Sunday, February 28, 2010

Anaheim 2nd night set list

Still no song from the first two albums and "Keep the Faith" (which I would personally take over "We Got It" any day of week) was dropped. But we did get some changes from the previous night -- including the addition of one of my favourites, "Hey God" which made its tour debut. Definitely going to be on the lookout for that on YouTube!

Thanks again to JoviBecky for the updates.

ANAHEIM, USA - HONDA CENTER - FEBRUARY 27, 2010
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Whole Lot of Leavin'
Born to be my Baby
Lost Highway
When We Were Beautiful
Superman Tonight
We Got It Going On
Bad Medicine w/ Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)
It's My Life
Homebound Train [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
(You Want To) Make a Memory
I'll Be There For You
Something for the Pain [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Hey God
Work for the Working Man
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Love's the Only Rule

ENCORE:
Thorn In My Side
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Anaheim 1st night set list

A lot of diehard fans following the play-by-play were pretty disappointed by the first show in California tonight. After apologising for playing the same set in a slightly different order in San Jose and Glendale, and promising:
1 song from first album one from 7800 tomorrow same saturday. just different songs....jbj (That's Feb 26 my time, which was the 25th over there)
....what we got was the exact same set as in Glendale, in the same order, minus "Lost Highway".

Presumably the "production" problems Jon cited in his tweets were still plaguing the band. (Either that or Jon is a filthy liar, but I try to see the good in people :P ). I for one would rather the focus be on the music than the flashy screens. As I tweeted during the PBP of this deja vu set:
@BonJovi Just stand under a spotlight & do Stick To Your Guns barefoot acoustic. No fancy prod required. That'll shut us up. ;)
Wonder what'll happen tomorrow night.

Anyway, thanks to JoviBecky for tonight's PBP! :)

EDIT: According to Mike Rew and BonJovi.com "Get Ready" was played between "Bad Name" and "Baby" which improves the set somewhat. But I wasn't alone in interpreting Jon's tweet to mean there would be one song from each of the first two albums. And my comment about music over production still stands.

ANAHEIM, USA - HONDA CENTER - FEBRUARY 26, 2010
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Get Ready
Born To Be My Baby
When We Were Beautiful
Superman Tonight
We Got It Going On
Bad Medicine w/ Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)
It's My Life
Homebound Train [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Hallelujah
Bed of Roses
Something for the Pain [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Keep the Faith
Work for the Working Man
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Love's the Only Rule

ENCORE:
Thorn In My Side
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Friday, February 26, 2010

Bon Jovi tweets address set lists

Last night's set in Glendale was virtually identical to that of the previous show in San Jose, a stat not lost on fans following the set lists.

These couple of tweets appear to be addressing that issue...

thanks for last night. sorry some of the production didn't work thats why i couldn't change the set list.

this is jbj....also, more old stuff next 2 nights..

In that case, bring on Anaheim. I'm hoping to be shocked in a really good way.
I always like performing in Anaheim, Great crowd and Great sounding venue. See you Friday and Saturday Anaheim - TT via web

Glendale concert review

Here is a review of the Glendale show by Larry Rodgers from the Arizona Republic. It's pretty positive.

Perhaps it's because Bon Jovi's leader is edging toward 50 or because the band still catches grief from some critics or because of another Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snub - whatever the reason, the 27-year old group is playing with renewed focus and power on its latest tour.


Which goes to show, sometimes diehard fans turn out to be Bon Jovi's biggest critics. But Jon, you can hardly blame us when we're following every set of every gig, often as you're playing it, and you deliver the exact same songs as the previous concert! ;)

Anyway, you can read the full review and check out some photos here.

Also check out this Bon Jovi feature from the same reporter.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Glendale set list

Well, Bon Jovi just wrapped up their show in Arizona and if you'd told me a month ago that this would be an average or even boring set list, I would have laughed at you. But... there it is. Hopefully the band mixes it up a bit more in Anaheim, where they're playing two shows.

GLENDALE, USA - JOBING.COM ARENA - FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
Lost Highway
When We Were Beautiful
Superman Tonight
We Got It Going On
Bad Medicine w/ Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)
It's My Life
Homebound Train [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Hallelujah
Bed of Roses
Something for the Pain [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Keep the Faith
Work for the Working Man
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Love's the Only Rule

ENCORE:
Thorn in my Side
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

San Jose videos + Thorn In My Side from Seattle

A few videos from the San Jose show. You can read the full set list here.

