Insomnium on their current North American run. 5 songs from the fairly tepid new album, and then all the predictable shit they've been playing on every tour for the last decade.

Hi Folks!

I thought this would be an interesting topic. I was inspired to make this post after seeing In Flames recently. They put on a great show, the band sounded great and they were clearly well rehearsed. However, the setlist was very mediocre. I didn't expect them to play primarily material off the first 5 albums per se, but they only played 2. There was also no encore. After looking at their previous setlists they seemed to typically play 3-5 older songs. Gatecreeper and Creeping Death were both fantastic though! I was just hoping to at least hear a few songs like Moonshield, Jotun, Pinball Map, Behind Space, Ordinary Story, Gyroscope, Artifacts of the Black Rain, or Graveland.

Anyway! So what are some bands with frustrating live setlists? They don't have to be bad necessarily, but just frustrating for whatever reason.

I've been frustrated (a little) by Overkill, first seing them few years ago, because of setlist but also sounding, I did expected something more like Years of decay but their sound is different onstage, despite the biggest drums on earth they got it light, dynamic fits with modern material for sure (and no it wasn't a bad concert at all) but yeah a bit disappointed to find no fat & heavy thrash

Wish Blind Guardian did more old stuff- they were still fucking amazing live but we got two songs from the first four albums that weren't acoustic singalongs (one of which Hansi just let the audience sing!) and those two are my favorites. Especially a bummer since they break out random different old songs in encores which means they could easily swap out even one of the 10+ minute new songs for two old ones without having to learn new stuff or significantly change the setlist.

Nothing says playing it safe and "we don't believe in our new album" like only doing 2-3 songs from it and the rest of the setlist is the same as the previous tour.

When I go a see band, I want to hear new stuff. And encores can fuck right off anyway.

I was inspired to make this post after seeing In Flames recently. They put on a great show, the band sounded great and they were clearly well rehearsed. However, the setlist was very mediocre. I didn't expect them to play primarily material off the first 5 albums per se, but they only played 2. There was also no encore. After looking at their previous setlists they seemed to typically play 3-5 older songs.

I love Cannibal Corpse to death, but it's time for them to let go of Hammer Smashed Face / Stripped, Raped and Strangled / I Cum Blood. Keep one, cut the others loose. Let's face it, they're one of the top death metal bands out there, but they aren't pulling 90+ minute sets and they have too deep of a catalog to keep playing the same three songs over and over again.

Megadeth is the winner here... what a boring set!

I have seen them a bunch in the last 6 years.....yeah....I agree. They need to retire "Electric Rattlesnake" at the very least.

Megadeth is the winner here... what a boring set!

Wish Blind Guardian did more old stuff- they were still fucking amazing live but we got two songs from the first four albums that weren't acoustic singalongs (one of which Hansi just let the audience sing!) and those two are my favorites. Especially a bummer since they break out random different old songs in encores which means they could easily swap out even one of the 10+ minute new songs for two old ones without having to learn new stuff or significantly change the setlist.

Insomnium on their current North American run. 5 songs from the fairly tepid new album, and then all the predictable shit they've been playing on every tour for the last decade.

At this point, In Flames themselves are very much aware that they are an almost entirely different entity then what they were in the 90's and 2000's. I still don't really understand how it happened, but around the early 2010's their sound changed drastically, and they became very popular with a very specific kind of crowd. And from what I gather, these newer fans don't give much of a fuck about their material from the 90's and 2000's. And In Flames being where they are now, artistically, probably feel much closer to these newer fans then from their early days fans. It's something I find a little upsetting, in a way, since I believe that bands should try to remember how they got where they are, and how important the early days fans were, but eh... With In Flames the newer stuff is so far removed from what they used to do, it's almost impossible to reconcile the old and the new in a coherent setlist.

Isis used to be a bit frustrating.

The obvious wrongdoers;
Anthrax & Kreator

Can't be bothered seeing them live anymore the past 15 years

*Shit I now see you wrote Insomnium. I was talking about Ominum Gatherum. I listened to about two songs from Insomnium and left. I'm sure I'm in the extreme minority of people that like Ominum Gatherum more than Insomnium without question.

On Amon Amarth's recently tour the last 30 minutes of the set was almost entirely stuff from the recent albums, which is all of their worst stuff. It was just such a weak and disappointing way to close things out after playing all of their greatest hits. I maintain that "raise your horns, raise 'em up to the sky" is one of the cringiest choruses in metal.