Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Help Bon Jovi by completing a brief survey

Take this survey to give Bon Jovi some feedback about future releases, concerts, the fan club, etc. Includes questions related to the upcoming greatest hits.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Videos from London: Tour debuts of Letting You Go, Blaze, These Days electric

A couple of videos from the final night of Bon Jovi's o2 residency (June 26, 2010). Both these songs were played for the first time this tour, with "Letting You Go" played for the first time in significantly longer.

(IT'S HARD) LETTING YOU GO - Still picking my jaw up off the floor. Jon looks awfully pleased with himself at the end of this performance!


BLAZE OF GLORY - Jon seems to have made many people very happy by singing the original lyric "I'm the devil's son" instead of "I'm my father's son". ;)


THESE DAYS - The song technically made its tour debut on June 20 but was performed acoustic. Here it is in its original electric glory.

Bon Jovi on 60 Minutes + Richie Sambora in Total Guitar

Liam Bartlett from 60 Minutes in Australia interviewed Jon and the band in London. The segment, entitled 'It's My Life' aired tonight... I'm not sure if there are region restrictions but hopefully you can watch it at this link. Nothing much we haven't seen or heard before, though there's some footage of London including a snippet of the band soundchecking "Wild is the Wind".

Bartlett also blogged about the experience:
With natural trepidation, I asked if it was possible to see his face and reluctantly he obliged but the die was cast. Clearly, he looked tired – which was not surprising given the gruelling tour schedule the band is currently subjected to – and from the outset, not too happy.
Read the full blog here.

Also, check out this from Total Guitar's music editor Chris Bird about Richie:
I've always loved Richie Sambora's playing – he just makes it look so effortless. At the height of the grunge era of the early 90s, when hair metal and bands wearing leather and/or spandex were seriously out of fashion, Richie's playing was a guilty pleasure of mine. Bon Jovi were often tarred with the cock-rock/hair metal brush back in the late 80s. This may be fair comment, but some pretty handy guitarists emerged out of the genre and Richie was among the best.
Check out the full post here. Richie was interviewed in issue 203 of Total Guitar which is out now.

London (O2) 12th night set list

Despite the inclusion of "Bullet" and tour debut of "Blaze", it was looking as if the final show of Bon Jovi's o2 residency was going to end in a whimper instead of a bang.... until we got to the encore. The encore was six songs long and included "These Days" and, wait for it... "Letting You Go"! I was prepared to forgive them for "I Love This Town" with an effort like that.

I decided to stay up for the PBP (cheers to Dolph7800) and I'm very glad I did. In hindsight, it was pretty funny too: "Terrible set, terrible set, terrible set... OMFG THIS SET IS AMAZING!" I love us Bon Jovi fans. ;)

LONDON, ENGLAND - THE O2 ARENA - JUNE 26, 2010
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
Lost Highway
In These Arms
When We Were Beautiful
Blaze of Glory
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
We Got It Going On
Bad Medicine / Old Time Rock & Roll [Bob Seger cover/feat. Kid Rock]
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Bed of Roses
Diamond Ring
I'll Be There For You
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Bullet
It's My Life
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
Have a Nice Day
Wanted Dead or Alive
These Days
(It's Hard) Letting You Go
I Love This Town
Livin' on a Prayer

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Videos from London: Santa Fe, Blood Money, I Got the Girl, The Last Night + more!

Some videos from Bon Jovi's concerts at London's O2 arena.

I GOT THE GIRL (Show #10: June 23, 2010) - Jon reflects on how much Stephanie Rose has grown up since he wrote this song. Thanks to Maayan for sending me the link.

Other videos from the 10th show are at this link.


The following videos are from Show #11: June 25, 2010.

BLOOD MONEY


THE LAST NIGHT - When Bon Jovi played in Perth not long after Heath Ledger's death, Jon wore a Joker shirt and played this song. Not sure if it's a coincidence or not but this was the one year anniversary of Michael Jackson's death.


LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME - First time this tour that "Lay Your Hands" has been done with Jon on lead vocals.


SANTA FE (Show #11: June 25, 2010) - First time ever! A sombre acoustic rendition on the circle.


BAD MEDICINE/OLD TIME ROCK & ROLL - Featuring Kid Rock. Filmed from the pit. David "Tony boy" Bryan gets to start the jukebox song.

London (O2) 11th night set list

Well you can't say there were no rarities at Bon Jovi's second last show of the O2 residency. "Lay Your Hands on Me" FULL BAND for the first time this tour, "Blood Money" and "Santa Fe from Blaze of Glory, "Story of My Life", "The Last Night", and a special appearance from Kid Rock....

