My Predictions for The Beatles Rock Band setlist
ETA 7/21/09 More tracks have been confirmed, so I'm updating this.
ETA 8/17/09 We're pretty much there now! A new trailer means more songs revealed, plus a possible leak of the entire setlist from Game Informer.
Ever since the appearance of The Beatles Rock Band trailer on Monday, I've been even more hyped up for this game. I was excited the moment it was announced, I was giddy when I saw the first teasing of screens behind Paul at Coachella, and now I am beyond ready for it all. So instead of just compiling a wishlist of songs I'd like to see on it, I decided to really think about what the rest of the setlist could possibly be.
Disclaimer: I originally thought a perfect idea for solo career mode in this game would be to pick a Beatle, and then you would be required to do whatever he did for the entirety of the game. This would require a microphone stand, but think how incredibly awesome that would be. Obviously Ringo's career would be a bit different than the others, but it would still be a lot of fun. My point with all this is that what I think of as a logical choice may be way off base to what Harmonix is thinking. But its fun to think about anyways.
Key:
Bold=Confirmed Strikethrough=Not likely Normal means its a guess or unconfirmed **=Rumored to be on the setlist via Game Informer
Here's what we know for sure so far:
1. There will be 45 songs total including:
- I Saw Her Standing There
- Twist and Shout
- Do You Want to Know a Secret
- I Wanna Hold Your Hand
- Hard Day's Night
- I Feel Fine
- Can't Buy Me Love
- I Wanna Be Your Man
- Day Tripper
- Paperback Writer
- Eight Days a Week
- Drive My Car
- Taxman
- And Your Bird Can Sing
- Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart's Club Band
- With a Little Help From My Friends
- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
- Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows
- Yellow Submarine
- I Am the Walrus
- Back in the USSR
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps
- Revolution
- Helter Skelter
- Birthday
- Dig a Pony
- I've Got a Feeling
- Come Together
- Octopus's Garden
- Here Comes the Sun
- Get Back
- Don't Let Me Down
2. The stages are:
- The Cavern Club
- The Ed Sullivan Show
- Shea Stadium
- Bodukan Theater
- Abbey Road Studios/Dreamscapes (They start off in the studio then appear in fictional places, largely based on the promotional films they created for various songs, or just the subject matter of the song at hand, before returning back to the studio for the ending)
- Savile Row Rooftop
3. Dhani Harrison has stated that they really went into painstaking detail to make sure everything here is as realistic and true to life as possible. This means you won't be able to play "Hard Day's Night" at The Cavern, because they weren't playing there anymore by the time the song was recorded. It's also been stated that the catalogue of songs to choose from is their recordings from 1962 to 1969. This basically means you're not going to hear "My Bonnie" or any of their solo work. They have said that they were basing this on the UK releases, but its important to note that Paperback Writer & Daytripper are their own single and are not a part of any official UK album, so I'm assuming that means all the "singles only" releases in the UK are game as well.
I've taken what I know from the above and watching the trailers and done my best to guess where everything will go, and what else will be included. I'm going to list more than 45 songs here because there's really a lot of ifs and maybes involved.
The Cavern Club
This stage can include anything recorded/released from 1962 - 1963. The Beatles had a lot of covers in their repertoire at this time, which helps to eliminate a lot of choices here.
- I Saw Her Standing There - Confirmed via trailer
- Please Please Me - Safe assumption. This was their first number one, so it belongs in the earliest part of their career represented
- Love Me Do - Another safe assumption. This was their first single. Sadly, there's no harmonica instrument, but I'm hoping we would still get to see John playing it anyway.
- Don't Bother Me
- Do You Want to Know a Secret - Confirmed 7/21/09. I have struck out my original guess of Don't Bother Me as this will probably be the only George song from this era.
- From Me to You - Another big one from their early days. I wouldn't call it a guarantee, but I would put it in the highly likely category.
- It Won't Be Long - I don't think I've actually seen any live performances of this song.. but I really like it. Plus it includes the "Yeah!" harmonies that would be fun to sing. Call this one wishful thinking.
- Twist and Shout - Confirmed as of 7/21/09.
- Boys**
The Ed Sullivan Theater
I'm thinking what's going to happen is that you will play through their entire first appearance. If they want to pad out this section they can include some from the 2nd and 3rd appearances.. the 3rd would be even easier considering that it was filmed at the same time as the 1st. I'm leaning toward the 2nd appearance not being included, as it was filmed in Miami on an entirely different set, and as you'll see below one of the songs they played there is already going to be on the Cavern stage. But I've included them all here just so you can see the possibles. The only one from the 1st performance that's a bit of a question mark is "Til There Was You" because its a cover.. but similar to Twist and Shout, I still think its a possible given the circumstances.
- All My Loving (1st Appearance)
- Til There Was You (1st Appearance)
- She Loves You (1st Appearance)
- I Want to Hold Your Hand (1st Appearance) Confirmed via trailer
- This Boy (2nd Appearance)
- I Saw Her Standing There (2nd Appearance) (Already played above)
- Twist and Shout (3rd Appearance)(Already played above)
- Please Please Me (3rd Appearance)
- Can't Buy Me Love - Confirmed 7/21/09. It was really played at Shea, but footage shows it here.
Shea Stadium
Below is a list I took from Wikipedia which claims to be the setlist they were playing during this tour. "Act Naturally" would sometimes get switched out for "I Wanna Be Your Man," but at Shea specifically it was "Act Naturally." I doubt we will get the entire setlist here, most likely we will get about half instead.
- Twist and Shout
- She's a Woman - I'm putting this in the not likely category.
- I Feel Fine - Confirmed via trailer
- Dizzy Miss Lizzy - Not very likely. It's a cover, and not one of their best known
- Ticket to Ride** - I'm putting this in the highly likely category because its so heavily guitar driven.
- Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby - It's a cover, but its also the only George song here, so I'm not sure.
- Baby's in Black - Not too likely. It's not one of their best known numbers.
- Act Naturally - It's a cover. But its also the only Ringo song here.
- A Hard Day's Night - confirmed 8/17/09
- Help! - Same as "A Hard Day's Night" I'd be shocked if this wasn't included. This may win over "Ticket to Ride."
- I'm Down - Not likely. As fantastic and funny as the keyboard performance was, I doubt we're going to get to watch John go slightly mad on stage.
- Eight Days a Week - Confirmed 7/21/09. Wasn't actually played here.
- And Your Bird Can Sing - Confirmed 7/21/09. This technically wasn't played anywhere, but I'm guessing it will either be at Shea or Budokan
Budokan
The Beatles played multiple performances at Budokan over a period of a couple of days. What I found on Wikipedia claims they played basically the same setlist for each show, but I'm uncertain of the accuracy given an example I'll show you below.
- Rock'n Roll Music - It's a cover, so I'm going to say no.
- She’s a Woman - Here's this song again. It has a better chance here since its the only song on the list where Paul is the main vocalist.
- If I Needed Someone - I'm going with no.. mostly because of the confirmed George track below.
- Day Tripper - Confirmed via trailer
- Baby's In Black - I'm still saying no.
- I Feel Fine - Already appearing at Shea
- Yesterday - I am uncertain about this one. It's the most covered Beatles song ever recorded, one of their most successful.. and yet its a very simple song. If they go from the recording, there are no drums and technically its all nonguitar string instruments. My gut says no, but they may override logic here and include it anyway.
- I Wanna Be Your Man - Confirmed 7/21/09
- Nowhere Man - Wishful thinking says, please please please include it. Logic tells me we've got about a 50/50 chance either way.
- Paperback Writer - Confirmed 7/21/09
- I'm Down - Still going with no because of the organ involved.
- Taxman was not performed here according to Wikipedia.. however, the trailer shows George singing it there. So either they're including it to give George a stronger song than "If I Needed Someone" or Wiki's wrong.
- Drive My Car confirmed 8/17/09
- I'm Looking Through You**
- If I Needed Someone**
Abbey Road Studio/Dreamscapes
This could include anything recorded from 1967 - 1969. I'm including only pre-Abbey Road given that the album will be DLC, the ones already confirmed below will most likely be all we get on disc.
