Just want you guys to know that a lot of the things mentioned in this thread have been passed on to the band. Trust me when I say that they care about what we think. But also trust me when I say that they also want to be able to present their artistic vision in a way that makes sense to them, and that even aside from that, there are reasons for doing some things certain ways that may not make sense to us that just have to be done that way for a tour to make sense. So even if they do not change things to cater to what we, the fans, may think we want to see or hear, they do care about what we think, and they do their best to try to create a balance that caters to as many needs as possible.
I think it's cool that they take fan opinions into consideration. At the same time, I'm glad for the bolded part and hope they continue to do it their way. I also hope they don't think that everyone hated this tour. I took the time to read the whole thread so I wouldn't just be coming in and saying things the don't make sense. Since this is the complaint thread, it makes sense that it would be full of complaints.
Yet there are also a lot of positives in this same thread, and more in the individual show threads. Even aside from that, I don't feel that all the complaints in this thread are indicative of what the general fanbase who went to the shows felt as a whole. Just like my feelings (that this album and tour was one of their very best) probably aren't indicative of it either. It's somewhere in the middle, but I think it leans much more to the positive than the negative.
I went to several shows on the tour, and tried to talk to different fans at each one, and observe people's reactions. I think the shows went off quite well. Some went in unsure of whether they would like it and came away wanting to listen to the album more. At just about every show, multiple people were talking about JLB's performance and "acting" and how it brought everything to life. Only one person said they wanted a female singer and everyone else around said no way. People who were sitting in the seats calmly that I thought were bored or not into it, were excited at intermission and after the encore, talking about all the things they loved. The camera policy had the most mixed reactions I suppose - a lot of people loved it and a lot of people hated it. There was a lot of excitement around the show and I hope they realize that for every complaint, there were more people who were really happy. Not everyone cares that whether they use a click track or not, not everyone thought they shows were boring, or the band was lifeless. (In fact I thought they were more animated on the second leg and MM, JP, and JLB upped their game). I'm sure there were people who went that didn't like it so much, but most that I came across weren't in that category. I think the biggest problem with the second leg attendance was logistics - too many of these shows were in cities that were close together and in markets that are smaller than they usually play in the first place.
If I had to give some constructive feedback, I'd say the sitting/standing thing was confusing. In an earlier post, someone said that ushers yelled at people to sit down. I never saw that happen, but at most shows I saw, either everyone sat or it was mixed. At a few, everyone got up as soon as the band came out on stage and stayed that way for the whole night. No one seemed really sure if the band wanted people to sit or not or if they were even allowed to stand. At the sitting shows, fans around me seemed really happy when JLB asked everyone to stand. So I guess, if they truly want people to sit, maybe they should communicate that somehow, and expect that it's naturally going to bring the fan energy down a little - someone who is sitting might be enjoying the show just as much, but it doesn't necessarily appear that way. If they want people to stand, and it sure seemed like JP did, make sure the ushers don't yell at them for doing so for starters, and maybe try to encourage them to get up earlier in the night and see what happens.
But everything else I think comes down to opinion and we all have different ones, so they should do what they feel is best for them. Phones or no phones? Up to them. I guess another suggestion I could give is that they make more of the professional photos available - put them on their website for people to download so they can get pics from the show they were at. Click track or not? Whatever they think works best for them. Actors and props on stage? I think it could have been cool, but it's hard to say. A nomac hanging from the ceiling would have been very cool, but wouldn't have made the show any better. More singers? Not after what JLB showed he was able to pull off.
I know the tour is over and you've shared feedback with the band and they're probably enjoying their time off and then will be focused on the I&W tour, but I wanted bring some of the positive side to it.