Imaginary setlist for Cinderella's Eyes

Unfortunately, Nicola Roberts' excellent debut album wasn't promoted by a long series of live gigs, so I came up with an imaginary setlist for a tour that never was.

Keeping in mind that it's a debut release, there are certain limitations: you should plan for small venues or early slots at festivals, and the production costs cannot be anywhere near those of your well established star group, so no costume changes, expensive stage set or a small army of dancers. Also, there isn't a huge back catalogue to choose songs from (you can throw in a few covers or cherry pick some songs from the Girls Aloud archive, but in order to showcase your new persona as a solo performer, it's better not to rely too heavily on other artists' material), so the basic setlist would end up being roughly 40 minutes, which can be extended or edited when necessary.

I'm not saying that all 15 songs (12 on the album, plus 3 more on the singles) released under her name are brilliant, but there aren't any that I particularly dislike, so narrowing it down to 10 wasn't the easiest thing, but the complete setlist isn't set in stone, some songs can be switched. I don't like sets that feel like they're just a pile of songs randomly thrown together, so the show is split into 3 distinctive sections (with 3 songs each) plus an encore (1 song).

The opening section has to grip the audience, and I would start with "Disco, Blisters And A Comedown". For those who don't know the songs, it doesn't make a difference that it's not on the album, and for fans, it would be a surprise. It's probably the most fun song in the catalogue, if this doesn't get a crowd going, nothing will. After that, I'd go straight into "Cinderella's Eyes" (not as a medley, just with the shortest possible pause), which is sort of a theme song, so it makes sense to do it early in the set, and musically it's a good indicator of what's to come. After this song, it's time for a brief introduction of who's on stage, and for a song that more people are familiar with, so this section ends with one of the singles, Lucky Day.

The middle section is the place for the quieter, more emotional songs, and it would start with "I". "Sticks + Stones" would surely belong here, and it definitely deserves a place in the set, but it can be a bit of a buzzkill because of its subject matter, so it can be replaced by "Fish Out Of Water" or "Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime", depending on which of these seems the most appropriate. As a move towards slightly more up-tempo stuff, "Porcelain Heart" would be the ideal choice to close this bit.

To step up a gear, "Gladiator" or "Take A Bite" would come next. These songs are like twins to me, similar in both sound and lyrical content (playful but filled with attitude). The following "Yo-Yo" would provide a more pop moment, and the last song in the main set would obviously be "Beat Of My Drum", which could also work as set closer on a festival (saving "the hit" for last to end on a high) or if there's no encore for whatever reason.

The encore itself would be "Memory Of You", you could even tease the audience with the opening notes looped before coming back on stage. It would be a perfect way to reference Girls Aloud in the show: as an encore, it's separated from the solo material, the song is very popular among GA fans (topping the fan poll for the "Ten" bonus disc), so it would be a memorable finale, and it never really was a band effort, so it wouldn't be too strange without the other 4 girls.

If there's an opportunity for a 12-song set, an additional song can be played after "Lucky Day" (the remaining one from the "Gladiator"/"Take A Bite" pair) and one more after "Porcelain Heart" ("Say It Out Loud" can make an appearance here). To shorten the set, the encore could be cut, and the middle section could slim down to just 1 song, "I" or "Porcelain Heart". I didn't really find a place for "Fix Me", for me it doesn't really fit in, which is probably why it ended up as a B-side, but it's not bad at all, just not essential.

So, this would be the basic setlist:

Disco, Blisters And A Comedown

Cinderella's Eyes

Lucky Day

I

Sticks + Stones (or) Fish Out Of Water (or) Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime

Porcelain Heart

Gladiator (or) Take A Bite

Yo-Yo

Beat Of My Drum

Memory Of You