Sniper15 wrote:
ZorakMU wrote:
The fact that John changes his set lists, solos, intros, etc at all is very cool. Once an act is playing arena or big theater shows there is usually very little variation. All stage production needs to be timed out: sound levels, lighting and instrument changes is pretty hard to be done on the fly. I think Kings of Leon are a great example - I saw them a few times on their last couple big tours and it seemed like it was note-for-note the same every time.

Another thing I think we have to consider is that for everyone of us in the audience that is seeing John for 20th time and 3rd time on the current tour, there are hundreds of people seeing him for the first time. So as much as I'd want John to play The Hurt or Breakaway, he's gonna play some songs for the people that are just now getting into his music or being able to come to a show for the first time.
There are a fair amount of big acts that play large venues that mix there sets up. Some examples are: Pearl Jam, DMB, Radiohead, etc.


With all due respect to John, he doesn't have the catalogue that PJ, DMB, or Radiohead have.  Battle Studies is only his fourth solo album.  It's much easier to mix up set lists when you have seven, eight, or nine studio albums, as the aforementioned bands do.

That said, he could still play a rarity or two, but as previously mentioned, most fans attend one or two shows a tour.  The casual fan wants to hear the hits, and expects to also hear a few songs off the album that the tour is promoting.  Unfortunately, I think it leaves John with little wiggle room regarding set lists.