The Bon Jovi Setlist Paradox!

which yes... is much worse

no it doesn't

As for Jon's talks, that bit doesn't bother me too much, so long as it's not the same old on ever tour, havng a set one for each ocncert on a leg is fine by me. At the end of the day, if he is genuenly talking to 80,000 of the top of his head he's possiably going to get stuck, he's a rock star, not a public speaker, he speaks through his music

As for dropping KTF, this was the highlight of the last show I saw.... I'd say drop it if you were replacing the whole set, but I'd replace pretty much ever other song before I replace that one, and I think that's the same for a lot of fans. Having said that, tell me before the show they're swaping it for Fear and you won't get me complaining!!!!!

Problem is, it's the sort of set list that says "look at us, you've heard this song on the radio and can sing along to the chorus", as opposed to "This rocks so be prepaired to see something amazing, and I don't give a **** whether you've heard it before.". Obviously it's not a bad thing to have a few of those in, and I think things like Livin on a Prayer if played at the right point in the set are still great songs, but it's having more ballance, and less dependence on this type of song.

I can give you one advice:
go to www.greasylake.com (Springsteen page) and check out the concerts section. If i find some time I'll post some sets here but I can tell you a few things:

- Bruce changes the set every night more drastic than BJ.

- Bruce playes songs from every record, from "Greetings to Ashbury park" to "the rising"

- Bruce playes also quite unknown songs, even songs that they hadn't played for almost 30 years.

Bruce has his little quirks too. Rosalita for example, isn't played nearly as much as people would like to hear it.

He was once quoted as saying that Elvis caused his own demise by always giving the people what they wanted to hear. He doesn't want to suffer the same fate.

Although I will agree he varies it up, but he still refuses to play some of the stuff he is most known for.

Credentials yes. The right to comment on EVERYONE's opinion (eg. NO-ONE? and NONE OF US?) no. Don't generalize, yes alot of people dont like the setlists, however, some people would die to see the exact same show 15 times in 17 years. I'll bet the people in western Canada that havnt seen them in like 10 years would like the same show too. I agree with the comment about Jon trying to please the casual fan. I have been to 3 shows and each time i took someone who had never been to a show, ALL 3 ASKED ME "why didnt they play Always?" and when i spoke to the girl im taking to toronto this summer the first thing she asked was "Do they play alot of the old stuff like Livin on a prayer?. OF COURSE JON IS TRYING TO PLEASE THE CASUAL FAN! There are more of them then there are die hards like us. Yes i saw Damned in toronto but i can guarentee 75% of the crowd had never heard that song before. Like i have said before, some bands dont change their setlist at all for a whole tour, and most people only see them once a tour anyways. If i had seen the band once on every tour since Slippery When Wet, i would think i got a very good variety of songs, but for the people that are sitting here complaining about the same setlists every night? WHO CARES! YOU ARENT AT THAT SHOW. Anyways this is just my own opinion and im not trying to insult anyone, but we have to start accepting the fact that the public's wants and needs are more important to the band then ours.

P.S. I also feel Jon caters the setlists to his own inability to sing most of the songs we want anyways.

Oh, yes. Saint Bruce versus Evil Jon. The battle of the millenium. Yawn.

Whether we like the set lists or not, they're not ours to make. They're the band's. Yes, I said THE BAND. Funny, though Jon is known to make up the set list, it's also entirely Jon's fault when you don't like them. The band could probably speak the **** up if they didn't like them too... but apparently Evil Jon has them silenced under threat of imminent death, is that it? Richie's afraid of Jon? The whole band hates the set list too but it terrified of Evil Jon? What do you take them for? So let's get off the whole "Jon this, Jon that" accusations.

While we spend our time online in small Bon Jovi centered communities, that is not the real world and if you're going to a concert that holds 20,000 - probably 19,500 of them won't spend any time online talking about the band, least of all dissecting every aspect of their life, their music and discussing their setlists from afar as if it was Talmudic scripture. The band is not catering to us. They're catering to the 19,500 people who don't know Let's Make It Baby and who don't really know that Hugh isn't Alec or that the bass player even HAS a name. Face it, we're fringe and as such, we're the minority. A very vocal minority but our voice is only heard in our own circles! Being a fan of the band is not like gambling, the more you spend, the bigger the payout. Especially if you're not at every show. If you go to multiple shows, you get sick of it, yes. If you go to ONE show, you'll walk away thinking it was a great show. This is a theoretical topic at this point... it has nothing to do with the fact that the band seems to be pleased with the shows and the crowds that attend the shows seem to be having a good time. The negativity eminates from boards like this and from reviewers who have a hard-on about Bon Jovi... come to think of it, many of those writers sound like some of the posters here. Hmmm.... there's one of those conspiracies you black-helicopter folks can ponder.

That's true but everyone on this board is entitled to their opinions. If they want to bitch bitch bitch all the time, hey if you don't like it just ignore them. I'm sure some of those are sick with you complaining about them as well. You do have the right to complain about them just like they have the right to complain about the setlists or whatever that they feel like. Let's face it, this so called 'negativity' will always be here as long as the setlist remains like it is right now. This is a message board, there will always be people with groupie like tendencies, there will always be people who complain all the time, there will always be trolls, etc. I don't think you should get your feathers ruffled by any of those people.

My feathers are not in a ruffle. I just like pointing out the absurdities of it all. Take it or leave it.

I don't think all complaints are absurd. Some of them are but some of them aren't, but hey if your feathers aren't ruffled, good for you.