Billy Bragg Setlist

The Wolf Covers Its Tracks
The World Turned Upside Down (Leon Rosselson cover)
She’s Got a New Spell
King Tide and the Sunny Day Flood
Freedom Doesn’t Come for Free
Jeane / That’s Entertainment (The Smiths and The Jam covers)
Sexuality
Mid-Century Modern
Levi Stubbs’ Tears
All You Fascists Are Bound to Lose (Woody Guthrie cover)
Rich Men Earning North of a Million
Greetings to the New Brunette
Do Unto Others
The Buck Doesn’t Stop Here No More
The Milkman of Human Kindness
To Have and to Have Not
A New England
There Is Power in a Union
Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards
— Encore —
Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key
I Will Be Your Shield
Tank Park Salute

Billy Bragg’s “The Roaring 40” concert stopped by First Avenue, in Minneapolis, on Saturday night.

We’ve already written in details about this tour at the San Francisco show on Sep 26, 2024, so I suggest reading that to understand what a Billy Bragg show is like. What I can do is add a little more detail about The Smiths and The Jam covers (“Jeane” and “That’s Entertainment”). The “Jeane” cover dates back to 1985 when Bragg played the 7th Street Entry.

Bragg mentioned that he, and Johnny Marr, and Paul Weller, were all in Vancouver on 20 Sep 2024, but they were all playing their own headlining gigs. Marr and Bragg decided to get lunch together, which resulted in that viral photo. He also added that a fan was there and asked if he was Johnny Marr. The fan was described as “a young man, about 50.”

It was hard to understand Bragg’s accent, but it sounded like he ran into Paul Weller earlier and everyone knew who Weller was… but wasn’t sure who Billy Bragg was. Then, Bragg, in a loud voice, joked, “Billy Bragg? That old bastard, is he still going?”

I have joked in the past that a Billy Bragg show is about 40% music and 60% Bragg’s wisdom and stories. I have exaggerated the ratio, but there’s no denying that Bragg does talk a lot and he has plenty to say. Everything from American politics (JD Vance looks like “Interview With a Vampire”) to women’s rights. They’re all related to his songs and lyrics.

In addition to his stage banter, he also has a lot to write about. I want to say that he’s basically writing a tour diary, but they’re often about his personal history of the venues he’s about to play. I leave you now with Billy Bragg’s own writing about the history of First Avenue:

Tonight’s show in Minneapolis couldn’t be more of a contrast venue-wise. First Avenue was built in 1937 as a Greyhound Bus depot and continued in that use until 1968. Two years later it opened as a nightclub with a set from Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen.

By the time I first came to the Twin Cities in 1985, First Avenue was famous for having staged the concert footage that featured in Purple Rain, the hit movie made by local mega star Prince. I always thought of the place as a rock club, home to the likes of The Replacements and Husker Du, but looking at a flyer from the time of my first appearance, I was surprised to find that the night before I played, the venue hosted the Tannahill Weavers, a band that plays only traditional Scottish folk music. Wonder if they took the opportunity to film some footage for their movie Purple Dreich?

Note: There was no opening band.

Remaining tour dates: