Bon Jovi's big comeback in New York

And we're back! We as in this blog, but also we as in Bon Jovi the band. 

I'm actually away on a Muay Thai camp at the moment, doing two two-hour sessions a day in the heat, which is why my published thoughts on the comeback shows are delayed by several days. Training like this, plus showering and doing laundry ASAP after each session, is tiring and time-consuming, y'all!

Anyway. Jon Bon Jovi's vocal issues, and his subsequent vocal cord surgery in 2022 have been fairly well documented at this point. There was a certain buzz and trepidation about their closest thing to a tour since then. 

Jon has performed live here and there over the last few years... but to be perfectly honest, it's been a bit heartbreaking and underwhelming most of the time. So while I'm sure I would have bought tickets if they'd announced a show in Australia, I can't say I've been expecting much from this run of shows. 

But here's what they played:

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden - 7 July 2026 setlist

1. With a Little Help From My Friends - The Beatles cover
2. Beautiful Drug
3. We Weren't Born to Follow
4. Lost Highway
5. Who Says You Can't Go Home
6. You Give Love a Bad Name
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Legendary
9. Whole Lot of Leavin'
10. In These Arms
11. Have a Nice Day
12. It's My Life
13. Livin' on a Prayer
14. Lay Your Hands on Me
15. Blood on Blood
16. Living Proof
17. This House Is Not for Sale
18. Keep the Faith
    
    Encore:
19. I'll Be There for You
20. Wanted Dead or Alive
21. Bad Medicine

Selected videos from MSG

With a Little Help from My Friends - including the video intro. With lines like "What would you do if I sang out of tune?" and "I'll try not to sing out of key", it may seem a little on the nose to open with it. And it's not exactly a high energy rocker. But in this case, it felt fitting somehow, especially with everyone coming together to sing the chorus. 

Living Proof - finally, the neglected single! Actually sounds pretty decent, if I do say so myself. I can't turn back time but I so wish this had been the song that got any promotion from Forever, rather than "Legendary".

In These Arms - Jon honestly sounded way better than I was expecting here and I'm so weirdly proud of this man who doesn't know me from a bar of soap and whose achievements I have absolutely nothing to do with.

Blood on Blood - Hmm he's trying, but this sounds pretty fragile. I don't know if we can maybe bump Everett Bradley up in the mix? I know Everett's not Richie Sambora, but Richie left of his own accord and Everett does make the current lineup sound better vocally than they otherwise would.

Livin' on a Prayer - between the click track and the entire venue always singing along, "Prayer" has arguably been spared to a large extent as Jon's vocals declined, despite being a painfully difficult song to sing. But I do think he sounds a bit better here than he has in recent times?

Final thoughts

It was a solid return, not perfect but I don't think anyone's expecting that anymore. Though I do really hope Jon gives me the finger and surprises us all. The set list could be stronger but I guess it's okay. Hopefully we get some deep cuts during this short run of shows. 

I honestly don't know how much of a future my beloved band has. Or how I feel about it all. A lot has been made of Jon's voice but I'm also considering the band as a whole -- no one's getting any younger, and it's probably Phil X and Everett bringing the bulk of the animation and energy on stage. I still rate Jon as a songwriter but people don't buy music the way they used to.

Anyway, what did you think of the comeback show? Were you there, or watching from somewhere in the world?

And which Bon Jovi song should be my walkout song if I could pick one for a hypothetical fight? 😉

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Highs and mehs of Bon Jovi's Forever (Legendary edition)

Bon Jovi Forever Legendary Edition

So the Legendary edition of Bon Jovi's Forever came out on October 24 but I wanted to let my thoughts marinate for a while before I posted about them. Obviously this is a re-release, so apart from a couple of new tracks, my thoughts will be about the duets, rather than the songs themselves. If you're interested in what I thought of the songs when the first Forever came out, check out my blog post from then: Track by track thoughts on Bon Jovi's Forever.

The Legendary edition featured duets with James Bay, Robbie Williams, Jelly Roll, Jason Isbell, Ryan Tedder, Billy Falcon, The War and Treaty, Joe Elliott, Lainey Wilson, Avril Lavigne, Marcus King, Bruce Springsteen, and Carin Leon. It also opens with new track "Red, White and Jersey", which I wrote about back in August, and the Japanese edition contains "Fight Somebody" which I'll mention in a bit.

But first the main album. Overall? I like it enough, but while there are some great duets on the album, there are quite a few that made me think "why did they bother?". Mostly the ones with other male vocalists where they've basically just swapped verses. Yawn. The best, or at least most interesting, ones have been where the other vocalist has a vastly different voice to Jon and they changed or added something instrumentally. Everything else is okay but a bit meh.

With that in mind, my top 3 are:

1. Hollow Man featuring Bruce Springsteen -- I already wrote about "Hollow Man" when it came out but goddamn Bruce's harmonies and that harmonica just elevates that track so far beyond what it was originally.

