If it had no impact it wouldn't keep changing to something the fans would get into more. Look at the Circle tour.

Homebound Train - Lay Your Hands On Me - Lay Your Hands with extended jam. The crowd wasn't going for the lesser known song so they switched it. When Jon does a song no one knows it creates a lull and he has to win them back over, same with Richie but it's double as hard because people see it as a reason to leave their seats for a bit.

I'm just saying this as a fan who's noticed things, the massive moment of feet when Richie sings is disheartening.