Verizon Arena 03/20/2018 Little Rock, AR - TREAD

Bon Jovi have never been in that 90%. That's what has made many of us go to multiple shows over the years.

That's called marketing my friends..otherwise why a casual would buy a ticket for this year's shows if he knews is the same as last year?? I know bj has never been the 90%, but frankly i don't think the setlist is the main problem nowadays...furthermore they're not stupid, they know that jbj can't pull off stbi for example and they know that if they play that(as "requested" from the fans like in this forum) these same fans would totally bury jbj alive, so why would they??

I’ve been planning on 1 show, but I don’t have tickets yet. This setlist is so discouraging to me. My plan has been to hold out for ticket drops (there have been plenty) and buy a really close seat. Now I’m thinking, maybe I should just buy side stage and save a bunch. Or, not even go at all. I feel the need to go, because I feel like this tour may really be the last. But, I saw this exact same concert and setlist twice last year. And as someone else said, the set hadn’t changed much in 10 years. UGH.

It's not marketing, it's very much past experience. A casual wouldn't buy a ticket based on setlist - they wouldn't care that much to check in advance, but there's certain songs you expect artists to do, and if the show is broadly similar to the last one you went to, you may not do it again so soon. Or they'd just be disappointed "I can't believe they didn't play Always" etc... But the setlist based on previous shows does not matter too much for the casual / average concert goer, but there is an expectation of certain songs to play and for them to know most of them.

Obviously he couldn't play STBI, but there are plenty of songs that can be added from their vast catalogue that casuals and diehards will know/like - I still stick by the rule, anything with a video from HAND prior would have had decent rotation on music tv. Your Own Wild Nights, Misunderstood, Thank You For Loving Me, Say It Isn't So. All post-2000, all familiar to casuals and this forum would lose their shit if they played any or all in a setlist.

you're right, people expect some songs to be played but as far as you check the setlist the BIG hits are being played already, apart always and few others(remember that these days album isn't considered that good by many americans so i wouldn't count that album). tyflm was buried when played at christmas, misunderstood won't suit to jon's vocals nowadays, say isn't so is known by how many?? we've been used to 2008-2011 where jon could have sang "good" all of them and could have chose every night a different setlist, but now he simply can't anymore because of his voice and doesn't want anymore mainly because of people like us (yeah i'm one of those) that checks every single bum note he hits and insults him for not taking care of his voice/smoking/drinking ecc...he's confident with these 25-30 songs, he plays them, that's all...not saying that i wouldn't like to hear something different (i've been to milan 2013, i'm used to very good setlist you know) but i can perfectly understand why he doesn't play anything particular

I'm tired of the excuses of why the setlists can't change from tour to tour. Forget about show to show. I completely agree if the setlist doesn't change from Denver to Las Vegas that's fine, less than one percent are probably going to both shows, but you've served up a whole plate of excuses of why Jon's not mixing it up. Worst of all the band, as always, are BRAGGING that they constantly change up the setlist to keep it fresh. Again, this is the same group of songs we've gotten for how many tours in a row? That isn't marketing.

If he wants to play the same 25-30 songs because that's all he can do he either has to a)stop saying they're pulling out songs they haven't done in years or b) accept that the hardcore fans will be let down and it's just not worth it to pay that much to see something again and a lesser quality.

what you don't understand is that "hardcore fans" that are let down are like what, 5% of the crowd nowadays?? just give a look to instagram,fb,twitter, all the people that goes to a bj concert is not even aware of jon's struggles, forget about if they care if cadillac man it's played or if there's a medley in the middle of bad medicine. Now, put his clothes on and try to think about the business, would you play those setlists and make 95% of the people there happy or play some rarities for the 5% of the crowd risking to absolutely botch them and to let all the others unhappy?? by the numbers they are doing good, all arenas are full, the critics have never been so soft with them, they are playing it safely and from an economic pov right now it is the right choice...then, we are 2 guys discussing in a bj forum that matters less then 0 in a 30 date tour, that's the truth...i'd like to hear the entire these days album played every night with demos from nj and b sides from ktf but who would care about them?? those 20 people that are costantly writing in this forum and that's all. About the prices, keith urban costs around 200$ and it's not even the best seat...we're talking about a global market that is costantly rising up the prices, not bj

Then that's fine. If he wants to go after casual fans and please casual fans then do it. But on the flip side there's a group of fans that won't come back to the next tour. You're taking what I'm saying and putting it into extremes. I'm not asking for These Days played in full, I'm not asking for Cadillac Man. Hell, I'm not asking for rarities. Lost Highway, Whole Lot of Leaving, We Got It Going On are all being played in 2018 from an album that came out in 2007. That's 11 years of those songs being included in most setlists from an album not even being promoted.

