Openers & Closers
Where songs land in the show — which ones open the night, close the main set, close the whole show, and turn up in the encore, plus how encore length has moved over time. The opener is the first song; the main-set closer is the last song before the encore; the show closer is the very last song of the night.
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- 1 Via Chicago 105
- 2 Misunderstood 104
- 3 Sunken Treasure 102
- 4 Handshake Drugs 98
- 5 I Am Trying To Break Your Heart 85
- 6 Wilco (The Song) 76
- 7 One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend) 70
- 8 Bright Leaves 66
- 9 More... 65
- 10 A Shot In The Arm 51
- 11 Ashes Of American Flags 51
- 12 You Are My Face 50
- 13 Airline To Heaven 45
- 14 Spiders (Kidsmoke) 42
- 15 Hell Is Chrome 36
- 16 I'm Always In Love 35
- 17 One Tiny Flower 34
- 18 Infinite Surprise 31
- 19 At Least That's What You Said 30
- 20 Story to Tell 30
- 21 Company In My Back 28
- 22 Normal American Kids 28
- 23 Poor Places 28
- 24 Art of Almost 26
- 25 Not For The Season 25
Top 25 of 172 distinct songs
- 1 I'm The Man Who Loves You 292
- 2 A Shot In The Arm 218
- 3 Spiders (Kidsmoke) 175
- 4 The Late Greats 151
- 5 Outtasite (Outta Mind) 109
- 6 Hummingbird 105
- 7 California Stars 68
- 8 Misunderstood 59
- 9 Lou Reed Was My Babysitter 58
- 10 Reservations 43
- 11 I'm A Wheel 39
- 12 I'm Always In Love 33
- 13 Casino Queen 31
- 14 We've Been Had 30
- 15 Hoodoo Voodoo 29
- 16 I Got You (At The End Of The Century) 28
- 17 Acuff-Rose 26
- 18 Outta Mind (Outta Sight) 26
- 19 Dawned On Me 21
- 20 On And On And On 21
- 21 The Lonely 1 18
- 22 Monday 17
- 23 Falling Apart (Right Now) 14
- 24 Dreamer In My Dreams 13
- 25 Only The Lord Knows 12
Top 25 of 164 distinct songs
- 1 Outtasite (Outta Mind) 285
- 2 I'm A Wheel 158
- 3 California Stars 121
- 4 Spiders (Kidsmoke) 117
- 5 A Shot In The Arm 115
- 6 Acuff-Rose 98
- 7 Hoodoo Voodoo 96
- 8 I Got You (At The End Of The Century) 82
- 9 I'm The Man Who Loves You 81
- 10 The Late Greats 66
- 11 Enough 62
- 12 The Lonely 1 48
- 13 Misunderstood 46
- 14 Outta Mind (Outta Sight) 38
- 15 Casino Queen 37
- 16 Dreamer In My Dreams 28
- 17 We've Been Had 27
- 18 Be Not So Fearful 26
- 19 Monday 26
- 20 Heavy Metal Drummer 19
- 21 Passenger Side 18
- 22 Kingpin 17
- 23 I Shall Be Released 15
- 24 Kicking Television 15
- 25 U.S. Blues 14
Top 25 of 153 distinct songs
- 1 California Stars 502
- 2 The Late Greats 368
- 3 Outtasite (Outta Mind) 351
- 4 Heavy Metal Drummer 296
- 5 I Got You (At The End Of The Century) 293
- 6 I'm A Wheel 281
- 7 Spiders (Kidsmoke) 265
- 8 Misunderstood 241
- 9 I'm The Man Who Loves You 201
- 10 Monday 200
- 11 Red-Eyed And Blue 189
- 12 Kingpin 185
- 13 A Shot In The Arm 167
- 14 Hate It Here 139
- 15 Walken 138
- 16 Jesus, Etc. 134
- 17 Hoodoo Voodoo 132
- 18 Passenger Side 127
- 19 Casino Queen 108
- 20 Via Chicago 107
- 21 I'm Always In Love 106
- 22 Falling Apart (Right Now) 105
- 23 War On War 102
- 24 Acuff-Rose 83
- 25 Enough 61
Top 25 of 345 distinct songs
Encore length by year
| Year | Encores | Avg songs |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2 | 3.0 |
| 1997 | 3 | 5.7 |
| 1998 | 1 | 9.0 |
| 1999 | 5 | 5.8 |
| 2000 | 3 | 7.0 |
| 2001 | 20 | 6.7 |
| 2002 | 43 | 7.1 |
| 2003 | 3 | 7.3 |
| 2004 | 57 | 7.3 |
| 2005 | 64 | 8.3 |
| 2006 | 66 | 6.8 |
| 2007 | 82 | 6.7 |
| 2008 | 53 | 7.2 |
| 2009 | 66 | 7.0 |
| 2010 | 36 | 4.3 |
| 2011 | 54 | 6.2 |
| 2012 | 81 | 6.5 |
| 2013 | 20 | 4.6 |
| 2014 | 25 | 5.1 |
| 2015 | 54 | 4.8 |
| 2016 | 71 | 5.5 |
| 2017 | 45 | 5.5 |
| 2018 | 17 | 4.2 |
| 2019 | 81 | 3.7 |
| 2020 | 7 | 3.1 |
| 2021 | 35 | 2.9 |
| 2022 | 40 | 3.6 |
| 2023 | 62 | 3.7 |
| 2024 | 34 | 3.5 |
| 2025 | 77 | 3.9 |
| 2026 | 73 | 3.4 |
Setlists here don’t carry explicit “encore” labels, so the encore is inferred from set breaks: it’s the run of shorter sets at the end of the night (each under half the length of the show’s longest set), which keeps a genuine second set from being counted as an encore. Shows where the setlist wasn’t split into sets contribute an opener and closers but no encore.