All the Rest and the Future

CJ rehearsal was cancelled last night and so I got to thinking about what the hell lay in store for us ahead. It has been easy for the last 3 years to continue to plow through the catalog 2 to 4 songs at a time.  But the remaining list is becoming small.  I took a look last night and played through those that I have worked out.

The boys and I argue from time to time as to what songs count...but here's my full list of the remaining songs:
Albums Cuts (these are probably all must haves)
All Over The World (RS hates this song, I think it is actually pretty well known and overdue for us to learn)
Havalina (I like this song, but I think it is tricky for the guitar players and the lead vocal)
Stormy Weather (this is a terrible song)
The Happening (this is a terrible song)


B-sides/Rarities Bailey's Walk (a screamer but maybe one of the better known b-sides)
Bam Thwok (I'm sure not even they count this as one of their songs, but I love it and it would be a vocal break for RS)
Boom Chicka Boom (pretty obscure)
Make Believe (I read once that KiD thought she should be shot for writing this song, so I'm conflicted about playing it)
Rock A My Soul (the boys love this song)
Santo (pretty obscure but I think the boys like it. It's kind of a good song).
The Thing (this is really just The Happening)
Theme from Narc (useful as a vocal break for RS)
Weird At My School (I feel like this is a must have)

Covers
Wild Honey Pie (really the only defensible song on the cover list)
Ain't That Pretty at All (I really like this song)
Born in Chicago
Evil Hearted You
I Can't Forget
I've Been Waiting For You (worth looking into as a vocal break for RS only)
Hang on to Your Ego (known far more as a FB tune)
All Around the World (only covered at Newport...it is a stretch)

No One, Not Even Me Counts This Though I Saw Something that Said It Was a Demo Once
Brackish Boy (known far more as a FB tune)

The exercise of me playing through the ones that I know last night sort of made me think the future is bleak. No one in the world would miss if we never learned any of them. It seems ridiculous to get this far and NOT go ahead and learn the last four tunes off Bossa though. It's like running a marathon and then deciding there's no point to cross the finish line. Bailey and Weird and the only B-sides that I'd be truly sad not to attempt...actually I'm okay not doing Bailey because I feel like it is kind of a torture for the singer.

I think that we could yet learn an acoustic set and milk that at coffee shops for a while...and that we all have an interest in playing in other towns. But for that you almost kind of have to let go of the rare tunes and play an all hits set. Some might argue that isn't true...but you're selling a known product...so if you don't stick with the known I think you alienate the average audience. There's always the whack job who wants to hear Make Believe...and I'm usually that whack job...but they are a minority for sure. Probably they'll be satisfied with something like Manta Ray, which is always so well received that we'll surely keep it in rotation.

So what does a "tour" set look like anyway? Here's my stab in alpha order:

Gotta Have
Caribou
Debaser
Dig For Fire
Gigantic
Gouge Away
Here Comes Your Man
Hey
Manta Ray
Monkey Gone To Heaven
Nimrod's Son
River Euphrates
Tame
Vamos
Velouria
Wave Of Mutilation
Where Is My Mind?

Play If Time
Alec Eiffel

Allison
Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons
Bone Machine
Cactus
Crackity Jones
Dead
Ed Is Dead
I Bleed
Into the White
La La Love You
Mr Grieves
Planet of Sound
Something Against You
The Holiday Song
Trompe le Monde

The problem with the gotta have list is, of course, that is is half songs from Doolittle. But I guess there's a reason they could tour on that album exclusively for years. And there's nothing from Trompe, which could be a mistake since some people came to them via the last record. That could be fixed by throwing Alec and maybe Planet of Sound on there instead of something else. 

But this is still a LOT of songs. If you are in a strange town and no one has heard you play before, it is very likely that you'll only get 30 minutes. And if you had to do only 30 minutes it gets pretty tough to get anythign in there other than a certain list of songs. You'd have like 10 songs maybe. What would they be?

Debaser
Dig For Fire
Gigantic
Here Comes Your Man
Hey
Monkey Gone To Heaven
Tame OR Gouge Away OR Trompe le Monde
Velouria
Wave Of Mutilation
Where Is My Mind?

Yeah that's gotta be what it boils down to, eh? Still half Doolittle.