Sunday, April 16, 2017

Bon Jovi in New York 15/04/17 (night 2)

Bon Jovi wrapped up the first leg of their This House Is Not For Sale Tour with a second show at Madison Square Garden. Here's what they played:

New York, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden - 15 April 2017
  1. This House Is Not For Sale
  2. Knockout 
  3. You Give Love a Bad Name 
  4. Lost Highway 
  5. Whole Lot of Leavin' 
  6. Roller Coaster 
  7. We Weren't Born to Follow 
  8. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead 
  9. We Got It Going On 
  10. Who Says You Can't Go Home 
  11. It's My Life 
  12. We Don't Run 
  13. God Bless This Mess 
  14. New Year's Day 
  15. Lay Your Hands On Me 
  16. Born to Be My Baby 
  17. Have a Nice Day 
  18. Bad Medicine 
  19. Keep the Faith

    Encore: 
  20. Raise Your Hands 
  21. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night 
  22. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars 
  23. Wanted Dead Or Alive 
  24. Livin' On A Prayer 

While the only other Bon Jovi shows that have been announced so far are Rock in Rio and the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, David Bryan tweeted that this was the last show of this leg of the tour, indicating that more gigs should be announced before too long.

Videos from New York, Night #2

"Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" (with a little false start):

"Keep the Faith":

If you have any videos you'd like to share from the second night at MSG, feel free to link to them in the comments.

Were you at this show?

Friday, April 14, 2017

Bon Jovi in New York 13/04/17 (night 1)

Bon Jovi brought their This House Is Not For Sale "home" for the first of two shows at New York's Madison Square Garden. (These were, of course, the concerts that were rescheduled after Jon got sick.) Here's what was played on the first night at MSG:

New York, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden - 13 April 2017

  1. This House Is Not For Sale
  2. Knockout
  3. You Give Love a Bad Name
  4. Lost Highway
  5. Whole Lot of Leavin'
  6. Roller Coaster
  7. We Weren't Born to Follow
  8. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
  9. We Got It Going On
  10. Who Says You Can't Go Home
  11. It's My Life
  12. We Don't Run
  13. God Bless This Mess
  14. Scars on This Guitar
  15. New Year's Day
  16. Lay Your Hands On Me
  17. Born to Be My Baby
  18. Have a Nice Day
  19. Bad Medicine
  20. Keep the Faith

    Encore:
  21. Runaway
  22. Blood On Blood
  23. Wanted Dead Or Alive
  24. Livin' On A Prayer
If you've been following the set lists at all, the main set should be quite familiar to you by now. There were a couple of changes in the encore. 

Videos from New York, Night #1



If you'd like to share any videos from the first night at MSG, feel free to link to them in the comments.

Were you at this show?

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Bon Jovi in Toronto 11/04/17 (night 2)

Bon Jovi performed the second of two consecutive shows in Toronto on their This House Is Not For Sale Tour, and here's what was played:

Toronto, ON, Canada - Air Canada Centre - 11 April 2017

  1. This House Is Not For Sale
  2. Knockout
  3. You Give Love a Bad Name
  4. Lost Highway
  5. Whole Lot of Leavin'
  6. Roller Coaster
  7. We Weren't Born to Follow
  8. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
  9. We Got It Going On
  10. Who Says You Can't Go Home
  11. It's My Life
  12. We Don't Run
  13. God Bless This Mess
  14. Scars on This Guitar
  15. New Year's Day
  16. Lay Your Hands On Me
  17. Born to Be My Baby
  18. Have a Nice Day
  19. Bad Medicine
  20. Keep the Faith

    Encore:
  21. Always
  22. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
  23. Wanted Dead or Alive [Phil X vox on 2nd verse]
  24. Livin' on a Prayer
The main set was identical to that of the first night (I kind of thought they'd at least swap "New Year's Day" out for "The Devil's in the Temple", which used to be in that slot. Maybe I'm overly optimistic!). But we did get "Always" and "Captain Crash" for the third and second time this tour respectively -- they replaced "Raise Your Hands" in the encore. Phil sang the second verse of "Wanted" again, presumably because he's originally from Toronto, but he does sound good... Dare I say a lot stronger than Jon does these days. 😞 (However, I've said on various forums that the Lost Highway Tour proved Jon could get back to sounding awesome after a period of deterioration in his voice, so I'm hopeful that he could return to that level again.)

Videos from Toronto, Night #2

In my opinion, this is the best "Always" of the tour thus far:


If you'd like to share any videos from the second night in Toronto, feel free to link to them in the comments.

Were you at this show?

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Bon Jovi in Toronto 10/04/17 (night 1)

After a few days off due to bronchitis, Bon Jovi resumed their This House Is Not For Sale Tour with the first of two consecutive nights in Toronto, the only Canadian (and indeed non-US) shows of this leg. Here's what was played:

Set list: Toronto, ON, Canada - Air Canada Centre - 10 April 2017

  1. This House Is Not For Sale
  2. Knockout
  3. You Give Love a Bad Name
  4. Lost Highway
  5. Whole Lot of Leavin'
  6. Roller Coaster
  7. We Weren't Born to Follow
  8. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
  9. We Got It Goin' On
  10. Who Says You Can't Go Home
  11. It's My Life
  12. We Don't Run
  13. God Bless This Mess
  14. Scars on This Guitar
  15. New Year's Day
  16. Lay Your Hands on Me
  17. Born to Be My Baby
  18. Have a Nice Day
  19. Bad Medicine
  20. Keep the Faith

    Encore:
  21. Raise Your Hands
  22. Wanted Dead or Alive [Phil X vox on 2nd verse]
  23. Livin' on a Prayer


Videos from Toronto, Night #1

Here's "Raise Your Hands" and "Wanted Dead or Alive", with Phil singing the second verse of "Wanted":

If you'd like to share any videos from the first night in Toronto, feel free to link to them in the comments.

Were you at this show?

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Bon Jovi in Pittsburgh 05/04/17

Hot on the heels of the "playback" scandal in Uncasville, Bon Jovi played a short (approximately 90-minute) show due to Jon being ill. Jon pulled a fan from the crowd up to sing "Born to Be My Baby" and David Bryan sang "Livin' on a Prayer" from the second verse onwards. Here's what was performed:

Set list: Pittsburg, PA, USA - PPG Paints Arena - 5 April 2017

  1. This House Is Not For Sale
  2. Knockout
  3. You Give Love a Bad Name
  4. Lost Highway
  5. Whole Lot of Leavin'
  6. Roller Coaster
  7. We Weren't Born to Follow
  8. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
  9. Runaway
  10. We Got It Going On
  11. Who Says You Can't Go Home
  12. It's My Life
  13. Lay Your Hands On Me
  14. Born to Be My Baby [ft. Brad]
  15. Bad Medicine
  16. Livin' on a Prayer [David Bryan vox on 2nd verse]

"God Bless This Mess", "New Year's Day", "Keep the Faith", "Raise Your Hands", and of course "Wanted Dead or Alive" were the songs cut from the planned set list. Jon apologised midway through the show for "singing like shit". He has reportedly been sick since Saturday night, which is concerning with the Madison Square Garden shows coming up.

Now, I'm kind of torn here. Part of me is thinking, "This is your damn instrument, Jon, stop wrecking it. Reschedule the show, take the hit on social media. There's no point being a 'fighter' when you're a professional singer who can't sing." Plus, as a fan, if you'd saved up to go to this one show, it wouldn't be unreasonable to feel a bit ripped off. But then there are fans who have travelled for the show and can't get refunds on accommodation and airfares. And aside from the fact that Jon doesn't typically cancel when he's sick, he probably felt like he had more to prove after what happened in Uncasville. It got picked up quite a bit online, and now casual fans, former fans, and non-fans alike seem to think Jon routinely mimes entire shows, which is patently false. Even now, there are people claiming Jon is "conveniently" sick because he "got caught lip syncing". So whether he did the show poorly or cancelled it, it was a no-win situation for him.

UPDATE 07/04/17: Jon has bronchitis. On doctor's orders, the two Madison Square Garden shows have been postponed until April 13 and 15 respectively. Bon Jovi's website still has the previously-rescheduled Denver show going ahead on April 14.

UPDATE 08/04/17: Denver has now been cancelled. I'm assuming it wasn't logistically possible to go from NYC to Denver and back again. And doing so many shows in close succession whilst recovering from bronchitis may not have been the best idea. But cancelling a show that had already been postponed, in favour of the two MSG shows, effectively tells Denver fans that they are worth less than New York fans. I'd feel pretty hurt in that situation.

Videos from Pittsburgh

"Born to Be My Baby" featuring a fan from the crowd:


UPDATE 7/04/17: More videos have been uploaded. Thanks to the commenter below for links.

Here's "Livin' on a Prayer" with Dave on the second verse:

"It's My Life":




This is another angle of "Born to Be My Baby" with Brad:


If you'd like to share any videos from Pittsburgh, feel free to link to them in the comments.

Were you at this show?

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Bon Jovi in Uncasville 01/04/17

Bon Jovi rehearsed for their This House Is Not For Sale Tour at Uncasville's Mohegan Sun Arena, and they returned there on April Fool's Day for a proper show. Here's what was played:

Set list: Uncasville, CT, USA - Mohegan Sun Arena - 1 April 2017

  1. This House Is Not For Sale
  2. Knockout
  3. You Give Love a Bad name
  4. Lost Highway
  5. Whole Lot of Leavin'
  6. Roller Coaster
  7. We Weren't Born to Follow
  8. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
  9. We Got It Going On
  10. Who Says You Can't Go Home
  11. It's My Life
  12. We Don't Run
  13. God Bless This Mess
  14. Scars on this Guitar
  15. Lay Your Hands on Me
  16. Born to Be My Baby
  17. Have a Nice Day
  18. Bad Medicine
  19. Keep the Faith

    Encore:
  20. Wanted Dead or Alive
  21. Livin' on a Prayer

Apparently the venue has a strict curfew, but nevertheless, it was a very short set with no surprises. (Previous shows there have also been short, but in the past, they've often thrown a bone to the diehards anyway. Not so much this time.)

There were actually two songs that were on the printed set list and crossed out. One was the song after "Scars on this Guitar", which I presume (based on other shows) was either "The Devil's in the Temple" or "New Year's Day". The other was the first song in the encore, which I'm guessing was "Raise Your Hands".

Videos from Uncasville

"You Give Love a Bad Name" (it's a bit shaky but the sound is fine):

If you'd like to share any videos from Uncasville, feel free to link to them in the comments.

Were you at this show?

UPDATE 04/04/17: After I posted this, some videos of "This House Is Not For Sale" from this show were posted online, causing an uproar over possible lip syncing. You can view the discussion thread on JoviTalk. Basically there was a studio version of the song playing during the live performance, that went out of sync with the band:
Given he's always going on about integrity, the idea that Jon could be lip syncing a song that should sit comfortably in his current range would break my heart (particularly when he doesn't even sing the higher parts of the chorus; the rest of the band does). It would hurt more than the thought of his once good voice being gone forever. But... if he were lip syncing, they would only need a vocal track, not the full band. And they'd use a recording that sounded live, not a studio version.

Jon's brother, Matt Bongiovi, provided this explanation on Twitter:


In case the image doesn't load, it reads:

"Sound Crew recorded soundcheck so the lighting crew can reset lighting marks. They were able to reset timecode to the recording and reprogram lights. The recorded program was not closed so when the lighting ques started the soundcheck started to play over the band performing. Therefor a cluster fuck of sound. They quickly realized program was closed and the show went on. Nothing to do with background tracks or vocals or anything other then a tech that fucked up" (sic).

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Bon Jovi in Philadelphia 31/03/17

Bon Jovi headed to Philly on their This House Is Not For Sale Tour, and here's what was played:

Set list: Philadelphia, PA, USA - Wells Fargo Center - 31 March 2017
  1. This House Is Not For Sale
  2. Knockout
  3. You Give Love a Bad Name
  4. Lost Highway
  5. Whole Lot of Leavin'
  6. Roller Coaster
  7. We Weren't Born To Follow
  8. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
  9. Runaway
  10. We Got It Goin' On
  11. Who Says You Can't Go Home
  12. It's My Life
  13. We Don't Run
  14. God Bless This Mess
  15. Scars On This Guitar
  16. New Year's Day
  17. Lay Your Hands On Me
  18. Born To Be My Baby
  19. Have a Nice Day
  20. Bad Medicine
  21. Keep the Faith

    Encore:
  22. Raise Your Hands
  23. The Fighter [acoustic]
  24. Wanted Dead or Alive
  25. Livin' on a Prayer
An acoustic snippet of "The Fighter" was the big surprise of the night, making its tour debut. And "Runaway" was played for the second concert in a row, despite not being on the printed set list.

Videos from Philadelphia

Here's "The Fighter" and "Wanted Dead or Alive":

"New Year's Day":

"I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" and "Runaway" (including the "time machine" intro):

"This House Is Not For Sale", shot from about a 45-degree angle from the stage as the curtain goes up:

"Bad Medicine", in which Jon gets up close and personal with the crowd:


If you'd like to share any videos from Philly, feel free to link to them in the comments.

Were you at this show?