As I'm bored at work I'll just ramble on a bit, with stuff that's pretty much stating the obvious but indulge me anyway.

It's a disappointing start certainly, their setlists, in Europe at least, have always been close to being a fair representation of their catalogue. Despite how poor the last few songs have been, it was only 2011 when I saw the band last at HRC and I thought that setlist was pretty much spot on for anyone of any level seeing Jovi.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bon-jo...-13d37d65.html

Personally I would have changed Hallelujah for Bed Of Roses and got Runaway in at the expense of something like Crash, Sleep or Who Says but it flows, and it has a bit of everything (maybe a little light on Circle, but it was more GH by then).

As for now, they do need to have a bit of an overhaul to try and properly represent their catalogue. I do think they should pay more attention to songs that have been released as singles- those that have videos have been played on music television and can easily be found on Youtube and Vevo and whatnot nowadays, far more easily than songs like Crash.

Trying to squeeze it into a 26 song limit is quite difficult. Assuming 6 songs from What About Now (and I would hope that this continues and they are not put off by iffy crowd reactions so far- the album isn't out and they should just keep at it) then I would have the rest being the following:

Staples- Bad Name, It's My Life, Prayer, Wanted, 1 NJ Track, Faith, Who Says (In US), Always (In Europe)

I couldn't put my finger on which NJ track to be the staple- probably Bad Medicine, but it's so overdone, but yet it still works so probably assuming that.

Then they can still represent the rest of their catalogue evenly:

Bon Jovi: 0-1 songs: Runaway
Ideally I would have Runaway as a staple, and I think it should be played more often than not. Other songs would be nice, but thrown in occasionally (certainly more than now).

7800: None
Not gonna happen sadly, but again it would be nice to chuck one in as a very special rarity on the odd occasion, but we haven't missed anything from this so far, but a very occasion performance of Tokyo Road or In & Out Of Love would go down a treat.


Slippery: 1 from Never Say Goodbye, Wild In The Streets, I'd Die For You, Raise Your Hands
Slippery is covered by 3 staples, but is strong enough with plenty of fan favourites that another song could be put in. Alternate these 4 to keep them fresh over the course of the tour.

NJ- 1-2 from Lay Your Hands, Medicine, Born To Be My Baby, Livin In Sin, Blood On Blood, Wild Is The Wind, I'll Be There For You
Ideally I would have more from this album, but to evenly distribute some would have to go. With 1 staple and eother 1 or 2 rotated you would still have a decent sprinkling of well known songs.

KTF- 1-2 from I Believe, Sleep When I'm Dead, In These Arms, Bed Of Roses, Dry County
Again, my personal tastes would be to have a few more from KTF, but having KTF plus 1 other would be satisfactory.

These Days- 0-1 (USA) 1-2 (Europe) from Hey God, Pain, This Aint A Love Song, These Days, Lie To Me, Damned, Hard Letting You Go, Something To Believe In, Diamond Ring
Less for the US shows as it wasn't as popular so can easily get away with it, or even none. Just playing to the demographics. Slip in the title track occasionally for the diehards.
For Europe, up it to 2 easily- in fact, looking at the listing it shows we have actually been quite spoilt of late with these songs so there is plenty to choose from.

Crush- 1-2 from Say It Isn't So, Just Older, Crash, One Wild Night
Compared to These days, criminally under represented. Having 1 of these + IML wouldnt change the status quo if Crash is used, but it would be nice if that one slipped back into rotation rather than the unnecessary staple that it is, and give one of the others a new lease of life.

Bounce- 1-2 from Everyday, Misunderstood, Hook Me Up, Bounce, The Distance, Open All Night
Again, underused but easily represented should they want to. Clocking in at less than 3 minutes, Everyday could easily be squeezed in- plus it has a decent video, was a popular hit in Europe at least and is upbeat to get the crowd going. Could add another, even if its a Jon song like OAN.

Have A Nice Day- 2 (Europe) 1-2 (USA) from Have A Nice Day, Welcome, Who Says (Europe), Last Man Standing, Bells Of Freedom
Using Who Says as a staple at US shows (as it should be there) one of the others would be fine.
In Europe, Who Says needs a rest- although it was a single, and we all know it, but I would like it to be in rotation. Welcome to Wherever You Are is underplayed for a single (as is AALY to the point that I don't include it) but HAND should be played more often than not, but again still not a need to always have it in/

Lost Highway- 2 (maybe 2-3 in USA) from: Lost Highway, Summertime, Memory, Leavin, We Got it Going On, Any Other Day, I Love This Town
Absolutely played to death over the last few tours, but the songs are still decent and need some representation. Just not as much as they currently are, and not the same ones. Any 2 from above will be fine, maybe an extra one for the states or when Jon wants to please himself.

The Circle- 2 from Follow, Superman, Beautiful, Loves The Only Rule, Thorn, Happy Now
As we have just come off The Circle tour, it need not stick around so much, but the album needn't be dumped and forgotten like Bounce is. A few of the staples can remain, again if changed up a bit more, and there's still a few fan favourites in there. Follow needs rotating rather than being a staple even if the position is moved.

Other- 1-2 from Saturday Night, Blaze Of Glory, Richie Song, Boxset Track, Cover or rarity
Sat Night should be slipped in more often than not in Europe- it really gets a good reaction probably as it benefiting from the post-Always popularity.

So a setlist examples mixing it up from above could be:

1 ARMY OF ONE/BECAUSE WE CAN/ANOTHER NEW SONG TO OPEN (Extended drum intro)
2 BAD NAME
3 RUNAWAY
4 BECAUSE WE CAN/ARMY OF ONE
5 WHATS LEFT OF ME
6 ITS MY LIFE
7 LOST HIGHWAY
8 RAISE YOUR HANDS
9 WILD IS THE WIND
10 CAPTAIN CRASH
11 BLAZE OF GLORY
12 SUPERMAN TONIGHT (ACOUSTIC)
13 AMEN OR THE FIGHTER (ACOUSTIC)
14 BED OF ROSES OR I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU (ON CIRCLE)
15 THAT'S WHAT THE WATER MADE ME
16 WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME
17 THORN IN MY SIDE
18 EVERYDAY
19 WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN
20 HAVE A NICE DAY
21 LIVIN ON A PRAYER

ENCORE
22 DRY COUNTY/THESE DAYS
23 I'M WITH YOU
24 WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
25 BAD MEDICINE
26 KEEP THE FAITH

Edited for too much Everyday action!

That looks nice to me. Plenty of new songs, never too far away from a hit and most of the back catalogue represented in some form, and plenty of scope to change it night by night. It pretty much follows the lengthy rubbish Ive typed above mainly for the US leg, so mix in the odd These Days track plus Always for Europe.

Hopefully they will find their stride with the setlists while accommodating the new stuff- the last tour the setlists really couldn't be much better for the most part and it flowed beautifully. They have just made the wrong changes and kept some stale numbers in. I'm sure they will hit their stride as the tour goes on. It's all opinion anyway, feel free to tell me i'm talking out of my arse but that's with a pool of songs which doesn't even include any mega-rarity for the most part, with songs performed over the last few tours.


In summary for anyone not as clinically bored at work as me: