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 40
- 2 Sunken Treasure 28
- 3 One Tiny Flower 26
- 4 Bombs Above 17
- 5 Spiders (Kidsmoke) 17
- 6 Not For The Season 16
- 7 Story to Tell 9
- 8 Remember The Mountain Bed 8
- 9 Someone Else's Song 8
- 10 The Universe 7
- 11 Betrayed 6
- 12 Feel Free 6
- 13 I Am Trying To Break Your Heart 6
- 14 Misunderstood 5
- 15 Evergreen 4
- 16 James Alley Blues 4
- 17 Love Is the King 4
- 18 Airline To Heaven 3
- 19 I'm Always In Love 3
- 20 New Madrid 3
- 21 Please Be Patient With Me 3
- 22 Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You 3
- 23 Western Clear Skies 3
- 24 (Was I) In Your Dreams 2
- 25 Ashes Of American Flags 2
Top 25 of 79 distinct songs
- 1 I'm The Man Who Loves You 73
- 2 Lou Reed Was My Babysitter 40
- 3 California Stars 22
- 4 A Shot In The Arm 19
- 5 Acuff-Rose 14
- 6 The Late Greats 6
- 7 The Lonely 1 6
- 8 Jesus, Etc. 5
- 9 Not For The Season 5
- 10 Passenger Side 5
- 11 Heavy Metal Drummer 4
- 12 The Thanks I Get 4
- 13 Warm (When the Sun Has Died) 4
- 14 Box Full Of Letters 3
- 15 Candyfloss 3
- 16 ELT 3
- 17 Enough 3
- 18 Give Back The Key To My Heart 3
- 19 I Can't Keep From Talking 3
- 20 I Got You (At The End Of The Century) 3
- 21 Let's Go Rain 3
- 22 Misunderstood 3
- 23 New Madrid 3
- 24 On And On And On 3
- 25 Airline To Heaven 2
Top 25 of 75 distinct songs
- 1 Acuff-Rose 83
- 2 Enough 36
- 3 I'm The Man Who Loves You 27
- 4 A Shot In The Arm 24
- 5 California Stars 24
- 6 The Lonely 1 8
- 7 Lou Reed Was My Babysitter 7
- 8 Dreamer In My Dreams 6
- 9 Passenger Side 5
- 10 The Late Greats 5
- 11 I Got You (At The End Of The Century) 4
- 12 New Madrid 4
- 13 Box Full Of Letters 3
- 14 Candyfloss 3
- 15 Give Back The Key To My Heart 3
- 16 Misunderstood 3
- 17 Not For The Season 3
- 18 Ashes Of American Flags 2
- 19 Cosmic Dancer 2
- 20 Gun 2
- 21 Hoodoo Voodoo 2
- 22 Let's Go Rain 2
- 23 Losing End 2
- 24 Pecan Pie 2
- 25 The Long Cut 2
Top 25 of 60 distinct songs
- 1 Acuff-Rose 77
- 2 A Shot In The Arm 46
- 3 I'm The Man Who Loves You 44
- 4 California Stars 42
- 5 Misunderstood 36
- 6 Enough 34
- 7 Family Ghost 34
- 8 The Late Greats 22
- 9 Heavy Metal Drummer 19
- 10 Don't Forget 16
- 11 Passenger Side 16
- 12 Twilight Override 16
- 13 Not For The Season 15
- 14 War On War 15
- 15 Dreamer In My Dreams 14
- 16 Far, Far Away 12
- 17 Jesus, Etc. 12
- 18 Gun 10
- 19 Theologians 10
- 20 Airline To Heaven 8
- 21 New Madrid 8
- 22 Someone Else's Song 8
- 23 The Thanks I Get 8
- 24 I'm Always In Love 7
- 25 Pecan Pie 7
Top 25 of 200 distinct songs
Encore length by year
| Year | Encores | Avg songs |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1 | 6.0 |
| 2002 | 2 | 2.5 |
| 2005 | 12 | 7.8 |
| 2006 | 19 | 7.2 |
| 2007 | 13 | 5.0 |
| 2008 | 1 | 10.0 |
| 2009 | 8 | 4.9 |
| 2011 | 2 | 7.5 |
| 2012 | 2 | 3.5 |
| 2013 | 7 | 5.0 |
| 2014 | 1 | 4.0 |
| 2015 | 1 | 3.0 |
| 2016 | 5 | 1.6 |
| 2017 | 3 | 3.7 |
| 2018 | 16 | 4.1 |
| 2019 | 28 | 3.3 |
| 2021 | 4 | 6.0 |
| 2022 | 7 | 3.3 |
| 2023 | 3 | 3.3 |
| 2024 | 1 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 11 | 4.5 |
| 2026 | 25 | 4.2 |
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.