Wire's DC Performance: Annotated Setlist

Photo by Alex Vanhee on pinkflag.com

Here's the setlist from their 4/7 performance at the Black Cat in DC, along with the album that the song appeared on. It was a great show -- energetic and fun. The band looked like they were very much enjoying themselves. As Wire does, they found the perfect mix of chaos and structure in the songs and in the concert as well.

They didn't say a lot. Graham introduced "Map Ref 41°N 93°W" as a "song about the Midwest." Colin responded to a few of the people in the audience that were shouting out song titles with "You know we don't take requests." But apart from that, they just played. One takeaway for me seeing them live: most fans don't love particular songs by Wire, they just love Wire.

While they did play a smattering of song from throughout their career, it was surprising that they didn't play anything from 1978's Chairs Missing or 2008's Object 47. Regardless, it was still an incredible show.

"Comet," Read & Burn 01 (2002)
"Advantage in Height," Snakedrill (1986)
"Please Take," Red Barked Tree (2011)
"Silk Skin Paws," A Bell is a Cup... Until it is Struck, (1988)
"Kidney Bingos," A Bell is a Cup... Until it is Struck
"Clay," Red Barked Tree
"Map Ref 41°N 93°W," 154, (1979)
"Bad Worn Thing," Red Barked Tree
"Moreover," Red Barked Tree
"Two People in a Room," 154, (1979)
"106 Beats That," Pink Flag, (1977)
"Boiling Boy," A Bell is a Cup... Until it is Struck
"Red Barked Trees," Red Barked Tree

Encore 1:
"Down to This," Red Barked Tree

"Drill," Snakedrill (1986)
"Underwater Experience," Document & Eyewitness (1981)

Encore 2:
"Adapt," Red Barked Tree
"Pink Flag," Pink Flag (1977)

Original setlist here.

Wire: In Concert -- and in My Basement

I'm pretty excited about going to check out the classic post-punk band Wire in DC on Thursday. I've been a listener since my college days, and they've been putting out incredible records since I was 7 or so.

I spent a bit of time in the basement, and was able to dig up their first LP,  the 1977 punk minimalist masterpiece Pink Flag. (Twenty-one songs in less than 36 minutes!) I bought it at a used record store in the late '80s. It didn't come with the original sleeve, but the one it came with is completely appropriate.

Here's the cover of my copy of Pink Flag:

 

And here's the inner sleeve. Nothing but lyrics:

The 15 words that make up the lyrics of "12XU" encapsulate Wire's approach at the time:

Wire was originally on Harvest Records, the same label as other artists that were in many ways the opposite of them, such as Pink Floyd and Deep Purple:

And I'll finish this post up with a video of Wire performing "Heartbeat." Though it isn't a Pink Flag track, it is the earliest Wire video I could find, and from their 1978 follow-up Chairs Missing: