Songs freezing in Play List Mode

My latest issue deals with the Play List. Up until the last month, it has never failed me but it has caused crashes (until I rolled back SONAR Platinum to July 2016). My latest issue is a freezing of the next song after starting the set (or in the middle of the set). it will play only one or two measures and then freeze (cannot exit, cursor stops, need to use task manager to shut off).
My band uses the Play List for performance and has not had any issues until the last few months. Any Ideas?

I use the playlist extensively and have had a similar problem in the past, but certainly not linked to the latest updates (currently running 2017-04). A few things to check:
 
1. Do the projects load and play correctly outside of the playlist?
2. Does the order of the playlist make any difference? Is it always the same project/s causing the issue inside of the playlist?
3.There was an issue with one of the updates last year where using fx chain presets would cause exactly the behaviour you are describing, and only whilst playing back in the playlist. To make things even more confusing,  it was the next project loading (which contained the fx chain presets) that would cause the freeze, rather than the one currently playing! Do your projects contain fx chain presets? If so, try extracting the fx chains and resaving the projects.
 
The only other time I had a similar issue with the playlist turned out to be a faulty usb flash drive. 
 

Cactus Music
I'll be following this too. I'm getting close to switching from Win Amp to Sonar for my live playback. 
 
My plan is to keep the projects Audio only and 4 tracks. I will have a midi tracks to control effects only. 
I also bought Home Studio for this trusting it will be more stable than Splat. 
 
And as always, I'll have a redundant playback system ready to use. 
I cringe to think of using a backing track system that would freeze up a computer. 
I've not had a show stopper since my floppy disk days. 

I have been using the playlist for live shows for many years Johnny (since Cakelive for DOS midi days in fact!) and have never had a showstopper caused by Sonar. I run around 24 audio tracks + midi cues for lighthing, mixer scenes and guitar patch changes in Platinum, as well as DMXIS lighting controller and Bome Midi Translator for remote control all on a single laptop. No issues at all aside from the one fx chain issue I mentioned above, which was remedied by Cakewalk in the next update after I reported it. 
 
I am always amazed more people don't use the playlist. It is a great feature.

Cactus Music
Thanks, I know you are the one who recommended it to me a while back. I'm almost there it's taking a long time to set up my first 60 songs. I have over 150 backing tracks but don't really use a lot anymore. 
 
I'm sticking to 4 audio tracks right now as that's all the outputs I have on both my interfaces. 
I'm looking at the Motu Ultra lite MK4 which would give me more, and it would solve the Effexts and mixer issues as well. It would do it all! No patch cables or outboard gear! And wireless remote for band mates monitors. 
 
Do you freeze your synths? I use AD2, Strike2 and SI bass, SI piano, True Pianops , some Dim pro for organ and TTS-1. Most songs have only 4 Vst's. 6 Max. Could I leave them un frozen? 

Ah yes - I remember now. I am a big fan of the playlist and quick to recommend:)

I do freeze all synths (I bounce them to audo actually, but same outcome). The project load times are much faster. Also when a playlist is enabled the next song loads whilst the current one is playing. I found that some vst synths didn't always play well in that circumstance. I do run various vst fx on audio tracks without issue. 
 
With regard to interface choice for live performance I  recommend  trying before you buy. I tried using a motu 828 mk3 as well as my RME Fireface UFX and found that the FX on both were not up to scratch for live performance, and the MOTU wasn't particular stable with Sonar. They are  really recording interfaces with 'vanity fx' designed for studio use. There are many affordable rack mount digital mixers out there with multitrack interfaces built in that are designed for live performance that can also be used in the studio  (Soundcraft, Behringer, Allen & Heath and Mackie just to name a few). 
 
Bear in mind also (as you no doubt realise) you can for the time being still keep your projects with more tracks than you have audio outputs. This gives you the flexibility to make ongoing adjustments to your mixes as well as ensuring when you do move to a device with higher channel count you will not need to change your backing projects - simply reassign the outputs.