There's no reason why non essential songs can't be swapped out with other non essential songs. There's a back catalouge of rockers that would give Jon the opportunity to interact with the crowd that could replace WGIGO easily. Yeah the album sold well in America but as far as singles go, none of those are ones that people are going to the show in dire need of being included. I'm all for a balance of keeping people happy but the same songs in the setlist tour after tour means less people come back. I don't buy the "well the arenas are full so who cares" mentality. Their fanbase is already dwindling, if the hardcore fans drift away you're left with casual fans are getting harder and harder to attract.

Theorically you're right about the songs, the fact is he can't sing them!! He might struggle even with everyday!! Or he sings something between 2005-2017 and he cannot even choose all of of them or he's done (unless "cheats" like slowing down songs or doing acoustic shows). About the fanbase, bj is lucky they still have fans going to their show and believe It or not is because of his history and look,not about his songs. Otherwise they were already done after HAND which was their last album truly relevant . I think a Great part of hardcore fans stopped following bj a long long time ago...

Aloha !

He can't sing the ones currently in the set either, so this is hardly a valid excuse.

Further on, considering as to how he's playing "all the hits..." Playing all your hits is never a good thing, for a large group of casual fans it means that once you've seen an act there's no desire to go back. You also don't "need" to play every hit. Many bands can get away with not playing their biggest hit(s). Especially an act like Bon Jovi, who've got the luxury of over 10 top 40 hits. Ignore 5 and you've still got a set with hits most bands would be jealous at.

As for those who honestly believe there's no room for improvement: Those marked in red were either album tracks or singles that barely charted:

1. This House Is Not For Sale
2. Knockout
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. Whole Lot of Leavin'
5. Lost Highway
6. When We Were Us
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Who Says You Can't Go Home
9. It's My Life
10. We Weren't Born to Follow
11. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
12. We Got It Goin' On
13. Keep the Faith
14. Amen
15. Bed of Roses
16. Lay Your Hands on Me
17. God Bless This Mess
18. Have a Nice Day
19. Bad Medicine

Encore:
20. Wanted Dead or Alive
21. Livin' on a Prayer

That's close to half the set. Now I get promoting a record, but it's a pointless excersize to play more than 3 new songs when non of the singles even charted properly. Bon Jovi plays 4. This leaves 6 slots open for stuff that could be rotated for pretty much everything.

Are you honestly saying there's no room in this set for 6 different songs? The last time I saw this band was 5 years ago. Out of the all the album cuts that are still being played there's 1 rarely played and it's Amen. Do you honestly believe Amen is there to please the die hards? No, it's there because Jon wants to play it, no one gives a shit about Amen.

Now as for playing "all the hits". They're not. These are the biggest hits they're currently ignoring:

- Runaway
- Only Lonely
- I'll Be There For You
- Living In Sin
- In These Arms
- Always
- This Ain't A Love Song
- Thank You For Loving Me
- (You Want To) Make A Memory

Sure, they're not their biggest hits, but neither is Have A Nice Day and it's there anyway. Out of these 9 songs they've been ignoring the same 5 songs for the last 25 years. Unless you're lucky, then you might just get Always or Living In Sin. Now you could pick 2, put them in the set and out of a list of 21 songs 2 would be aimed at the die hards. Now fill the other 4 slots with album cuts that fits the category "general partystuff" like Raise Your Hands or We Got It Goin' On and you've get a much better setlist.

Let's recreate the set with stuff that's relatively easy to sing and would go over well enough with American audiences:

1. This House Is Not For Sale
2. Knockout
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. 99 In The Shade
5. Just Older
6. When We Were Us
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Who Says You Can't Go Home
9. It's My Life
10. This Ain't A Love Song
11. Breakout
12. Little Bit Of Soul
13. Keep the Faith
14. Thank You For Loving Me
15. Bed of Roses
16. Lay Your Hands on Me
17. God Bless This Mess
18. Have a Nice Day
19. Bad Medicine

Encore:
20. Wanted Dead or Alive
21. Livin' on a Prayer

All I did was change 6 songs. I put in 2 extra hits and then added 4 album cuts of which only 2 have barely been played in their entire career. Now tell me again how this setlist doesn't work, and the ones Bon Jovi come up with does? I'm very much aware on how maybe 5% of the audience consists of die hards, but 5% of a set consisting of 21 songs still means roughly 1 to 2 songs aimed at die hards, which is pretty much what I did when changing up this set. For a band who keeps going on about how the Hall of Fame was a thank you to the fans they show little appreciation towards the die hards when actually playing in front of them. Now as to how many people have seen this show before; I'd say this number is close to 80%, which would make the argument to mix it up a lot stronger than whatever reason Jon sees for keeping it the way it is.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan