This site shows what seven bands played at their concerts, night after night, across their whole careers: the songs of each show, known as a setlist. The setlists come from setlist.fm, where fans fill them in, and the discography (albums, singles, release dates) comes from MusicBrainz. From that we measure three things: how old the songs a band plays are, how much its show changes from one night to the next, and how long a song keeps being played.
Every number comes from aggregated data; how it is built is on the methodology page.
01 how old the songs are
After each of its last three albums, Metallica's setlist got younger for a while, then aged again.
6.9 years off Metallica's setlist in 2023, the year of 72 Seasons
Repertoire age is how old the songs played on a given night were, counted from each song's release. Metallica's average repertoire age fell from 32.3 years in 2022 to 25.4 in 2023, the year of 72 Seasons (6.9 years less); around Death Magnetic (2008) and Hardwired… to Self-Destruct (2016) the falls were 4.2 and 5.1 years, and it climbed again within one to two years each time. Avenged Sevenfold's dipped by 0.8 (Nightmare, 2010) and 0.7 years (Hail to the King, 2013) but rose in 2016, the year of The Stage; Linkin Park's dipped by 1.1 (Minutes to Midnight, 2007) and 1.5 years (A Thousand Suns, 2010) but rose in 2012, the year of Living Things. The pattern is clear for one band and only a hint for the other two.
Average repertoire age of the songs played in each year, weighted by how often each song was played.
How to read: Each line is one band. Its height is how many years old the songs played that year were, on average. A rising line means the set leans on older songs; a falling line means newer songs took over.
Data table
Year
Metallica
Avenged Sevenfold
Linkin Park
1982
0.0
–
–
1983
0.7
–
–
1984
1.4
–
–
1985
2.3
–
–
1986
1.7
–
–
1987
2.7
–
–
1988
2.7
–
–
1989
3.5
–
–
1990
5.1
–
–
1991
4.5
–
–
1992
5.1
–
–
1993
6.1
–
–
1994
8.5
–
–
1995
8.4
–
–
1996
7.8
–
–
1997
8.0
–
–
1998
7.9
–
–
1999
9.1
–
–
2000
9.5
–
0.1
2001
–
0.4
1.2
2002
14.5
0.8
2.2
2003
14.0
0.8
1.7
2004
13.7
1.4
2.6
2005
15.3
0.9
3.5
2006
17.8
1.8
4.6
2007
19.5
1.8
3.5
2008
17.2
2.2
4.3
2009
15.3
3.0
4.9
2010
18.7
2.2
3.4
2011
21.9
3.4
4.7
2012
23.2
4.7
6.0
2013
25.2
4.0
6.8
2014
25.1
5.4
6.4
2015
25.0
6.9
8.1
2016
23.5
8.0
7.0
2017
20.2
7.1
8.0
2018
19.9
8.0
–
2019
22.4
–
–
2020
27.4
–
–
2021
29.9
–
–
2022
32.3
–
–
2023
25.4
8.2
–
2024
26.2
10.2
15.7
2025
29.7
12.8
13.6
2026
31.1
11.5
14.8
Caveats and limits
A dip that coincides with an album release does not show that the release caused it: touring and setlist choices also move this number.
Album release years come from MusicBrainz and were added to this text by hand; the data behind the charts does not carry them.
Metallica's average repertoire age before, at the low point and after each dip: 19.5 → 15.3 → 18.7 (2007, 2009, 2010), 25.0 → 19.9 → 22.4 (2015, 2018, 2019) and 32.3 → 25.4 → 29.7 (2022, 2023, 2025).
02 how much shows change
Most of these bands settled into playing nearly the same show every night; Metallica went the opposite way.
On its latest tour Metallica played a substantially different set from one night to the next, where in its early years it played nearly the same songs every night.
Rotation is how much the songs change from one concert to the next: 0 means the same songs every night, 1 means none in common. Comparing each band's first three years with enough shows to its last three, rotation fell for Arctic Monkeys (0.27 → 0.12), Oasis (0.20 → 0.01), Twenty One Pilots (0.62 → 0.05), Muse (0.36 → 0.20) and Avenged Sevenfold (0.56 → 0.10). It did not fall for Linkin Park (0.18 → 0.24) and it rose sharply for Metallica (0.09 → 0.70). Metallica's rotation was between 0.08 (Kill 'Em All for One, 1983) and 0.17 (Damaged Justice, 1988–1989) on its 1980s tours, 0.52 on World Magnetic (2008–2010) and 0.75 on the M72 World Tour (2023–2026); by year it was 0.87 in 2023 and 0.85 in 2024. In song terms, two consecutive shows on the M72 World Tour had on average 25% of their combined songs in common, against 83% to 92% on its 1980s tours.
How to read: Each panel is one band, on the same scale from 0 (the same songs every night) to 1 (no song in common between consecutive shows). A falling line means the show became more fixed; a rising line, more changeable.
Hollow markers: years with fewer than 5 show pairs, left out of the line.
