we have a little over a month to go until the last N.A. shows and with 22 shows into the tour by now there’s a pretty clear idea of what songs the band have chosen to play on a regular basis and what songs are being dropped in comparison to The Circle tour (i’m treating these as 2 separate tours).

i compiled a list of all songs and the number of times they have been played since Penn State’s show in february. looking at the list and keeping in mind this is supposed to be a Greatest Hits tour and the last one for a while, what do you reckon of the song choices? are the songs that have been played on every or nearly every show representative of the band’s career? a lot could be said about the meaning of “representative" and this would be an interesting discussion in itself, but in this specific context, and putting it in a simplistic way, i mean “representative" here as “popular" ~ songs most casual fans would recognise.

is WSYCGH representative of Bon Jovi and has the song achieved the same sort of status in Jon’s eyes as Prayer or Wanted in such a way it is justified being played at every single show? they aren’t a country band so looking at things superficially i’d say definitely no. however the “cowboy theme” has been present since the early days. (can “cowboy theme" and “country" be put in the same bag? maybe not but one thing probably led to the other). however we don’t automatically think “country" when we think of Bon Jovi. the same could be asked about Lost Highway or We Got It Goin’ On. there are 3 country or country-influenced songs in their top 12 most played songs on a Greatest Hits tour. would it be more “accurate” to pick just 1 country song as a representation of an era/period? or is it fair to say WSYCGH and the Lost Highway album have the same weight as New Jersey or Keep The Faith? (for example, i absolutely love If I Was Your Mother but i don't see it as representative of Bon Jovi's sound nor has it been a popular song. the difference here being they haven't been playing it.)

easier stuff what song(s) should in your opinion have made it to this list but so far haven’t, what song(s) are being overplayed and what song(s) have been done once or twice that should be played more often even if not regularly? (let’s try being a little realistic.)

also, and excluding the countries where the band will perform for the 1st time as these will most likely get the hits, do you reckon Europe will get the same core of songs as the current N.A. leg give or take, up to this point? it’s something i wonder as i personally reckon the UK residency plus another 3 european dates hardly constitute an European leg, so as far as i’m concerned they haven’t toured Europe for The Circle yet. in practical terms i’m not sure how relevant this is though, as some The Circle dates hardly got any The Circle songs

sorry if i digressed here’s what’s been played so far:

22/22
Livin’ On A Prayer ~ Wanted Dead Or Alive ~ You Give Love A Bad Name ~ Bad Medicine ~ It’s My Life ~ Who Says You Can’t Go Home ~ We Weren’t Born To Follow

21/22
Lay Your Hands On Me (Richie) ~ Born To Be My Baby ~ Keep The Faith ~ Lost Highway ~ We Got It Goin’ On

19/22
Runaway ~ I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead

18/22
Have A Nice Day

17/22
The More Things Change ~ I’ll Be There For You

14/22
Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night

12/22
Blood On Blood ~ Pretty Woman

10/22
I Love This Town ~ What Do You Got? ~ Start Me Up

9/22
In These Arms ~ (You Want To) Make A Memory ~ Whole Lot Of Leavin’

8/22
Bed Of Roses ~ Work For The Working Man

7/22
Love For Sale ~ Dry County ~ When We Were Beautiful ~ No Apologies ~ Hot Legs

6/22
Shout

5/22
Blaze Of Glory ~ Always ~ Just Older ~ Last Man Standing

4/22 ~
Something For The Pain ~ Diamond Ring ~ Superman Tonight ~ Love’s The Only Rule ~ Squeezebox

3/22
Living In Sin ~ Hallelujah

2/22
Raise Your Hands ~ These Days ~ The Radio Saved My Life Tonight ~ Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars ~ Thorn In My Side ~ Chapel Of Love

1/22
I’d Die For You ~ Wild In The Streets ~ Hey God ~ Something To Believe In ~ Mystery Train ~ I Got The Girl ~ Thank You For Loving Me ~ Summertime ~ Happy Now ~ This Is Love, This Is Life ~ Jumping Jack Flash ~ Dancing In The Street ~
Bad Case Of Loving You ~ My Funny Valentine ~ Roadhouse Blues