LONDON, ENGLAND - THE O2 ARENA - JUNE 25, 2010
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
Story of My Life
In These Arms
Superman Tonight
Lay Your Hands on Me
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
We Got It Going On
Bad Medicine / Old Time Rock and Roll [Bob Seger cover/feat. Kid Rock]
Homebound Train [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Hallelujah [Leonard Cohen cover]
Blood Money
Santa Fe [acoustic]
The Last Night [acoustic]
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Work for the WOrking Man
It's My Life
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
When We Were Beautiful
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Thursday, June 24, 2010

White Trash Beautiful's UK launch

Ava Sambora modelled the new White Trash Beautiful fashion line at its Los Angeles debut in March, and it was Stephanie Rose Bongiovi's turn at the UK launch last night:
JON Bon Jovi played proud dad last night as daughter Stephanie Rose took to the catwalk for the launch of Richie Sambora's new fashion range White Trash Beautiful.
Stephanie Rose - who bares a striking resemblance to her rocker dad Jon Bon Jovi - made daddy proud as she modelled clothes from Richie Sambora's collection.
Read the full article and see some pics of the event at this link. Still waiting for a video of "I Got the Girl" from the June 23 O2 arena show to turn up. ;)

I Don't Like Mondays in London (O2#10) - Bon Jovi & Bob Geldof

Closeup shot of Bon Jovi and Sir Bob Geldof performing the Boomtown Rats hit "I Don't Like Mondays" at London's O2 arena on June 23, 2010.



As I more or less said in my previous post... what a freaking awesome moment.

Videos from London (O2 #9-10)

I'm several hours later with some of these videos than I'd intended, but it's been a pretty crazy 24 hours or so in Australian politics; in summary, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd fell on his sword, Julia Gillard was sworn in as the country's first female PM, and I was glued to the TV most of the day. Not to mention the Socceroos are out of the World Cup.

Now that we got that out of the way... I have some videos of Bon Jovi at the O2 for you. These are from June 22 (Show #9) and June 23 (Show #10).

DAMNED - Decent first effort of the tour... but more please, Jon.


I DON'T LIKE MONDAYS - with special guest Bob freakin' Geldof! I love this song and this was a really cool moment.


GARAGELAND - "Nothin' ever felt so right... It was us, those guitars and a Saturday night!" Possibly one of my favourite box set songs actually. :)


WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE - with an acoustic "In and Out of Love" riff intro. ;)

London (O2) 10th night set list

Holy moly, WHAT a set list in Bon Jovi's 10th show at the O2! First big surprise was "I Don't Like Mondays" with Sir Bob Geldof followed by the tour debut of "I Got the Girl" and later the tour debut of "Damned". Acoustic "These Days" was played again, while "Blood on Blood" and "Happy Now" appeared in the same set.

LONDON, UK - THE O2 ARENA - JUNE 23, 2010
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
In These Arms
I Don't Like Mondays [Boomtown Rats cover/feat. Bob Geldof]
I Got the Girl
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine / Hot Legs [Rod Stewart cover] / Shout! [Isley Brothers cover]
Love's the Only Rule
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Bed of Roses
Diamond Ring
These Days [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Happy Now
It's My Life
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
Damned
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Bon Jovi to play 70 songs at the O2; Richie & Bobby visit Marshall

Bon Jovi plans to play 70 unique songs during its O2 residency...
Singer Jon Bon Jovi said that he had been inspired by bakers to continually change the band's set list.

"Would you buy yesterday's bread from a baker? These set lists are all made fresh,” he said. “Delivered every night at 7:30...the delivery men wait outside my door, patiently for its arrival.”

Not sure if that was meant to be funny but it was... in a good way though. And it's on the record now, Jon!

Also check out The Goddess Hathor's blog for an analysis of the song count.

In other news, Richie Sambora and Bobby Bandiera visited Marshall Amplification a couple of days ago (June 21).
Legendary Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora took a day out of his busy schedule while on tour in the UK and flew into Bletchley via private helicopter to pay us a visit!

Accompanied by second guitarist currently on tour with Bon Jovi, Bobby Bandiera, they enjoyed a tour of the factory and got the opportunity to try out a number of different amps right here in our on-site theatre. Richie purchased two 100 Watt 1959HW heads and two 1960 handwired cabinets. We also showed him a couple of prototypes of future units that he loved so much he wanted to buy there and then! Unfortunately being prototypes we were unable to sell them, but have allowed him to borrow them for the rest of the tour.
Check out the photos at this link.

Videos from London (O2#6-8)

Some videos from June 17-20 of Bon Jovi's residency at the O2 arena.

THORN IN MY SIDE (Night #6: June 17, 2010) - This deserves a run every night of the Circle Tour. It really comes into its own live, and the twin solo/jam session at the end of the song is awesome. (Cheers to Jay for sending me the link to this video).


WILD IN THE STREETS (Night #7: June 19, 2010) - That was fun! I'd forgotten how much I actually like this song.


SOMEDAY I'LL BE SATURDAY NIGHT (Night #7: June 19, 2010) - An incredible performance, which includes some ad lib references to "Something to Believe In"


SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN (Night #7: June 19, 2010) - Speaking of which... how about ANOTHER video of this? :P


SQUEEZE BOX (Night #8: June 20, 2010)- A closer video of this cool acoustic cover.