- Back in the USSR - Confirmed via trailer
- Ballad of John and Yoko - Yoko is providing her input on the game. And this song is notable because since Paul helped, John gave him writing credit on "Give Peace a Chance." So I'm putting in the highly possible section. I'm probably biased though, as I really like it.
- Don't Pass Me By - It's the stand out Ringo song from this time period that hasn't been confirmed already
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps - confirmed 8/17/09
- Helter Skelter - confirmed 8/17/09
- Revolution - Confirmed 7/21/09
- Lady Madonna - Another well known song of theirs, its entirely possible.
- Birthday - Confirmed 7/21/09.
- Yellow Submarine - Confirmed 7/21/09 (and incredibly well done!)
- Sgt Peppers... - Confirmed 7/21/09
- A Little Help From My Friends - Confirmed 7/21/09
- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - confirmed 8/17/09
- Getting Better**
- Good Morning Good Morning**
- Hello Goodbye** - They dressed in the Pepper outfits for most of this video. It's really just an incredibly fun video to watch, and its a really fun song to sing. They will be remiss if they don't include it, in my opinion.
- Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows - Confirmed 7/21/09. Interesting that they are choosing something from LOVE, though the mix does work very well
- Dear Prudence**
- I Am The Walrus - Confirmed via trailer (Yay!)
- Octopus's Garden - Confirmed via trailer
- Here Comes The Sun - Confirmed via trailer
- Come Together - Confirmed 8/17/09
- Hey Bulldog**
- Something**
- I Want You (She's So Heavy)**
- I Me Mine**
- Revolution - this was confirmed in interviews
Savile Row Rooftop
The actual performance was a bit of a mess.. they actually played certain songs multiple times. However, these are the five songs they played (all the way through at least once) and I feel like they will include all five, similar to the Ed Sullivan performance.
- Get Back - Confirmed via trailer
- Don't Let Me Down - confirmed 8/17/09
- I've Got a Feeling - Confirmed 7/21/09
- One after 909 - This one hasn't been listed on any rumor lists I've seen, so I'm starting to think they decided not to include it.
- Dig a Pony - Confirmed 7/21/09
ETA 8/17/09 We're pretty much there now! A new trailer means more songs revealed, plus a possible leak of the entire setlist from Game Informer.
Ever since the appearance of The Beatles Rock Band trailer on Monday, I've been even more hyped up for this game. I was excited the moment it was announced, I was giddy when I saw the first teasing of screens behind Paul at Coachella, and now I am beyond ready for it all. So instead of just compiling a wishlist of songs I'd like to see on it, I decided to really think about what the rest of the setlist could possibly be.
Disclaimer: I originally thought a perfect idea for solo career mode in this game would be to pick a Beatle, and then you would be required to do whatever he did for the entirety of the game. This would require a microphone stand, but think how incredibly awesome that would be. Obviously Ringo's career would be a bit different than the others, but it would still be a lot of fun. My point with all this is that what I think of as a logical choice may be way off base to what Harmonix is thinking. But its fun to think about anyways.
Key:
Bold=Confirmed Strikethrough=Not likely Normal means its a guess or unconfirmed **=Rumored to be on the setlist via Game Informer
Here's what we know for sure so far:
1. There will be 45 songs total including:
- I Saw Her Standing There
- Twist and Shout
- Do You Want to Know a Secret
- I Wanna Hold Your Hand
- Hard Day's Night
- I Feel Fine
- Can't Buy Me Love
- I Wanna Be Your Man
- Day Tripper
- Paperback Writer
- Eight Days a Week
- Drive My Car
- Taxman
- And Your Bird Can Sing
- Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart's Club Band
- With a Little Help From My Friends
- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
- Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows
- Yellow Submarine
- I Am the Walrus
- Back in the USSR
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps
- Revolution
- Helter Skelter
- Birthday
- Dig a Pony
- I've Got a Feeling
- Come Together
- Octopus's Garden
- Here Comes the Sun
- Get Back
- Don't Let Me Down
2. The stages are:
- The Cavern Club
- The Ed Sullivan Show
- Shea Stadium
- Bodukan Theater
- Abbey Road Studios/Dreamscapes (They start off in the studio then appear in fictional places, largely based on the promotional films they created for various songs, or just the subject matter of the song at hand, before returning back to the studio for the ending)
- Savile Row Rooftop
3. Dhani Harrison has stated that they really went into painstaking detail to make sure everything here is as realistic and true to life as possible. This means you won't be able to play "Hard Day's Night" at The Cavern, because they weren't playing there anymore by the time the song was recorded. It's also been stated that the catalogue of songs to choose from is their recordings from 1962 to 1969. This basically means you're not going to hear "My Bonnie" or any of their solo work. They have said that they were basing this on the UK releases, but its important to note that Paperback Writer & Daytripper are their own single and are not a part of any official UK album, so I'm assuming that means all the "singles only" releases in the UK are game as well.
