Name any other band that plays songs fans don't want.

you cant please everyone and get screamed at for trying ! We cant expect to hear every song we like, we all have different personalities and like different songs, its the same for every band.

Dawn

Aloha !

Jeez is it so hard to read what I post? The only persons that understand my question so far are Late and Kathleen.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I fully understand your question and answered that I think all bands have this problem and why they have the problem,. You want me to name all bands !

Dawn

Aloha !

No you don't understand my question. Of all artists I have in my CD collection only Bon Jovi plays one or two songs every night the crowd does not like. It's not like I only talk with fans about Bon Jovi, but everyone around me hated Misunderstood, Say It Isn't So and all that stuff.

It's got nothing to do with not getting what I like. I don't like Bad Rx. and Shout either but it's a song that a lot of people love/like, you realize that when being there at the show. However, when Misunderstood or Say It Isn't So are played the crowd goes for a pee. That's the big difference.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Ok Seb, I'm sorry I misunderstood what you were asking about. I think I get it now. You want to know why those songs, when it seems that no one , fanwise anyway, is really crazy about them?
Well, I think sometimes Jon and the guys put in a song for a show just because they like it. Maybe these were personal favorites and they just wanted to. Why put "Sylvia's Mother" right in the middle of the TLFR show? Great cover, but obviously just a song the band liked and felt like playing. I think that bands do this sometimes- think about it 150 shows, you are there to entertain others not yourselves but everyone has an occasional selfish moment or just finds themselves in the mood for something different. Dave Mathews does this sometimes, I ve seen Springsteen change up from one night to the next. I haven't seen it but a friend who go's to U2 alot says Bono does change things up sometimes during a show if he feels like it.
I think no setlist is ever set in stone unless the "show" part has no room for any flexibility. This is one of the things that sets these bands apart from others. They don't need a strictly stick to the script show in order to pull it off.
I also think it depends on where you are. Misunderstood went over well at the shows I went to, Captain Crash so-so, OWN did well as an opener, I only heard Mystery Train once or maybe twice. I think that when a band has a new project the first tour is to promote that record and the 4 to 6 songs that have potential to be singles. After that I think you slide some of the bands favorite album tracks into the show so they get heard a bit and so the band doesn't get bored.

I think that's the only way to go. At least he changes things around, but I don't understand why Bon Jovi don't.

As to Rosalita, that's just one song, and he likes it. It's not like he played the same 10 songs every night like Bon Jovi do nowadays. And it's not like they don't have a catalog to choose from...

Ice

You'll find just as many people say, "Oh I love Captain Crash" as you will who say "I really don't like that song." It depends on which glasses you use to view the situation. Crowd reaction may be mixed in different places, but "Say It Isn't So" went over very well in Atlanta the one time I saw them play that song. They started playing the "Mystery Train" at the beginning of the Crush tour and it didn't go over very well and it got dropped from the core set list. So, I don't know why you would even use that as an example. Stranger In This Town didn't go over well in the USA and they dropped it and Richie started singing I'll Be There for You every night. They can't judge the reaction to any song based on one night and it seems like they do guage audience reaction and change the set accordingly. CRAP. Do you know what you've just managed to do, Seb?? You've just manged to convince me of why they do the same old set list every freaking night. They know what songs people like and they give them to them. I can't stand Bad Name but I can't argue that it goes over amazingly well.

Gee thanks... now I have less room to bitch about the tired old standards. I've never seen anyone leave a Bon Jovi show with a frown on their face. Whenever I look around to see what the audience is doing, people are on their feet and screaming and dancing around.

It's true that some artists/bands are more open to constructive criticism, but maybe it's because they're more immediately accessible. If they aren't on line reading what fans think every night, how else do you tell them what you think of the show unless you meet the artist/band and discuss it?

The simple truth is that most of the people in the audience are going to one show locally and they don't care if it's the 4,563 rd time the band has played "Bad Name" or the first and only time they've ever played "Without Love." They're not keeping track of the set lists and they're only interested in being entertained that night. No matter what gripes I have with the set list, I can't say I've ever seen people really complaining at a show. The fans like us who are vocal are just a minority in the big picture. We really do not represent the average Joe out there.

Becky

But should the band play to their fans or the average Joes?

Ice

I think that's where they could compromise by throwing in some rarities even if they do keep a basic core set of standards that the majority wants and expects. You know, they could throw the die-hards a bone by varying things up a bit.

I honestly believe all the shows would improve if they altered thingst--why not play Bad Name one night and Bad Medicine one night? They have so many hit ballads they could alternate them too. Have Richie sing one night and have Dave and Tico alternate singing as well. Even if they play an obscure song that most of the audience knows if it gave the die-hards a treat, I think it's worth it for them to acknowledge us too by doing something out of the ordinary. They also need to remember that "out of the ordinary" becomes ordinary if it's repeated every night.

But no one listens to me--at least no one in the Bon Jovi camp.

Becky

I think it depends about what you call a fan ... I am tempted to say that a any band or singer will play few songs that the fans are not that kean to hear AGAIN... I said *any band* .......

so my reply is ANY BAND

so let's develop a lil bit
and let's be more specific .. ANY HUGE BAND ... U2 or Bruce to name some huge ones but the Stones do the same too ... the bigger the band catalogue is the easiest it is to NOT PLEASE the fans

you will always find a certain percentage of fans who will be satisfied with the setlist and another amont of fans who won't .. and this for any band who has a huge catalogue


*Bon Jovi though is kinda mastering this kind of setlist that will irritate the die hard fans since 2000 .. I think that now compared to other huge bands BON JOVI plays basically for average Joe more than for the fans