Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

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AnybodyListening.net
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Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by AnybodyListening.net »

Forgive me if this has been discussed before. I did a search for ODR and One Day Remains, and didn't see it discussed. If it has been, mods, please just move it to the appropriate thread.

But why does AB seem to ignore ODR a lot in its live set? I've seen them five times from Blackbird tour onward, and it seems they generally perform just the following: One Day Remains, Metalingus, In Loving Memory, Open your Eyes, and Broken Wings. I mean, that's five songs, and almost half the record. But they don't do them all, all the time. It's usually a few of them.

Have they talked about why tunes such as The End is Here (which I realize was played at RAH), Shed My Skin, Watch Your Words, Down to My Last, Burn it Down, and Find the Real are not performed, or in the case of the latter tune, only really sporadically?

I know stylistically the band really ended up finding its sound with Blackbird, and that record signifies Myles really playing guitar and writing/record the music, as opposed to just the lyrics and melodies. So I understand that. But a lot of those tracks are really good, and it is a shame that they don't look like they'll be played live much any longer.

I am a big proponent of playing the material from a band's newest record, so I am not saying they should just play deep album cuts instead of supporting their new stuff -- far from that. But I mean, what about mixing in some of those songs on a more regular basis? Has the band ever commented on it at all?

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by Mr. Slash »

They played some ODR songs on the last tour. Including Burn It Down or Shed My Skin, if i am not totally mistaken.

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by AnybodyListening.net »

Mr. Slash wrote:They played some ODR songs on the last tour. Including Burn It Down or Shed My Skin, if i am not totally mistaken.
I remember that too, in the shows leading up to the RAH gig, I believe. But they weren't played much, if at all, after that. And that was the first time those two had surfaced (please correct me if I am wrong) since probably the ODR tour.

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by Kreuger »

Frankly if they're only gonna have one guitar and the sound is mixed as badly as it was for the OWNER show then I don't really care if those songs are left out. And I mean we're 5 albums deep now. There's only so many songs they can play.
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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by The Dissident »

Well considering they have never done a "greatest hits" tour and were supporting a new album which means they will play 4-5 songs from their newest album plus the major hits like Blackbird, Watch over you, Isolation, Cry of Achilles, Metallingus, Rise Today, Open Your Eyes, Come to Life, Ties that Bind, Addicted to Pain. It only leaves 3 or so songs left for deep cuts since they tend to have 17-19 song sets. In all honesty I doubt TLH will be represented too much in future tours which might help songs from ODR to resurface in the setlist.

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by TenaciousBe »

Logistically, I'm betting many of those "deeper cut" songs haven't really been played or practiced by the band that much over the recent years, and it might be hard to pepper them in more often when they haven't had a chance to keep them fresh. It's different for other bands who are mostly together all the time, but these guys do an album cycle, then go off to do side projects, then come back. I mean, I've said for the last few years that I'd LOVE for AB to do more stuff like Pearl Jam where they more or less do a different show every night and write up a new set for every show, do a different set of songs, but that's just not who AB are.
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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by AnybodyListening.net »

Don't get me wrong. It's not like it is a major complaint. I just have always felt bummed they didn't play anywhere near me on the ODR tour, so I missed out on seeing those songs. As I said, I am a big proponent of a band playing its most recent album, and AB does a great job supporting its newest music. :)

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by VigilantSteve »

You could say this about every one of their albums though...we're 5 albums into their catalog now and their setlists are usually about 18-19 songs long, and sometimes shorter if they're not headlining. If the sets were divided equally between their albums you'd still only get at most 4 songs per album. Not to mention that there are still multiple songs from ABIII, Fortress, and the Last Hero that haven't ever been played live yet either, and there are even a few songs from Blackbird that have been played less than a handful of times over 10 years since its release as well.

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by MuffinMcFluffin »

VigilantSteve wrote:You could say this about every one of their albums though...we're 5 albums into their catalog now and their setlists are usually about 18-19 songs long, and sometimes shorter if they're not headlining. If the sets were divided equally between their albums you'd still only get at most 4 songs per album. Not to mention that there are still multiple songs from ABIII, Fortress, and the Last Hero that haven't ever been played live yet either, and there are even a few songs from Blackbird that have been played less than a handful of times over 10 years since its release as well.
So what I'm hearing from you is they should be playing 27 songs from ODR!

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by axlar »

the guys have evolved.. these songs are 14+ years old... and there are only so many songs on a set list.. not playing enough new ones: someone complains, not playing enough old ones: someone complains.. etc etc
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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by AB4Lyfe »

axlar wrote:the guys have evolved.. these songs are 14+ years old...
To counter this: Blackbird is 11 years old, and it’s still the most heavily featured album in their set.
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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by AngusWolfe »

I think they're just a very different band to what they were then, those songs don't necessarily speak for them any more. Also, to be brutally honest, I don't think they can really pull those songs off any more. Myles vocal character has changed so much, and Mark's current guitar sound and his increasingly sloppy playing would make something like One Day Remains (the song) a bit of a disaster. Look at a recent video of Metalingus. It's just not the same, and they've become more well known for other songs that they couldn't have pulled off in 2005 that they can now. It's just the evolution of the band.

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by chtimixeur »

I don't understand how anyone can get sloppier on guitar. If you're a tight player, you usuaully remain so until arthritis kicks in at old age.
It's not like he's stopped practicing.

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by Dolo »

chtimixeur wrote:I don't understand how anyone can get sloppier on guitar.
By not practicing at all?
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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by Andy92 »

Dolo wrote:
chtimixeur wrote:I don't understand how anyone can get sloppier on guitar.
By not practicing at all?
I haven’t played in over a month. Can confirm.
anguyen92 wrote:Oh well. Deal with it.

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by chtimixeur »

That's what I said in my earlier message. Mark is apparently still practicing a lot and writing all the time, so his playing should be even tighter than it was in the past!

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by Jaded Rescue »

chtimixeur wrote:That's what I said in my earlier message. Mark is apparently still practicing a lot and writing all the time, so his playing should be even tighter than it was in the past!
I think it's a bit of a complacency issue. You get so good to a point where you don't really think about practicing your fundamentals anymore. Mark's brain is thinking about the next insane lead he can run down, but I don't think he takes any time to think, "Hey, am I playing as rhythmically tight as I can right now?"

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by Jhenrid »

chtimixeur wrote:That's what I said in my earlier message. Mark is apparently still practicing a lot and writing all the time, so his playing should be even tighter than it was in the past!
He actually doens't practice as much as he used to. There was an interview not too long ago when he said that on tour he doesn't practice as much as he used to because it hurts later.

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by jailman »

The Dissident wrote:In all honesty I doubt TLH will be represented too much in future tours which might help songs from ODR to resurface in the setlist.

I agree, other than the first single on Last Hero, I dont think any of the other songs will be played live too much.

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Re: Why does AB ignore much of ODR in its live set?

Post by AngusWolfe »

jailman wrote:
The Dissident wrote:In all honesty I doubt TLH will be represented too much in future tours which might help songs from ODR to resurface in the setlist.

I agree, other than the first single on Last Hero, I dont think any of the other songs will be played live too much.
Which would actually be a bit of a shame. Songs like Island of Fools are as good as anything else from a songwriting perspective, but could suffer from being on a less well received album.

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