A couple of weeks ago I thought up an idea to give a new spin to Bon Jovi shows.
I’d like to share it with you all, just to see what you think of it.

First I will explain the idea and how I came across it. Secondly I will lay out how I went about working out the concept. Then I will talk about the setlits and finally I will go into the consequences and the possibilities that come with this idea.


- Getting the idea -
I got the idea after seeing U2 in Amsterdam this year. It was a great show, mostly due to Bono’s voice and of course the new concept of the stage. It was impressive to say the least. What struck me and the people I went with was the reaction from the audience to the most populair songs: Sunday Bloody Sunday, Pride In The Name Of Love and Where The Streets Have No Name. After some initial screaming and enthusiastic reactions the response was mediocre compared to other songs.

All of this got me thinking about how Bon Jovi could try to possibly “revolutionalize” their shows. Seeing as how Bon Jovi shows have always been more about the songs than the visual show, I came across the idea of splitting the show up over two days. I wanted to see if there’s enough songs in the Bon Jovi catalogue to make a two day show.


- Working out the idea -
First I took the songs that are relevant to play in concerts. Secondly I put those songs in different classes. I made three classes:
1st class Hits: The rockers from the giant hits.
2nd class Hits: The ballads from the gaint hits and the normal hitsongs.
3rd class Hits: The hits/songs that are good in concert

(The numbers below are songs from the new album, assuming the 1st single is a mega-hit, and the 2nd and 3rd are normal hits)

* 1st class Hits
Bad Name, Prayer, Bad Medicine, Keep The Faith, It’s My Life, Have A Nice Day, 1

* 2nd class Hits
Runaway, Wanted, Raise Your Hands, Lay Your Hands On Me, I’ll Be There For You, Blaze Of Glory, Bed Of Roses, Sleep, In These Arms, Always, Saturday Night, These Days, One Wild Night, Everyday, Who Says, 2, 3

* 3rd class Hits
I’d Die For You, Wild In The Streets, Born To Be My Baby, Livin in Sin, Blood On Blood, I Believe, Dry County, Hey God, Damned, Love Song, Something To Believe In, Good Guys, Just Older, Captain Crash, I Got The Girl, Bounce, Undivided, Radio, Last Man Standing, Any Other Day, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8


- Making the setlists -
Next, I divided these songs to two days, based on different aspects of the songs. Furthermore, I tried to make an “A-side-show” and a “B-side show”. Within these shows I used the normal flow of songs for a Bon Jovi concert.

SETLIST 1st SHOW

3
Die For You
Bad Name
Everyday
2
It’s My Life
4
5
I’ll Be There For You
Hey God
Damned
Who Says
Dry County
Lay Your Hands On Me
Saturday Night
Keep The Faith
Blood On Blood
Blaze Of Glory
Something To Believe In
Undivided
In These Arms
I Got The Girl
These Days


SETLIST 2nd SHOW

I Believe
Wild In The Streets
Raise Your Hands
Have A Nice Day
Born To Be Me Baby
Bed Of Roses
1
One Wild Night
7
Always
Runaway
Last man Standing
Bounce
Bad Medicine
Sleep
Prayer
Livin in Sin
Good Guys
Captain Crash
6
Wanted
Love song
8

These are the basic example setlists as I’ve put them together. Of course songs can be switched around and other songs can be added. Also, songs can be switched around between the first and the second show.


- Consequences -
This idea has some consequences for the way the band and the fans experience the concert, both positive and negative.

* Fans
Fans can go both days and thus hear a lot more songs besides the general hits.
Other people can go one day and hear what Bon Jovi offers besides the hits.

* Bon Jovi
There’s two shows and thus more songs to play for the band, especially the not so often played songs.

* Songs
There’s a lot of songs that can be played a lot longer again with more extra stuff (crowd interation / solo’s etc.), because there’s more time.
There are hits that don’t sound that good anymore compared to the 90’s that must be played very well, because there’s less hits in the show.

* Record company
Because there’s a lot more people visiting two shows, there’s a lot more money to be made.

* Show
Creativity in creating the show is stimulated, because the strength of the show is less carried by the hits. Other things are needed to hold the people’s attention:
For example, one other idea that I came up with is the idea of having moving platforms for Tico and David, so that they can move into the crowd for doing solo’s like for example in the Lay Your Hands On Me intro or during endings like in Keep The Faith.


I’m curious to see what you think of the idea and why it would or wouldn’t work.
Also, I’m curious if people have got ideas on how Bon Jovi could innovate or improve upon their shows.