I've taken what I know from the above and watching the trailers and done my best to guess where everything will go, and what else will be included. I'm going to list more than 45 songs here because there's really a lot of ifs and maybes involved.
The Cavern Club
This stage can include anything recorded/released from 1962 - 1963. The Beatles had a lot of covers in their repertoire at this time, which helps to eliminate a lot of choices here.
- I Saw Her Standing There - Confirmed via trailer
- Please Please Me - Safe assumption. This was their first number one, so it belongs in the earliest part of their career represented
- Love Me Do - Another safe assumption. This was their first single. Sadly, there's no harmonica instrument, but I'm hoping we would still get to see John playing it anyway.
- Don't Bother Me
- Do You Want to Know a Secret - Confirmed 7/21/09. I have struck out my original guess of Don't Bother Me as this will probably be the only George song from this era.
- From Me to You - Another big one from their early days. I wouldn't call it a guarantee, but I would put it in the highly likely category.
- It Won't Be Long - I don't think I've actually seen any live performances of this song.. but I really like it. Plus it includes the "Yeah!" harmonies that would be fun to sing. Call this one wishful thinking.
- Twist and Shout - Confirmed as of 7/21/09.
- Boys**
The Ed Sullivan Theater
I'm thinking what's going to happen is that you will play through their entire first appearance. If they want to pad out this section they can include some from the 2nd and 3rd appearances.. the 3rd would be even easier considering that it was filmed at the same time as the 1st. I'm leaning toward the 2nd appearance not being included, as it was filmed in Miami on an entirely different set, and as you'll see below one of the songs they played there is already going to be on the Cavern stage. But I've included them all here just so you can see the possibles. The only one from the 1st performance that's a bit of a question mark is "Til There Was You" because its a cover.. but similar to Twist and Shout, I still think its a possible given the circumstances.
- All My Loving (1st Appearance)
- Til There Was You (1st Appearance)
- She Loves You (1st Appearance)
- I Want to Hold Your Hand (1st Appearance) Confirmed via trailer
- This Boy (2nd Appearance)
- I Saw Her Standing There (2nd Appearance) (Already played above)
- Twist and Shout (3rd Appearance)(Already played above)
- Please Please Me (3rd Appearance)
- Can't Buy Me Love - Confirmed 7/21/09. It was really played at Shea, but footage shows it here.
Shea Stadium
Below is a list I took from Wikipedia which claims to be the setlist they were playing during this tour. "Act Naturally" would sometimes get switched out for "I Wanna Be Your Man," but at Shea specifically it was "Act Naturally." I doubt we will get the entire setlist here, most likely we will get about half instead.
- Twist and Shout
- She's a Woman - I'm putting this in the not likely category.
- I Feel Fine - Confirmed via trailer
- Dizzy Miss Lizzy - Not very likely. It's a cover, and not one of their best known
- Ticket to Ride** - I'm putting this in the highly likely category because its so heavily guitar driven.
- Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby - It's a cover, but its also the only George song here, so I'm not sure.
- Baby's in Black - Not too likely. It's not one of their best known numbers.
- Act Naturally - It's a cover. But its also the only Ringo song here.
- A Hard Day's Night - confirmed 8/17/09
- Help! - Same as "A Hard Day's Night" I'd be shocked if this wasn't included. This may win over "Ticket to Ride."
