5 Elements That Make A Good Live Act Great

By Matthew Murray /

3. Setlist

The setlist is an obvious consideration for any show. While you can€™t always predict a setlist accurately, you often can and it helps to gauge which shows are going to be best. First look at the last few setlists your artist has used (setlist.fm is a fantastic resource). There are many artists out there who like to shuffle their setlists from show to show and make every event completely unique. A good example is They Might Be Giants. If you find that you€™re artist is anything like this, you€™d do well to buy tickets to that show because it will be a completely unique event. Some bands, on the other hand, prefer to use the same setlist every single time. Every. Single. Time. This is not always a bad thing however. Sometimes this means an artist is well prepared and capable of delivering a powerhouse performance. Nothing kills a show worse than someone forgetting the lyrics€we€™re looking at you P!nk. Most important of all, in regards to setlist, however, is what songs the artist tends to show. Ideally they will typically roll out a mixture of beloved rarities and non-singles with a strong backbone of hits. With few rarities, the show becomes generic and loses its uniqueness. But, on the other hand, should the artist neglect their biggest hits it€™s going to be extremely frustrating for fans and boring for casual concert-goers. There€™s a reason I have no intention of going to Rihanna later in the year. Her setlists are void of a large portion of her most memorable singles.