Behind the Setlist

Curt Smith joins Behind the Setlist to talk about Tears for Fears' new album, The Tipping Point, his excitement to play the new songs live, how to choose songs for concerts, his opinion on encores and much more. Smith and bandmate Roland Orzabal first hit the charts in the U.K. in 1982 with "Mad World." For a time, the band performed the song to sound like the darker Gary Jules and Michael Andrews version that was featured on the soundtrack to the film Donnie Darko in 2001. They have also performed the song acoustically and with a full choir. "To me, it's the strength of a song that allows it to be done in many different ways. If the song doesn't fall flat, then obviously the song itself is the strength, it's not necessarily the recording," says Smith. To his point, "Mad World" has been covered by Adam Lambert, Kelly Clarkson, Pentatonix, Susan Boyle, Brandi Carlile and most recently Demi Lovato. These days, "Mad World" is one of a handful of tracks from the group's 1983 debut, The Hurting, that's certain to played on the band's current U.S. tour and the U.K. tour that begins in July. "Change," "Pale Shelter" and "Suffer the Children" are setlist standards. So are "Break It Down Again" from 1993's Elemental and two songs from 1989's The Seeds of Love: "Woman in Chains" and "Sowing the Seeds of Love." Fans will also hear the band's hits from the group's 1985 smash album, Songs From The Big Chair: "Shout," "Head Over Heals/Broken" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World." In years past, Tears for Fears usually covered Radiohead's "Creep" in their sets. That may not make the final cut as the band makes room for new songs. As for new material, Smith is excited to find out how they transfer to the stage. "The fun part of the first week to two weeks of touring is, you may not have got it right," he says. "And you may want to change things for the first bunch of shows. So until you get in front of an audience, you don't know 100% what's going to work." Links: Billboard's podcast page Glenn Peoples @theglennpeoples Jay Gilbert (Label Logic) Tears for Fears' website Tears for Fears at Setlist.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Jun 202231min

Ann Wilson, co-founder of the legendary rock group Heart, joins Glenn Peoples (Billboard) and Jay Gilbert (Label Logic) to talk about the set list from her show at the Neptune Theatre in Seattle, WA on Oct. 13, 2021. Ann played three songs from new album, Fierce Bliss, released on April 29, "Greed," "Black Wing" and a cover of Queen's "Love of My Life." And, of course, she performed a number of Heart favorites, such as "Crazy On You," "Barracuda," "Even It Up" and "Love Alive." "Some make the transition to live and some just don't work," Ann said of her choice of Heart songs from the '70s over other periods. "I think that the Heart songs that are in this set are ones that transfer to live the best." The Neptune Theatre show had a mix of rock standards and icons, including John Lennon's "Isolation," The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again," Aerosmith's "Dream On" and Led Zeppelin's "Going to California." After decades of live shows, Ann has a good sense of how to pick songs and choose their order. "You want to give people an experience," she says. "You want to have an experience yourself. And if the set is designed right, it’s just like a natural momentum." The show had some surprises, too. Ann led off the show with Steve Earle's "The Revolution Starts Now," which she recorded in 2020. She also played Jeff Buckley's "Forget Her" and "Permission" by Sixx: A.M., the side project of Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx. Links: Billboard's podcast page Glenn Peoples @theglennpeoples Jay Gilbert (Label Logic) Ann Wilson The Neptune Theatre, Oct. 13, 2021 at Setlist.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Mai 202233min

Multi-platinum singer-songwriter Andy Grammer hit the Billboard Hot 100 with such tracks "Keep Your Head Up" and "Honey, I'm Good." In recent months, he released four new tracks through his own Giant Soul Records imprint through his longtime label S-Curve Records. On Behind the Setlist, Grammer talks about the art of creating a setlist -- which includes highs, lows, new tracks, a cover song or two and even his own poetry.  "We all need a reason to jump out of bed," he says about his shows' positive energy. "We all need to go into our soul. It's just that it comes with so much cynicism that unless you're doing it at such a high level and so aggressively, it doesn't get in. But if you do get in, you'll have fans for life that'll show up every single time you come through." He starts a U.S. tour on May 31, 2022 in Austin, TX that concludes in Tucson, AZ on Aug. 28, 2022. Theme music: "Spinnin'" by Alex. Used with Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Mai 202230min

Billboard has a new podcast coming up called Behind the Setlist where artists talk about the songs they play live. Sometimes we talk about a specific concert. Other times we discuss how the artist approaches building a setlist and taking the audience on a journey. And we always talk about the cover songs artists play and why they choose them. Our initial episodes will be Ann Wilson (from Heart), Andy Grammer, Curt Smith from Tears for Fears, Simple Plan and John Waite of Bad English and The Babys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Mai 20222min