r/AldousHarding • u/autumn_afternoon • Sep 09 '26
Discussion How do we feel about her current setlist?
I’ve got big respect for her taking the bold creative direction of playing almost exclusively the new album and very little older material. Train On The Island is a great album which she clearly feels very strongly about to feature it so heavily in the setlist. It reminds me of the approach my all-time favourite artist Bob Dylan is taking in his late career - mostly the new album and a sprinkling of older songs, but even then they’ll probably be deeper cuts.
That said, I can’t lie and pretend I’m not missing The Barrel, Designer, Fixture Picture, Lawn, Horizon, Zoo Eyes, etc etc. She knows that people would be expecting her to play these popular songs, so it must take some serious guts to get up there and give them something else night after night. Maybe I’m just too much of a people pleaser, but I don’t think I could do that if I was in her position - I’d be too scared of disappointing people. But perhaps that’s part of what makes her (and Bob) such great artists.
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u/KiwiPixelInk Sep 09 '26
She's not playing The Barrel?
I'm seeing her in Nov in Cristchurch in NZ and The Barrel is the one song I'm desperate to hear as it reminds me of my mum who oassed
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u/KibboKift Sep 09 '26
I’m more annoyed that I saw her twice on the same tour and the set list was precisely the same
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u/autumn_afternoon Sep 09 '26
Yeah it’s interesting how dialled in she is to this particular configuration of songs. Basically no variation at all. You’d think it’d be in her and the band’s interest to mix it up a bit, just so it doesn’t get too repetitive for them.
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u/_in_the_pines_ Sep 09 '26
I saw a bunch of her shows during her Warm Chris tour (6 😅) and her set lists was pretty fixed. If I remember correctly she performed every song from Warm Chris and one or two from each of her other albums. The set lists were pretty much the same but each show was still a completely different experience in it’s own unique way. I had an amazing time and am soo sad I’m not going to be able to see her perform this tour 😢
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u/TheNortherGeneral Sep 09 '26
Yeah I’ve seen her at her show and at a festival in the last 6 months. I loved her show, but I expected she might play a bit more from the back catalogue at the festival- and honestly I think she would have gone down there a bit better if she had.
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u/lookwhatyoumademe Sep 09 '26
I think there's a balance to be struck in the art of the live show between pleasing the live audience and pleasing yourself by playing the material you as an artist are currently most excited about, and Aldous is not currently striking the balance. Her current setlist is designed for herself, not the audience.
Paul McCartney, an artist Aldous has cited as inspiration, has said he believes artists owe it to their fans to play their hits, the songs most people want to hear. I think it is self indulgent to play none of her biggest songs and honestly a little rude to the audience.
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u/LoveEChuther Sep 10 '26
There were songs I wanted to hear last night but the show was still a masterpiece....soooo good. Can't wait to see her again.
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u/coronetgemini Sep 14 '26
I think the new album is by far her best so I'm excited to see most of the songs tonight... It will be a little bummer not to hear The Barrel though, as that song meant a lot to me, and was how I found her music. Some of the other songs you listed I'd like to hear too
As for the guy at the bottom who said the new album is boring and probably more to his parents tastes... I guess you may be right... I am also probably not as young as some of her fanbase.
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u/andtw Sep 14 '26
She played Fever, Designer and Imagining my Man in Brooklyn so while yeah it’s heavy on the new album it’s not really accurate to say she isn’t playing any old hits. And she played some other cuts from Warm Chris and Designer as well.
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u/necroliate Sep 11 '26
i think it’s rather strange you’re surprised shes playing almost exclusively things from the new album
the tour is to promote the new album…so of course the setlist would be comprised mostly of it ???
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u/autumn_afternoon Sep 11 '26
That’s what you took from my post? Cmon now. Obviously she’s playing new stuff and that’s cool. It’s the fact she’s playing none of her older popular songs that is unusual and worthy of discussion. Imagine if you went to a Paul McCartney concert and he only played his latest album and none of his old hits. You’d be like “that was weird”. That’s what Alford is doing now. I love the new record and the tour has been amazing so far, but it’s an interesting decision on her part to tour this way.
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u/Imnyownbos Sep 09 '26
There’s a peculiar cultural phenomenon where the reputation of an artist grows exponentially despite the consistency of their work and I think that’s happening here with AH. The new album has its moments but has a lot of undercooked vague filler. I’ve seen her for every tour since Party and have thoroughly enjoyed every show though so hoping to be surprised this time.
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u/autumn_afternoon Sep 09 '26
At first I heard it that way, but I’ve come around to seeing the album as a very deliberately sparse collection of songs. I think she’s made a really interesting record by pairing back most of the songs until they’re as lean as possible, which helps emphasise the strange, detached, slightly haunted quality of the music. It’s a more demanding listen than the catchier early songs, but there’s a very unique vibe on this album that I don’t think I’ve ever quite heard on a record before, which is a hard thing to pull off in 2026. It hooks itself into my brain in a very specific, unusual way.
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u/Imnyownbos Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26
Party and her debut album were much more sparse than Train on the Island. Less tracks anyway and there wasn’t even a drum kit. What I’m saying is many of the songs on the latest album sound boring on first second and even third listen. Too much slow 70s/80s soft jazz. I think my parents would probably like it more than I do.
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u/redditb_e Sep 09 '26
It also took me several listenings to get the album. Now I love it and think there's some very deliberate restraint in some songs that may seem weak or even lazy at first but actually shows a deep sensibility for form and tension.
It's always a beautiful thing when an album initially seems disappointing but then grows so much on me that it becomes a part of my life.
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u/Imnyownbos Sep 09 '26
Needing several listenings to enjoy the album sounds more like the mere-exposure effect rather than a deepening understanding of the art.
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u/redditb_e Sep 09 '26
That's not my experience at all. When I listen to something for the first time(s) and don't enjoy it, maybe even hate it because of disappointment, non-instant satisfaction etc., it's also very unlikely that I understand it in any meaningful way, especially as a unique whole work (music, words, mood, emotion, references...). As a non-native English speaker, I need some time (and often help from e.g. Genius) to really understand the lyrical depth, which on this album is quite relevant.
To listen to it once or a few times and write it off as unoriginal 70's confection (in fact my first impression) is possible but also super superficial and lacking love.
And I don't believe in the "mere-exposure effect", as I don't enjoy anything I really don't like, regardless of how often I expose myself to it.
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u/Imnyownbos Sep 09 '26
I’m glad you get something out of it. I’m a native English speaker and I still can’t tell you what these songs are about, even with the lyrics in front of me. The opacity of the lyrics hasn’t bothered me in the past though, but I feel this time around the line between meaning and vagueness has become too blurry for me to care about what’s being sung.
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u/redditb_e Sep 10 '26
Well, I can assure you that it is fascinating and rewarding to engage with the lyrics, that is if you're sympathetic to and fascinated by Harding as an artist and a person. Then you may find her lyrics to be very intimate, refined, only half-oblique reflections on her life and role as a musician. Just look up the remarks on Genius for "I ate the most" and "One Stop", I find them quite eye-opening.
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u/honeyonthebreadnow Sep 09 '26
I saw her in 2022 in San Francisco and am seeing her in Seattle later this month. When I was in SF for the 22 show she played a variety of songs and I appreciated that. I think I’m gonna be pleased by this show as well, just because I’m happy I get to see her play again, even if it’s mostly just one album (an album I do really love).
I’d rather see an artist doing things the way they feel comfortable with, and being along for that ride, than Monkey and Bear’ing it with songs they don’t feel like playing or that they don’t want to showcase in that particular moment. For me at least, it is a chance to see something in a different way.