Dream Setlist: Wednesday 13 Edition

There are a lot of concerts and events on my calendar this year, and one of my most anticipated shows is undoubtedly seeing Wednesday 13 for the first time this weekend – having been a fan of all eras of his music career (Murderdolls, Gunfire 76, Bourbon Crow, etc.), I've been champing at the bit to finally get to see the Duke of Spook perform live ever since I first did a proper dive into his discography back in my college years. Finally, my first of hopefully many W13 concerts takes place this weekend at the legendary Chapel of Bones in Raleigh, NC, at the midpoint of Mr. Motherfucker's cross-country "There's No Such Thing As Monsters" Tour.

Wednesday 13 always does something unique for his tours setlist-wise, whether it's exclusively performing Murderdolls songs like he did last year or doing a career-spanning setlist like he did for the "20 Years of Fear" Tour – for "There's No Such Thing As Monsters," the tour celebrates 20 years of Wednesday 13's debut solo album, Transylvania 90210: Songs of Death, Dying, and the Dead, with many tracks from that record having their moment in the sun. Other highlights include a "Best of Murderdolls" block, and singles from his upcoming 10th solo album, Mid Death Crisis.

Before every big show, part of my pregaming comes in the form of formulating my ideal setlist for the artist I'm seeing. As challenging as the task may be, it's become a really enjoyable thing to do in anticipation of seeing some of my favorite artists live. It's never easy to come up with an ideal setlist, as there are bound to be tons of deep cuts that there simply isn't room for – however, for this one, an added challenge was taking into account just how much Wednesday 13's sound has evolved with each release and trying to represent as many eras as possible while still maintaining a cohesive energy to the setlist. However, along with the usual 17-song no-encore rule for these hypothetical setlists, an extra rule I added for this one was that I'll only be sticking to Wednesday 13's solo work – no Murderdolls, no covers, just songs from his solo albums, which thankfully made some things easier as far as making room for even more deeper cuts. All of that being said, after much consideration, here is my dream Wednesday 13 setlist.

1. “Blood Sucker” (The Dixie Dead, 2013)

2013's The Dixie Dead marked a turning point for Wednesday 13's discography – while the prior albums fell somewhere in the horror-punk or tongue-in-cheek horror-based hard rock vein, his fifth full-length album was the first to lean into a darker and heavier musical direction. That being said, the vampiric kickoff track "Blood Sucker" gets the album (and in this case, the show) started off on the right foot as it immediately brings up the adrenaline and is sure to amp up everyone in the audience.

2. “I Wanna Be Cremated” (Calling All Corpses, 2011)

If "Blood Sucker" wasn't such a perfect opening track, this would go in that slot as well – especially with the previous track on the album, "Blood Fades to Black," providing the perfect walkout/intro tape, this is definitely a song that deserves to be on the setlist, and it's best to be played early. Calling All Corpses was the first Wednesday 13 album I ever heard, so it's only right to fit in some representation from this record.

3. “Bring Your Own Blood” (Necrophaze, 2019)

While another hypothetical tour idea would be to bring Wednesday 13's 2019 album Necrophaze to life, playing the album front to back, for the sake of this setlist I would love to hear the album's second track, "Bring Your Own Blood," finally make its live debut. While this is another album on the heavier side of Wednesday 13's catalog, this track in particular still has an upbeat and fun sound to it, and it's practically begging to be brought onto the stage soon.

4. “I Walked With a Zombie” (Transylvania 90210: Songs of Death, Dying, and the Dead, 2005)

When it comes to Wednesday 13's hit songs, there's perhaps no catchier one than the infectious banger "I Walked With a Zombie," which is also arguably the most upbeat song about necrophilia (and this is coming from a chronic Alice Cooper fanatic). Regardless of the subject matter, it's hard not to enjoy this song – between its recognizability as a big hit for Wednesday 13 and the way the song itself is written, it's safe to assume that this would be a highlight in the set in terms of crowd participation and overall energy.

5. “God Is a Lie” (Transylvania 90210, 2005)

While Wednesday 13 is known for his humorous brand of horror-inspired rock, there are a handful of tracks in which he takes a more serious approach. There are a few in this list, and the first one comes in the form of "God Is a Lie," another highlight from his 2005 debut solo album. His clever wordplay does appear in the line "life's a grave, dig it," but for the most part, this track is a straightforward lyrical description of the battle that people eventually have with their faith, or lack thereof. While the lyrics are a bit grim and serious, the music is memorably energetic, making for an interesting sonic juxtaposition. It quickly became one of my favorite Wednesday 13 tracks, and it's one of those songs that should have a permanent or perennial place in the live show.

6. “Exhume and Devour” (Horrifier, 2022)

As the set progresses, "God Is a Lie" feels like a fitting transitional track into some of Wednesday 13's heavier second-half material. This cut from his 2022 album Horrifier is one that still brings the energy while having some more emphasis on the low end, with it's chunky guitars, thunderous drums, and memorable chorus.

7. “When the Devil Commands” (Mid Death Crisis, 2025)

From the sound of it, the upcoming album Mid Death Crisis is anticipated to be one of the strongest in Wednesday 13's discography. The lead single, "When the Devil Commands," surely set the bar high and captured the right attention from both longtime fans and newcomers. Written with the 70s Satanic Panic in mind, it truly does feel like every suburban parent's worst nightmare at the time, lyrically praising the Devil in ways that elders accused icons like Ozzy and KISS of at the peak of their popularity. Sonically, it's a fun and driving song, with plenty of call-and-response opportunities for crowd engagement.

8. “Keep Watching the Skies” (Monsters of the Universe: Come Out and Plague, 2015)

Perhaps the heaviest song on the whole setlist, this alien-invasion anthem would end the first half of the set in an energetic fashion, and make it feel as if the band's just getting started. This is another one that rhythmically lends itself to a few audience participation moments, and it's altogether a great song, as it's possibly the most accessible track from the ambitious 2015 record Monsters of the Universe: Come Out and Plague. This is one that is admittedly hard to find the ideal position in the setlist, as it can be a great opener or something great towards the end of the set, which led me to simply put it right in the middle of the set.

9. “My Home Sweet Homicide” (Fang Bang, 2006)

Returning to more of the earlier horror-punk stuff, this classic from Wednesday 13's second album, Fang Bang, feels like the right track to kick things into high gear. As a staple amongst the hardcore fans and surely a new favorite for the casuals, this anti-love song is bound to have the crowd moving and singing along from beginning to end.

10. “Die Sci-Fi” (Fang Bang, 2006)

As one of the more mid-tempo and atmospheric songs of the set, this is one that I've felt has gone a bit under the radar over the years, which is unfortunate due to how catchy and entrancing it is. The guitar solo alone is worth its place in the set, and it's incredibly unfortunate that it's rarely ever been played live. That being said, fingers crossed this will make it into the live show at some point in the years to come.

11. “Silver Bullets” (Calling All Corpses, 2011)

One more from Calling All Corpses, this time with the lycanthropic track "Silver Bullets" – this one fortunately had a fair amount of live performances during the touring cycle for the album during its initial release, but there's no harm in showing it some more love. Truth be told, this was actually the first Wednesday 13 song I heard and set me on the path to becoming the die-hard fan that I am today, so to be able to hear this one in a live setting someday would be nothing short of spectacular.

12. “Skeletons” (Skeletons, 2008)

The title track to Wednesday 13's third album is probably one of the most real and serious songs that he's ever written. The instrumentals match the hard-hittingly somber lyrics in an effectively complimentary fashion, and it can honestly be hard to listen to at times (obviously this is meant to be a compliment). As another example of Wednesday 13 stripping back the horror and theatrics in exchange for an earnestly emotional song, it's easy to see why the album ended up being named after this track.

13. “Xanaxtasy” (Xanaxtasy Single, 2010)

As an iTunes exclusive in 2010, paired with the single "It's a Wonderful Lie," this track is one that brings some more glam and straightforward hard rock sensibilities into the instrumentation, and overall giving off the classic "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" energy from beginning to end. Over the years, this single has been incredibly hard to find aside from a couple YouTube uploads due to its unavailability across streaming platforms, but one can hope that it can reach more ears with its inclusion on the upcoming Mid Death Crisis album and result in its eventual live debut.

14. “Curse of Me” (Fang Bang, 2006)

This cult-classic hit from Fang Bang is one that's held in high regard from the hardcore fanbase, and for good reason – when it comes to highlights and standouts in Wednesday 13's discography, this is undoubtedly one of them. Like "Silver Bullets" and "Die Sci-Fi," this is a song that sounds unlike any others he's ever written, making it hard to compare with other tracks and generally standing on its own in the best way possible. It's also a phenomenal showcase of Wednesday 13's vocal range, like "Skeletons." It's been almost a decade since the last recorded performance of this song, so to say that it's past due for a return to the stage would be a big understatement.

15. “Good Day to Die” (Fang Bang Bonus Track, 2006)

This was a Japan-exclusive bonus track for the Fang Bang album in 2006, which likely led to it not getting the love that it deserved stateside. However, it was part of the streaming-only compilation album Bad Things (which solely consisted of almost all the songs from both Transylvania 90210 and Fang Bang) in 2020, which hopefully allowed more fans to hear it that weren't able to back when it first came out. Much like the topic of necrophilia, this is a song in which Wednesday 13 humorously tackles the concept of death, and it's a song that'll certainly find a home stuck somewhere in the listener's head.

16. “Morgue Than Words” (Fang Bang, 2006)

While this was the opening track to Fang Bang, there's something about this song that feels like a great addition towards the end of the set – ironically enough, the Bad Things compilation ended with this song as the closer. While the fast and punkish energy of this song would end the show on a high note in theory, it would be great to have this be another adrenaline shot towards the end of the show. However, I'd hesitate to have it be the final song simply because of how perfect my upcoming pick is.

17. “Bad Things” (Transylvania 90210, 2005)

For fans that have made it this far down on the list and was wondering where this song was the entire time as the list progressed, now you know why – it simply makes entirely too much sense to have this end the show. As one of the biggest hits of Wednesday 13's solo career, the recognizability factor would be enough to send the crowd into a frenzy, especially this late in the show. The chorus would also have everyone's fists in the air and singing along, closing the show on the most triumphant note. While there are other hits to choose from, "Bad Things" just packs the perfect punch, and it's almost as if it was made to be a show-closer.

I feel like I say this with every dream setlist writeup, but these truly never get easier. Despite how much I love Wednesday 13's music, this one was still particularly challenging due to how vastly different some of his albums are from each other. That being said, I'm proud of the fact that almost every album cycle got its time in the spotlight for this hypothetical setlist (with the unfortunate exception of 2017's Condolences), and I'm looking forward to the day we can hopefully hear all of these songs performed live.

That being said, my excitement for my first Wednesday 13 show knows no bounds, and I'm more than content with whatever ends up being performed – I never look at setlists before a show, but knowing the basic template of this tour's setlist, I'm excited to hear some deep cuts from Transylvania 90210, along with everything else that's to come this weekend. As a longtime hardcore fan finally getting to see him live for the first time, I'm really looking forward to experiencing the shock-rock greatness firsthand, and the hype has never been more real. See you in Raleigh!

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