The Band Is On The Road To Oblivion

Without Love could be done acoustic and would probably come off well. Social Disease is turd, but it wouldn't come over much worse than any other random album track. The casual fan would just have to suck it up if they don't know a song.

As much as I'd LOVE to see something like a These Days played in full, I'm pretty sure we all have to accept the fact that an album in full in concert is never going to happen unless the band decides to do an intimate theater tour or something like Bryan Adams has done with his 'Bare Bones' tours. And, of course, in the current mind-set of caring about "selling out the desert", that simply won't happen.

They are quickly becoming a nostalgia act by touring so often this millenium and putting out albums that are decent but are not all that artistically honest (a la the KTF, TD era).

I will probably go see this tour but will once again be a nose-bleed participant amongst a whole bunch of folks who want to sit down throughout the show unless they are playing 'Prayer.'

New Jersey is the one that I've always thought they should play in full. I think they missed the perfect opportunity to do it when they played the shows to open the new stadium in the Meadowlands. Considering that they first played old Giants on the NJ tour, opening with LYHOM and then playing the whole thing straight through at one of those first 3 shows would have been very fitting! I can't imagine that it wouldn't have pleased both casual and diehard fans.

it was a great show - made much better by the WONDERFUL group we were with but yes i am not going to travel ANYWHERE to see 3 different songs and when obie played the webcast of lisbon like it or not that was jon singing horribly which i somehow compeltly failed to notice while bouncing

there is this debate if the play SWW then people might not like without love....SO WHAT when did the show have to be perfect so no one ever heard a song they didnt know....

this band is ridiculous - made all the more poignant by the fact that richie doesn't rehearse, plays five shows, and cant go on....jon will shut him down so they can do yet another tour and if the album isnt great - MAYBE i go to ONE show....

so so sad.....

at least Pearl Jam is coming back...now where are the Black Crowes...

I am not unhappy with the setlists most of the time. But that's for Europe. I understand if American fans say, they miss setlist changes. I have been to U.S. shows but would not consider flying over again and one point is the "boring" setlist. At least when you have seen a bunch of shows and getting close to the 50 mark.

I am not sure what the current plan is...maybe making enough money before retirement. Just suck everything out of the business that's possibly left. I have come to a point where the magic is gone and I see many die-hards walk out the door not willing to pay the big bucks anymore. To a band that once claimed "Bon Jovi have always been a band for the people". Well "people" don't have celebrity incomes...usually. The machinery is working well and the CEO is controlling it all...the fanclub, the tour club, the pasta sauce production...brand making. It's sad that a lot of people you used to see every tour are not there anymore. And it's sad that instead you are finding yourself in a so-called Diamond Circle amongst a bunch of VIPs that don't know much more than "It's my life" and decide to throw their tour programme (it came with the package and the bag and the catering) on the floor to sit on it. There has been enough discussion about it the whole concept and pricing on the fanclub board and Jon was even asked in a UK TV show about the prices for the O2 shows and claimed he didn't know and will follow that up... He knows it all otherwise they could have changed the concept for the upcoming tour, but I see packages...lots of packages, pit tickets and I am sure we will see a lot more of the trips.

Almost every artist does packages these days. And ticket prices have risen with everything else in life. That's simple inflation.

Add to that the fact that frankly, the artists don't make much money from album sales anymore. It used to be tour to promote the album, but now it's the other way around, it's release an album to help promote a tour. And tour's cost money.

Bon Jovi never used to tour unless it would make a hundred million. I'm sure that bottom line has probably risen. I'm not defending high ticket prices but they are a fact of life for seeing a major artist.

What I do agree with is I HATE the diamond circle/gold circle concept, because you do end up with people who just paid to be there and don't know a lot of the songs and don't care less, and I do feel that does kill a little bit of the atmosphere. I've had a far better time in GA the last few tours at the back than I did last year in Gold Circle. The fans around me just seemed to be having fun whereas closer to the stage, man, they were like ****ing statues.

I don't know what the solution is to that, because the prices aren't going to get any lower.