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.

Showing Last 3 years ×All artists 248 shows · 188 with an encore
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Openers times opened
  1. 1 Handshake Drugs 35
  2. 2 Infinite Surprise 31
  3. 3 Story to Tell 29
  4. 4 One Tiny Flower 26
  5. 5 Company In My Back 17
  6. 6 Wishful Thinking 16
  7. 7 Hell Is Chrome 13
  8. 8 Via Chicago 8
  9. 9 Betrayed 6
  10. 10 Feel Free 6
  11. 11 Spiders (Kidsmoke) 6
  12. 12 Misunderstood 5
  13. 13 Pittsburgh 5
  14. 14 One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend) 4
  15. 15 The Universe 4
  16. 16 I Am My Mother 3
  17. 17 I Am Trying To Break Your Heart 3
  18. 18 Western Clear Skies 3
  19. 19 Evergreen 2
  20. 20 Ain't It a Shame 1
  21. 21 Airline To Heaven 1
  22. 22 Candyfloss 1
  23. 23 Christ For President 1
  24. 24 Cry Baby Cry 1
  25. 25 Don't Forget 1

Top 25 of 45 distinct songs

Main-Set Closers ended the main set
  1. 1 A Shot In The Arm 67
  2. 2 I'm The Man Who Loves You 67
  3. 3 Lou Reed Was My Babysitter 39
  4. 4 Spiders (Kidsmoke) 24
  5. 5 California Stars 6
  6. 6 I Got You (At The End Of The Century) 5
  7. 7 Kingpin 5
  8. 8 Enough 3
  9. 9 U.S. Blues 3
  10. 10 I'm A Wheel 2
  11. 11 I'm Always In Love 2
  12. 12 Less Than You Think 2
  13. 13 Outtasite (Outta Mind) 2
  14. 14 A Lifetime to Find 1
  15. 15 Acuff-Rose 1
  16. 16 All You Fascists 1
  17. 17 Candyfloss 1
  18. 18 Cosmic Dancer 1
  19. 19 Family Ghost 1
  20. 20 Give Back The Key To My Heart 1
  21. 21 Half-Asleep 1
  22. 22 Heavy Metal Drummer 1
  23. 23 Hummingbird 1
  24. 24 Just A Kid 1
  25. 25 Just Say Goodbye 1

Top 25 of 34 distinct songs

Show Closers ended the night
  1. 1 Spiders (Kidsmoke) 44
  2. 2 Enough 36
  3. 3 Outtasite (Outta Mind) 36
  4. 4 I Got You (At The End Of The Century) 35
  5. 5 I'm The Man Who Loves You 14
  6. 6 California Stars 13
  7. 7 A Shot In The Arm 11
  8. 8 U.S. Blues 11
  9. 9 I'm A Wheel 9
  10. 10 Lou Reed Was My Babysitter 7
  11. 11 Kingpin 3
  12. 12 Let's Not Get Carried Away 3
  13. 13 Monday 3
  14. 14 Casino Queen 2
  15. 15 Cosmic Dancer 2
  16. 16 Just A Kid 2
  17. 17 A Lifetime to Find 1
  18. 18 Acuff-Rose 1
  19. 19 Candyfloss 1
  20. 20 Dreamer In My Dreams 1
  21. 21 Falling Apart (Right Now) 1
  22. 22 Give Back The Key To My Heart 1
  23. 23 Heavy Metal Drummer 1
  24. 24 I'm Always In Love 1
  25. 25 Just Say Goodbye 1

Top 25 of 33 distinct songs

Encore Songs encore appearances
  1. 1 California Stars 86
  2. 2 Falling Apart (Right Now) 77
  3. 3 I Got You (At The End Of The Century) 69
  4. 4 Outtasite (Outta Mind) 45
  5. 5 Spiders (Kidsmoke) 41
  6. 6 Walken 36
  7. 7 Enough 34
  8. 8 Family Ghost 32
  9. 9 Monday 19
  10. 10 The Late Greats 19
  11. 11 Twilight Override 16
  12. 12 Via Chicago 13
  13. 13 I'm A Wheel 9
  14. 14 Casino Queen 8
  15. 15 U.S. Blues 8
  16. 16 A Shot In The Arm 7
  17. 17 Candyfloss 5
  18. 18 Let's Not Get Carried Away 5
  19. 19 Red-Eyed And Blue 5
  20. 20 Kicking Television 4
  21. 21 You And I 4
  22. 22 Box Full Of Letters 3
  23. 23 Just A Kid 3
  24. 24 Too Far Apart 3
  25. 25 A Lifetime to Find 2

Top 25 of 119 distinct songs

Encore length by year

YearEncoresAvg songs
2023403.4
2024343.5
2025573.6
2026573.4

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.