Ultimate Setlist: Thrice
If you know anything about me, then surely you must know that live music is a humongous big part of my life. Has been since the 7th grade. The first memory I have of that sort of atmosphere is being with my buddy Rob at Warped Tour ’97, where the likes of Pennywise, Millencolin, Suicide Machines, Bouncing Souls, Descendants, Lagwagon, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Blink-182, Sick of it All and many others impressed upon multiple stages set up in the Stone Pony parking lot. The weather in Asbury Park was typical for a late-July Saturday: 80 and sunny with a perfect breeze coming off the ocean that you could feel when you weren’t shoulder to shoulder with the several thousand other crazed punk rock fans. That day was a big day for me, and luckily it went perfectly. My love for shows hasn’t subsided since, and now that I’ve got this online space to fill, I’ve wanted to be able to fill it with an homage to live music as some sort of feature. I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how to do that.
A couple weeks ago, it came to me. I needed to add this disclaimer for my own satisfaction, as a recent article on Rolling Stone got the idea in people’s heads in a different way: they reported on it actually happening. And so, since the timing seems right (and don’t we know that timing is everything in this world), I am happy to introduce the Ultimate Setlist.
Keep in mind two things:
These setlists will be Ultimate Setlists according to me. If you read the Rolling Stone article, you’ll have taken away that Brian Farias obviously knew Pearl Jam’s entire catalog very well. I enjoyed the fact that he was forced to walk the line of his own selfish desires of songs to hear as well as putting out a good setlist the whole audience can enjoy. To me, this is not only the true test of a fan’s knowledge and appreciation of a band, but also the proper way to go about such a task. Which leads me to…
The setlists will be Ultimate Setlists according to me based on what I believe would be the best live show imaginable. I am going to take seriously the thought of flow to a concert, crowd reaction, as well as do my best to realize what is actually capable onstage from the band; just in case it actually works and something like the crazy Pearl Jam story happens to me (I won’t hold my breath).
Now to apply some basic rules. First, the setlists will be 25 songs or less; that’s including any and all encores. Secondly, the songs have to be realistic. I can’t say Pink Floyd is going to cover Stairway to Heaven, just because that would be the most ultimate thing ever. If the song doesn’t exist in the real world, if this cover song has never happened, then it’s not allowed. If there’s no chance it can happen, it’s pointless, and for this to work it has to be under the pretense that it’s possible. Thirdly, I’ve got to listen to the setlist before I decide on it and post it. I expect I will be going through several drafts, much like Mr. Farias did. Fourthly, I’m going to have some fun with this.
Since this is my first time, and I actually do believe that this is going to be a daunting task for some of my favorite bands, I’m going to go with the band easiest for me to make a killer set list for. Bet you can guess who that is… Enjoy!
ULTIMATE THRICE SETLIST
The Lion and The Wolf
Image of the Invisible
The Artist in the Ambulance
Yellow Belly
Of Dust and Nations
The Sky is Falling
Silhouette
In Exile
Blinded
The Weight
So Strange I Remember You
Words in the Water
Daedalus
Kill Me Quickly
Firebreather
The Messenger
The Earth Will Shake
A Torch to End All Torches
Deadbolt
To Awake and Avenge the Dead
ACOUSTIC ENCORE
Child of Dust
Lost Continent
Disarmed
ENCORE 2
Phoenix Ignition
Anthology
Honorable Mentions: Eclipse, A Song for Milly Michaelson, Paper Tigers
