SoCav
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Michael was not the kind of artist who mixed up his concert setlists during a tour, instead focusing on perfecting what he felt was the best possible show to present to his fans. He also tended to focus on his biggest hit/most recognizable songs alongside a selection of his latest material, deeper cuts rarely made it onto the setlist. With this in mind it's interesting to look at his setlist choices over the years. What do you think are some of the most surprising picks, as well as some of the most surprising omissions?
Victory Tour
Michael of course was not solely in charge of the setlist here. So with that in mind:
Most surprising choices
The first leg is of course surprising overall because it was so similar to the Victory Tour setlist with a few additions, but I'll only focus on the 2nd leg setlist:
Most surprising choices
Of course I personally would have loved to have heard other tracks from the Bad album performed here, but if you are going to pick 7 of the 10 songs on the album to play, he probably picked the most logical ones. Overall, I think this setlist includes a nice percentage of the album he was touring behind (70%) supplemented with a pretty good balance between Thriller/OTW tracks, and a shout out to Jacksons and J5 material.
Dangerous Tour
Most surprising choices
Most surprising choices
I don't think there were particularly surprising omissions here. Compared to the Dangerous Tour, he played more tracks from his latest album (8 out of 15 of HIStory, plus 1 off of BotDF).
This Is It
Most surprising choices
Victory Tour
Michael of course was not solely in charge of the setlist here. So with that in mind:
Most surprising choices
- Things I Do For You - I really like this track and it's cool to see it in the setlist. It is surprising that it was chosen as one of the only two songs played from the Destiny album though.
- The Jermaine Medley - I know Jermaine was reasonably successful as a solo artist at the time, but the inclusion of tracks like Let's Get Serious and You Like Me, Don't You? is surprising to say the least.
- A lot of Thriller material. This album was so huge that it's very surprising that only 4 songs from it were played, especially when you consider some of the other songs that were chosen. I think the title track is probably the most surprising omission, but PYT could have also easily been slotted in as a dance track, and The Lady in My Life could have replaced She's Out Of My Life.
The first leg is of course surprising overall because it was so similar to the Victory Tour setlist with a few additions, but I'll only focus on the 2nd leg setlist:
Most surprising choices
- Heartbreak Hotel - This was the only Jacksons song included in the setlist. Michael wrote it by himself, but it's still surprising that he picked it over more recognizable self-penned tracks (e.g. Don't Stop Till You Get Enough).
Of course I personally would have loved to have heard other tracks from the Bad album performed here, but if you are going to pick 7 of the 10 songs on the album to play, he probably picked the most logical ones. Overall, I think this setlist includes a nice percentage of the album he was touring behind (70%) supplemented with a pretty good balance between Thriller/OTW tracks, and a shout out to Jacksons and J5 material.
Dangerous Tour
Most surprising choices
- Working Day and Night - I like this song a lot but given that Don't Stop Till You Get Enough and Rock With You are both more recognizable tracks from the Off The Wall album, it was surprising to see it survive in the setlist until the Dangerous Tour.
- She's Out of My Life - Same here. By this time Michael had recorded several other ballads, so it's surprising to see SOOML last this long.
- Remember The Time - This was a very well-known track and when considering it's short film, it's incredibly easy to imagine it being performed live. Michael did rehearse it of course, but it never made the final setlist. In general, I think he could have easily performed more songs from the album. He only played 5 Dangerous tracks overall (only 4 during the first leg). It's surprising because the album did very well (and of course just a shame as I would have loved to have heard more Dangerous material live).
Most surprising choices
- Come Together - Quite surprising to see a track that he recorded years earlier, and which seemed a bit of an odd inclusion on the HIStory album itself, make an appearance here.
- D.S. - Although it was part of the album that Michael was touring behind, this song is one of the tracks that probably stands out the least on the album (though it stands out when you know what's behind it of course). Given the subject matter, I also would not have expected him to pull it out, but that's probably exactly why he did it.
- In The Closet - it did not appear on the Dangerous Tour, so to see it make even the briefest of appearance during a medley here was quite surprising. Same goes for the even more brief snippet of She Drives Me Wild of course.
I don't think there were particularly surprising omissions here. Compared to the Dangerous Tour, he played more tracks from his latest album (8 out of 15 of HIStory, plus 1 off of BotDF).
This Is It
Most surprising choices
- The Drill - this was the only entirely new piece created for the concerts and thus surprising for that fact alone. Musically it's surprising too, especially the samples of the obscure Mind is the Magic. Wish we could learn more about the backstory of this piece.
- Rock With You - For some reason I just did not expect this song to return to the setlist. It's a famous track of course, but one free of theatrics. Given that Michael focused more on this from the Dangerous Tour onwards, I found it a surprising but awesome choice.
- Stranger in Moscow - Another famous track, but another one that I was not expecting. Would have been amazing.