I am working to a strict deadline for a client, so I decided to spend an hour going through the setlists for the shows I have seen and list the songs and how many times they were played. Below is what I found:

Shows: Wembley 2000 Sat and Sun, Millennium Stadium 2001, Hyde Park 2003, Milton Keynes 2006 both nights, Twickenham first night 2008, Bristol 2008, Buenos Aires 2017.

9 shows and total songs and how many times they were played:

Living on a Prayer – 9
Bad Name – 9
Captain Crash – 8
Say it Isn’t So – 2
One Wild Night – 3
Born to be my Baby – 9
It’s My Life – 9
Runaway – 8
Bed of Roses – 3
I Got the Girl – 4
Saturday Night – 7
Wild in the Streets – 4
Just Older – 5
Lay Your Hands on Me – 5
I’ll Sleep – 9
Bad Medicine – 9
Two Story Town – 2
Blood on Blood – 5
Wanted – 9
Next 100 Years – 2
Keep the Faith – 9
These Days – 5
Thank You for Loving Me – 1
Raise Your Hands – 6
In These Arms – 7
Always – 3
Blaze of Glory – 3
Never Say Goodbye – 2
Bounce – 2
Everyday – 2
Undivided – 1
The Distance – 1
Misunderstood – 1
I’ll Be There for You – 6
Last Man Standing – 2
I’d Die for You – 1
Story of My Life – 2
Radio Saved My Life – 1
Have a Nice Day – 5
Who Says – 5
Bells of Freedom – 2
Complicated – 1
Living in Sin – 1
Lost Highway – 3
Whole Lot of Leaving – 2
Diamond Ring – 1
We Got it Goin On – 2
Dry County – 1
Summertime – 1
Lie to Me – 1
This House is Not for Sale – 1
Knockout – 1
We Weren’t Born to Follow – 1
We Don’t Run – 1
God Bless This Mess – 1

So, that’s 55 songs in total. I want to see what others here think of that. Do we think that’s a decent number of songs over 9 shows across two decades, although I missed a decade between 2007 and 2017?

It’s worth noting around 15 of those songs were played just to promote the album they were on. So, while they would be rare these days, at the time they were expected.

Of course, some of the songs played across all shows are obvious, such as Prayer, Bad Name, Wanted, Bad Medicine, It’s My Life, Sadly Who Says, and maybe Runaway. Others are more offensive, such as I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, Saturday Night, Born to Be My Baby (songs I enjoy but still), Raise Your Hands, and ****ing Captain Crash. Also, many of the dead weight songs above have become regulars since, such as Lost Highway, We Got it Goin On.

I’ll Be There for You has been regular enough to expect it at a show and I seen These Days, In The Arms, and Lay Your Hands on Me plenty of times too.

Add some more that became regulars; Have A Nice Day, Born to Follow and another familiar ballad (Always, Bed of Roses), that’s 21 songs we can expect to get at most shows, give or take a few that may be swapped out for something else regularly played (like Blood on Blood). Really does show that not a lot of rarities are played.

So, looking at my list, how many rarities did I get, bearing in mind I was attending through a decade when Bon Jovi were arguably at their peak as a touring act? I am thinking around 5 proper rarities, maybe even less. Lie to Me is obvious, Never Say Goodbye maybe, Dry Country? Possibly. Living in Sin.

For me, it all comes down to those few songs Jon insists on playing regularly even though they don’t seem to be very popular, or could easily be swapped for something else. Captain Crash, Raise Your Hands, Born to Be May Baby, I’ll Sleep, Lost Highway, We Got it Goin On, could easily be swapped for five other songs. Jon ignores so much of his catalog