- I'm Down - Not likely. As fantastic and funny as the keyboard performance was, I doubt we're going to get to watch John go slightly mad on stage.
- Eight Days a Week - Confirmed 7/21/09. Wasn't actually played here.
- And Your Bird Can Sing - Confirmed 7/21/09. This technically wasn't played anywhere, but I'm guessing it will either be at Shea or Budokan
Budokan
The Beatles played multiple performances at Budokan over a period of a couple of days. What I found on Wikipedia claims they played basically the same setlist for each show, but I'm uncertain of the accuracy given an example I'll show you below.
- Rock'n Roll Music - It's a cover, so I'm going to say no.
- She’s a Woman - Here's this song again. It has a better chance here since its the only song on the list where Paul is the main vocalist.
- If I Needed Someone - I'm going with no.. mostly because of the confirmed George track below.
- Day Tripper - Confirmed via trailer
- Baby's In Black - I'm still saying no.
- I Feel Fine - Already appearing at Shea
- Yesterday - I am uncertain about this one. It's the most covered Beatles song ever recorded, one of their most successful.. and yet its a very simple song. If they go from the recording, there are no drums and technically its all nonguitar string instruments. My gut says no, but they may override logic here and include it anyway.
- I Wanna Be Your Man - Confirmed 7/21/09
- Nowhere Man - Wishful thinking says, please please please include it. Logic tells me we've got about a 50/50 chance either way.
- Paperback Writer - Confirmed 7/21/09
- I'm Down - Still going with no because of the organ involved.
- Taxman was not performed here according to Wikipedia.. however, the trailer shows George singing it there. So either they're including it to give George a stronger song than "If I Needed Someone" or Wiki's wrong.
- Drive My Car confirmed 8/17/09
- I'm Looking Through You**
- If I Needed Someone**
Abbey Road Studio/Dreamscapes
This could include anything recorded from 1967 - 1969. I'm including only pre-Abbey Road given that the album will be DLC, the ones already confirmed below will most likely be all we get on disc.
- Back in the USSR - Confirmed via trailer
- Ballad of John and Yoko - Yoko is providing her input on the game. And this song is notable because since Paul helped, John gave him writing credit on "Give Peace a Chance." So I'm putting in the highly possible section. I'm probably biased though, as I really like it.
- Don't Pass Me By - It's the stand out Ringo song from this time period that hasn't been confirmed already
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps - confirmed 8/17/09
- Helter Skelter - confirmed 8/17/09
- Revolution - Confirmed 7/21/09
- Lady Madonna - Another well known song of theirs, its entirely possible.
- Birthday - Confirmed 7/21/09.
- Yellow Submarine - Confirmed 7/21/09 (and incredibly well done!)
- Sgt Peppers... - Confirmed 7/21/09
- A Little Help From My Friends - Confirmed 7/21/09
- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - confirmed 8/17/09
- Getting Better**
- Good Morning Good Morning**
- Hello Goodbye** - They dressed in the Pepper outfits for most of this video. It's really just an incredibly fun video to watch, and its a really fun song to sing. They will be remiss if they don't include it, in my opinion.
- Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows - Confirmed 7/21/09. Interesting that they are choosing something from LOVE, though the mix does work very well
- Dear Prudence**
- I Am The Walrus - Confirmed via trailer (Yay!)
- Octopus's Garden - Confirmed via trailer
- Here Comes The Sun - Confirmed via trailer
- Come Together - Confirmed 8/17/09
- Hey Bulldog**
- Something**
- I Want You (She's So Heavy)**
- I Me Mine**
- Revolution - this was confirmed in interviews
Savile Row Rooftop
The actual performance was a bit of a mess.. they actually played certain songs multiple times. However, these are the five songs they played (all the way through at least once) and I feel like they will include all five, similar to the Ed Sullivan performance.
- Get Back - Confirmed via trailer
- Don't Let Me Down - confirmed 8/17/09
- I've Got a Feeling - Confirmed 7/21/09
- One after 909 - This one hasn't been listed on any rumor lists I've seen, so I'm starting to think they decided not to include it.
- Dig a Pony - Confirmed 7/21/09