 

2. I Wrote You a Song featuring Lainey Wilson -- I basically dismissed this track as a poor man's "Thinking Out Loud" on the original album, but holy heck... Jon and Lainey sound really good together. Their voices blend so well, and I don't get my hackles up about the country flavour so the instrumentation was cool too. Actually worth the duet, unlike some of the phoned-in ones on the rest of the album.

3. The People's House featuring The War and Treaty -- When "The People's House" duet originally came out more than a year ago, I was still trying to decide if I liked it more than the version on the original album. I'm now very confident I do -- it's more invigorating and inspiring than the original, which I have no problem with, but this one's just better IMO. 

Side note: "Walls of Jericho" is probably my favourite track from Forever, and I like me some Def Leppard, so I do enjoy the duet with Joe Elliott... but I don't think it's anything special as far as collaborations go. 

Bon Jovi also performed "Legendary", "Red White and Jersey" in a livestream on October 22, in which they announced a baby, four-city tour (New York City, Edinburgh, Dublin, London). Since the original announcement, they've added more shows in NYC (now a total of 9) and London (now 2).

Still hardly what I'd call a world tour, but to be honest, Jon still sounds pretty fragile on the stream. I'm guessing the tour is testing the waters a little to see if they're capable of handling any more. The thinness in his voice could be physical, psychological, or a combination of both but hopefully he pulls through these shows well. He may never get back to his best, but I'm rooting for something like 2010/11 era vocals.

Anyway, I said I'd circle back to "Fight Somebody" didn't I? Check it out if you haven't already:

I think it's awesome. I'm currently in a good enough position that I don't mind shipping stuff over from Japan (plus I've never been the smartest maker of financial decisions when it comes to Bon Jovi, lol) but come on. This should've been on the version that everyone gets, right? Not the first time I've felt that way about a bonus track and I'm sure it won't be the last.

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Bon Jovi, Jelly Roll, and the Living Proof

I'm about a week late posting this, as I've been busy and in a different time zone, though I did listen to it when it came out... "it" being "Living Proof" by Bon Jovi featuring Jelly Roll.

Check out the new "Living Proof" lyric video:

 

The original "Living Proof" was released as a single with very little fanfare in May 2024 and never got a music video. Maybe this version could have served as a hard relaunch that attracted Jelly Roll's fans, except... the dude's barely on it, lol.

Bruce Springsteen and The War and Treaty added something interesting to their versions of "Hollow Man" and "The People's House" respectively. Jelly Roll's inclusion on "Living Proof" seems pointless, like he was some rando who got handed a mic at a karaoke night and sang a verse then left. I'm not particularly well versed on Jelly Roll's music, but I'm sure he could have contributed something more than that.

Anyway, I have no real problems with the track, but I can't hear any good reason to listen to this one instead of the original (or neither if you didn't care for "Living Proof" in the first place)... your mileage may vary, of course.

What do you think? 

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Red, White and Jersey / Hollow Man with Springsteen out now ahead of Forever Legendary edition

Bon Jovi released Forever a little over a year ago -- and on October 24, they'll be releasing it again, this time as a collection of duets with one brand new song.

Here's the official music video for that new track -- "Red, White and Jersey":

 

I like it... it's nothing groundbreaking, just catchy and inoffensive, and feels similar to "Legendary" really... except for this line that made my ears perk up:

"It ain't no surprise that your blue eyes still feel like home to me / we'll always be red, white and Jersey"

If I'm not mistaken, Dorothea, aka Jon's high school sweetheart and wife of over three decades, has brown/hazel eyes. You know who else Jon has known and chased dreams with since they were teenagers... and has blue eyes? David Bryan. 

"Red, White and Jersey" is a love letter to our favourite keyboard player and you will not convince me otherwise.

(Yes, I realise the lyrics could also just be a work of fiction, but don't ruin my dreams, okay? 🤣 )

The other song that has dropped is "Hollow Man", now featuring Bruce Springsteen. Here's the official lyric video:

 

Plenty of folks didn't really care for the original, but I don't mind these sorts of songs, and they suit current day Jon. Plus, I love me some Springsteen... I've had the privilege of seeing him live nine times and they've all been brilliant shows. 

Maybe it's because I was revisiting Bruce's Nebraska album recently, but as soon as the harmonica kicked in on "Hollow Man", I knew this track would be elevated by his contribution. Bruce's harmonies blend beautifully with Jon's vocals, and the song just feels deeper with the two of them on it together. Though I do note with amusement that the Boss left the "masturbate" line solely to Jon.

"The People's House" featuring The War & Treaty was released in October last year, so we're waiting to hear how 11 other tracks turned out.

The track list for Forever (Legendary Edition) is: 

1. Red, White and Jersey
2. Legendary - with James Bay
3. We Made It Look Easy - with Robbie Williams
4. Living Proof - with Jelly Roll
5. Waves - with Jason Isbell
6. Seeds - with Ryan Tedder
7. Kiss the Bride - with Billy Falcon
8. The People's House - with The War & Treaty
9. Walls of Jericho - with Joe Elliott
10. I Wrote You a Song - with Lainey Wilson
11. Living in Paradise - with Avril Lavigne
12. My First Guitar - with Marcus King
13. Hollow Man - with Bruce Springsteen
14. We Made It Look Easy / Hicimos Que Pareciera Facil - with Carin Leon

Look, let's be real... no one was really begging for another edition of Forever. But I enjoyed the original album, and some of the collaborators did (and do) intrigue me. 

Can't believe they're going to make me listen to Avril Lavigne though, lol... nothing against her personally, but unfortunately, I still have some lingering damage from when "Sk8er Boi" came out and all the other girls in school suddenly rocked up wearing ties and 50 layers of black eyeliner, thinking they were punks. Also, given Jason Isbell, Ryan Tedder, and Billy Falcon are duetting on the songs they co-wrote, I'm a little surprised Ed Sheeran isn't the one on "Living in Paradise", but hey.

Jon admits this release is "an album borne out of necessity" since they obviously couldn't do a Forever tour. (Check out Rolling Stone: Bon Jovi Revisit ‘Forever’ LP With Bruce Springsteen, Jelly Roll, and More.) As much as I'd still go see Bon Jovi if they toured, I don't think I really want them to unless Jon can get his live vocals back to where they were circa 2010. If he can't and we instead get more studio work, I'm okay with that.

What do you think of the new tracks? Or the upcoming album release?

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Bon Jovi guitarists reunite + new Keep the Faith remix

On the back of last year's somewhat unexpected Pitbull-Bon Jovi collaboration comes Armin Van Buuren's remix of "Keep the Faith", which was officially released on 28 February.

The track had made its debut at Ultra Music Festival in Miami, when Armin brought Jon on stage as a surprise guest and Jon got to jump around in his Hampton Water trucker cap without having to sing anything. (Not trying to be snarky, just making an observation, lol.)

And here's the extended mix:

It's not really my jam, to be honest... but Bon Jovi's had some awesome songs (including "Keep the Faith") and if stuff like this compels someone new to give them a shot, I'm all for that. Spread Bon Jovi like a beautiful musical disease, I say! Or a social disease. 'Cause a deluxe version of Slippery When Wet featuring 7 additional tracks (live or alternate versions) is available now. See what I did there? 😉

Anyway. The day before Armin's "Keep the Faith" came out, the Rock for Responders benefit concert for Los Angeles’ firefighters and first responders was held. Richie Sambora joined Phil X and Orianthi -- who were part of Matt Sorum's Kings of Chaos supergroup for the event -- on stage to perform lead vocals and guitar on "Livin' on a Prayer". Check it out:

Look, it's kinda messy, I won't lie. And I'm no body language expert but I'm pretty sure Phil had no idea what Richie was doing on the night and was just going along with whatever. But I don't think Richie has anything coming up that he would have been rehearsing for so some rustiness is to be expected as well, especially as he was a late addition to the lineup. It's still a cool moment to have on tape. 

They were also all together for the final jam of the night, a performance of blues-rock standard "Going Down":

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Run Rudolph Run by Jon Bon Jovi and the Philly Specials / Don't Wake Up Dead by Phil X and the Drills

 

I've always referred to this song as "Run Run Rudolph" but it's actually called "Run Rudolph Run". Whoops.

Anyway, Jon Bon Jovi joined The Philly Specials (a group of Philadelphia Eagles football players who also sing, something I did not know about until recently, being from Australia) for a cover of the Chuck Berry classic. Phil X played the guitar solo.

Check it out!

But if you're after something a little heavier to get you through the holidays, Phil X and the Drills released "Don't Wake Up Dead" with Ray Luzier from Korn earlier this month:

 

Regardless of your tastes, hope everyone has a wonderful festive season, a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah if you celebrate it, and a happy new year! It's always a bit crazy to think about literally anyone on the planet reading my little blog about a band from a country on the other side of the world, so thank you. 🥰

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It's a Pitbull-Bon Jovi collab, it's now or never...

A Bon Jovi and Pitbull single was definitely not on my bingo card this year.

But Pitbull sampled "It's My Life" for his new song, "Now or Never" and here's the official video featuring Jon:

And the lyric video if you want to sing or rap along:

 

This unlikely collaboration (as opposed to just the sampling of a certifiable banger) was hinted at in a show Pitbull did at Jones Beach in Long Island, New York back in September of this year. Jon was a surprise guest on stage for this song, in what was a pretty cool moment even though I don't think his mic was turned on at any point:

Arguably a cooler performance by Jon and Pitbull is this one of Pitbull's song "Thank God & Jimmy Buffett" from the Jimmy Buffett tribute show at the Hollywood Bowl back in April:

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