#dmd live

[lululawrence]

Drag Me Down, Pittsburgh (14 February 2022)

Please do not repost, credit if used

[elceeu2morrow]

Drag Me Down

Through The Dark

Little Black Dress

LTWT Barcelona, One Direction Covers, 3.9.20 (via MariaP)

[elceeu2morrow]

Drag Me Down (cover)

We Made It

Through The Dark

Defenceless

Always You

Walls

LTWT Madrid, 3.10.20, (via MaryJane)

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

Hi Sea,

I hope you’re doing okay! I was thinking about Louis’ set list and the 1D songs in particular. I know his attachment to LBD, he’s spoke about it before, but I’m curious to know your opinions on why Through the Dark and Drag Me Down are included? I’m guessing since these would be included on tour DMD is a fan favorite and is great live. But so are many of the other hits they’ve had, especially No Control which fans declared as HIS song. What are your thoughts?

Hi Bri!

I first thought about Louis’ choice of 1D covers during the first tour concert in Barcelona. His setlist always has around 18 songs (for a 1.5 hour show)—> his 12 songs from Walls, plus Just Hold On, plus five covers: three 1D songs and two others. For the Barcelona and Madrid shows, Louis covered 7 (Catfish and the Bottlemen) and Beautiful War (Kings of Leon).

Louis left three solo songs out of tour: Back to You, Just Like You, and Miss You. Maybe these songs are not his prefered genre, although neither was JHO (originally EDM) until the instrumentation was reformulated. So any of the songs could be remixed and performed; Louis just chooses not to.

Miss You and No Control are in the pop-punk genre that Louis loves, and both would be high energy songs for the tour shows. They’re undoubtedly associated with him. Home is another song often requested by fans— they even petitioned him to include it. Louis left these songs out on purpose.

My guess is that his selections have to do with 1. a chosen personal narrative to tell his own story, and 2. how the songs fit into the energy of the tour.

Louis himself gives us a clue in the setlist he tweeted.

Remember when Elvis Duran asked Louis what the storyline of the album was, and Louis answered, “Me, I’m the storyline.” The tour setlist order is a way to tell a story too. It’s quite different from the tracklist (edit courtesy of @larents).

The tour setlist tells a different story — with more exuberance and confidence than the album. To me, Louis has processed the pain and traumatic experience that made up the content of Walls (as well as BTY and MY), and he’s decided to move on, to celebrate his career and his fans, to enjoy where he is now and not look back in anger or sorrow. This submission is a good recap of what I mean.

Drag Me Down and Through the Dark are flip sides of the same coin. Both are songs that tries to put the darkness in the past and rise above. Both are uptempo songs that break up slower, quieter ballads.

Drag Me Down comes between DLIBYH and TOU— two songs about different kinds of grief. Through the Dark comes between Perfect Now and Fearless— two songs about insecurity, compromise.

In the livestream, we can sense the determination and grit that Louis brings to these songs. They have integrity because the performance is almost more for him than it is for the audience— a mark of his defiance, an affirmation of his persistence. Look at his stance, his energy, his confidence.

Louis totally owns these performances. They’re a complete change from his One Direction performances— he’s the boss, no question, and he’ll never go back to singing backup. Maybe that’s also a reason for the choices, to show in a snarky way that he can totally sing the solos and sing them better than 1D did.

[elceeu2morrow]

Drag Me Down (cover): LTWT Madrid, 3.10.20

[elceeu2morrow]

Drag Me Down, Chatty Man Christmas Special, 12.25.15 

[elceeu2morrow]

Drag Me Down, BBC Music Awards, 12.10.15 (x)

[elceeu2morrow]

Drag Me Down,, Jonathan Ross Show (x)