Pretty much this. It seems that Jon dropped THINFS songs slowly throughout the tour, likely recognizing that a lot people weren't really going to hear them. But it's still baffling that songs like Whole Lot of Leavin, Lost Highway, We Weren't Born to Follow, and Because We Can are still lingering around.

It wasn't so bad during the Lost Highway/Circle tours, for example, since the "standard vanilla" setlist back then still would've included I'll Be There For You, Blood on Blood, Someday I'll Saturday Night, etc. That's just simply not the case anymore.

Exactly. 'Lost Highway' is actually one of my favourite Bon Jovi songs, but there are so many songs which have been played pretty much every night for the past three/four tours which just don't need to be there.

Simple little changes in the past ten years could have done wonders even today making things slightly less stale. 'One Wild Night' for 'Raise Your Hands' was a common one.
What happened to 'Just Older'?
Is 'Bounce' a Bon Jovi album?
'Novocaine', 'I'm With You', 'Undivided', 'Living In Sin', 'Blaze of Glory' etc. etc.
I'm sure Jon's voice wouldn't handle some of them but he's tried with the likes of 'These Days' etc.

I think this has direct relation with the number of songs in a setlist (easy songs) but I still think there exists better BJ easy songs... or those are JBJ favorites? Come on Johnny, you can’t have that bad taste! -_- or do you think those were big hits? >_<

He's called Roller Coaster a "hit single" during 2017 concerts - so maybe yes :mrgreen:

Well, WLOL is a great song, just maybe not for a concert, though I always like to hear it. LH Jon thinks very highly of, WWBTF was a hit (?) and is great song for me, and BWC is the only one I could most certainly do without, although it's catchy and was a single...

And yes, he refers to RC as a hit single, because it charted in the top 100 on Billboard AC (?). A little twisted reality, but not too far from the truth ;-)

I really really like WLOL as well, it's a great tune in my book. It just doesn't work in a combo with Lost Highway as the 4th and 5th song, because it kills off any energy that had been built previously. If they were seperated and one would appear now and then in rotation with others, I'd be all for it.
But that combination already didn't work in 2010 when it was done a lot and since Jon has been talking so much about trying to avoid that "dull moment" in the set (I think it was in the WWWB documentary), I'm still baffled as to why he doesn't change the structure in the beginning.
Looking back, the Bounce and HAND tours had 6 or 7 rather fast-paced songs fired in at the beginning to get the crowd going. That works because after these you are more receptive for something slower to catch your breath again. That's been the flaw in Dusseldorf 2011 as well (even though LH and WLOL weren't even in the set). The placement of slower or unknown mid-tempo songs prevented the show from taking off at any point of the night.

Yeah, I think WLOL would work great later in the set, or maybe to open the (1st) encore or something like that. Same for WWWB. Great song, but please not in the first 5-10 songs. Get 'em pumped up and then time to relax, as you said.

Setlists will always cause an argument within fans.

Whats a rare gem to you is a piss break for a casual.

Def Leppards Joe Elliot was on Eddie Trunk this week - they are touring US soon and he said lets be honest - no one wants to hear me say - and tonight theres 5 new songs and 2 b-sides in the set list.
The few hundred diehards would love the b-sides and 90% of the crowd dont want new songs.
He added that you have to remember - the first 5 rows are people who have bought everything youve ever done on every format but the further back you go those people just want the 1 to 3 songs they have loved all their life.

He finished with the Rolling Stones play all their hits live and after the show or between shows (used to) play fan club gigs in small venues doing nothing but rare tracks and b-sides for die hards.

You have to remember the casuals are who sell out shows nowadays - those few 1000 who just want Livin on a Prayer or faith. They dont want Dry County or Wild is the wind - they have never heard it - maybe once.

The casuals are likely to see you every tour even though they only own 1 album - its them the band will make their money out of.

So I get the "shit" set lists as they arent aimed at the die hard but I do think theres better songs to be played than stuff like Amen etc.

You summed it up perfectly. In North America those songs bring the vibe down and people take their breaks. It may be different in Europe, Japan etc. But if they're going to insist on playing the same non singles from tour to tour and not swap them out with other album cuts I have no desire to be there.

Exactly! Twisted JohnBo. Like with the number one album twice, 30 sold out shows, etc.
We all know the real truth... and I think JBJ knows it too (I mean he can’t be that stupid! >_< lol). For me it’s a marketing strategy... saying only good things of your brand and even don’t playing rarities so diehards come back next concert. Of course I could be totally wrong! I just sometimes think like a capitalist >_<

Btw I love this conversations, it’s like “trying to solve life’s mysteries”