 Have you ever been sitting at a show between songs, wondering what the guys were going to play next? Ever had someone annoyingly call out the name of the next song correctly over and over again?
Tired of being in the dark? Apart from having a glimpse at the setlist before the show, the best method of predicting what will be up next is a combination of two things. One part of song prediction is paying attention to the setlists of shows preceding on a given tour so far, the other is using a cool new tool developed by a WDS contributor.
Of course you can--here's a cookie! The guys don't tend to vary things too much over a tour. In the past several years risk-taking, (playing a variety of songs from out of the back catalogue only once or twice), has been at an all time low. [editors note: there are some exceptions such as Captain in '03 and '04]
If you see that the trend is 70-80% songs from the most recent album, you can bet with confidence on seeing that continue for whatever show you attend. If they start playing a random tune like #34, you can rest assured they won't have the good taste to play it only once or twice and put it back away. No-no. They're going to pimp that song out every night...on the street corner.
You can get your best idea of what has happened over the course of a tour by looking at DMB Almanac's Tour Song Charts. (Summer 2005, Winter 2005) Big props go out to Matias, Henry and the rest for putting out statistical information that rivals what is available to fans of all other artists in the known universe.
While song performance trends may give you a good picture of what is likely to show up on a setlist, you want to know exactly what they are playing next--at the show. Other than consulting Bronson Pinochot your best bet is to use Sammified's DMB Next-Song Predictor.
Sam has taken the time to research which instruments each of the guys pick up and play for various DMB songs. His chart shows the various configurations of the instruments with pictures. It also has a key so you can more easily identify what instrument each of the guys is holding.
All of this basically adds up to total setlist prediction supreme cy. With a little practice you aught to be calling out the songs with the bigshots or stand there quietly knowing that you are a superior DMB fan. Remember! With power comes responsibility. Use your powers for good, not evil.
Sam has mentioned that this is a work in progress and that he plans on updating it as necessary.
So what are you waiting for? Pop over to the forums and download the chart, and be sure to leave a note with your comments.
DMB Next Song Predictor
Thank you Sam for your hard work so far, this is a very cool idea!
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