Supersonic's all mattering topic on the current setlist.

Aloha !

Everyone who knows me a little bit knows I have a great interest in setlists. It's become a hobby of mine, not just with Bon Jovi's, I always look at what an artist plays and how he thinks he represents his career the best way.

Now, over a year ago I made a tutorial on how to make a a great set with who everybody would be happy with, fans and average joes. Back then I said the following of a North American tour;

Now, with The Circle having been released there obviously need to be made some changes to this schedule. I still stick to the theory that a band shouldn't play more than 4 songs of a new album on any tour. You come to promote your album, not to shove it down their throats. Playing 6 new songs in a set of 24 songs means that 25% of the set consists of new songs, which is too much unless the new album is such a hit that everyone goes to see you because you released a new album. Which is obviously not the case with The Circle.

Popularity wise this would mean the following for North America.
Bringing this to a setlist it'd mean any setlist would look like this;

Sure, some people's favourite songs might not be there (mine is Keep The Faith and it's nowhere to be found) but what die hard would complain that his favourite song isn't in the set when he gets rare stuff like Little Bit Of Soul and In & Out Of Love? And with every American big hit being in this set there's no average Joe that would think "meh, I didn't get what I expected".

This set is what you should expect when going to a Bon Jovi show. It's got the hits, it's got the stuff Jon loves (the new songs + Who Says, Everyday, Story Of My Life, Lost Highway), it's got the stuff die hards would love to hear (Little Bit Of Soul, Something For The Pain, In & Out Of Love) and it's got proper diversity that shows that this band has made more than just a few hits in the eighties and that one big song in the nineties. This set works, and the set Bon Jovi have constructed doesn't.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I like it in principle, however I have a few issues. I don't like RYH in the opening spot, I HATE Wanted as the show closer, and I don't think this section would work that well:

14. The Circle single; Work For The Working Man
15. Crush single; It's My Life
16. 7800 Fahrenheit single; In & Out Of Love
17. Keep The Faith single; Bed Of Roses
18. The Circle album track; Thorn In My Side
19. Have A Nice Day single; Who Says You Can't Go Home

The set looks like it would make a kick ass show, you're right!
I would change it around a bit, and of course the KTF single and album track could change nightly which I guess is the point you were trying to make.

I would make the Bounce and Crush songs interchangable aswell since there doesn't seem to be enough demand for Bounce songs, some nights could do with one and some with none, but IML of course has to be there...

I would tweak it to something like this (and being realistic to this tour in the sense of trying to fix the setlist problems slightly)

1. Blood on Blood
2. We Weren't Born To Follow
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. *Lost Highway single or album cut*
5. *Bon Jovi or 7800* single or album cut*
6. *The Circle album cut*
7. *Wild Card*
8. *Wild Card*
9. Bad Medicine W/Doctor Doctor
10. We Got It Going On
11. Homebound Train W/Richie on Vox
12. *Jon-Centric, Richie gets a brief breather slot* (Hallelujah, (You Want To) Make a Memory, Open All Night (Bounce), Mystery Train)
13. *Monster hit ballad slot* (Bed of Roses, I'll Be There For You, Always, TAALS (one can dream), Never Say Goodbye)
14. Something For The Pain (Acoustic)
15. *Interchanging acoustic song*
16. Work For The Working Man
17. *Keep The Faith, Hey God, or Have a Nice Day*
18. It's My Life
19. Who Says You Can't Go Home
20. Love's The Only Rule

Encore:
21. Wanted, Dead or Alive
22. *The Circle album cut*
23. *Wild Card*
24. Living on a Prayer

I think that could work quite well, be exciting for us, and please casual fans.

This is pretty cool. If only Hallelujah can be dropped for Always, please

It seems like after Richie does Homebound, there seems to be a Jon-centric song to give Richie a breather, which I can understand I guess. I have Always in the rotaTing monster ballad slot though.

yeah, Make a memory could be there, like in the LH tour where Richie would leave during the outro and then join Jon on the platform. I think Open All night from Bounce could also be there, I know it's not a popular choice but it's one I like and Jon's made it pretty clear he loves the song so...

True. I was trying to think of songs where Richie gets a legit breather though, but that's a good call. I'm gonna add that in.

Anyway, I think that set works in the confines of the tour so far. All the staples that seem to have video work and such are there, the slots that have 2-4 possible songs will at least give some nightly variety, and the Wild Card slots could be used for anything from more Circle songs, Box Set Songs, or songs from any album, depending how adventurous the band feels on a given night.

Aloha !

It could, but you're still leaving out fans of a certain album. And the point of the perfect set is that you try to please everyone as much as you can.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan