Behind the Setlist

Latest Episodes:

Neil Finn (of Crowded House) Mar 14, 2024

Show notes

Neil Finn of Crowded House joined Billboard's Behind the Setlist podcast to chat about the band's upcoming album, Gravity Stairs, out May 31 through BMG, and the first single, "Oh Hi" (watch the amazing video at YouTube here). Neil shares some insights into the songwriting craft, the band's live performances and Crowded House's long history.

Crowded House was formed in 1985 after the break-up of Neil's previous band Split Enz ("I Got You," "Message to My Girl"). The group's 1986 debut album was a huge success in the U.S., the group's native Australia and New Zealand and elsewhere. "Don't Dream It's Over" reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 singles chart in 1987, and "Something So Strong" reached No. 7 the same year. The band went on to continued success with the albums Temple of Low Men in 1988, Woodface in 1991 and Together Alone in 1993. After a pause, Crowded House returned with Time on Earth in 2007 and Intriguer in 2010. After yet another pause, they returned with Dreamers are Waiting in 2021.

Links

Crowded House home page

Crowded House tour dates

Jay Gilbert @ Label Logic

Glenn Peoples @ Billboard

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Ed Robertson (of Barenaked Ladies) Mar 05, 2024

Show notes

Success — and longevity — isn't lost on Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson. "It just seems unreal to me that I've been in a band called Barenaked Ladies for three and a half decades," Robertson tells Behind the Setlist. Best known for their 1998 hit "One Week" and the theme song to the comedy TV show "Big Bang Theory," Barenaked Ladies is still going strong. They released their 14th studio album, In Flight, in September 2023 and are preparing for a U.K. tour in the spring before returning to more shows in the States. The band's joyous live shows have earned them a huge touring business at arenas and amphitheaters through the U.S. and Canada, their home country. Robertson says the band chose build a career in North America rather than try to break in Europe, Latin America and Asia. "We'll take any gig," says Robertson, "and we will deliver."

Links:

Barenaked Ladies homepage

Barenaked Ladies tour dates

Jay Gilbert @ Label Logic

Glenn Peoples @ Billboard

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Eugene Hütz (of Gogol Bordello) Dec 15, 2023

Show notes

No other band sounds like Gogol Bordello. Frontman Eugene Hütz has crafted a caustic blend of styles that meld his affection for punk with the Romani music from his native Ukraine. Gogol Bordello released its ninth studio album, Solidartine, in 2022. This year, Hütz launched a new label, Casa Gogol Records, with a collaboration with New Order's Bernard Sumner, "Solidarity," and put out a track to benefit Ukraine, "United Strike Back," featuring Tre Cool (Green Day), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Joe Lally (Fugazi) and Roger Miret (Agnostic Front).

Links

Gogol Bordello home page

Gogol Bordello tour dates

Jay Gilbert @ Label Logic

Glenn Peoples @ Billboard

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Andy Summers (of The Police) Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

Andy Summers is best known as the guitarist in The Police. But in certain circles, he's also known as an accomplished photographer with numerous books and his own camera, the Leica M Monochrome "Signature" by Andy Summers. Andy is currently mixing his two passions with A Cracked Lens + Missing String, a solo tour in the U.S. and Canada where he performs in front of a backdrop of his photographs. His latest book, A Series of Glances, was released by ACC Art Books on April 12, 2023. He joins Behind the Setlist to talk about his musical influences, his travels around the world and performing with The Police, as a solo artist and as a member of Call the Police, a Police cover band that features Rodrigo Santos (Red Baron /Barão Vermelho)on bass and vocals and Joao Barone (Os Paralamas do Sucesso) on drums.

Links

Andy Summers home page

Andy Summers tour dates

Andy Summers tour history at Setlist.fm

Jay Gilbert @ Label Logic

Glenn Peoples @ Billboard

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Juliana Hatfield Sep 22, 2023

Show notes

Veteran singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield joins Behind the Setlist to talk about her upcoming album, her concert setlists and her long career in music. Juliana will release her 20th solo studio album on Nov. 17 — Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO, a collection of 10 covers of songs by Electric Light Orchestra. It's Juliana's third album of covers songs after Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John in 2018 and Juliana Hatfield Sings the Police in 2019. Her career began with the Blake Babies while she was a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston. After a brief stint playing bass in The Lemonheads, her breakthrough came in 1994 when her song "Spin the Bottle," released by The Juliana Hatfield Three, appeared on the soundtrack to the Winona Ryder-Ethan Hawke film Reality Bites. More recently, she paired with Paul Westerberg, known best as the frontman of The Replacements, to form a duo called The I Don't Cares and release an album, Wild Stab, in 2016.

Links

Juliana Hatfield home page

Juliana Hatfield tour dates

Jay Gilbert @ Label Logic

Glenn Peoples @ Billboard

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Grace Potter Aug 11, 2023

Show notes

Grace Potter's '70s influences come through on her new album, Mother Road (out August 18 through Fantasy Records). The Vermont native built her name as the leader of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, sang on a hit song ("You and Tequilla" in 2010) with country star Kenny Chesney and had a song ("Something That I Want") on the 2010 Disney movie Tangled. Now with countless tour dates and five solo albums under her belt, Grace joins Behind the Setlist to talk about the meaning behind Mother Road, the new material, how she chooses songs to play in her sets, her '70s and '90s musical influences, her music festival and advice a record executive gave to a young Grace Potter.

In this episode:

4:50 The meaning behind Mother Road

5:30 What Grace did during the lockdown

9:00 Playing Red Rocks Amphitheatre

10:30 How the setlist changes night to night

13:00 Considering photographers when choosing the first three songs

15:00 Her parents record collection and making mix tapes

19:00 Covering Lee Hazlewood’s “Some Velvet Morning” with Lukas Nelson

22:50 Playing “Something That I Want” at Red Rocks

25:30 Playing the (at the time) unreleased “Rose Colored Rearview”

29:40 Singing “You and Tequilla” with Kenny Chesney

31:00 The status of the Grand Point North Festival?

34:00 A young Grace Potter getting advice from a record executive

40:00 Picking the songs to close a set

Links:

Grace Potter home page

Grace Potter tour dates

Jay Gilbert @ Label Logic

Glenn Peoples @ Billboard

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Peter Case Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

Rock-folk-blues musician Peter Case began busking in San Francisco in the '70s, co-founded the Nerves ("Hanging on the Telephone") in 1974 and the Plimsouls ("A Million Miles Away") in 1978 and has been a solo artist since 1986. Since three albums for Geffen Records, Case has recorded for indie labels such as Vanguard, Yep Roc and, most recently, Sunset Blvd. Records. On his 16th studio album, Doctor Moan (released March 31, 2023), Case trades his acoustic guitar for a piano and Hammond B3 organ with often stunning results. His life and career were examined in the excellent 2023 documentary Peter Case: A Million Miles Away.

Links:

Peter Case home page

Peter Case tour dates

Jay Gilbert @ Label Logic

Glenn Peoples @ Billboard

Billboard podcast page

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Les Claypool Jul 10, 2023

Show notes

Les Claypool is the co-founder of the rock band Primus and is currently touring with the return of Colonel Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, one of his many bands and collaborations that showcase his unique skills on the bass and a penchant for psychedelic, absurdist and oddball music.

The Fearless Flying Frog Brigade tours through July 15 and breaks until a gig at the Fox Theater in Oakland, CA, on Oct. 11. That tour continues through Nashville, TN, on Oct. 31.

Inside the episode:

3:10 The origins of Colonel Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade

6:00 Les talks about his music influences: Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, John Paul Jones, Larry Graham and Louis Clark, among others.

8:20 The origins of his music’s humor and absurdist qualities came from his love of British comedy. Where did the psychedelic element of Primus and other Claypool come from?

11:18 Les talks about his equipment, first the Rickenbacker 4001, then a Carl Thompson, and later designing his own instruments.

13:52 Why do so many musicians want to collaborate with Les?

15:45 The current set lists includes Pink Floyd’s Animals but gives the band room to play other material and improvise.

19:00 They want to do a longer set in the fall, without an opening band, to have more room to play songs other than the songs from Animals.

20:25 Who goes to the Fearless Flying Frog Brigade shows?

22:26 Les talks about his winery, Claypool Cellars.

Links:

Les Claypool home page

Les Claypool tour dates

Claypool Cellars

Jay Gilbert @ Label Logic

Glenn Peoples @ Billboard

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Toad the Wet Sprocket Jun 23, 2023

Show notes

Arguably the best band named after a Monty Python sketch, Toad the Wet Sprocket sprung from Santa Barbara, CA, to popularity in the early '90s on the strength of the platinum albums Fear ("All I Want," "Walk on the Ocean") and Dulcinea ("Fall Down," "Something's Always Wrong") that captured the spirit of the alternative rock of the era. Their latest album, Starting Now, was released in 2021 and shows the band hasn't lost a step. Singer Glen Phillips and bass player Dean Dinning join Billboard's Behind the Setlist to discuss the band's distinctive sound, the songs they've been playing on tour, covering the Kiss song "Rock and Roll All Night" and much more. Toad the Wet Sprokcet is touring the U.S. through July 19th and starts another run on Sept. 8 in Omaha, NE, that runs through Oct. 14 in Mount Vernon, IL.

Links:

Toad the Wet Sprocket home page

Toad the Wet Sprocket tour dates

Jay Gilbert at Label Logic

Glenn Peoples at Billboard

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Papa Roach Jun 07, 2023

Show notes

Known for the metal anthems "Last Resort" and "Scars," Papa Roach is an enduring figure in the turn-of-the-century nu-metal scene. The band's 2000 album Infest went triple-platinum in the U.S. on the strength of "Last Resort." That was followed by Lovehatetragedy in 2002 (certified gold) and Getting Away with Murder in 2004 (certified platinum). Their concerts are a non-stop barrage that covers the band's twenty-plus years and, recently, a blazing cover of "Firestarter" by electronic act The Prodigy.

In a great interview with Billboard's Behind the Setlist, Papa Roach singer Jacoby Shaddix and guitarist Jerry Horton talk about their stage show, maturing, starting their own record label and what T-shirt sells best on tour.

The band is hitting the road this summer with European dates through before the opening for Shinedown on The Revolutions Live Tour starting Sept. 3 in St. Lous, MO.

Links:

Papa Roach home page

Papa Roach tour dates

Jay Gilbert at Label Logic

Glenn Peoples at Billboard

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