Suede

At least he recognized how beautiful the venue is:

Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre is stunning pic.twitter.com/CNGlOunXye

— Mat Osman (@matosman) November 16, 2022

Wow, what a band.

So, I've never really understood Manic Street Preachers, and indeed, midway through the opening set, my wife leaned over and said "I don't get this band." I certainly can't see them following Suede, have they really been swapping headlining slots?

Yup, they have. Over in the UK that would likely make total sense but here...yeah, hm.

Suede headlining SF meant I had the right night.

Suede opening in Toronto means my friend and I get to leave early and go for a few drinks before getting home at a reasonable hour on a work night!

So which band is likely to be opening tonight in Silver Spring? Chicago was the last show.

Probably Suede, as the Manics opened in Chicago, and I believe they’re alternating.

I saw Suede at the Øya festival in Oslo in August. I loved it and it was the festival highlight for me. But obe thing surprised me, and that was the lack of new songs. The entire set contained the the new single and one song from "Bloodsports", nothing else from the reunion years, everything else from the 90s even including some deep cuts from the debut album (so great to hear "Pantomime Horse" at a Suede gig in 2022). And they had s new album coming in even, but ignored it completely save for that one single.

Looking at their setlists, this seems to be a typical thing. I like their new albums a lot (especially the two moodier ones in the middle) but they almost ignored that phase completely. This may have made the concert better, because even though the new songs are good, fans are less familiar with it than the old stuff. Especially since this was a festival eith not only hardcore fans in the audience.

Hmm. We got two from the new album, one from Blue Hour, one from Bloodsports and iirc none from Night Thoughts (which may be my fave of the comeback albums). One b-side (Flash Boy), the rest hits (as such). I suspect that because of the dual headliner nature of the set that the band lost some stage time.

I've seen them quite a few times in the last 10 years, and they play a lot more of their newer songs in regular tour gigs. Festivals are definitely greatest hits affairs, and they seem to be treating the US tour that way too. I would expect a few from the new album and its immediate predecessors when I see them in Glasgow in March, though they'll no doubt end the set with a lot of of the big ones.

They played a slew of shows tied in with Autofiction's release that was nothing BUT the new album plus "It Starts And Ends With You." So it does vary.

Giving nothing away about the conversation: when I had that nice chance to hang with the band the other week, it was very clear they're very conscious about their setlist choices and what they play depending on where they're at, the nature of the show etc., and that they're open to turning over ideas among themselves.