Wednesday, August 3, 2011

UHM Constructs the Best Possible Hold Steady Set-List, Within Reason.


This is my dream Hold Steady set-list. Maybe not a dream, because in my dream I'm sure they'd be joined onstage by Bob Stinson and Paul Westerberg for a 'Mats mini-set ("Bastards of Young", "Shiftless when Idle", "Within Your Reach" and an unbelievable "Seen Your Video" featuring Andre Cymone). Also, Slayer would open. Anyway, if I could pick the set-list for the next time I saw THS, which hopefully will be August 25th in Chicago, the show would go like this:

"Cattle and the Creeping Things"
"The Weekenders"
"Same Kooks"
"Multitude of Casualties"
"Party Pit"
"Magazines"
"Chips Ahoy!"
"First Night"
"Chillout Tent"
"Barfruit Blues"
"Constructive Summer"
"Your Little Hoodrat Friend"
"Jokes About Jamaica"
"Southtown Girls"
"Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night"
"Slapped Actress"

Short break so everyone who just majorly lost their shit can recover for a minute.

"The Sweet Part of the City"
"Stuck Between Stations"
"Hot Soft Light"
"How a Resurrection Really Feels"
"This Year", a cover of the Mountain Goats jam
"Most People Are DJs/Killer Parties"

Boom. And if they were ever able to pull off a decent version of "Lord, I'm Discouraged" I'd probably include that as well. Another Stay Positive track, "One for the Cutters", would be an absolute gas, though the harpsichord parts don't seem like they'd translate well live. This ain't Joanna Newsom, it's Craig and the Boys! This obviously can't account for extended solos, in-between-songs banter or the odd stagediving delay but nothing can. I don't even like "Chillout Tent" that much when it's removed from its album context but hearing it in concert would at least be interesting. And since it's suddenly my dream again, Naomi Yang can handle the lady vocals!

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