make an appearance in the early stages of the tour.

The other two songs that got a small stage time last time (and generally in the last 7 years) are LTL and Another Day. They could make a return

I hope not.

[wasteland]

You know, when you make a subtle edit of a post, especially if the edit is just removing the "un" in "unlikely", you should highlight it. People would misunderstand your message.

[?]

Well, I'll trust your instinct However, James has had a long career and his voice has gone through a lot, so I wouldn't blame him at all if they were forced to transpose songs.

Oh, and if they have the WWRD mentality, then it's not impossible that they might tune songs down live, since Rush have been playing the sections of 2112 in D for quite a while. Then again, Rush have played medleys and JP doesn't like those, so...

[aprilethereal]

You know, when you make a subtle edit of a post, especially if the edit is just removing the "un" in "unlikely", you should highlight it. People would misunderstand your message.

Sorry, that was a mistake

I didn't mean to remove it.

[Jinx]

I was hoping they would keep Metropolis. If I witness that live I will spend the rest of 2014 a very happy man 

[TheAtliator]

A couple things.

First, according to all the knowledge I have, TTT is actually definitely much more difficult to sing than LTL or AD, and probably is for almost any singer. Basically because the high notes are much more spread out in the second two so if your throat tenses a bit you aren't really in any trouble.

Also, edits and transpositions RUIN songs for me. I'd rather see him make an entirely new melody (like AD on SFNY which sounded godly) than them just disrupt the entire feel of the song. I also hope (and think) this happening is less likely with JP having more control than MP.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

A couple things.

First, according to all the knowledge I have, TTT is actually definitely much more difficult to sing than LTL or AD, and probably is for almost any singer. Basically because the high notes are much more spread out in the second two so if your throat tenses a bit you aren't really in any trouble.

Also, edits and transpositions RUIN songs for me. I'd rather see him make an entirely new melody (like AD on SFNY which sounded godly) than them just disrupt the entire feel of the song. I also hope (and think) this happening is less likely with JP having more control than MP.

I agree with you on that one. Well, I understand transposition and why old singers use it nowadays, so that doesn't bother me much. What does bother me are the edits on the song... like the "abridged" versions of Voices and Take the Time DT played during TOT/SC/BC&SL tours. I mean, they cut probably some of the best sections of the song to give James a break which isn't that nice. It would have been better if they played other songs that aren't so demanding on the vocal department instead of those ones, although I get the "playing those songs" in one way or another. They are DT classic tracks and are incredibly well received live... but hey, that's me.

[wasteland]

Nah, that's not you. Abridging songs makes no sense. To think that in 98 they abridged the whole second verse of metropolis, after realizingmhow bad was the song with toned down melodies.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Nah, that's not you. Abridging songs makes no sense. To think that in 98 they abridged the whole second verse of metropolis, after realizingmhow bad was the song with toned down melodies.

You make me feel funny down there 

After some meditation, I've come to the conclusion that I'd take transposition over abridging songs any day of the week. Transposing isn't as bad as many people say it is, I'd rather have a full song but a half-step or one whole step down than having the logical and musical structure of the song cut in all of a sudden.

[?]

Yup, transposing songs is ALWAYS better than abridging them.

[jingle.boy]

The other two songs that got a small stage time last time (and generally in the last 7 years) are LTL and Another Day. They could make a return, but I don't see that happening for the only reason that songs as vocally challanging as they are may not be a great idea to preserve James's voice intact for a full world tour of 2,5/3h shows.

I know James is 7 years older now, but on the 20th tour, they did AD/LTL as the encore (I'm sure you have the Toronto boot... with Jacob's Ladder), and he nailed LtL.  He might not have held the big notes for too long, but he sure did hit them.  And TTT has to be more challenging, as there are whole stanza's that stay at that high range, vs individual notes.

[wasteland]

Yes, the fact is that 7 years have passed since then. And even in 05/06, which is supposed to be a good year for James in most fans' minds, just a few selected LTLs were great, and probably none of the TTT performances at all.

