SikTh: A Tour Curated For The Fans
The most agonising part of arranging a tour is choosing a setlist, especially if you have an extensive back catalogue like SIKTH have. With three albums and four EPs under their belt, there is a large collection of songs to choose from. Almost all bands know that a setlist will not please everyone, no matter what songs are played. Even if they only played the classics, there would possibly still be complaints. Which is why SIKTH went for a different route when choosing a setlist. They let their fans choose it for them.
“Well, we wanted to know what the fans wanted to hear,” lead singer Mikee Goodman explains to Distorted Sound. He’s sat down with us to discuss the band’s two shows in London and Manchester, as well as why they have chosen the fan voted setlists, as well as what the fans can expect from these very special shows. “Since it’s a 20+ year celebration for our band. The fans are the reason we are coming back to play. We initially planned differently, to play songs we’ve never played, but when announcing the fan vote it was so positive, we just went with that.”
“It turned out to be really important [to involve the fans],” he continues. “We did plan on playing certain songs but it turned out they would rather hear others. Although I feel it’s important to show fans songs they may not have heard as much of, for this one we wanted to just give them what they want. As long as they are happy it’s all good.”
The fan vote worked by a polling system on the band’s website, where fans could vote for up to fourteen songs. The most voted will get played at SIKTH‘s two shows in London and Manchester, celebrating twenty years since the band’s first EP was released. However, that is not the only important thing about these two shows. It also marks the first time the band’s original lineup are playing for the first time in over six years. You’d think that everyone would feel a bit awkward after such a long time of not playing together. But that was not the case here.
“It feels better than before for some reason,” Goodman explains. “Also the sound is the classic sound everyone knows. Maybe because we all do different things in our lives now, maybe that makes it fresher, takes the pressure off a little. Although there is pressure, we really want these shows to be amongst our best.”
For such a monumental anniversary, why are SIKTH only playing in Manchester and London? The UK is a lot bigger than those two cities. Thankfully, the answer is a lot more simple than that. “Well they are historically our best shows and best attended shows,” Goodman says. “Obviously we’ve had amazing shows all over the UK over the years. But to pick the most consistent it would be Manchester and London. We decided just to do two big ones and a warm up in Northampton which sold out.”
Furthermore, that isn’t stopping overseas fans from attending as Goodman explains. “We have fans coming from all over the world for these shows, we want them to be happy.” Whilst the fans are deciding the setlists, there are songs that Goodman wants to hear live. “I think Summer Rain as Justin [Hill, vocals] has never sung it live before. Of course Bland Street Bloom, and Philistine Philosophies too. I would say Philistine Philosophies is probably the best vocals I’ve written in SIKTH. The energy of Bland Street Bloom is always insane too. Then also Pussyfoot, the fans usually go extra wild on that. [On the other hand], some of [the songs] lyrically, I really don’t want to sing anymore. Or some songs translate better on record than live.”
Despite the overwhelming positivity of the fan chosen setlist, Goodman is unsure if he’ll use it for future shows. “If you asked me personally, I would have loved to play the whole of Opacities, or even Weavers Of Woe from The Future In Whose Eyes?. I would like to play many songs we’ve not played before. But it is something to think about in future for sure.”
As for what the fans can expect from the live shows, the answer is: “vibes and energy. In rehearsals, it has been better than ever for our band. We are gonna give it our all and hope the crowd is still full of energy. We are all really looking forward to them. We have also invested more in lighting for Manchester and London, wanting to give the fans more of a spectacle,” Goodman explains. He hasn’t said much about what the setlists are made up of, but he promises that it will cover all of SIKTH‘s musical history. “The crowd will have to wait and see. They love a lot of the older classics though, I will say that.”
He also would recommend that other bands use the fan-voted setlist route at least once in their career. “It shows you what they love the most. You may have thought a song doesn’t go so well live reaction wise could actually be a fan favourite.”
He has a point, as a lot of songs in a band’s catalogue might not seem special on the surface; however, if you go into fan social media communities or ask fans what they would consider a fan favourite, the song that you’d least expect is usually the one that fans love the most. For the two shows in Manchester and London, SIKTH can be expected to play a lot of fan favourites.
Tour dates are as follows:
November
Fri 25 Manchester Academy 2
Sat 26 London Electric Ballroom
For more information on SIKTH like their official page on Facebook.