Set list vs show impression

You've never been to a Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews or Tom Petty concert, have you?

I'm not saying that as an insult by the way. I'm just making a point. Those bands have about the same sized catalog as Bon Jovi, yet they seem capable of changing their set lists dramatically night to night. Surely, after close to 3,000 shows, I would assume Bon Jovi are as proficient as any other artist.

The difference is, with Bon Jovi it's become more of a Broadway style production than a rock concert. And hey, on that level it's awesome. However, some of us would simply prefer a more toned down "show", and more eclectic concert.

Aloha !

This is bullshit. They don't rehearse songs like Faith, Prayer etc before every tour, they can play them in their dreams. If I can play over 60 songs on acoustic guitar and don't have to prepare myself for anything neither do they. And 60 is just a random number, I'm sure there's plenty more songs I can play.

This band has recorded over 150 songs and can play anything they want to; they know what they've recorded and know their parts. It's only Jon who's forgotten his lines but that's where his teleprompter is for nowadays. This talk on how they rehearse stuff so it sounds perfect is nonsense, they're a well oiled machine and know eachother. They can mix it up, they just don't do it.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

From what I found so far in your posts I infer that you almost always express your dissapointment with BJ. So far you have made several comparisons between BJ and "other bands" and whatever aspect of the show is the object of comparison, you find some other band to surpass BJ. Eg. when we were talking about energy level and the running on stage, you argued that Aerosmith frontman and Mick Jagger do better than Jon. If we are comparing setlists and their variability, Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews or Tom Petty turn out to outdo BJ.

You have the right to your opinion. But I do not understand one thing- if you find those other bands and other performers better, why do you still go to see BJ and put so much energy in browsing the posts and discussing on the BJ forum? No insult - I just ask you because I cannot understand.

I am for instance a huge fan of David Bowie since 1984. I grew up with his music and he was a part of my world. But in the 90s he started playing very heavy stuff, to heavy for me. And I simply stopped buying his records and listening to him. For why should I torment myself with something I do not like? I turned to groups which were more in agreement with my taste or I simply listened to D Bowie's earlier stuff. And then in the onset of the 21st century he started to play softer music again. So I came back and started to buy and download his CDs. But I never had this schizophrenia that I am not a fan because I hate whatever he currently does (never mind whether it is music or setlists or stage choreography etc) but I am a fan because I grew up with his music.
I simply cannot see what is the point in wasting so much energy on bitching and spending so much time on something that someone does not enjoy any longer? It is so bitter

Exactly - the best shows are those with a great performance AND a great setlist. What do I have from an awesome performance of a song like "LOL or ILTT ? Absolutely nothing. I rather have "In and out of Love" with Jon missing a few notes...
The times that BJ did not play it safe and were awesome live are counted. That is the reason why the fans now are completely different to the fans until the mid-nineties. They lost lots of their old fans with Crush and those who adore albums like Jersey and TD are not necessarily the buyers of LH or Bounce.

Very well said man!

TC is (sadly) their least successful album since Fahrenheit and I have the fear that the next album will be another mega-mainstream affair like LH.

I fear the same thing. I love The Circle, it's really a shame that it hasn't sold that well.

Honestly, The Circle is a mainstream affair, a pop rock album, not a rock-back-to-their-roots-riff-rock record they promised. Well I like it and I like a lot.
LH was a US mainstream affair, to release something what is popular in US = sell more in US. But they got angry the rest of the world. Sadly LH was more successful. I think the difference is made by the two years - the market is changing very quickly. And the crisis didn't help either. One guy working in the biggest music shop here told my friend that the sales (of music in general) went down so rapidly last year. People are not buying music. I hope MR. CEO sees those contributing factors and will not change the direction of the band into some dubious experiments. Please no more!

Well BJ's kinda style with TC surely ain't no mainstream. Mainstream is what the masses like and TC hasn't sold too much and you cannot find radio-friendly pop/rock stuff anywhere in the charts. LH was mainstream as it tried to win over the Keith Urban audience and failed. LH did sell better than TC but did not seel truckloads. And in Europe it was a huge flop.

And regarding the "Riff ROck": I cannot find a single BJ album with riff Rock on it. If you want this buy a ACDC cd

There IS a way it was bigger than Crush, in the US. I'm not talking about the world. The discussion has been based on the setlists for the US tour. There is a reason Lost Highway songs go over so well, because a lot of the audience has that album. I compared it to Crush because in the US, those are the two albums that have been the biggest this past decade. HAND was big too, but based on a single that in turned, helped Lost Highway start so strong. I like HAND more, for sure, but Lost Highway being a big album in the US is not bullshit. The numbers are lower than Crush, but the times were different and ALL albums were selling less. That is a fact, plain and simple. In the year 2000, selling 10,000,000 wasn't THAT crazy. In 2010, that will not happen. To anyone. Again, I'm talking about in the US.

Yes, I didn't mean to make anyone believe I felt MAM was bigger than It's My Life, but still, It's My Life's success was based on radio play and it's inclusion on Now That's What I call Music. Crush peaked in the US at number 9 and lingered around the mid 20s for a while, if I recall. The success of It's My Life could easily have someone believe Crush sold better here than it did. There was no physical single for It's My Life in the US, so it's the radio play, that has that song so remembered here as it peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100. Sure... it's more well known that Make A Memory, but MAM debuted at number 27. And WSYCGH was definitely a bigger single than It's My Life here. It hit number 1 on the country charts, it won a grammy, etc., etc. This decade, Bon Jovi's top hits in the US were: It's My Life, Who Says and then... Make a Memory. Thank You For Loving me flopped, Everyday flopped, Misunderstood did okay, HAND did okay, and then you have the Lost Highway singles that all flopped, minus MAM, but yet the album still sold very well. Everywhere else in the world, you all have a point, but here, Lost Highway has a place on the setlists. I'd prefer something else, but I'm just giving you what I think the band thinks.

Random fact: I heard Lost Highway at the gym today.

And WGIGO works live. If you disagree, you're just in denial. It goes over better than half of their big singles, like BTBMB. I don't like that song either... for the record, but it's true.

I typed this very fast... hope it makes sense. If you disagree with me, that's fine. No need to name calling and finger pointing. I'm just telling you what I say to myself when I look at their setlists.