[Grizz]

Nah, that's not you. Abridging songs makes no sense. To think that in 98 they abridged the whole second verse of metropolis, after realizingmhow bad was the song with toned down melodies.

I didn't think that PMU/Metropolis '10 was that bad...

[cyberdrummer]

Is that the same as PullMetropolis 05/06? If so, that was quite good.

[wasteland]

No, it was just Metropolis. After "to this mind" they would go directly into the indtrumental section.

[Ben_Jamin]

It's the version that they've played every single time except for the Images and Words tour and earlier. They play Carol of the Bells in the middle of it and it totally ruins the flow, and it's one of DT's worst jams (actually one of the VERY FEW bad DT jams), but everyone think it's incredible for some reason. 

You mean the keyboard solo, that isn't really a solo, just the synth noise on the album. Yeah it does feel out of place but I like that addition.

[Grizz]

No, it was just Metropolis. After "to this mind" they would go directly into the indtrumental section.

No, I'm talking about in 2010, when after the last chorus of PMU, they went straight to Metropolis's (extended) instrumental section.

[cyberdrummer]

Yeah thought so, that's the same version they played on the 20th Anniversary Tour. 

[wasteland]

No, it was just Metropolis. After "to this mind" they would go directly into the indtrumental section.

No, I'm talking about in 2010, when after the last chorus of PMU, they went straight to Metropolis's (extended) instrumental section.

Oh, sorry, I misunderstood your previous post. Maybe I'm just biased against PMU/MET due to my strong bias against medleys in general

[cyberdrummer]

So am I in general, but I particularly enjoyed that one back in 2005. It probably helped that it was my first DT show.

[cyberdrummer]

The Enemy Inside is surely odds on to be the show opener? And I reckon it's likely they'll play the entire album.

[wasteland]

So am I in general, but I particularly enjoyed that one back in 2005. It probably helped that it was my first DT show.

The only reason I ever listen to those pieces are the little cute instrumental improvisation before the last verse of metropolis. If it weren't for them I would completely shun PMU/Met 

As for The Enemy Inside, it remains to be seen if there is such a thing of a musical connection with FAS. If the latter flows into the former then I can say that it's safely decided that The Enemy Inside will be the first song to be performed (if FAS is intro-taped) or the second (if FAS is played). Otherwise it could be just anywhere, like OTBOA.

[Sketchy]

I doubt they'll play it, but I'd love Trial Of Tears.

[wasteland]

I doubt they'll play it, but I'd love Trial Of Tears.

Who wouldn't? 

[JayOctavarium]

I'd rather have Scarred

[wasteland]

I'd rather have Scarred

Can't we have both?

[ResultsMayVary]

The Enemy Inside is surely odds on to be the show opener? And I reckon it's likely they'll play the entire album.

I bet we'll see the album opener as the show opener for this tour because JP clearly said they wrote their own intro music for this album.

[cyberdrummer]

Well yeah I agree, but I think that'll be an intro tape. The Enemy Inside will probably be the first song the band actually performs.

[Ultimetalhead]

I think it would be pretty cool if they just played the whole album front to back with the intro tape as the first song.

[Jinx]

Yeah I think you can tell that the FAS that they will use to open the show will flow straight into TEI.

But my question is this - Seeing as this album appears like it will be balls to the wall heavy, does anyone think they will flesh the show out with much more mellow songs? Or will we still see songs like BITS, Outcry, ITNOG, TGP (just examples of heavier songs from past albums!)??

[aprilethereal]

I really don't expect the whole album to be this heavy. Instead, I can imagine TEI being the album's heaviest song, so there is still a good chance we will see songs from TOT and stuff like that. When it comes to ADTOE, I think the songs that are most likely to be played are OTBOA and BAI.

[cyberdrummer]

I really don't expect the whole album to be this heavy. Instead, I can imagine TEI being the album's heaviest song, so there is still a good chance we will see songs from TOT and stuff like that. When it comes to ADTOE, I think the songs that are most likely to be played are OTBOA and BAI.

Agreed. There's nothing to suggest the entire album will be as heavy as TEI.