"This Is Our House" plays while the crowd waits for the band to come on, then about half of "Blood on "Blood" is captured in this video. It's pretty awesome, kind of like watching Stargate. :P


KEEP THE FAITH (partial) - Played for the first time this tour. Would have been cool to get the jungle sound effects. ;)


SOMEDAY I'LL BE SATURDAY NIGHT - Ok, I admit it, I'm biased towards this song. And I happen to love it acoustic.


WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE - The "national anthem".


Hath & Co have a full video guide up on their Circle Tour Blog.

I also decided to include this vid of "Thorn In My Side". It's from the second show in Seattle but they also played it at the start of the encore in the first Seattle show, and again in San Jose. Love the twin solo/jam session Jon and Richie indulge in at the end of the song. That's the way live music should be.

Ray Davies confirms Jon Bon Jovi collaboration

Ray Davies, best known as the lead singer of British rock band The Kinks, plans to release an album of duets. He reportedly recorded "Better Things" with Bruce Springsteen and "Celluloid Heroes" with Jon Bon Jovi in January. Read the full article here.

Here is Bon Jovi singing "Celluloid Heroes" with Ray Davies at Shepherds Bush Empire, London in 2002.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

San Jose set list

"Keep the Faith" made its much welcome tour debut tonight in pretty much the only surprise at the San Jose Arena. As awesome as songs like "Something for the Pain" and "Homebound Train" are (I'd love them to at least be semi-regular and it would mean a These Days song every night), I hope the boys aren't settling into a predictable routine. No songs from the first two albums tonight, same encore as the previous two shows, and "Bad Name" has more or less been in that same spot for years.

Thanks to blushingbrunett for supplying set list info.

SAN JOSE, USA - HP PAVILION AT SAN JOSE - FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
Lost Highway
When We Were Beautiful
Superman Tonight
Keep the Faith
We Got It Going On
It's My Life
Homebound Train [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Hallelujah
Bed of Roses
Something for the Pain [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Work for the Working Man
Bad Medicine w/ Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor Doctor)
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Love's the Only Rule

ENCORE:
Thorn In My Side
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Monday, February 22, 2010

Homebound Train, Something for the Pain, I'll Be There For You in Seattle

Some more killer videos from Seattle including the moment we've all been waiting for... Richie Sambora singing, not "I'll Be There For You", but an almost forgotten New Jersey classic...

HOMEBOUND TRAIN - Richie's bluesy voice graced this song both nights in Seattle. This video is from the second night (February 20, 2010) and sounds excellent!


SOMETHING FOR THE PAIN - Another one, this time from the 2nd night.


I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU - Jon and Richie, shoulder to shoulder on "the circle".


Related posts:
Set lists from Seattle: February 19 and February 20

Videos from Seattle:
"Roulette";
"Something for the Pain";
"Someday I'll Be Saturday Night", Shot Through the Heart", and "Bed of Roses";
"Make a Memory" and "Bad Medicine".

Remember Hath & Co's Circle Tour blog is a one-stop shop for more goodies from the tour.

Make a Memory and Bad Medicine from Seattle 2nd night

A couple of vids from February 20 in Seattle. Full set list for this show here.

MAKE A MEMORY - Some love this, some hate it, some are just bored by it. It's actually one of my favourite Lost Highway songs but I'm pretty sure it would go down like a brick if they played it in my hometown. ;)


BAD MEDICINE - with a medley song other than "Shout!" at last. Robert Palmer's "Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor Doctor)" was nicely segued into an entertaining performance.


I still haven't found Richie's rendition of "Homebound Train" from either night in Seattle but hopefully someone captured it and gets it up on YouTube.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Saturday Night, Shot Through the Heart, Bed of Roses from Seattle 1st night

Some more videos from February 19 in Seattle. Watch "Something for the Pain" (acoustic) here and "Roulette" (webcast rip) here.

And click here for the full set list from that show.

SOMEDAY I'LL BE SATURDAY NIGHT (acoustic) - Great song, and underrated given its Crossroad twin "Always" was such a massive hit.


SHOT THROUGH THE HEART


BED OF ROSES


Still waiting on "Homebound Train".

Seattle 2nd night set list

The most "mediocre" setlist of the tour so far, which just goes to show how much Bon Jovi has raised the bar in only three shows. Not a bad set really, just very similar to the previous night in the same city.

Thanks to Sambora_Wanted and delux6211 (via tigrs99) for supplying the set information.

SEATTLE, USA - KEY ARENA - FEBRUARY 20, 2010
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
Get Ready
Runaway
When We Were Beautiful
Superman Tonight
Have a Nice Day
We Got It Going On
It's My Life
Homebound Train [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
(You Want To) Make a Memory
I'll Be There For You
Something for the Pain [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Work for the Working Man
Bad Medicine w/ Bad Case of Loving You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Love's the Only Rule

ENCORE:
Thorn In My Side
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Something for the Pain in Seattle 1st night

"Something for the Pain" was performed acoustically and I have to say I really love this version. It also gives me great hope that perhaps songs like "My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms" could be performed in a "gentler", acoustic arrangement if required (The album version was tough to sing in the mid-90s and would presumably be more difficult now) and still sound great.


Click here to see "Roulette" (ripped from the webcast) from the first night in Seattle and here for the full set list from this show.

Roulette from Seattle 1st night

For those who missed the webcast (or want to relive some of it), here is a rip of "Roulette". Jon reinforces his promise to delve deeper into Bon Jovi's discography before the band launches into this old classic.



Click here for the full set list from the show, which also included "Homebound Train", "Something for the Pain", and "Shot Through the Heart".

Bon Jovi heads to Glendale: Arizona Republic

This is a bit of a shameless plug, but it's also a pretty balanced feature on Bon Jovi. Larry Rodgers has written this article for the Arizona Republic ahead of their Glendale show on February 24, 2010. It considers the contrast between their huge popularity and almost non-existent critical acclaim. I have a little quote in the article, in response to a question about why I thought the band was considered "unfashionable" and dismissed by its critics.

Read the full article here.

I also couldn't help chuckling at some of the descriptions of old school Bon Jovi videos here. Like this one for "Runaway":
Video for the first single from Bon Jovi's self-titled album finds actress Jennifer Gatti facing life in a post-apocaplyptic world. The band is surrounded by flames, wrecked buildings and soldiers. But the attack has not affected Jon Bon Jovi's big, beautiful hair.

I love "Runaway" (although having already heard it live, I'd rather hear something else from the first two albums) but the video really was quite tragic when you think about it...

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Seattle 1st night set list

Wow. Just. Wow.

There was a live webcast on Ustream of the first 15 minutes of the show, which gave us five songs including "Roulette"! That was the last song we saw before the stream was cut.

The set list was identical to the first Honolulu show apart from "Lost Highway" replacing "Whole Lot of Leavin'".... up until "It's My Life".

It was an absolute shock, then, to read that Richie had actually stepped up to the mic for "Homebound Train"! Looks like they listened to all the fans who begged for Richie to sing something other than "I'll Be There For You".

We then got a couple of mature ballads in "Hallelujah" and "Bed of Roses" before another jaw dropper: "Something for the Pain". What a way to represent my favourite album! Guess Jon wasn't kidding about rehearsals... which might mean we'll get "Wild is the Wind" and "Little Bit of Soul" tomorrow night.

Special thanks to ladysambora for her play-by-play tweets.

SEATTLE, USA - KEY ARENA - FEBRUARY 19, 2010
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
Roulette
Shot Through the Heart
When We Were Beautiful
Lost Highway
Superman Tonight
We Got It Going On
It's My Life
Homebound Train [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Hallelujah
Bed of Roses
Something for the Pain [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Work for the Working Man
Bad Medicine
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Love's the Only Rule

ENCORE:
Thorn In My Side
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Bon Jovi streaming from Seattle

Don't forget, you can watch a live webcast of Bon Jovi's first three songs at Seattle's Key Arena today. At the time of posting, it starts a little over an hour away.

This dropped into my inbox a few hours ago:

Viewers around the world can experience the concert first-hand and interact by posting comments and questions using Ustream's Social Stream by going to: http://www.ustream.tv/BonJovi.

And of course, you can also view the stream on BonJovi.com (Ignore the countdown clock though; it's wrong by about 17 hours).

Soraia: The Road Not Taken

Soraia is an up-and-coming rock band from Philadelphia that opened for Bon Jovi at Summerfest last year. Obie O'Brien also produced their album Shed the Skin.

Anthony Kuzminski has written a riveting feature on antiMusic, detailing lead singer Sue Mansour's truly incredible story... Read all about it here.

You can also check out Tony's other articles/reviews of Soraia at The Screen Door.

What will Bon Jovi open with in Seattle? See for yourself!

It's mere hours before Bon Jovi hit the stage in Seattle, and you can

WATCH THE FIRST 15 MINUTES OF THE CIRCLE TOUR FROM HOME!
Bon Jovi kicks off The Circle Tour this Friday, February 19 in Seattle, WA and they wants fans all over the world sharing the excitement of the first concert! Be there for when the band enters the Key Arena and reveals the new stage, the new screens, the new production! These will be 15 minutes you are sure to remember for years to come and will undoubtedly get you fired up to see Bon Jovi in 2010 and 2011! Visit the homepage of BonJovi.com at 8:30pm (PST) on 2/19 to see a live stream of the first 15 minutes of Friday night’s debut on The Circle Tour!

(I believe 8:30pm PST = 4:30am GMT).

Wonder what they'll open with? Will we get a surprise first up, like at the February 11 Honolulu show, when they kicked off with "Blood on Blood"?

Here's the video of that performance to whet your appetite.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Flooding Twitter with set list requests

Well, couple of tweets on the Bon Jovi Twitter page got everyone pretty excited today:

this is jon. we are learning lots of old stuff. any requests... wild is the wind. something for the pain, little bit of soul, homebound train. today jbj

Some really excellent songs there. What else would you like to hear Bon Jovi dust off or play at your show?

Apart from These Days in its entirety, I'd personally love to hear "Dirty Little Secret" (Have a Nice Day bonus track). I think I might be the only person who would request that though, so I'm not expecting it to happen. ;)

Superman Tonight contest

Hot on the heels of the "Livin' on a Prayer" contest is this video contest for "Superman Tonight". BonJovi.com is inviting you to make a video using clips from the "Superman Tonight" video and photos of your own heroes. The contest runs until March 21. The weekly prize for the most watched video is a camcorder, while the overall prize is an autographed guitar. Click here for more details.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Good news for South American Bon Jovi fans

According to the Q&A on BonJovi.com:

February 17, 2010 Submitted by Belito
Q: Hello Obie!!! I'm Belén, from Argentina!!! I've loved the guys for 10 years now and I've always wished to see them live, but I've always believed that that would never happen. Last year, I heard a gossip about BJ coming to my country and I just can't believe it. I've tried to find some info about that and I couldn't. So pleaseee, tell me if that gossip is true or not!!!! I NEED TO KNOW!!! LOVE THEM SO MUCH, THEY KEEP ME ALIVE.

Thanks!!!!!!

A huge hug from Argentina!!!

A: South America will be seeing Bon Jovi.....dates and countries and venues are being finalized now..... I will post the info for you as soon as it's passed on to me. Ok, now you know...................


Looks like the band will finally return to South America! Fingers crossed for the loyal fans there who have kept the faith for over a decade.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Brokenpromiseland and Working Man from Honolulu

I posted some more videos of the old gems Bon Jovi dug up in Honolulu, including "Shot Through the Heart", in my previous post. From something old to something new, here are "Brokenpromiseland" and "Work for the Working Man".

BROKENPROMISELAND - One of the best songs on the album IMO. A little tentative here but this marks its first performance ever.


WORK FOR THE WORKING MAN - This song made its debut at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, performed by "JBJ & Friends". Here it is from Bon Jovi the band.


WE WEREN'T BORN TO FOLLOW

Shot Through the Heart and more golden oldies from Honolulu

Some more great videos from Honolulu shows have been uploaded. Thanks to all the Bon Jovi loving YouTubers who were in Honolulu last week.

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART - Finally, a full video of this! It's still amazing hearing this gem in 2010.


ROULETTE - Another video; I don't think I could get tired of hearing this one either.


GET READY - Is it just me, or does the band seem somehow refreshed after dusting these old gems off?


ONLY LONELY


TOKYO ROAD


And Richie Sambora's first lead vocal performance of the tour...

Monday, February 15, 2010

Listen to Hardest Part is the Night rehearsal on BonJovi.com

The official Bon Jovi site is currently streaming an audio clip of a live rehearsal of "The Hardest Part is the Night" here.

A rehearsal of "Only Lonely" is also available.

The full clips are available to Backstage JBJ members.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Only Lonely in Honolulu!

And here it is! "Only Lonely" from the second Honolulu show, February 12, 2010. Wow.

Full set list from that show here.



And "Only Lonely" in 1985...


I've also edited my previous post to include full videos of "Thorn In My Side" and "When We Were Beautiful".

More Honolulu videos

Happy Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year, readers and friends. What better way to celebrate than... more videos from the past two Bon Jovi shows in Hawaii? ;)

A couple of new songs...

WHEN WE WERE BEAUTIFUL


THORN IN MY SIDE


I'm loving The Circle more and more.

And a couple we've seen before, but slightly different...

WE GOT IT GOING ON - It's no secret that I think this is a terrible track but if it was written to be a mindless "party" song, it succeeded. Jon seems to have a lot of fun with it. And from about 2:05 onwards, Richie starts saying "We Got It Going On" with the talk box which is actually pretty cool.


YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME - Jon on the guitar... playing a solo that consists of more than two notes... What on earth is the world coming to? :P


Related posts:
"Roulette", "Diamond Ring", "Bed of Roses", and "Love's the Only Rule" from the first night;
"Tokyo Road", "Superman Tonight", and "Livin' on a Prayer" from the first night;
"Get Ready" and a snippet of "Only Lonely" from the second night;
Honolulu night #1 set list and comments;
Honolulu night #2 set list and comments.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Get Ready + Only Lonely - Honolulu night #2 videos

Some extreme rarities from the second Honolulu show for your viewing pleasure. You can check the full set list and my thoughts on it here.

GET READY - This is actually one of my favourites from the first album and it sounds great here. "You need someone to make it last, no Romeos who love and leave you fast..."


ONLY LONELY (partial) - Just a 30 second teaser... hopefully someone captured the whole song.


EDIT: There's now a full video of "Only Lonely" in this post. :)

Honolulu night #2 set list

The second Honolulu show, and the second show of the Circle tour just wrapped up about 20 minutes ago. Not as good a set as the first night, but we were lucky to get what we did. The obvious gem was "Only Lonely", which is my equal favourite 7800° Fahrenheit song (along with "The Hardest Part is the Night"). "Only Lonely" wouldn't have been played in at least two decades so I'm very keen to see this and hear how it sounds in 2010.

I'm eager to hear how "Thorn In My Side" and especially "Brokenpromiseland" sound live too. Come on, Hawaiian YouTubers! ;)

At this point I'm also wondering why "Whole Lot of Leavin'" and "We Got It Going On" had to be played both nights. I do actually like "Leavin'" but "We Got It Going On" is quite horrendous... Jon, if you want to play Lost Highway songs, please play good ones. :P What about "Any Other Day"?

Anyway, thanks again to the wonderful Big Apple Jovi Girl for her play-by-play tweets live from the Blaisdell Center.

EDIT: It seems a tweet about "Get Ready" being played between "Born To Be My Baby" and "Only Lonely" didn't go through properly. So that makes two big surprises for this show! :D

HONOLULU, USA - NEAL S. BLAISDELL CENTER - Feb 12, 2010
Lost Highway
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
Get Ready
Only Lonely
Thorn In My Side
When We Were Beautiful
Whole Lot of Leavin'
Superman Tonight
We Got It Going On
It's My Life
Bad Medicine
Hallelujah [Leonard Cohen cover]
I'll Be There For You [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Brokenpromiseland
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Love's the Only Rule

ENCORE:
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

More Honolulu night #1 videos

I'd been quite apprehensive about Jon's voice based on some of the promotional shows, but he doesn't sound bad at all. Here are some more videos from the first night (February 11, 2010) in Honolulu.

Videos of "Roulette", "Diamond Ring", "Bed of Roses", and "Love's the Only Rule" can be found here.

You can read the full setlist for the show here.

TOKYO ROAD - With the Japanese intro (like on the studio album), which I don't think they would have done since the 80s. "Tokyo Road" itself was last performed on the One Wild Night Tour to promote the release of the Japan-exclusive "best of" compilation of the same name. As a side note, this song makes me miss Tokyo.


SUPERMAN TONIGHT - A welcome return to the power ballad.


LIVIN' ON A PRAYER


Hath has a media guide to the show, including links to more videos ("Who Says You Can't Go Home", "We Got It Going On") on her Circle tour blog.

Honolulu night #1 videos

Videos from the first Circle tour show in Honolulu. You can read the full setlist here.

ROULETTE - Jon talks to the crowd before dedicating this lost treasure to "the hardcore lunatic fans who gave us such a hard time". If there's one criticism that can be levelled at the first two albums, it's that they sound comparatively dated (New Jersey, for instance, is much more timeless. But I don't believe the 80s are anything to be ashamed of.) But "Roulette" still holds up well in 2010, and it's such a cool song. My face hurts from grinning so much. :P


DIAMOND RING - Love the intimacy this song brings. Check out the response from Richie when Jon asks if anyone's married or wants to be. ;)


BED OF ROSES - One of the first Bon Jovi songs I ever heard and still in my top five of all time. So glad they brought it back on the last tour.


LOVE'S THE ONLY RULE - Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this song (catchy but fairly lightweight to be honest) could be so epic in a live setting. Jon fluffs some of the words and his voice is a bit thin (though better than at this stage of the previous tour), but I was almost shaking while watching this... and I wasn't even there!

Friday, February 12, 2010

Backstage with Mike Rew

SeattleInsider and Bon Jovi crew chief Mike Rew shows you the Circle Tour stage setup in this video. The boys play Honolulu again tonight before heading to Seattle for a couple of shows on February 19 and 20.

Meanwhile, I'm keeping an eye out for videos from the opening show, especially "Roulette", "Shot Through the Heart", "Tokyo Road", and the new songs. Hope some of you Hawaiian fans are keen YouTubers. ;)

Honolulu set list

Well! Show #1 of The Circle tour just wrapped up a few minutes ago and Jon kept his word with some huge surprises!

Special thanks to Big Apple Jovi Girl for her play-by-play tweets from Hawaii.

EDIT: Some videos from this show are now available here and here.

HONOLULU, USA - NEAL S. BLAISDELL CENTER - FEB 11, 2010
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
Roulette
Shot Through The Heart

When We Were Beautiful
Whole Lot of Leavin'
Superman Tonight
We Got It Going On
It's My Life
Bad Medicine
(You Want To) Make a Memory
Diamond Ring
Bed of Roses

Work for the Working Man
Have a Nice Day
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Love's the Only Rule

ENCORE:
Tokyo Road
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer


Opening with "Blood on Blood" was the first surprise before the band floored us with "Roulette" and "Shot Through the Heart". "Diamond Ring" and "Bed of Roses" were obvious gems too but "Tokyo Road" was the sweetest icing on the cake. My only real gripe is the lack of 90s stuff (my favourite Jovi decade), and my belief that a band with such an extensive catalogue should aim to represent every album (except This Left Feels Right :P ), including Bounce, at every show. But these are small gripes when you look at that whole set. Songs we hadn't heard in a decade, or two decades, and by all expectations would never hear again.

Massive thumbs up from me, Jon. If this is a sign of things to come, bring on the rest of the tour!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

An open letter to Jon Bon Jovi (regarding set lists)

After hearing the band talk about playing long lost rarities ahead of The Circle tour and canvassing the opinions of Bon Jovi fans, music writer Anthony Kuzminski has written this open letter to Jon.

I think his words speak to the heart of many a diehard... Check it out here.

Tony has also come up with a guide that could be followed to create an "ideal" set that balances what "needs" to be played and what diehards are craving. Check out his take on what Bon Jovi should play on The Circle tour. Agree? Disagree?

Sing Livin' on a Prayer with Bon Jovi

A new tour, and a new Bon Jovi fan video contest. Similar to the "I Love This Town" promo from the last tour, Bon Jovi want you to record yourself singing "Livin' on a Prayer" and upload it to their website. The best performances will be played on the big screen during the show. Visit prayer.bonjovi.com for more info,including a video introduction from Jon.

30 Rock - Liz meets JBJ

In this preview of the upcoming 30 Rock episode (which will air February 11 in the United States), Jack (Alec Baldwin) sits in the Hot Box and Liz (Tina Fey) meets Jon Bon Jovi.



"You shouldn't sign anything without reading it first. I made that mistake once and I ended up NBC's artist in residence."

Classic.

Everybody Hurts: Helping Haiti

The video speaks for itself.



Suite101.com, the online magazine I write for, unfortunately lost one of its own in the Haiti earthquakes... Dance/Techno feature writer James W. Coates was based in Port-au-Prince and working for the United Nations when disaster struck. You can read this tribute to him from music editor Guy W. Lecky-Thompson in Suite101's Limelight Blog. Rest in peace, James.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Happy Birthday David!