London (O2) 9th night set list

Not jaw dropping, but hardly a terrible set for Show #9 of Bon Jovi's o2 residency: "Garageland" made its tour debut, "Always" got a run, and it's nice to see "Last Man Standing" being rotated through the sets on a semi-regular basis.

LONDON, ENGLAND - THE O2 ARENA - JUNE 22, 2010
Last Man Standing
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Raise Your Hands
Born to Be My Baby
Lost Highway
Garageland
Runaway
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
We Got It Going On
Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover]
Lay Your Hands on Me [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]
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
It's My Life
Work for the Working Man
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
Always
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

These Days and Homebound Train in London (O2#8)

Here's a better video of Bon Jovi's brilliant acoustic performance of "These Days" on June 20, 2010 (eighth show of the O2 residency). This was the first time "These Days" had been played at all on The Circle Tour.


"Homebound Train" is my favourite Richie Sambora-sung song. It's just perfect for his blues-rock sensibilities.

Acoustic videos from London (O2 #8) June 20

Here are some videos from Bon Jovi's acoustic set at the O2 on June 20, 2010. Jon and the boys sound great, and "These Days" unplugged is simply gorgeous.

These videos came from Beehive City.

SQUEEZE BOX


THESE DAYS


SOMEDAY I'LL BE SATURDAY NIGHT

Monday, June 21, 2010

London (O2) 8th night set list

A couple of rarities for the eight show of Bon Jovi's O2 residency, most notably the tour debut of "These Days" (acoustic).

LONDON, UK - THE O2 ARENA - JUNE 20, 2010
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
Superman Tonight
In These Arms
When We Were Beautiful
Summertime
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine / Roadhouse Blues [The Doors cover]
Homebound Train [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Bed of Roses
Squeeze Box [The Who cover/acoustic]
These Days [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Have a Nice Day
Work for the Working Man
It's My Life
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
I Love This Town
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Australasian tour dates

I posted Bon Jovi's Australian dates last night; New Zealand dates have also been announced.

December 4th, 2010 - Wellington, New Zealand - Westpac Stadium
December 5th, 2010 - Auckland, New Zealand - Mt. Smart Stadium
December 8th, 2010 - Perth, Australia - Subiaco Oval
December 11th, 2010 - Melbourne, Australia - Etihad Stadium
December 14th, 2010 - Brisbane, Australia - Suncorp Stadium
December 17th, 2010 - Sydney, Australia - Sydney Football Stadium

Videos from London (O2 #7) June 19

Videos from the seventh show of Bon Jovi's O2 residency: June 19, 2010.

SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN - One of my absolute favourite songs ever. I was shaking. Jon sounds pretty good and looks like he's feeling the lyric too.

Here's another video... If I get this song in Perth, I will be the happiest person in Australia.


WILD IS THE WIND - Amazing to hear this. New Jersey is one of the best albums of the 80s.


PAINT IT BLACK

Bon Jovi and management part ways

Bon Jovi have split with Vector Management. It was either an amicable parting or the result of a feud between Jon and Jack Rovner, depending on who you believe.
PARTING is such sweet sorrow for Jon Bon Jovi and his longtime manager, Jack Rovner, who was fired this week after a number of snafus.

While no one will say anything unkind on the record, Rovner was seen around town crying in his beer because Jon told him, "I'm going in a different direction."
Read the full article here.

London (O2) 7th night set list

The mail before the show was that "Something to Believe In" had been soundchecked... and Bon Jovi played it to open the encore for the first time since the Bounce tour, if I'm not mistaken. It was also the tour debut of "Wild in the Streets". And we got "Wild is the Wind", a new medley song for "Bad Medicine", and a replay of "Love for Sale" and "Open All Night" thrown in for good measure.

LONDON, UK - THE O2 ARENA - JUNE 19, 2010
Happy Now
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
In These Arms
Born to Be My Baby
Wild in the Streets
Wild is the Wind
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
Runaway
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine / Paint It Black [Rolling Stones cover] / Oh, Pretty Woman [Ray Orbison cover]
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Open All Night
Diamond Ring
I'll Be There For You
Love for Sale
Work for the Working Man
It's My Life
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
Something to Believe In
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Videos from London 6th night (June 17)

Here are more videos from Bon Jovi's awesome O2 arena show on June 17, 2010.

BLOOD MONEY


HOMEBOUND TRAIN


MISS FOURTH OF JULY


OPEN ALL NIGHT


Haven't found "Thorn In My Side" yet...

Bon Jovi to hit Australia in December!

In the Herald Sun:
Bon Jovi will perform at Subiaco Oval, Perth, on December 8; Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, on December 11; Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, on December 14; and Sydney Football Stadium on December 17.

Tickets go on sale on July 8.
I'm actually shaking as I type this. :D THE BOYS ARE COMING BACK TO MY TOWN!

Although there are some capital cities that have missed out again.......

Friday, June 18, 2010

Pro shot of Let It Rock in London

Here's a pro shot of Bon Jovi's first performance of "Let It Rock" since 1991 from the fourth O2 arena show (June 11, 2010).



You can check out fan videos of this performance here and here.

First videos from London June 17

Still waiting for the likes of "Miss Fourth of July" and "Blood Money" among others, but here are some early videos from the sixth night of Bon Jovi's O2 residency.

LOVE FOR SALE - The start of the song is missing but most of it's here.


LOVE'S THE ONLY RULE (partial) - Jon: "Maybe you better let me sing". LOL.


HOMEBOUND TRAIN (partial) - I've really missed Richie singing this. Hopefully there'll be a full video.


PS - Just a quick shout-out to cierzo1 who I think was pretty upset at missing this show. Cheers for the tweets!

Videos from Paris

A couple of videos from Bon Jovi's June 16, 2010 show in Paris.

IN THESE ARMS - Fresh from his success at the Tony Awards, David Bryan sings lead on part of the song he co-wrote. (I'm sure it was a coincidence but I requested this via Twitter before the show so it was pretty cool.) Dave's Tonys are on display and Jon gives one a little spin.


LET IT ROCK


SOMETHING FOR THE PAIN

London 6th night set list

Bon Jovi returned to The O2 for... an amazing set! Plenty of bones for the diehards including "Love for Sale", "Blood Money", and "Miss Fourth of July", and the return of "Homebound Train". Even the set order was mixed up. And I like to pretend they were listening to me when they brought back "Thorn" and "Love's the Only Rule".

LONDON, ENGLAND - THE O2 ARENA - JUNE 17, 2010
Last Man Standing
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Thorn In My Side
Born to Be My Baby
Superman Tonight
In These Arms
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine
Love's the Only Rule
Homebound Train [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Open All Night
Diamond Ring
Miss Fourth of July
Love for Sale
When We Were Beautiful
It's My Life
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Livin' on a Prayer

ENCORE:
Blood Money
Wanted Dead or Alive
Keep the Faith

Richie Sambora talks to TNT

TNT Magazine just posted an interview with Richie Sambora. I couldn't resist a Have a Nice Day-esque smirk at this:
People are still coming to see us … And we’re actually getting good reviews for a f***ing change. I think the world’s gonna end or something.
Richie also talks about touring, staying grounded and the crazy 80s. Check out the interview here.

Richie's clothing range White Trash Beautiful will also be launched in London on June 23. WTB, which Richie designed with Nikki Lund, debuted in Los Angeles in March.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Paris set list

Bon Jovi's first Paris show in nine years. The set was decent without being mind-blowing (apart from "Let It Rock" which is just about the epitome of mind blowing)....

PARIS, FRANCE - BERCY - JUNE 16, 2010
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Raise Your Hands
Born to Be My Baby
Lost Highway
When We Were Beautiful
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover]
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Bed of Roses
I'll Be There For You
Something for the Pain [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
It's My Life
Work for the Working Man
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
Let It Rock
In These Arms
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

....But I'd definitely like more songs from The Circle, including ones that haven't been played yet and ones that seem to have been mothballed since the early part of the tour ("Thorn In My Side", "Bullet", "Brokenpromiseland"). Plus I think I said earlier (either on this blog, on Twitter, or both) that "Love's the Only Rule" should be at every show this tour. Jon, I know the album didn't sell as well as Lost Highway but sales aren't necessarily a marker of quality. You were proud of this album before the tour and you should still be now. You don't need sales to validate your self-worth any more than you need "critical acclaim". So play some damn songs from the damn album you're supposed to be promoting, damn it!

*steps off soap box*

Anyway, next gig we're back in London for the sixth show of The O2 residency.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Philadelphia Soul returns sans JBJ

The Philadelphia Soul will return to a new Arena Football League, but Jon Bon Jovi will no longer be a part owner:
The Daily News has learned that Arena Football will return to Philadelphia next spring with Ron Jaworski and Craig Spencer leading the franchise and Jon Bon Jovi on the sidelines.

“We are bringing back to our incredible fans the most exciting, fan-friendly and affordable brand of football in America,” said Jaworski, an original owner and current ESPN Monday Night Football broadcaster. “My partners and I are committed to putting together a championship team for this great city to be proud of.”

As for Jon's position...
“I will not be part of the ownership group due to my focus and attention being on the current Bon Jovi worldwide tour, but I have fond memories of my experience with the Soul and especially our 2008 ArenaBowl championship season," Bon Jovi said in a statement. "I continue to be a fan of the team and want nothing but continued success on and off the field for the Soul.”
Read the full article here.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Memphis Tony Award videos

Some more videos from the 2010 Tony Awards.

Memphis cast performs "Steal Your Rock 'n' Roll". Starring Chad Kimball as Huey and Montego Glover as Felicia.

And if you listen to the beat and hear what's in your soul
You'll never let anyone steal your rock 'n' roll!


The magical moment... Memphis wins Best Musical!


I know I had absolutely nothing at all to do with Memphis or David Bryan's success but I also know I'm not alone in being very proud of "our" keyboard player, who's finally being recognised for his immense musical talent. Congratulations again to the Memphis team. :)

Monday, June 14, 2010

London (O2) 5th night set list

Amidst David Bryan and Memphis' overnight Tony Award wins, there was of course a Bon Jovi show featuring his replacement, Jeff Kazee on keyboards.

There might not have been anything completely out of the blue a la "Let It Rock" but I think this was a good set -- and I'm not usually one to go real easy on Jon and the boys when it comes to set lists. ;)

LONDON, UK - THE O2 ARENA - JUNE 13, 2010
Last Man Standing
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Whole Lot of Leavin'
Born to Be My Baby
Lost Highway
Superman Tonight
When We Were Beautiful
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover]
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
(You Want to) Make a Memory
Bed of Roses
Something for the Pain [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
It's My Life
Work for the Working Man
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
In These Arms
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Jeff Kazee also reflected on the show on Twitlonger (via Twitter):
sometimes it is harder to play for family than it is strangers, and BJ has been a big part of my musical family the past years-started messing around with them in 2003 and have been associated with the band and to a larger degree, Jon, since then. Jon was an angel in making me feel comfortable and the band was right there with him. I send out a thousand thanks to Jon, Richie, Tico, Hugh and Bob for making me so comfortable..
Read Jeff's full post here.

Memphis wins!

David Bryan's decision to attend the Tony Awards appears to have been a fruitful experience, with Memphis winning four awards:
  • Best Musical
  • Best Book (Joe DiPietro)
  • Best Original Score (David Bryan, Joe DiPietro)
  • Best Orchestrations (David Bryan, Daryl Waters)

Well done to Dave and the Memphis team!

There are some clips up at TonyAwards.com -- You can catch Dave's acceptance speeches and interviews (featuring Joe DiPietro and Daryl Waters, of course) under the Creative Arts Winners and Winners Circle categories.

And here's the introduction that Jon recorded at Bon Jovi's O2 arena show on June 8.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Lema Intro - Jon Bon Jovi's tribute to David Bryan

Here's the "Lema Intro" that was recorded on June 8, 2010 prior to "Dry County". Jon acknowledges the efforts of David Bryan, who will be missing his first Bon Jovi show thanks to Memphis being nominated for eight Tony Awards. Jon then records something for the Tonys broadcast before signalling for the crowd to "go apesh*t".



Good luck Dave!

P.S. Anyone know exactly how Dave got the nickname Lema?

More London O2 videos: June 11

Some more videos from Bon Jovi's fourth night at The O2.

LET IT ROCK - I know I posted a couple of vids of this already in my previous post but given this hasn't been played since 1991 (not 1987 as Jon claims, but still a very long time) I think it's worth it. Plus, this video was taken right up the front and includes Jon's introduction. I like that "Let It Rock" seems to have been done as a "keyboard tribute" to David Bryan, who'll miss tonight's show due to the Tony Awards, but hopefully it'll be played at other shows too.


OPEN ALL NIGHT - I think this is an underrated track... but it's a song that fans seem to either love or hate, and one that Jon apparently shies away from singing for fear of a poor reception.


RADIO SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT - The live version lacks a lot of the power of the studio recording because Jon sings the chorus an octave lower, but I still love the song and love it when Bon Jovi plays it.


HAPPY NOW / WE WEREN'T BORN TO FOLLOW - No disrespect to "Blood on Blood" which is a fantastic song, but I really really really like "Happy Now" as an opener. It also makes sense because this is The Circle Tour. Besides, I don't see any reason why you couldn't play both "Happy Now" AND "Blood on Blood" at the same gig.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Videos from London June 10-11 + June 8 review

LET IT ROCK - As Joe Biden might say, this is a big f***ing deal. Bon Jovi played "Let It Rock" at The O2 last night (June 11, 2010). It was obviously the song's tour debut, and I didn't think it had been performed at all in the past 10 years... but I've since been told that "Let It Rock" was last played in Osaka, Japan on January 8, 1991. A very big f***ing deal, then.

Here's a video of the first couple of minutes...


Here's a lower quality video of the full song...


And let's not forget the awesome-ness of the night before (June 10, 2010)...

HEY GOD - Now that's rock! :)


I'D DIE FOR YOU


NEVER SAY GOODBYE


LIVING IN SIN


And because I can, some more videos from June 11.
OH, PRETTY WOMAN


OPEN ALL NIGHT (partial)


Still waiting for "Radio Saved My Life Tonight".

Finally, here's a fan review of the second night at The O2 by Roger Allen from Fanzeyreview:
Bon Jovi are back to their spiritual home of London for a virtual month residency at the O2 Arena. This is all part of The Circle Tour in support of the same name titled cd that hit the stores last year. The band has come a long way since I first saw them in London in 1988/89 for the New Jersey tours.
Check out the review and his website at this link.

London (O2) 4th night set list

"Happy Now" opened, "Bad Medicine" got a new medley partner, "Open All Night" was played for about the third time ever, "Radio" got a look-in and "Let It Rock" made its tour (and decade?) debut on the fourth night of Bon Jovi's O2 residency. I want Richie to do "Homebound Train" again but as the band actually has "mixed it up" as promised, there's not too much to complain about.

LONDON, UK - THE O2 ARENA - JUNE 11, 2010
Happy Now
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
Radio Saved My Life Tonight
Lost Highway
When We Were Beautiful
Raise Your Hands
We Got It Going On
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover]
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Open All Night
Diamond Ring
I'll Be There For You
Something for the Pain [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Let It Rock
It's My Life
Work for the Working Man
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
Have a Nice Day
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Friday, June 11, 2010

London (O2) 3rd night set list

Bon Jovi are actually living up to the promise of changing the sets each night thus far... The third show of The O2 residency netted such rarities as "Hey God", "Never Say Goodbye", "I'd Die For You" and "Living in Sin".

LONDON, UK - THE O2 ARENA - JUNE 10, 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
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
We Got It Goin' On
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Bad Medicine / Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor) [Robert Palmer cover]
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Living in Sin / Chapel of Love [Dixie Cups cover]
I'll Be There For You
Never Say Goodbye [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Hey God
I'd Die For You
Work for the Working Man
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE #1:
It's My Life
Love's the Only Rule

ENCORE #2:
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

David Bryan: From Netherworld to Memphis, Part 2

Part 2 of Bryan Reesman's interview with Dave is now up on his blog, Attention Deficit Delirium.
My whole goal today is to not get hit by a bus. I found something that I truly love. At the hundredth show for Memphis, I probably hadn’t seen it in about a month. It’s such a wild experience because you have given it away. It’s in your soul and then you give it away, and when you watch it all go down there’s a sense of removal that it’s not me. I’m sitting back enjoying it and going, “Holy f***, I actually did this?” It’s such a mountain of work. It’s 15 hour days for six weeks. It’s insane. You walk into that building, and the workload is insane. To me, when I look at the finished product, I am completely satisfied in every inch of that show and care about every inch of that show. That is so rewarding to see that, and then to be also teaching audiences a little something while still entertaining them. I can do that until I’m 100 years old.

Dave also talked about the current Bon Jovi tour:
On the tour we came in with our master list of about 90 songs, just to keep the boredom out. We first learn them, then walk into the sound check and play them. We’ve been playing some old ones from the first record. We’ve played “Roulette” and “The Hardest Part Is The Night”. Songs we haven’t done in forever. It’s fun to do that stuff.
They haven't actually performed "Hardest Part", though we know it's been soundchecked... I wonder if it'll make an appearance. Maybe even during this O2 residency?

Anyway, read the full article here. Part One of the interview is at this link.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

More London videos

I posted some sweet videos of Bon Jovi's first two shows at The O2 arena, including "Dry County" and "Bed of Roses" in my previous post. Here are a couple more.

ALWAYS - What can I say? It might not be Wembley '95 but an amazing performance is still an amazing performance.


DIAMOND RING


HOT LEGS

Videos from London (The O2 arena)

First up, here's some edited pro-shot video from Bon Jovi's rooftop gig prior to their opening night at The O2... Includes snippets of all four songs they performed and an interview with Jon.


And here are three vids from the second night: June 8, 2010....

DRY COUNTY - This song never fails to give me goosebumps. Especially now that Jon is in such fine voice. And Richie Sambora, you are a god.


BED OF ROSES - Speaking of Jon's voice, this was a real heart melter. Great to see the song that took my Jovirginity being performed like it was meant to be.


LAST MAN STANDING - Very shaky video that features some enthusiastic but off-key "backup" vocals, but it does include the opening before the band hit the stage as well as the whole song.


Two down and 10 to go!

Richie Sambora and Tico Torres O2 interview clips

David Bryan: From Netherworld to Memphis, Part 1

Here's Part One of an interview with Dave on Attention Deficit Delirium, the blog of Bryan Reesman. The bold parts in this bit cracked me up:

In 2001, a script came through the script gods and fell in my lap, and it was Memphis. Joe DiPietro had written it. He had shopped it around for couple years for a composer, and he was looking for an authentic rock composer not a theater rock composer. Not that that’s bad or good, but I am what I am. He had some lyrics put in there already, and I read the whole script. When you see Memphis, I saw that finished product in my brain. I knew it had to be horns, I knew every one of the songs. I called him up and said, “Joe, David Bryan from Bon Jovi.” He was like, “Okay.” “Listen, I hear every one of your songs in my head.” “Okay. Do you hear other things in your head?” I go, “Yeah, but we can talk about that later.” He said, “Okay, pick a song and take it from there.” I said, “I’m also a lyricist. Can I do mess around with the lyrics?” “Yeah, just have fun with it.” So the first song I picked was “Music Of My Soul” because I saw that that was the heartbeat of our lead character. That’s what meant everything to him. The chorus was there and some lines were there, but I added some things. I did that and went down into my studio, and I got the drum machine going. I played piano, bass, organ and guitar on it. I sang lead and all the background vocals. It mixed it onto a CD and FedExed it to him. He got it the next day and was expecting some whiny little thing on a cassette tape piano, and he said, “If you’re not crazy, you’ve got the gig.” I said, “I’m a little crazy, but I’ll take the gig.”

Check out the full article here.

Cheers to Hath for the heads-up. :)

More London reviews

Some more reviews of Bon Jovi at The O2 Arena.

Here's another review of the opening night, by John Aizlewood for the Evening Standard:
Having seemingly resolved both their internal strife and external demons, as well as coming to terms with being equally silly and spine-tingling, Bon Jovi have become the Rolling Stones of the 21st century.

And a reasonably positive but not glowing review of the second night by Simon Hayes for the Wharf:
But there was something slightly lacking - perhaps it was just the fact that the show, for all that it was well-produced and executed, just didn't quite have that spark of greatness. Not that the 20,000 or so fans packed into The O2 were complaining. They came to commune with their heroes and they weren't disappointed.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

London (O2) 2nd night set list

Now that's a little more like it! :D

LONDON, UK - O2 ARENA - JUNE 8, 2010
Last Man Standing
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Just Older
Born to Be My Baby
Lost Highway
Superman Tonight
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
We Got It Going On
Bad Medicine / Hot Legs [Rod Stewart cover]
It's My Life
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
(You Want To) Make a Memory
Bed of Roses
Diamond Ring
Something for the Pain [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Runaway
Work for the Working Man
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith / Sympathy for the Devil [Rolling Stones cover]

ENCORE #1:
Dry County
Wanted Dead or Alive

ENCORE #2:
Always
Livin' on a Prayer

Tonys Unplugged: David Bryan

Dave performs "Memphis Lives in Me" in this promo video for next week's Tony Awards.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Bon Jovi's O2 rooftop gig + O2 reviews and interviews + Greatest Hits news

First things first. Last night Bon Jovi became the first band to play on the roof of London's O2 Arena, prior to the opening show of their 12-date residency... and today it actually cracked a mention on the news here in Perth, which was a big moment for me. :P

You can check out Sky News' video of "We Weren't Born to Follow" here. They also played "Superman Tonight", "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "It's My Life" on the roof.

Now here's a review of opening night at the O2 by Robert Heller for Bloomberg News:
The main event, though, is the singer. With his matinee- idol cheekbones and blue-eyed gaze, the all-American hero, 48, is born to perform. His hair is salon perfect while his super- white smile is the most dazzling thing on the O2’s stage. He moves into the audience to give a chaste kiss on the cheek to some female fans (and one excited guy). He also sings, powering hard-rock and pop-rock anthems.
Check out the full review here. It's not the most glowing review but not really negative either.

Neil McCormick was more critical in the Telegraph:
There is something inauthentic about them, almost a shamelessness in the way they appropriate bits of roots Americana, Springsteen-ish blue collar rock, 1980s LA glam metal and U2-style stadium anthems, with cheesy pop hooks and relentlessly upbeat self-help slogan choruses.



Meanwhile, Richie Sambora had a few interesting things to say to Billboard, including this about the O2 rooftop gig:
"We like to push the envelope and do things that people normally don't do ... We like to do stuff that has impact because I think that people remember those things as big events and they become part of rock lore, part of history and part of rock culture."
and this about the upcoming greatest hits release:
"About three weeks ago Jon calls me up and says, 'let's write a couple more songs just for fun.' So we wrote a couple of songs and they turned out real good... so there's now four new songs on the greatest hits. We haven't released a greatest hits since 1995 so that will give us product through to the summer of 2011"

And David Bryan was also interviewed about touring:
"I still just can't wait to get in front of the crowd and start performing.
"It's the fun that keeps us going. Fun with a capital F."

London (O2) 1st night set list

Opening nights tend to get a bad rap but it was a somewhat underwhelming set list for Bon Jovi's first London show. One down, 11 to go.

LONDON, UK - O2 ARENA - JUNE 7, 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
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine / Roadhouse Blues [The Doors cover]
It's My Life
Love's the Only Rule
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Hallelujah [Leonard Cohen cover]
I'll Be There For You
Something for the Pain [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Work for the Working Man
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
In These Arms
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Bon Jovi also played a short set on the roof of the O2 prior to this show:
We Weren't Born to Follow
Superman Tonight
You Give Love a Bad Name
It's My Life

Monday, June 7, 2010

Interview with Tico Torres + that O2 ticket issue again

Here's an interview with Bon Jovi's "hitman" Tico Torres ahead of the band's O2 Arena residency:
Torres, 56, singled out The O2's acoustics as his main memory from opening night in June 2007.

He said: "The sound was really good. The key to arenas is to build sound that's good for music, but years ago arenas were built for sport, not music, which meant a lot of them have terrible sound.

"We play a lot of arenas and they've got it right at The O2. That's important to us as musicians."
Read the full article here.

Meanwhile Jon has defended the crazy prices for the O2 in an interview in the Daily Mirror. Some of you may recall me blogging about the ticket prices last year. I stand by what I said. Ultimately, Jon has no real obligation to do anything about ticket prices and every right to make money. I understand that. But he does have the power to stop fans being taken advantage of, and he'd get a lot more respect in the long run if he did.

However, I have a feeling that the furore over ticket prices has ensured that the O2 shows will be out-of-this-world amazing. We'll soon find out.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Royal Beach Concert videos

Some videos from Bon Jovi's Scheveningen Beach concert.

ONLY LONELY - I think I say this every time it's played but I'll say it again; this is my equal favourite 7800 Fahrenheit song. Jon messes up the lyrics but it's great to see the song finally get another outing, and I'm hoping for more to come.


IN THESE ARMS - David Bryan sings part of this, although he's too low on the mix when he first starts singing. But nevertheless, very cool.


BAD MEDICINE / BAD CASE OF LOVING YOU / ROADHOUSE BLUES - The band seems really happy and relaxed... especially His Royal Highness Jon, which is perhaps the most important guy to keep happy for a smooth running show. Y'know, there are some great beaches here in Australia too, Jon. ;)


WHEN WE WERE BEAUTIFUL - Jon: "It ain't up to government, it's up to us to make a difference".

Royal Beach Concert (Scheveningen) set list

It was a very short turnaround from Bon Jovi's Rock in Rio Madrid show to the Royal Beach Concert in Holland.... but for what sounded like a poorly-organized beach gig, this was a HELL of a set! Opening with "Last Man Standing", plus a couple of audibles in "Only Lonely" (good to see that back again) and "Rockin' All Over the World" (I li-li-like it)?! Wow!

THE HAGUE, SOUTH HOLLAND, NETHERLANDS - SCHEVENINGEN BEACH - JUNE 5, 2010
Last Man Standing
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
Lost Highway
Raise Your Hands
We Got It Going On
When We Were Beautiful
In These Arms
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
Bad Medicine / Bad Case of Loving You [Robert Palmer cover] / Roadhouse Blues [The Doors cover]
It's My Life
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Runaway
Work for the Working Man
Rockin' All Over the World [John Fogerty cover]
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
Only Lonely
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Videos from Rock in Rio Madrid

My favourite videos from Bon Jovi's Rock in Rio Madrid show (higher quality captures than the webcast).

BAD MEDICINE / ROADHOUSE BLUES - A really fun performance, with Jon even showing off a little Shakira hip action. "Bad Medicine" has really freshened up this tour.


WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE - Video and audio are slightly out of sync but it's still a magical performance, and not just from the band either. The strong crowd sang the first verse and chorus as a "solo".


LIVIN' ON A PRAYER - Simply awesome. I thought Jon's vocals held up very well too!


HALLELUJAH


KEEP THE FAITH


You can check out more videos from this show at Hath & Co's BJCT blog.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Rock in Rio Madrid webcast

If you missed it or want to watch it again, the full webcast of Bon Jovi's Rock in Rio Madrid show can now be viewed on Justin.tv. ("Blood on Blood" and most of "We Weren't Born to Follow" were not streamed/broadcast but the rest of the concert was).

Part 1 is at this link.
Part 2 is at this link.

Enjoy! The video quality is not the greatest but the boys sound pretty good.

Videos are also rolling on Hath's Circle Tour blog.

Rock in Rio Madrid set list

This show was streamed live and broadcast on local TV. Not a bad set as far as festivals go and the performance is what counts the most, especially for a show like this.

ARGANDA DEL REY, MADRID, SPAIN - JUNE 4, 2010
Blood On Blood
We Weren't Born To Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
Lost Highway
In These Arms
Have A Nice Day
When We Were Beautiful
Superman Tonight
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
Bad Medicine / Roadhouse Blues [The Doors cover]
It's My Life
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Hallelujah [Leonard Cohen cover]
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Runaway
Work For The Working Man
Who Says You Cant Go Home
Keep The Faith

ENCORE:
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Friday, June 4, 2010

Ask Jon Bon Jovi

CNN's Connect the World is calling on people to ask Jon Bon Jovi a question by leaving a comment at this link.

Jon will be their "Connector of the Day" this coming Monday, June 7, 2010.

John Shanks on new Bon Jovi songs

We know Bon Jovi have just recorded a couple of new songs, and this is what producer John Shanks had to say about them on Twitter.
getting ready to mix 2 new bonjovi songs for the greatest hits..and no i cant tell ya the names.they rock though
And I think he was still talking about Bon Jovi when he said:
tempo for sure big gits and big chorus

We'll see Mr Shanks, we'll see. ;)

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Jon Bon Jovi working on his legacy

Post-Meadowlands and a couple of days out from Rock in Rio, here's an article by Mark Lepage for Canwest News Service:
Studiedly shaggy of hair and gleaming of teeth, he says "Legacy is very important to me. That's what it's about at this point. We're certainly not the new guys in town, and this isn't a reunion tour, and it's not where-are-they-now and it's not a multiple-act package.

"This is a Bon Jovi show. Like it or not, we're one of the biggest bands in the world. I'd like to make sure the way we leave (our legacy) is timeless and classic and on point and true to what I set out to do."
Read the full article here.