Saturday, July 30, 2011

Jon Bon Jovi: The Hair Is Shorter, but the Career Goes On and On

Jon was interviewed by ABC America's Lara Spencer on the eve of the European tour. The full story will be on Nightline in the US, but in the meantime there's this article:
"New Jersey shaped who and what I am. Growing up in Jersey gave you all the advantages of New York, but you were in its shadow. Anyone who's come from here will tell you that same story. … It dates back to Sinatra. Anybody -- Jerry Lewis, Abbott and Costello -- they all had to fight for what they did, and this is where they came from," Bon Jovi said.
Read the rest of the article here.

San Sebastian set list

The second last show of The Circle/Greatest Hits Tour took Bon Jovi to San Sebastian for the first time since the Keep the Faith/I'll Sleep When I'm Dead Tour. Incredible setlist, on paper at least... I'd love to hear from anyone who was there. :)

San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain - Estadio Anoeta - July 29, 2011

  1. Raise Your Hands
  2. You Give Love A Bad Name
  3. Wild in the Streets
  4. Born To Be My Baby
  5. We Weren't Born To Follow
  6. It's My Life
  7. In These Arms
  8. I'd Die For You
  9. Summertime
  10. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
  11. Bad Medicine / Hot Legs [Rod Stewart cover] / Old Time Rock & Roll [Bob Seger cover]
  12. When We Were Beautiful
  13. I'll Be There For You
  14. Living in Sin
  15. Who Says You Can't Go Home
  16. Thorn In My Side
  17. Wild Is The Wind
  18. Have A Nice Day
  19. Keep The Faith


    encore #1:
  20. This Ain't A Love Song
  21. Wanted Dead Or Alive
  22. Livin' On A Prayer


    encore #2:
  23. These Days
  24. Romeo and Juliet [Dire Straits cover] / Always
  25. I Love This Town
  26. Twist and Shout [The Isley Brothers cover]

Hath's Circle Tour Blog will have all the videos in due course.

Just ONE more show left on the tour... what will we get in Lisbon?

Thursday, July 28, 2011

New Year's Eve trailer

The official trailer for New Year's Eve (featuring the acting comeback of Jon Bon Jovi) is out.



What do you think?

Barcelona set list

Bon Jovi... Barcelona.... Wow. Just. Wow.

That thud you heard was the sound of my jaw hitting the floor. (Also, I decided to number the set for the first time for easier reading... better late than never, right?)

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain - Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys - July 27, 2011
  1. Raise Your Hands
  2. You Give Love A Bad Name
  3. Born To Be My Baby
  4. We Weren't Born To Follow
  5. I Believe
  6. It's My Life
  7. In These Arms [ft David Bryan]
  8. Just Older
  9. We Got It Going On
  10. Captain Crash And The Beauty Queen From Mars
  11. Bad Medicine / Bad Case Of Loving You [Robert Palmer cover] / Not Fade Away [Buddy Holly cover] / Vertigo [U2 cover]
  12. Bed Of Roses / Cama de Rosas
  13. Santa Fe [acoustic]
  14. Diamond Ring
  15. I'll Be There For You
  16. Who Says You Can't Go Home
  17. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
  18. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
  19. Have A Nice Day
  20. Keep The Faith
  21. encore #1:
  22. Something To Believe In
  23. Hey God
  24. Wanted Dead or Alive
  25. Livin' on a Prayer
  26. encore #2:
  27. Always
  28. I Love This Town

As usual, Hath's Circle Tour Blog will have all the videos as they come. You can bet there'll be a healthy video post on Blame It On The Love too.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Bruges set list

Shortish set for Bon Jovi's Belgium show... Had some really nice inclusions from a diehard's perspective but from what I've read and been told the show was just "okay" as opposed to great. I'd love to hear comments from anyone else who was there, though.

Bruges, Belgium - Zeebrugge Beach - July 24, 2011
Happy Now
You Give Love a Bad Name
Blood On Blood
We Weren't Born To Follow
Lost Highway
Whole Lot Of Leavin'
It's My Life
The More Things Change
Raise Your Hands
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
Bad Medicine / Hot Legs [Rod Stewart cover]
Bed Of Roses
I'll Be There For You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Garageland
Have A Nice Day
Keep The Faith

encore:
Wild Is The Wind
Never Say Goodbye
Wanted Dead Or Alive
Livin' On A Prayer

As per usual, Hath's Circle Tour Blog will have all the videos in due course.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Videos from Vienna

Here's a selection of videos from Bon Jovi's recent concert in Vienna (July 22, 2011).

