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Brandi Carlile’s 3 Different Epic Summer Tour Setlist Styles

By Jeff Gorra

Brandi Carlile’s 2023 summer tour started in her home state of Washington with two epic nights at the Gorge Amphitheater. From there, the seven-time Grammy Award winner touches almost every corner of the country, ultimately landing back on the west coast in the fall. However, this Brandi Carlile summer tour comes in three different formats and setlist types.

Let me explain.

Carlile kicked off a massive stadium tour this week in Toronto. Sporting a Blue Jay baby blue suit, Carlile and her band began their trek opening for P!NK on her “Summer Carnival Tour.” Prior to that, there were six shows up on the east coast. This included a headlining slot at the Levitate Music and Arts Festival. Directly before and after that were mellow acoustic performances in New Jersey and New York.

However, Carlile’s summer tour began with a bang. On June 9 and 10, the aforementioned “Echoes Through The Canyon” shows at the Gorge set the bar high. First of all, Joni Mitchell was part of the show. Carlile was instrumental in Mitchell making her first concert appearance at last summer’s Newport Folk Festival since her 2015 brain aneurysm. Now, almost a year later, Mitchell’s “Joni Jam” on night two of “Echoes Through The Canyon” consisted of Mitchell partaking in 24 songs.

The two nights included an all-star cast joining Carlile. Annie Lennox, Mark Isham, Wendy & Lisa, Lucius, Marcus Mumford, Sarah McLachlan, and Taylor Goldsmith were all on-hand to help make this a memorable start to the summer.

What’s On Tap

Now, there are 27 dates still ahead for Carlile. The 2023 itinerary concludes on October 14 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Of those 27 shows, 15 are supporting P!NK at some of the biggest MLB ballparks in the country. In fact, after her opening night in Toronto, Carlile posted on her Instagram that, “Night one with P!NK might be the most massive crowd I’ve ever played for.”

The rest of the dates are a mix of outdoor theatre shows, festivals, and another solo acoustic performance in Delaware.

How Are These Show Types And Setlists Different?

What you need to know here is that Brandi Carlile’s seven-record catalog is flexible enough where one setlist does not fit all. So far, we have seen these three different show types open with three different songs.

It would certainly be much easier for Carlile and her crew to play a similar set each night. Their songs resonate in multiple genres. But this is unique tour schedule; each type of show requires a different setlist. At her shows she can assume that the audience is familiar with her entire catalog; that is probably not the case at the P!nk concerts.

Here are the three iterations of Brandi Carlile in concert you could see on her summer tour this year.

  • Opening For P!NK

    Let’s start with the stadiums where she is literally “getting the party started” ahead of P!NK.  The show starts with a rocker, as “Broken Horses” from her latest record kicks off the evening. Eight more songs follow before P!NK hits the stage. The setlist here is mixes tracks off Carlile’s In These Silent Days record, with previous hits like “The Joke,” and fan-favorite covers such as a rendition of David Bowie’s “Space Odyssey.”

  • Headlining Shows and Festival Dates

    It’s a fair assumption to think the festival slots and shows outside the P!NK tour will follow a similar setlist to what was performed at Levitate. This saw Carlile starting the evening with a quiet and mood-setting delivery of her song “Stay Gentle.” It then transitioned into “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” With more time and space, concertgoers can expect to hear some deep cuts from previous records make an appearance. In Marshfield, “My Song” off Carlile’s breakthrough record The Story was the fifth song played. It was introduced by Carlile, telling the story of how “My Song” came to be and how it had not been played often over the past few years. This format of the show tends to be about 16-19 songs, closing with the thoughtful parting message of “Hold Out Your Hand.”

     

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    A post shared by Brandi Carlile (@brandicarlile)

  • Solo Acoustic Shows

    When Carlile announced she would sprinkle in a few intimate acoustic shows, fans were delighted by the opportunity to see and hear her in such small theatre settings. At these shows, she’s joined by the Phil and Tim Hanseroth, her guitarist and bass player, but not the rest of her backing band. So many of her songs can be stripped down to blend beautifully with the majestic walls of a place like the Hackensack Meridien Health Theatre in Red Bank, NJ. Before the curtains close with a Joni Mitchell cover, anything that can be played solo is fair game. This setlist is typically around 17 songs. It features fewer amplifiers and more piano. The opening song off Carlile’s debut record, “Follow,” has opened each solo performance so far this summer.

     

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    A post shared by Brandi Carlile (@brandicarlile)

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