Happy birthday to the king of the keys, Mr David Bryan Rashbaum!

How about a performance of the Rolling Stones' "Tumbling Dice" featuring Dave on lead vocals and keyboard?

Friday, February 5, 2010

Richie and Tico's post-Grammys conference call

The transcript of Richie and Tico's conference call with the media on February 2 to promote The Circle tour can be found here. The response to Jonathan Hunley's question is credited to Tico but I'm pretty sure it's Richie talking.

The questions and answers cover the Grammys; the band's longevity; the stage set-up and possible setlists for the upcoming tour; playing to different audiences; the creative and recording process; politics; ticket prices; philanthropy; commercial success vs critical acclaim; the greatest hits album; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; and the effect of the internet and new media on the music industry.

It's fairly long but you can read the full transcript here. Some of it is stock standard PR stuff, but there are also some very interesting things said -- including the possibility, however slim, of hearing my favourite Fahrenheit song ("The Hardest Part is the Night") and a (not entirely accurate) claim that Bon Jovi tickets have always been relatively cheap...

Grammys make up with Bon Jovi

I'm sure I've seen, heard, or read this somewhere before so it's not exactly new news, but anyway...
Guitarist Richie Sambora tells us that Grammy organizers approached Bon Jovi about the performance after having denied the group the chance to play a couple of years ago: "They really actually came after us you know, we're really really getting ready for this tour. And I think it was like when we won the Grammy a couple of years ago with 'Who Says You Can't Go Home', we wanted to play and they didn't kind of let us play. This was kind of a respect situation when they came back and said, 'We're gonna give you six and a half minutes and guys could do what you want.'"

The rest of the 610 CKTB article is here.

EDIT: I worked out where I'd seen this before... the conference call that Richie and Tico gave after their Grammys performance. ;)

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Bon Jovi: Inside the Circle

A video series from last month to whet your appetite for The Circle tour...

Jon talks about the fans:


Jon considers playing album tracks:


Richie talks about the long-term relationship with his bandmates:


Jon talks about playing his home turf:


Jon and Richie talk about the evolution and longevity of the band, with a little input from David:


Richie, Jon, and David talk about the chemistry between the stage and the audience:


And if you haven't seen the "Superman Tonight" video yet, or you'd like to see it in better quality, it's now officially up on YouTube.

Tour tidbits

Bon Jovi are set to add two more shows at the new Meadowlands Stadium. The band is opening the new stadium in May and Kid Rock may be supporting them.

Richie Sambora and Tico Torres linked up with the media for a conference call after their Grammys performance:
The tour set will feature 10 LED screens and five custom-made digitally programmed robotic arms that will each hold high def video screens.
“Obviously we’ll have two different productions, a stadium production and an arena production,” Sambora said. “The arena is like a half circle and a pit that will be a VIP section … It will be 360 – we’re in the round, but not in the middle. We have some robots to actually move the television screens around the stage. It will be spectacular.”

Livin' on a Prayer in Late Night Glee parody

Presenting 6-bee (as in Studio 6B), a parody of Glee courtesy of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon featuring "Livin' on a Prayer".

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Helping Haiti - Everybody Hurts

Someone has uploaded the star-studded Haiti charity single, a cover of REM's "Everybody Hurts" to YouTube after it was played on BBC Radio 1. Click here to listen to it, assuming it doesn't get taken down. The single will be released on February 7.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Bon Jovi Grammys performance

Bon Jovi's performance of the Grammy-nominated "We Weren't Born to Follow", Grammy winner "Who Says You Can't Go Home" with Jennifer Nettles, and the winning song "Livin' on a Prayer" at the 2010 Grammy awards is already on YouTube.



I'm really undecided about this performance. It wasn't horrendous or anything. I mean, it could have been worse -- but it could have been better too. Jennifer is clearly covering for Jon on the high notes of "Prayer" but that's what basically happens at concerts (with the band and crowd singing for Jon what he hasn't had to since the 80s). If "Always" had won the poll, it would have been more obvious if and where Jon needed "saving".

"Prayer" might have packed more punch with the key change, but I don't know what Jennifer's range is like and this isn't like a Bon Jovi concert with tens of thousands of screaming fans to help out.

Overall, a pretty standard television performance, albeit before a bigger audience.