Two day show
 

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.

You sure do have alot of spare time on your hands...

Apart from the obvious setlist issues, which have been discussed to death on here, I feel they could have made ALOT more use of the B-stage idea from the HAND tour.. i saw 3 shows with that stage, and Jon only came out once onto the walkway stage on two of them (was scripted, for In These Arms both times). U2 utilize this idea alot more, all members are radio-miced up and can roam around for alot of the show, even Larry (the drummer) has some bongos mic-ed up and was on walkabout too.
That being said, the stages themselves from Bouce, Hand and LH tours were pretty class.

But as for your 2 day shows idea, i dont feel its really worth discussing as it will never happen.

But i would like maybe for them to do some 'album shows', not just for new album like from LH tour but say play New Jersey (these days sadly wouldnt really work IMO) start to finish and then an encore of other songs. Bruce did several shows like that last tour..think he did Born to run from start to finish a few times.

andi

Well, fun idea. But it will never happen that Bon Jovi won't play Prayer, It's My Life, Wanted, Bad Medicine, Born To Be My Baby etc. every night. Everybody in the audience ain't die hards. You've got to give and take. The hits for the normal people and the rare tunes for the die hards ;) I would have been dissapointed if I did'nt hear Prayer when I went to a Bon Jovi show.

Aloha !

First; U2 were wank and Bono's voice was shit.

Take a look at this topic, in case you've missed it; http://www.drycounty.com/jovitalk/sh...ad.php?t=48266

Your theory makes some sense, but not a whole lot, the way you categorized your songs doesn't add up. Also, your example setlist of the first show is a bit odd. Not playing the biggest hit of the new album you're touring makes no sense. Starting your show with a third class hit isn't such a bright idea either, considering how well Last Man Standing worked.

Moving platforms for separate band members suck, it's not worth the effort because Bon Jovi fans don't want drum solo's or piano solo's. That keyboard solo of David Bryan on the Bounce Tour was a snooze fest and I don't think Tico is capable of doing a drum solo that doesn't sound like anything that Matt Sorum did in the nineties. And nobody wants drum solo's anyway, unless it's something special like what Phil Collins did with Genesis or Steve Lee with Gotthard.

Apart from the setlist and the way their stage looks I'm fine with what Bon Jovi shows are like. I don't need a stage like U2 has, it looked pretty shit and the videoscreens were of mediocre quality. All this flashy stuff isn't needed, just play the stuff both your fans and your die hards want on a stage that looks decent and we're there. And if you're going to do something extra, use the catwalk you let your people build. It was perfect for some acoustic songs, but it was barely used. Shame.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I really don't see how you put HAND in 1st class and wanted and always in 2nd. Always was a number 1 single (the only one I believe) and wanted is one of there best known songs, thatvi personally think is there most widely accepted and liked song, that also did very well in the charts. My friends don't know faith or HAND, they know wanted and always...

Which solo was this?

He played a little solo before Right Side of Wrong on the Bounce Tour ;)

Ah right. Thanks. :)

Which country are we talking about?

He also played a keyboard solo before Joey at Glasgow in 2003. It did sound a little like the Dry County intro and I was thinking YES, then the disapointment set in.