Set list vs show impression

I have been away from the board for some time as I am very busy at work lately but it seems that ‘set list’ topic is still hot, like a non stop No.1 subject over here. And honestly I think it deserves its own thread as the most important discussions about it always end up at the end of the threads about particular shows of the tour and I think that many people just don’t read them, because they don’t see them.

I think there’s no need to complain about set lists, no matter what anyone will say. We can not judge the whole tour only based on US shows and what’s more important on our personal opinions. European part is ahead of us and probably the set lists will be different a bit. US music market and audience interest is different from what we have over here in Europe or Australia or South America. I am really curious what the set lists will be like in London or Paris. It seems the band should have the info that LH was not such a huge success on the old continent as it was in North America and they should adjust the set lists to local music tastes. Therefore I think that songs from the 90’ should be brought back to life as they were huge hits over here. Jon is a smart guy and he should notice right away that the crowd will not get excited about WSYCGH or LH or ILTT. It was obvious that they played it on LH tour but right now there is no need to play more than one song of that album over here. So I hope they will play more songs from TC or the ones from the 90’. Of course it’s also only my personal wish and probably some of you would want something different, and it again proves how hard it is to make a good set list that everyone would love.

I know that the die-hard fans from US would also want to hear rarities the band usually play in Europe but you just have to face it that majority of audience at the shows want to hear the songs they hear on the radio or TV. And as far as I ‘ve heard LH was a hit all over the US and masses love it and that’s the reason they play so many songs from that album. You just have to face the facts that only minority knows songs like Dry County, Something to Believe In or anything from the first 2 albums.

But the set lists are one thing and the passion and feeling of the songs is far more important than that. None of us should judge the shows if he/she hasn’t seen any of The Circle Tour shows live so far. Neither photos, YT videos nor audio bootlegs will give us a glimpse of what they really are. After the first few shows of the tour I stopped watching YT videos everyday as I want to keep something for myself as a surprise on the show that I am going to see in June. Only by seeing it I will be able to judge if the show was great or not. Of course this will be only my second BJ show ever and probably I will like it anyway and can’t compare my impressions to those of you who have seen them dozens of times in their career or even only this tour. But some of those people still say that the band is awesome this year, that energy is great and you can see and feel the passion in the eyes of the band members that you haven’t seen in many years. So it proves also that sometimes it doesn’t matter if it’s show No 145 or No 2 for you, if they are great – you will feel it right away and enjoy every second of it, no matter what they play. Set list on paper doesn’t mean much if you haven’t experienced the songs live by yourself, they are just pure letters, nothing more. And I personally can’t wait to see and hear them live again this year, especially songs of The Circle as I really love this album to death and am looking for the live versions of those amazing songs.

What are your thoughts about it?

It's not that I want them to play "rare" songs due to the surprise element, I just want them to play their best songs.

I've always been happy with the sets so far except the most recent shows; suddenly we're no longer seeing Thorn In My Side, BPL, or Bullet. Nothing new at all being played from The Circle. Overplayed songs like Crash and Sleep coming back too. It used to seem like a totally different show than the last few tours, but recent sets have been getting more similar.

However, the performance WILL always be the most important thing. And apparently that's kick-ass. Plus I have no doubt to see a lot more because this things going on for over another year. this is still just the beginning.

Lost Highway was not a huge hit here in the U.S. either. The LH TOUR was a huge hit, but it seems like the difference has blurred to those within the Jovi organization. I think it will be interesting to see what they do with the LH songs when they go overseas. I'm not sure you should count on them being dropped.

I think (I HOPE) they have to do something different with the 02 shows though, which is really the European tour for THIS year. Jon knows the Prudential shows sucked. He'll want to ensure they don't get the same criticism for what could be a legendary run of shows for London. But then...that would only be logical...and sometimes logic seems to fail this band...lol

I disagree. In the US, Lost Highway is the biggest hit of the 2000s for the band. Crush has a few numbers up on it (not much), but at the same time, record sales in 2000 were much, much different than in 2007. If you take into account the iTunes and downloading era, Lost Highway is the biggest Bon Jovi CD since Cross Road in the US. Pretty big if you ask me. Plus, Make a Memory was the highest debuting single for the band, so they had hype for the album and then the tour was huge.

I firmly believe the band knows what they are doing when it comes to picking their sets. They know, for sure, about this board and the disappointment with some. I still believe things will pick up. I am ready to see what they have in store for Europe... just wish I could afford to see a show over there.

Definitely! Jon wouldn't write the same setlist night after night if it wasn't working.

Didn't see this thread and have just made one of my own about setlists so will wade in here too.

Yes, performance is key and I would rather go to a vanilla bon jovi show than a great one by other bands because Bon Jovi are the band that have lived with me now since 1986 - however - and this is key to me - to see the band play essentially the same show tour after tour with largely the same songs is dis-heartening.

Jon did seem to care about the setlist in the WWWB film, much more than I expected, but it frustrates me that he pours over the set each night and there are clearly songs he loves that he would like to play (like 'Open All Night' from 'Bounce' which is namechecked in the film) but when push comes to shove he lacks the courage of his own artist impulses and chickens out from playing them in favour of cover versions!!!!

The problem comes from playing huge stadiums where there is no atmosphere - jon is obsesssed with keeping the mood up, the tone light so that these huge stadia full of people go home tapping their feet - thats not what I love about Bon Jovi - and thats a change for Jon, I remember being in a field in Milton Keynes somewhere around 1995 and watching both 'Something to Believe In' and 'My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms' mesmorize everyone with the intensity of they way they were being performed.

Jon has completely forgotten that you don't have to play 'Bad Medicine' to interest a crowd and has settled for the easy option once more again on this tour.

It might be different for the O2 shows because they still have an awful lot of tickets to sell so they financially need to hit the ground running with the first 4-5 shows being different - do that and they will pick up a lot of last minute ticket sales. Also the O2, whilst being a huge arena, is still smaller and more intimate that most places they've been playing in the UK in the last 15 years, so the atmosphere should be better.

Setlist choice for me is a key part of enjoying the show. They could play the best version of Bad Medicine that I've ever seen but I'd still take a ropey 'Only Lonely' over that any day!

I do agree with that ! The set lists are based on what the general public wants to listen to. I have seen how the setllists are prepared – I watched the documentary. I saw Jon spending time and energy thinking over how to make a setlist taking into account what public is going see the show. He considers whether the majority of people in the audience are going to be diehards or just random listeners. Usually these are random people who expect to hear the greatest hits plus the songs of newest albums - LH and the Circle. I.e. the songs with which they are familiar rather than those which are legendary and only meaningful for the faithful fans.

Kuba – I do agree with every argument you set forth! The US setlists are adjusted to the GENERAL US public (since such public, not just die-hards are going to come to the shows). Besides, I noticed that many of the users of this board use to complain over setlists until they themselves go to the show! Still, when they care to go to the concert, during the show they tend to forget about the choice of songs but rather plunge into the general atmosphere and the enjoy the climate and energy of the spectacle! So, as you say, the immediate experience and not the theoretical analysis of setlists is what matters. If you are at the show you assimilate and inhale the whole climate.

The reason I have been upset is VERY simple:

Jon is not an idiot. He knows damn well that there are die hard fans out there that go to several shows on every tour. I assure you, they aren't selling tickets to 240,000 different people for the NJ shows. They're maybe selling to 100,000 people. And those people are the people that he promised, yet again, to do some different things. This time, he promised the sets would be different every night, they'd play older songs, rarities, same old bullshit he's promised the past 4 tours. And as usual, he takes the easy way out and plays basically the exact same set every night. I took his word, again, and bought tickets for 5 shows. Now, I'm regretting it. I have no desire to see the same exact show twice. I've seen this band enough times so that it's no longer necessary.

Now, if Jon had kept his trap shut and not promised things he didn't deliver, I wouldn't care less about the set lists. Personally, I'd think he was a damn fool, but that's just me. Clearly, Jon doesn't enjoy touring much anymore, and it's obvious why. He's turned it into a job. Most of us have the unfortunate task of working the same mundane 8-10 hour schedule every day, doing the same thing. Here's a guy who is his own boss, and can do whatever the hell he feels like on that stage, and instead, does the same thing every night, then bitches about how much he doesn't like touring.

What I wouldn't give to have the opportunity Jon has and so arrogantly and foolishly, completely ignores.