Monday, May 2, 2011

Videos: Bon Jovi at Jazz Fest ft Phil X!

Phil X -- guitarist for The Drills and highly sought-after session musician -- filled in for Richie Sambora for the first time in New Orleans on April 30, 2011. It was strange to watch but he did a good job. Unfortunately, some Bon Jovi fans have been taking their anger out on Phil on his Facebook page. All I can say to that is that Phil isn't the one who needed to check into rehab, nor is he the one who made the decision to continue the tour.

Bobby Bandiera played the solos for You Give Love a Bad Name, Lost Highway (which was minus the instrumental section they added on The Circle Tour), The More Things Change, and Have a Nice Day. Also, serpephone filmed most of the show and deserves our gratitude for sharing it on YouTube. Here is a selection of videos.

It's My Life

Phil's first chance to show off his talkbox skills in front of the Jovi faithful. Jon prefaces this with: "So what's been goin' on in your life, anything exciting? Any piece of press out there?" At least I think that's what he said. Someone correct me if I misheard the Jerseymumble. ;)

Bad Medicine / Oh Pretty Woman

All fun and games with Jon and Bobby practically flirting... apart from the bit where Tico Torres makes a mistake and Jon flies off the handle, kicking an amp (about 6:45 into the video). Most of us have seen Jon have a bit of a sulk and give someone the stink-eye when something doesn't quite go right, but I think this reaction had a little extra stress behind it.

Lay Your Hands on Me

Jon on lead vocals again. David Bryan, Bobby and Phil X share out the instrumental that was added at the end of February.

Have a Nice Day

Bobby's best solo of the day.

Keep the Faith

Ripping solo from Phil X!

Wanted Dead or Alive

By no means is this terrible, but if I had to pick one song where the Sambora touch is missed the most, it'd probably be Wanted.

Livin' on a Prayer

"I send this out to our brother Richie."

Whether the band should have continued to tour without Richie is still a polarising issue, but given the decision has been made to keep playing, I'm relieved they got such a capable guitarist. We could certainly be doing a lot worse than Phil X...

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting. Maybe this will prepare me for what I am going to experience on May 21st. Just isn't the same without Richie.....especially on Dead or Alive. Phil is an awesome guitarist......but he doesn't have the soulful voice we've all come to love.....the Jon and Richie magic is not there.......the energy is not the same.......and the black hat that comes out at each Dead or Alive performance is missing! I wish Richie all the best and hope he is healthy soon. Bon Jovi is not Bon Jovi without all the boys on that stage!

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  2. Thank you for sharing these! I agree that Richie's unique voice is missed, but we have to give credit to Phil! He was asked to fill out the biggest shoes in the business within 24-48 hours of notice. I'm confident that once he gets comfortable and learns his marks on the stage, he will amaze us. He's an awesome guitarist, and I'm sure Richie has is saying for his replacement and I agree with their decisions. They decided to go on, so we pretty much have to live with it. Saying that, we will miss Richie as no one can replace him in our heart. Jon must be the one who misses him the most! He seems pretty lonely up there...I will see with my own eyes and ears next Wednesday in Montreal.

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  3. I have just watched the footage, and I gotta say, Phil is outstanding in his performance! He was always gonna be starting "10-points behind" with the die-hards, but he is fantastic in these performances.

    Also, whether he is tired, or stressed, or both, I don't know, but based on the footage I have just seen, it is Jon's performance that seems below usual standard!

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  4. Yeah, he looks/sounds shot... Sometimes he takes a little while to warm up at the start of a tour or leg but I'm sure recent events haven't helped either.

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Thanks for giving me your time.