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.

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.

The obvious wrongdoers;
Anthrax & Kreator

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

I saw Ghost last Summer. Don't care for their post-Meliora radio-friendly pop stuff but the début and sophomore album are good stuff. They only played one track from those. They also didn't bother to play Jesus He Knows Me, the current single from their latest EP and best track they put out in years. I was truly disappointed that day.

For me, it's setlists that are very predictable and feature the same songs time and time again (examples below). Although I do gather some bands want to cater for all fans - the price you pay for being a big fan I guess

Kreator
Already mentioned. I don't mind if they play a load of new songs as I like most of their catalogue. Unless they're playing a special sort of setlist, they tend to pick from the same pool of songs.

Ozzy
You could probably guess about 80-85% of the setlist before the show starts. There were some cool gems unearthed in the Gus G era though (Killer of Giants, The Ultimate Sin, I Just Want You, although the latter two only done once or twice)

Edguy
I saw them a fair few times, and the sets were usually quite similar. The Tinnitus Sanctus tour and Space Police tour did have some nice deeper cuts included though (and the Tinnitus Sanctus show also dropped a few setlist staples).

last time i saw rotting christ a couple of years ago, they played one track off the debut, and all the rest were from the last few snoozefests - sakis sounded like strained shit to top it off

I don't see most bands but every 4 or 5 years if I'm lucky so while it would be cool to see deep cuts Its not a big deal if they play the "hits". That is assuming I don't dislike the material.

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.

Deep Purple do a greatest hits (from the 70s) set with maybe 1 80s tune, 1 Morse tune and 1 from whatever the latest album is.

Obviously Ian can't sing anymore so they should lean into the modern Morse stuff but they still insist on Lazy. Ugh.

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

I thought Testament sucked the first time I saw them (2013). It was clearly an off night for Chuck because he was struggling to sing a lot of the songs and they didn't do an encore. Also Overkill were supposed to be at that show but Blitz was sick so they didn't play. Overall a very disappointing night.

The setlist from the Sepultura farewell tour is meh at best. Only a song each from the first four albums. They kicked off the tour here in my country, first time playing here, and I skipped it. After seeing that setlist, no regrets.

I saw them a couple weeks ago in Michigan and it was one of the best shows I've seen in years. But, I absolutely loved the new album Origin and this was my first time seeing them, so I was completely blown away.

*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.

I'd have to be paid to go see In Flames at this point.

I would spend the entire set dwelling on what could've been.

I've seen Leprous a couple of times recently and I really dislike how they always end their set with The Sky Is Red. I think that's one of the worst songs they've made and leaves me with a bummer at the end of the show.

More often that not it's a band playing the classic albums only, but with Gorgoroth it's the opposite. I want to hear more stuff from Pentagram and Antichrist, instead they seem to lean on that piece of shit Quantos possunt.

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

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.

I happen to like a few of those 10 minute new songs.



Agreed, especially if the new albums are amazing like Invincible Shield and God Machine.

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.

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

Equilibrium did this to me recently, though admittedly it's my fault for not studying setlist.fm like I normally do. Loved their first two albums back in the day, third one was alright too then I stopped paying attention around the fourth as it was obvious their good run was finished. Checked one of their recent singles beforehand and it wasn't amazing or anything but seemed like they were courting fans of the old material.

Boy howdy is their new stuff terrible and completely dominating the setlist. Zero tracks from Turis Fratyr, only the most obvious one from Sagas and not until the very end, zero from Rekreatur.

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.