Originally Posted by semigoodlooking (Post 1273580)

Isn't it more likely that the casuals would prefer not to listen to neither a cut from the first two records, or album songs from post 2000? Wouldn't the casual "Bon Jovi are coming through town, they have some cool songs, let's check them out" fan prefer a setlit built entirely of singles?

Whether those singles were popular at the time or not, when they head to YouTube or Spotify, for example, those are the songs they will see/hear. There are plenty of singles that would appeal to both the casual and die-hard as much as Shot Through the Heart or Whole Lot of Leaving would. In fact, Whole Lot of Leaving was a single in some markets, so I guess people would prefer to hear that as a casual listener.

Originally Posted by Thinny (Post 1273582)

Yea, but the casual fans and nostalgia fans are not the same though.

The casual fans are the ones that only know Cross Road or The Greatest Hits. The songs have have been played on the radio (or get the most YouTube views/Spotify plays).

The nostalgia fans are the ones that aren't interested in anything post 1995 (earlier for some).

And then there are the fans that are familar with all albums from all eras, mostly the hardcore fans.

Let's be honest there are no fans, or at least very few, that like 2000 onwards only....

Originally Posted by James_86 (Post 1273589)

I think this issue with what is and what isn't played has only really become a problem over the last couple of years due to Jon losing the ability to sing.

Up to and including the WAN tour, set lists have always been shaken up regularly to appease casual and die hard fans.

I've seen alot of bands over the years but I've never known any to alter their sets as drastically as Jon did. Most bands stick to the same rigid set and change one or two for the same songs every other night. Jon used to change set lists on a whim if he decided he wanted to play something different.

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Originally Posted by James_86 (Post 1273589)

I've seen alot of bands over the years but I've never known any to alter their sets as drastically as Jon did. Most bands stick to the same rigid set and change one or two for the same songs every other night. Jon used to change set lists on a whim if he decided he wanted to play something different.

Originally Posted by Supersonic (Post 1273593)

Aloha !







Jon never used to change setlists on a whim. The times he did so are rare. He'll make you believe he's doing something spontaneous and yet when you see the set it was planned all along. There's plenty of bootlegs on which he'll go "I'm changing the set, I'm going crazy tonight!" and he'll then add 1 song followed by the same set as the previous night.



As for other bands not changing the set; I've seen this argument plenty of times but bands who don't change their set while on tour do change it per tour. With Bon Jovi, the setlist has been pretty much the same for well over 20 years now. The new songs are replaced by newer songs on the next tour.



Now compare this to other bands and you'll find that a lot of them have put in at least 3 different songs in the set they didn't play last tour. The last time Bon Jovi brought back a song from the dead and made it a regular was Amen in 2018. But the last time Bon Jovi brought something back from the dead people actually cared for was Something For The Pain in 2010. And even that one was often one of the first songs dropped if Jon wanted to cut short the acoustic set.



Take the average setlist of the Crush tour and compare it to the average setlist of the 2019 tour. Take out the new stuff and you've got a difference of just 6 songs:



2000 had:

I'll Be There For You

Someday I'll Be Saturday Night

Say It Isn't So

One Wild Night



2019 had:

Raise Your Hands

Lost Highway

Whole Lot of Leavin'

We Weren't Born to Follow

Have a Nice Day

Amen



And most setlists on a tour are completely without rarities. You've got your entire North American tour of which 90% is completely standard. There's plenty of European shows without rare songs. You're from the U.K. but take the last 3 tours in the U.K.;



For every show with something supposedly spontaneous there's at least 2 or 3 with predictable, standard setlists. You're from the U.K. so your perspective is a bit skewed but even on the 2010 tour which had great setlists you'd often be able to predict the changes for the following night.



So yes, Bon Jovi play a rare song occasionally. They mix it up. But the pool of songs they pick from has been the same for close to 20 years as well. If they're going to play a rare song you know it's either These Days, Always or a song no one but Jon enjoys.



Meanwhile, other bands however play a rare song or two every night. I follow quite a lot of artists like I follow Bon Jovi and none of them play the same stuff night after night, tour after tour. I know there's examples of bands that do but those are absolutely in the minority. Would Bon Jovi play very different setlists per tour the critisism would be a lot smaller as die hards would be pleased every night as opposed to 1 in 3 to 4 shows.



Salaam Aleikum,

Sebastiaan

Originally Posted by Supersonic (Post 1273593)

Aloha !

So yes, Bon Jovi play a rare song occasionally. They mix it up. But the pool of songs they pick from has been the same for close to 20 years as well. If they're going to play a rare song you know it's either These Days, Always or a song no one but Jon enjoys.


Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Originally Posted by James_86 (Post 1273594)

Your first sentence completely backs up my last sentence but ok. I'm not suggesting whole set lists were changed. That's ridiculous. I was merely pointing out where Jon has decided to play something different as an opener for example.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but it's well documented Jon writes the set hours before a show. Would that be necessary if the set was the same every night with the same pool of 'rare' songs?

Yes, I am from the UK and I've been fortunate to see plenty of songs that aren't These Days, Always or Dry County. Peace.

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Originally Posted by Captain_jovi (Post 1273596)

I think a lot if that is pre-planned though, ie on a certain tour if they did two shows in a city and wanted to swap them out, they'd be predetermined. Swapping out the opener isn't a case of "Jon might switch it to any song possible" it'll be either Happy Now or Blood on Blood for The Circle tour. WAN was That's what the water made me, and someones Last Man Standing. Setlists are done a few hours before, sure, but the ones he's pulling from aren't that deep a well.