Guide to Setlists

First we need to explain the various terms. Here goes.

Concert

A concert is loosely defined as an event at a certain date and time at a venue where an artist performs songs. Concerts vary in a number of ways but have those three attributes in common: a date, a venue, an artist.

On Setlisting, we also know that a concert really isn't a concert if there isn't an audience. See below for more information on other types of appearances, such as Radio, TV, Internet, etc.

Setlist

A setlist is the list of songs an artist or several artists performs at a concert. The artist often performs a "set" or group of songs without taking a break by leaving the stage, thus the "setlist".

Set Types

Sets are just groups of songs played by an artist at a concert. For opening acts that may only get a short amount of time to perform, they will only play one set. From concerts earliest origins, headlining acts often perform a main set or sets, followed by an encore (or encores). Sets and encores are distinguished by breaks – set breaks or encore breaks – where the artist generally leaves the stage before returning. There are different types of sets, let's take a look at them all.

Soundcheck

The soundcheck is when an artist will perform songs prior to a concert to allow the sound engineers to "check the sound" of the artist's equipment in a venue so the audience gets to hear it as high a quality as possible. Soundchecks are an exception to the concert rule on Setlisting because they often don't have an audience; but are recorded on Setlisting for a number of reasons. Fans often arrive at venues early for Soundchecks to hear if artists are practicing new material, jamming on improvisations, or simply to hear their favorite songs again. Soundchecks have also been known to be released live (see Phish, Pearl Jam).

Pre-Set

A pre-set is commonly an unscheduled appearance by an artist at a concert before the named acts are scheduled to start. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam often performs pre-sets of one to two songs solo prior to the opening act as a way of enticing Pearl Jam fans to come out early and support the opening acts.

Main Set

Pretty self explanatory, the main set is the primary set of songs an artist will perform at a concert. It is common for an artist's concerts to have a similar structure, and it is often announced beforehand. For example, the Grateful Dead traditionally performed two sets plus an encores. On Setlisting, this would be represented as two "main sets". The first set will be "First Set", or "Set One"; the second will be "Second Set" or "Set Two" and so on.

Encore

The word encore means "more, again". Generally they are shorter than main sets. Similar to multiple sets, and artist can perform multiple encores. The first encore will be "First Encore", or "Encore One"; the second will be "Second Encore" or "Encore Two" and so on.

Song Types

At any given concert, and artist will perform one or more songs which makes up a setlist. Seems like a simple concept, but there are different ways we collect this information on Setlisting.

Let's look at them:

Song

When an artist performs a song that they are credited with writing, this is what we simply call a "song". Yes, there are more details to songs such as musical and lyrical songwriting credits, but for the most part, when an artist creates an "original" work, this is a "song". On Setlisting, when adding songs on a setlist, you're actually adding songs performed from the point of view of the artist performing the concert.

Cover

At Setlisting, we give credit where credit is due! A "cover" song is when an artist performs a song written by another artist. Covers are identified on Setlisting by showing the original artist next to the song performed if the performing artist differs from the artist who wrote the song. To add a a cover to a setlist you simply select the artist in the artist field and the song.

Adding a setlist

You've heard the expression "What came first, the Chicken or the Egg?" Who cares, really. But if you want to add a setlist, you first have to know the artist, venue and date of the concert. Once you add the concert, you can then add the songs performed on the setlist.

Are you adding a concert that happened in the past? When you add a past concert, Setlisting will check to see if that concert has been added already. If it has, you can go right to editing the setlist.

Are you adding a concert that will happen in the future? You can add future concerts into Setlisting a day, month or year in advance and they'll be waiting for you to edit the setlist once that concert actually starts.

Here are some useful tips and other considerations when adding or editing setlists:

Cover Songs

When an artist plays a cover song, e.g. the Deftones play "Friday I'm iIn Love" by The Cure, just change the artist to The Cure by typing in "The Cure" in the Artist field and select "The Cure" when it comes up. Once "The Cure" comes up, type "Friday I'm in love" in the song field, select it and it will be added to the setlist as a cover.

Removing a song

Did you add a song by mistake? No problem. Click the minus button which will remove the song (or the entire line) from the setlist.

Re-ordering songs in a setlist

Did you add a song in the wrong order? Also easy to fix. Just use the up / down arrow buttons to move songs/tags/lins in a setlist.

Add a Tag

Adding a tag is the same procecure as adding a song.

Please Note

About Artists

Some artists, often solo artists, will change their name over time; but to you, the audience, the change is subtle. For example, Neil Young has toured as "Neil Young", "Neil Young and Crazy Horse" and "Neil Young with Pearl Jam". Based on the era and the circumstances, try to enter the exact artist as it will help keep things like statistics tidy and accurate.