jrnyman28 wrote:strangegrey wrote:[What they don't realize is that the same efforts also turn away the 30-40 something crowd....and once you turn your back on your core audience, you're fucked.
And Journey did this with their setlists for years...only catered to their casual fans instead of their core...
Judging by the general reaction of the crowds, I'd say they played the right songs most of the time, because they are still playing big venues 10 years later. Your core base is maybe 100 people out of 10,000 at a show. The "casual fan" is who allows them to tour large venues. Leave it to the core fan and they will be playing in your local nightclub.
Nothing wrong with mixing up the setlist to keep the diehards and band members on something other than cruise control. If you stray too far away from the hits though, you are going to lose your casual fans--which is the majority of your $$$.
One thing that Thunder did, and what I think is a wonderful idea, is to play one show a year for the diehards. Sometimes it was acoustic, sometimes it was electric, sometimes it was both. Either way, it was a small, cozy venue right before Christmas with a bunch of album tracks, and a few select covers, and very few--if any--of the hits. Then, sell recordings of the show through your website. It seemed to work very well as it sold out every year, the fans loved it as they got to hear songs that rarely get an airing live, and it was a way for the band to play something different and fun and skip the usual "hits show". You would think more bands would take a hint.
