A Setlist Shakeup is Needed

I think Jon needs to stop putting obscure / downbeat songs in the encore. At the last Bruce Springsteen show I was at (yawn, not another Bruce story) he built the show up to an almighty party, playing hit after hit and whipping the crowd into a frenzy, on the last song people were breathless and satisfied. I think Jon becomes a bit too self indulgent towards the end of the set nowadays. At the last Bon Jovi show I was at they finished with Love's The Only Rule, it just killed the vibe.

The start of the sets are fine but I think the middle and end need to be chopped up.

It really is a great post this - probably the best one of the summer so far. (thats the only complement you'll EVER get from me Twinfan!)

I agree with what you say, and about the regulars being shifted around to the encores etc. But what you've got to remember is that there are far more casuals than die hards at the average Jovi concert and you cant just focus on die hards. Bon Jovi haven't had a proper big hit in 12 years so starting with not so well songs is a big risk. Cast back to 2005 when Last Man Standing was a concert opener a lot. Very weak. In 1996 they started off with Rocking In The Free World quite a bit and it went down a storm. London Calling (Wembley 2000) was the best opener for me. Little Help From My Friends (An Evening With...) was brilliant. You get my drift....

So starting with a well known cover regularly would be a great idea. However, Raise has been a very strong opener. I would love to see Have a Nice Day as a opener. I agree entirely that the usual drab of Captain Crash, Lost Highway, Its Alright, Work etc need to be dropped. I'd even go as far as dropping Prayer because it has zero impact in 2012-13 Bon Jovi times. Maybe make it Acoustic.

But I guess you're never gonna please everyone as everyone has different needs

1. Something To Believe In
2. Have A Nice Day
3. You Give Love A Bad Name
4. Wild In The Streets (/Runaway)
5. Thorn In My Side
6. Bad Medicine (+cover)
7. Undivided
8. Diamond Ring (/Never Say Goodbye/Living In Sin/Make A Memory)
9. Bed Of Roses (/I'll Be There For You)
10. In These Arms (/I'd Die For You)
11. We Got It Going On
12. Homebound Train (Richie Sambora)
13. Livin' On A Prayer
14. Hey God (/Let It Rock)
15. Blaze Of Glory
16. Born To Be My Baby
17. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (+cover)
18. Raise Your Hands (/Who Says You Can't Go Home)

19. Always
20. It's My Life

21. Dry County (/These Days)
22. Wanted Dead Or Alive
23. Keep The Faith (/Blood On Blood)
24. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night

This setlist isn't even a major shakeup, and people will scoff at the idea of the opening song. Possibly also at including 'Homebound Train', 'Undivided' and 'Sleep When I'm Dead'. However, I think that's a setlist which could suit casuals (14 out of 24 are on the Greatest Hits I think, not including the swap options I have included) and die-hards. A 24-song setlist I think is a good length, too. The flow most likely isn't there but you could work it around and come up with something.

Or maybe it's shit and I have added too many songs I like coupled with insane ideas...I don't know.

The encore is too slow paced for my liking, Someday I'll Be Saturday Night would be a good encore opener though.

19. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
20. Just Older
21. Blood On Blood
22. Wanted Dead Or Alive
23. Next 100 Years (/I'd Die For You/Last Man Standing)
24. Keep The Faith

That would never happen of course and it is still a little on the slow side, but even that just has one 'mega rare' song and it looks fresh compared to what we have seen. I think you could even throw 'Damned' in for an upbeat rock song, but three songs from 'These Days' might be too much.

I for one really hopes Rockin in the Free World will return the next tour. That one was a real killer live! Haven't been played since 2006, not even on Jons cover shows. Can't understand why!

I love the song, but I think Blood on Blood should take a break. It was around for the entire tour, and while it's better than many songs that they choose to keep around permanently, I think it should stay more rare. Kinda like a secret weapon, you know? It works for casuals, but can still be a treat for the die-hards.

Oh, how flattering!

I did keep this under consideration. I'm not saying they need to play Dry County or Something To Believe In to please the 1% at the show, but toss out a couple of the lulls (like Born To Follow or Captain Crash) and bring back some of the old regulars that really worked (like Wild in the Streets or One Wild Night). And also, they should have a pool of regulars to keep as a reserve of sorts, kinda like what I said about Blood on Blood above.

I agree with this. I loved Rockin' in the Free World as an opener. It rocked, and it's known. (And I much prefer Bon Jovi's version to Neil Young's.)

That it has. It was their best opener of the entire 2010/2011 tour, and their best one since One Wild Night (barring a couple obscure one-offs that I might be forgetting).

This x1000. I've always thought it could've been a great opener. I'm surprised they didn't even try it on the Have a Nice Day Tour, or any time since.

I'm not sure about that. It still gets the biggest reaction at the show, or at least one of them. I don't know how it is in Europe, but Prayer is THE essential Bon Jovi song in America. The entire crowd sings along. It's awesome.

Here's the thing, though. Most likely on the next tour, it'll be the same songs from The Circle Tour, plus any new songs. Take the average setlist from 2010/2011, and take out any Circle songs (however few they may be) and it's pretty much the same group of songs on the Lost Highway Tour. I just REALLY hope this isn't the case.

Make the average setlist fresh. Don't necessarily change all the songs. That's all I ask.

P.S: I don't think I've agreed with you so much, Nickolai. It's nice! :P

I'd love to hear Have A Nice Day as an opener sometimes. Runaway too.
They're powerfull songs, so they could fit well as initial songs.
Then, I'd cut out over-played songs as I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. Or maybe I'd put a cover song during it: Jumping Jack Flash or something else, for example.
Livin' On A Prayer is a great opener, it empowers people. But it could be something great, as someone said earlier, to see Jon starting it from an hypotethical central stage after the acoustic set, and then going back to the main stage after the acapella intro.

I also think it could be awesome to see the big hits sung on the catwalk, if there's gonna be another one on the next tour. Songs like It's My Life, sung in the middle of the audience would be priceless! If I'm not wrong, Jon sang It's My Life this way during one show of the Open Air Tour, maybe it was Oslo? Or something in the Northern Europe? That would be huge!

Also, the plus side to playing 'Livin' On A Prayer' straight after Richie's song is those casuals who went for a bathroom break or whatever may miss it (or at least some of it). Would be delicious.

I saw a bon jovi tribute act the other night, and they started IML with the TLFR intro for the first verse then...BOOM! talk box. Went down a treat I tell ya. (edit, it was this arrangement )

They also opened with One wild Night/Raise your hands which was nice.

And HAND would be a great opener - the MSG DVD implies that this was the first song the way it is edited.



andi