Data table
Year
Arctic Monkeys
Oasis
Linkin Park
Twenty One Pilots
Muse
Metallica
Avenged Sevenfold
1983
–
–
–
–
–
0.08
–
1984
–
–
–
–
–
0.05
–
1985
–
–
–
–
–
0.14
–
1986
–
–
–
–
–
0.13
–
1987
–
–
–
–
–
0.01
–
1988
–
–
–
–
–
0.06
–
1989
–
–
–
–
–
0.22
–
1991
–
–
–
–
–
0.07
–
1992
–
–
–
–
–
0.08
–
1993
–
–
–
–
–
0.08
–
1994
–
0.26
–
–
–
0.03
–
1995
–
0.23
–
–
–
–
–
1996
–
0.11
–
–
–
0.13
–
1997
–
0.06
–
–
–
0.20
–
1998
–
0.09
–
–
–
0.09
–
1999
–
–
–
–
0.58
0.05
–
2000
–
0.09
0.26
–
0.36
0.13
–
2001
–
0.07
0.17
–
0.14
–
–
2002
–
0.09
0.10
–
0.11
–
0.52
2003
–
0.08
0.11
–
0.16
0.24
0.55
2004
–
–
0.10
–
0.17
0.39
0.62
2005
0.34
0.06
–
–
0.18
–
0.44
2006
0.24
0.02
–
–
0.21
0.16
0.56
2007
0.23
–
0.12
–
0.22
0.33
0.49
2008
–
0.01
0.26
–
0.25
0.41
0.22
2009
0.11
0.02
0.02
–
0.12
0.50
0.17
2010
0.10
–
0.18
0.58
0.19
0.57
0.05
2011
0.09
–
0.19
0.76
0.32
0.20
0.17
2012
0.05
–
0.17
0.52
0.34
0.14
0.17
2013
0.11
–
0.28
0.44
0.33
0.50
0.05
2014
0.08
–
0.19
0.25
0.42*
0.22
0.16
2015
–
–
0.10
0.23
0.23
0.32
0.06
2016
–
–
–
0.15
0.27
0.23
–
2017
–
–
0.14
0.03
0.24
0.34
0.17
2018
0.17
–
–
0.00
0.58
0.37
0.16
2019
0.10
–
–
0.07
0.07
0.32
–
2021
–
–
–
0.34
–
–
–
2022
0.12
–
–
0.10
0.14
0.30
–
2023
0.14
–
–
–
0.18
0.87
0.04
2024
–
–
0.14
0.02
–
0.85
0.17
2025
–
0.00
0.28
0.03
0.29
0.62
0.12
2026
–
–
0.31
–
0.13
0.62
0.02
Caveats and limits
Rotation compares consecutive shows of the same tour, so a band that plays one fixed set on tour scores near 0 however large its discography is.
The data shows that Metallica changed, not why.
Linkin Park's last three years (2024, 2025 and 2026) follow a gap with no shows in the data between 2017 and 2024.
Years with fewer than 5 pairs of consecutive shows are left out of the averages; the years behind each figure are listed on the band pages.
03 how long songs last
Some albums stay in the live set for a long time, while others fade fast.
89% of the songs on (What's the Story) Morning Glory? were still being played 735 shows after their live debut
Survival is how long a song keeps being played at concerts after its live debut. 500 shows after a song's live debut, the share of a band's songs still in the setlist is 67% for Metallica, 64% for Twenty One Pilots, 50% for Avenged Sevenfold, 49% for Muse, 41% for Arctic Monkeys, 40% for Oasis and 39% for Linkin Park. Within Oasis, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? lost 1 of its 9 songs, while Be Here Now lost 6 of 9, with a median survival of 97 shows.
Kaplan-Meier curves, window N = 50 shows.
How to read: Each line follows one album's songs from the night they were first played live. Height is the share still in the setlist (100% at the start): a high, flat line means the songs stayed, a steep drop means they left quickly. The axis counts shows, not years; the grey line marks half.
Data table
Album
after 25 shows
after 50 shows
after 100 shows
after 200 shows
after 400 shows
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (9 songs)
100%
100%
89%
89%
89%
Be Here Now (9 songs)
100%
78%
44%
33%
33%
Definitely Maybe (11 songs)
100%
100%
100%
82%
82%
Dig Out Your Soul (6 songs)
100%
100%
100%
–
–
Don’t Believe the Truth (9 songs)
100%
89%
78%
33%
–
Heathen Chemistry (7 songs)
100%
100%
86%
29%
–
Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (6 songs)
100%
67%
50%
17%
–
non-album (23 songs)
83%
65%
61%
35%
30%
All songs (80 songs)
95%
84%
74%
48%
42%
Caveats and limits
Bands are compared 500 shows after a song's live debut because every band's curve reaches that point, and each figure there rests on at least 24 songs still being followed. Where each curve ends is a per-band detail, not a ranking, since a longer career ends lower: Arctic Monkeys 21% after 1,011, Oasis 36% after 880, Linkin Park 24% after 935, Twenty One Pilots 11% after 1,038, Muse 5% after 1,530, Metallica 22% after 2,117, Avenged Sevenfold 9% after 1,044.
Oasis's curve is nearly flat after 500 shows: 40% at 500 shows and 36% at 880.
Dig Out Your Soul shows 83% still played, but its curve stops at 125 shows and covers only 6 songs: a short, censored curve (cut off while its songs are still being played) that cannot settle whether those songs will stay.
The end of any curve rests on the few songs still being followed, and follow-up is counted in shows, not years (see Methodology).
Only songs played at least 3 times and found in the MusicBrainz discography are counted here (see Methodology).
The bands
One page per band, with its own charts and findings.