What makes Jon look bad....

Originally Posted by rainsong

I'll give you BOR, Always or SDIBSN Seb but I don't consider them rarities so there you go. Hook me up??? Most mass audience fans in the US wouldn't know that song, Something for the Pain??? Again most mass audience fans in the US would never have heard of it. The general public that go to BJ shows in the US want the hits, the stuff they have heard on the radio, and/ or the stuff they heard in their youth which comes from the SWW/NJ era.

Europe is a much better place to see rare material live.
I'll give the Europeans all the kudos for knowing their album tracks, not just the hits. All I'm saying is that outside of the markets I mentioned, where there is a tendency for there to be a larger amount of knowledgable fans of BJ's catalog, alot of the shows I go to are full of casual fans who are aware of the band know the hits, but don't have much knowledge of the bands deeper catalog. Will they let them plat SFP?? sure and maybe some will even like it ok, but mostly it won't get the response here in the US that a hit will.

Richie is a great singer and should get a huge response when he does his thing but he doesn't, he'll get a huge response from almost any guitar solo he plays, which he should but not for his singing, because to a casual fan that's not how it should be, Jon should be singing, period.
I remember being in Minneapolis the night that they did the half acoustic half electric show. It was a great show, I was in heaven with them doing the acoustic thing but there were people all around me who were like "well it was cool and they sound good but I wanted them to rock like they did in the second half with all the hits, that is what I want to see". I wanted to strangle them!!! I tried to explain how rare what they had just seen was here in the US but it didn't matter, they wanted what the second half of the show gave them and that was it.

I just think it's a fine line Jon walks with setlists, at least here. Is there more he could do??? Certainly, and for me it would be fabulous to hear deep cuts at shows, but I'm not the mass public and they let him know time and time again, what it is they came to hear.
I do wish he'd say **** it now and then and play something just for fun, I'll agree he could and that he usually just plays it safe because it's easier.

Originally Posted by rainsong

I'll give you BOR, Always or SDIBSN Seb but I don't consider them rarities so there you go. Hook me up??? Most mass audience fans in the US wouldn't know that song, Something for the Pain??? Again most mass audience fans in the US would never have heard of it. The general public that go to BJ shows in the US want the hits, the stuff they have heard on the radio, and/ or the stuff they heard in their youth which comes from the SWW/NJ era.

Europe is a much better place to see rare material live.
I'll give the Europeans all the kudos for knowing their album tracks, not just the hits. All I'm saying is that outside of the markets I mentioned, where there is a tendency for there to be a larger amount of knowledgable fans of BJ's catalog, alot of the shows I go to are full of casual fans who are aware of the band know the hits, but don't have much knowledge of the bands deeper catalog. Will they let them plat SFP?? sure and maybe some will even like it ok, but mostly it won't get the response here in the US that a hit will.

Richie is a great singer and should get a huge response when he does his thing but he doesn't, he'll get a huge response from almost any guitar solo he plays, which he should but not for his singing, because to a casual fan that's not how it should be, Jon should be singing, period.
I remember being in Minneapolis the night that they did the half acoustic half electric show. It was a great show, I was in heaven with them doing the acoustic thing but there were people all around me who were like "well it was cool and they sound good but I wanted them to rock like they did in the second half with all the hits, that is what I want to see". I wanted to strangle them!!! I tried to explain how rare what they had just seen was here in the US but it didn't matter, they wanted what the second half of the show gave them and that was it.

I just think it's a fine line Jon walks with setlists, at least here. Is there more he could do??? Certainly, and for me it would be fabulous to hear deep cuts at shows, but I'm not the mass public and they let him know time and time again, what it is they came to hear.
I do wish he'd say **** it now and then and play something just for fun, I'll agree he could and that he usually just plays it safe because it's easier.