Have a Nice Day

Some fans seemed a bit shocked at Jon flashing his middle finger about 2:03 into the video, even though Richie Sambora's been known to flip the bird during this song. :P

Thorn In My Side

I can't help but laugh at how deep in concentration Jon looks compared to Richie during the (still awesome) twin solo. I know I say this every time they play Thorn, but they really should play it more.

Bad Medicine / Wild Thing / Old Time Rock 'n' Roll


Wild is the Wind


For more videos, check out Hath's Circle Tour Blog.

Videos from Udine

July 17, 2011 marked Bon Jovi's first Italian show in eight years and it was one to remember.

Spanish Harlem / Bed of Roses

Spanish Harlem was a surprise but nice little intro to Roses.

Lie to Me / Always

Lie to Me was unplanned (it wasn't on the printed setlist) but I love this song pairing. And how good does this crowd sound!

Just Older

Jon dedicated this to Max, the fan who organised the crowd choreography to form the American flag and the word "JOVI".
Photobucket

These Days

One of the best songs this band has ever released... The "whoa oh ohs" were a cool finish.

There were a heap of great songs at this show and great videos too, so be sure to check out Hath's Circle Tour Blog for a complete video guide! :)

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Vienna set list

Bon Jovi's first Vienna show since the Bounce Tour looks to have been a great night!

Vienna, Austria - Ernst-Happel-Stadion - July 22, 2011
Raise Your Hands
You Give Love A Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
We Weren't Born To Follow
Superman Tonight
It's My Life
In These Arms
Radio Saved My Life Tonight
Runaway
We Got It Going On
Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen from Mars
Bad Medicine / Wild Thing [Chip Taylor song] / Old Time Rock and Roll [Bob Seger cover]
(You Want To) Make A Memory
Hallelujah [Leonard Cohen cover]
I'll Be There For You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Have A Nice Day
Keep The Faith

encore #1:
Whole Lot Of Leavin'
Wanted Dead Or Alive
Thorn In My Side
Blood On Blood
Livin' On A Prayer

encore #2:

Wild Is The Wind
Always
These Days

Check out Hath's Circle Tour Blog for all the videos in due course.

There are only four shows left on the tour, so here's hoping they'll give us something to remember.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Taylor Swift covers Livin' on a Prayer

I need to do a catch-up video post for Udine, Italy this weekend (I've now gone from student/freelance hours to working full time so no more trawling through vids at three in the morning, haha). But in the meantime here's a clip from Taylor Swift's concert at New Jersey's Prudential Center on July 19. She sings part of Livin' on a Prayer acoustic as a prelude to You Belong With Me.


What do you reckon?

I wonder if it's hard to sing on that revolving tree platform thing...

Athens set list

This was Bon Jovi's first show ever in Greece.

Athens, Greece - Olympic Stadium - July 20, 2011
Raise Your Hands
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
We Weren't Born To Follow
Lost Highway
It's My Life
Blaze of Glory
In These Arms
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover]
When We Were Beautiful
Bed of Roses
I'll Be There For You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Work For The Working Man
Have a Nice Day
Keep the Faith

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

Videos will all be on Hath's Circle Tour Blog in due course.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Lie to Me / Always from Italy

I'll probably do another video post from Bon Jovi's Udine show (June 17, 2011) when more vids pop up, but I couldn't log off tonight without posting Lie to Me and Always...



There was a bit of a false start with Lie to Me, but it was a great lead-in to Always... love the cheer that went up as Jon began to sing!

Udine set list

Viva l'Italia! Bon Jovi hadn't played in Italy since the Bounce Tour but at least the fans got a pretty sweet set to make up for it. Feast your eyes on this...

Udine, Italy - Stadio Friuli - July 17, 2011
Raise Your Hands
You Give Love a Bad Name
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
It's My Life
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
We Got it Going On
Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover]
Spanish Harlem [Ben E. King cover]
Bed of Roses
I'll Be there For You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Love's The Only Rule
Have A Nice Day
Keep The Faith

encore #1:
Dry County
Wanted Dead or Alive
In These Arms
Just Older
These Days
Livin' on a Prayer

encore #2:
Lie To Me
Always
I Love This Town

Videos from the show will be on Hath's Circle Tour Blog in due course.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Videos from Mannheim

Setlist-wise, Bon Jovi returned to a bit of form at the Mannheim concert (July 16, 2011). Here are some videos.

Hey God

Good performance of this, though I hope no one was accidentally sprayed by Jon's spit. ;)

I Get a Rush

Is David Bryan pulling faces at someone or is he just really happy? :P

Bad Medicine medley (partial)

Featuring Mercy (with some botched lyrics), Old Time Rock 'n' Roll, the tail end of Bad Medicine, and a tease of Shout. Jon seems to be in a great mood and it's always nice to see Dave get a bit of the spotlight.

In These Arms

Speaking of Dave, he got to take lead vocals here briefly after the first chorus.

The Radio Saved My Life Tonight

In my humble opinion, this is one of the best tracks from 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong even with the chorus down an octave.

Miss Fourth of July

Beautiful as always. I've been a sucker for this for years.

Love's the Only Rule

Played after what had appeared to be the final bows. Jon's love/fear speech kind of reminded me of a scene from Donnie Darko, but I still love this song... Should have been The Circle's lead single (or any single for that matter).

jovigirlfm has a heap of other great videos on her YouTube channel, and you'll find a complete video guide on Hath's Circle Tour Blog in due course.

Want to see Tom Cruise perform Bon Jovi?

If you can get to Miami Gardens by 1pm ET on July 18, you could be an extra in the new Rock of Ages movie starring Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx.
Are you ready to get your faces melted? Director Adam Shankman invites you to the set of New Line Cinema’s arena-rock love story “Rock of Ages,” who is throwing one head-banging concert with cast Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, and Diego Boneta for the upcoming filming of a scene.

Come and bring your friends to all be extras (16 years and older only please), and join us on the “Rock of Ages” set, and rock out like it’s 1987 with our cast to the sounds of such hits as “Wanted: Dead Or Alive” & “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

DATE: Monday, July 18th

TIME: 1:00pm - Work Finished

DRESS: Like the 80s! Big hair, make-up, and ALL BLACK rockin’ clothes.

DIRECTIONS: Exit 2X (Sun Life Stadium Toll Plaza) off of either North Bound or South Bound Florida Turnpike. After exiting Turnpike, enter stadium through Gate 2 to park.

Go to www.sunlifestadium.com for a map and directions.

~ Prize giveaways on set every half an hour~

Please note that no cameras/recording devices of any kind are allowed to be used on the “Rock of Ages” set. No exceptions.

“Rock of Ages” hits theaters in June 2012, and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Jon also talked about the movie and his meeting with Tom Cruise in an interview with Extra ahead of the Manchester show.

Mannheim set list

If you loved the box set, you would have appreciated Bon Jovi's Mannheim set. Unless you loved the box set but hated Radio, I Get a Rush, and Miss 4th of July, in which case never mind. :P

And I was wrong about them not playing Mercy again. Hey, it happens. ;)

Mannheim, Germany - Maimarkt-Gelände - July 16, 2011
Raise Your Hands
You Give Love A Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
We Weren't Born To Follow
The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
It's My Life
Runaway
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead / Start Me Up [Rolling Stones cover]
We Got It Goin' On
I Get A Rush
Bad Medicine / Mercy [Duffy cover] / Old Time Rock and Roll [Bob Seger cover]
Bed Of Roses
I'll Be There For You
Miss Fourth Of July [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Captain Crash and The Beauty Queen From Mars
No Apologies
Have A Nice Day
Keep the Faith

encore #1:
Hey God
Wanted Dead or Alive
In These Arms [ft David Bryan]
Hallelujah [Leonard Cohen cover]
Livin' on a Prayer

encore #2:
Love's the Only Rule

Videos from the show will be on Hath's Circle Tour Blog in due course.

Jon flips the bird... Oh Lord, have Mercy...

Haven't done a Bon Jovi video post since Dublin. There hasn't really been anything we haven't seen before in the shows since, but I figured I may as well post these little "incidents". ;)

JBJ flips the bird: Long story short, there was a girl in Bucharest who felt she'd been wronged by the fan club and had attended several shows with a banner for Jon. Jon's middle finger pops up at about 0:51 of this video of Dry County, followed by a dry Jersey shrug.


Mercy x 3: Apparently there were banners in Dusseldorf requesting Mercy, the Duffy song Bon Jovi covered a few times on the Lost Highway Tour. Jon couldn't remember the lyrics and tried the song three times. First, during the Bad Medicine medley (Wait, is that a sign requesting Twist and Shout I see?!)...

He tries again, acoustic, after When We Were Beautiful...

Before finally nailing it (albeit with the obvious help of a teleprompter).


I have a feeling this is the last time we'll see Mercy. Anyway, you know the drill... Hath's Circle Tour Blog for the complete video guide.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Zurich set list

Strange set for Bon Jovi in Zurich. Apparently Jon's been struggling with his voice; Richie Sambora finally got lead vocals on a song again, but as I've said before I'd really rather he not do Lay Your Hands on Me.

Zurich, Switzerland - Letzigrund - July 14, 2011
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen From Mars
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
We Weren't Born to Follow
Lost Highway
Whole Lot of Leavin'
It's My Life
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 vox]
(You Want To) Make a Memory
Bed of Roses
I'll Be There For You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
No Apologies
Work For the Working Man
Have a Nice Day
Keep the Faith

encore:
Superman Tonight
Wanted Dead or Alive
Love's the Only Rule
Livin' on a Prayer

Videos will be on Hath's Circle Tour Blog in due course.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Dusseldorf set list

Some interesting inclusions for Bon Jovi's Düsseldorf show. They had last played there on the Have a Nice Day Tour (the show in which a long Dry County drought was broken). Apparently Jon attempted Mercy three times and couldn't remember the words.

Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany - Esprit Arena - July 13, 2011
Happy Now
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
We Weren't Born to Follow
Superman Tonight
It's My Life
The More Things Change
We Got It Going On
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen From Mars
Bad Medicine / Mercy [Duffy cover] / Roadhouse Blues [The Doors cover]
When We Were Beautiful
Mercy / What Do You Got
I'll Be There For You
Mercy / Who Says You Can't Go Home
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Have a Nice Day
Keep the Faith

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

Visit Hath's Circle Tour Blog for all the videos when they come.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Monday, July 11, 2011

Bucharest set list

Happy birthday, Mr Richie Sambora! Bon Jovi also played in Romania for the first time ever. Apparently Jon wasn't too happy about a banner from someone who was sacked by the fan club and flipped her the bird, but I'm not sure of all the details. If anyone can fill us in on this story, it'd be much appreciated. ;)

Bucharest, Romania - Palace Square - July 10, 2011
Raise Your Hands
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
We Weren't Born To Follow
Lost Highway
It's My Life
In These Arms
Runaway
We Got It Going On
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
Bad Medicine / Happy Birthday / Hot Legs [Rod Stewart cover] / Old Time Rock 'n' Roll [Bob Seger cover]
When We Were Beautiful
Bed Of Roses
I'll Be There For You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Have A Nice Day
Keep The Faith

encore #1:
Dry County
Wanted Dead Or Alive
Blood On Blood
Livin' On A Prayer

encore #2:
Always
These Days
Twist and Shout [Isley Brothers cover]

Check out Hath's Circle Tour Blog for all the videos from the show.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Istanbul set list

After a highly eventful week's break, Bon Jovi resumed their tour with their first concert in Turkey in about 18 years...

Istanbul, Turkey - Türk Telekom Arena - July 8, 2011
Raise Your Hands
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
We Weren't Born To Follow
Lost Highway
It's My Life
Blaze Of Glory
In These Arms
We Got It Goin' On
Captain Crash and The Beauty Queen From Mars
Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover]
Bed Of Roses
Diamond Ring
I'll Be There For You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Have a Nice Day
Keep The Faith

encore:
When We Were Beautiful
Wanted Dead Or Alive
Blood on Blood
Livin' on a Prayer
Always

Visit Hath's Circle Tour Blog for all the videos from the show.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

JBJ surgery details + Richie's girlfriend hits out

A couple of news bits I figured I should post ahead of Bon Jovi's first show in Turkey since the Keep the Faith/I'll Sleep When I'm Dead Tour.

First of all, Jon had surgery on his injured knee in Dublin on July 1, then reportedly spent some time recuperating in Iceland. Anyway, here's what the surgeon had to say:
Ray Moran, Director of Medicine at the Sports Surgery Clinic performed the operation to repair the cartilage ligament damage.

"Jon has spent the last two weeks performing with a knee brace and five concerts with a locked knee, which would have limited his mobility greatly and been very painful," explained Moran. "Having had the cartilage damage repaired he can continue with his tour schedule with significantly increased mobility."

Meanwhile, Richie Sambora's female companion Yasmin Mitri has posted the following on Twitter (assuming this is in fact her):
Yasmin Mitri
Yasmin Mitri
The Twitter account was private until a few days ago and there aren't many tweets on there, though there is a casual mention of seeing Bon Jovi ahead of Hard Rock Calling. That doesn't really mean anything though, and trust isn't really a word one would associate with News of the World. I know some Bon Jovi fans have taken to abusing Yasmin online and I have to say I find that quite sad, regardless of what people might think of her for whatever reasons.

Looking forward to Istanbul though. Been an interesting week so it'll be nice for a concert to take centre stage again. ;)

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Videos from Dublin 2

As promised... videos from Bon Jovi's second night in Dublin (June 30, 2011). It's probably fairly obvious from a diehard's perspective why I've picked the songs I've picked to showcase, so I'll let the videos speak for themselves. Your comments, of course, are always welcome.

(My video post for the first Dublin show is here.)

Bounce


Happy Now


Hey God


Damned


Never Say Goodbye


Love for Sale


Bad Medicine medley (partial): Roadhouse Blues and Vertigo


More killer videos at Hath's Circle Tour Blog. Not long now 'til Istanbul!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Videos from Dublin 1

As promised, here's but a sample of Bon Jovi videos from their first of two nights in Dublin (June 29, 2011)...

Bad Medicine / Gloria / Not Fade Away / Oh, Pretty Woman

Jon rattles his skull cane/maracas, hams up his "crippled" state and pays lively tribute to Irish women, while Tico Torres gets to kick off a "jukebox song" in this marathon Bad Medicine medley. Though to be honest, as much as I love Not Fade Away, I'm not sure it works that well here.

Blaze of Glory


Just Older


I'll post videos from the second show in my next post.

As usual, more great video links can be found on Hath's Circle Tour Blog.

Richie Sambora's Brazilian; JBJ's knee

I was going to post the videos from Bon Jovi's Dublin concerts that I didn't get a chance to put up over the weekend... but first, I can't really ignore this story anymore.

Photobucket

Richie is apparently dating a UK-based Brazilian model/actress named Yasmin Mitri. And after an apparent News of the World sting, various news and gossip sites have been pushing headlines like "Bon Jovi guitarist's girlfriend is a high-class drug-dealing prostitute" or words to that effect. I've pulled Yasmin's alleged quotes which have appeared all over the web...

On drugs:
‘I like coke. I started doing it five months ago. It's £50 a gram. You have to order two grams.

‘If you order some now, it'll be twenty minutes.’

On Richie:
She said: ‘My boyfriend is a famous musician. Do you know Bon Jovi band? Richie Sambora?

‘I've been with him for over a year and a half. He lives in LA but we speak to each other all the time and he sends me presents.’

On how she met Richie:
‘Richie came up and asked me the time. It was a silly chat-up line and I had no idea who he was. I'd never heard any of his music.

‘He looked hot though and came and sat next to me and we got on really well.

‘I went back to his room with my friend. He asked me to stay the night with him but I refused.'

However, Sambora asked a a member of his entourage to get her number and rang to ask for a date.

We met up and he introduced me to Jon Bon Jovi and all the band.

‘Back in his hotel room, Richie and I drank four bottles of champagne and I had sex with him.

‘It was great and he was a good lover. He started calling and texting me all the time and our relationship became really close.'

News of the World is a tabloid and every other news outlet is simply quoting that original article so I'm not really sure what to make of this. And at any rate, they are both consenting adults so who are we to judge?

In other news, Jon's had surgery on his knee:
Jon's knee surgery went great. All is well - it'll take a lot more than that to slow him down. Next stop Istanbul! -Matt Bongiovi
Indeed. Can't wait for July 8, 2011. ;)

Friday, July 1, 2011

Dublin 2 set list

Pretty impressive set for Bon Jovi's second show in Dublin. And there was also another nod to the Irish crowd with a snippet of U2 during Bad Medicine, after they played Gloria the night before.

Dublin, Ireland - RDS Arena - June 30, 2011
Bounce
You Give Love a Bad Name
We Weren't Born to Follow
Lost Highway
Happy Now
In These Arms
It's My Life
Blaze of Glory
Damned
Raise Your Hands
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead / Start Me Up [Rolling Stones cover]
Bad Medicine / Roadhouse Blues [The Doors cover] / Vertigo [U2 cover]
(You Want to) Make a Memory
I'll Be There For You
Never Say Goodbye [acoustic]
Squeeze Box [The Who cover]
Love for Sale
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Blood on Blood
Have a Nice Day
Keep the Faith

encore 1:
Hey God
Wanted Dead or Alive
I Love This Town
Livin' on a Prayer

encore 2:
Always
Love's the Only Rule

Check out Hath's Circle Tour Blog for all the concert videos.