What About Now bundles + iTunes previews

The Bon Jovi website is now offering What About Now bundles for pre-order:

For $12.99 you can get a deluxe CD.

For $53.95 you get the Gold bundle: a deluxe CD, The Fighter t-shirt and an iPhone case. No Android love here.

For $395 you get the limited edition Platinum bundle, which is everything in the Gold bundle except that the CD is signed by the band. So I now know that the autographs of Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres are officially valued at $341.05.

Okay, sorry for editorialising. :P

90-second previews of each song are also now available on iTunes.

Bon Jovi Atlanta set list 27/2/13

Bon Jovi's set in Atlanta. Raise Your Hands was probably the biggest surprise. I Love This Town (unfortunately IMO) closed the show.

Were you at the concert?

Atlanta, GA, US - Philips Arena - February 27, 2013

1. You Give Love A Bad Name
2. Raise Your Hands
3. Lost Highway
4. Because We Can
5. That's What The Water Made Me
6. It's My Life
7. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
8. What About Now
9. We Got It Going On
10. Keep The Faith
11. Amen
12. Bed Of Roses
13. I'll Be There For You
14. Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. Runaway
17. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
18. Wanted Dead Or Alive
19. Who Says You Can't Go Home
20. Bad Medicine

Encore:
21. (You Want To) Make A Memory
22. In These Arms
23. Born To Be My Baby
24. Have A Nice Day
25. Livin' On A Prayer
26. I Love This Town

If you've been following the Because We Can Tour, you may recall that the first show in Uncasville, CT was scheduled for partial live streaming on the web before the gig was finally cancelled due to severe snowstorms. It will now be the first 30 minutes of the Tampa show on March 1, 2013 that will be webcast so tune in to BonJovi.com from 7:30pm ET (US) if you want to catch it.

For everywhere else in the world, the start time will be March 2, 12:30am GMT (London time) so convert it to your local time zone from that.

Bon Jovi - Because We Can (Astrid: Act 2)

The third video for Bon Jovi's current single Because We Can -- "Astrid: Act 2" -- has been released.



You can watch Act 1 of the story, "The Boxer" here. Act 3 will be released in two weeks' time.

The original Because We Can video is at this link.

Livin' on a Prayer (Goat Edition)

If you've been relatively active on social media over the past few days, there's a good chance you've seen this video doing the rounds.



Random funsies.

Bon Jovi Buffalo set list 24/2/13

Bon Jovi returned to Buffalo for the first time since the Have a Nice Day Tour and played a pretty long set with a seven-song encore. Were you at the show, and if so, how was it?

Buffalo, NY, US - First Niagara Center - February 24, 2013

1. You Give Love a Bad Name
2. Lost Highway
3. Blood on Blood
4. Because We Can
5. That's What Water Made Me
6. It's My Life
7. When We Were Beautiful
8. What About Now
9. We Got It Going On
10. Keep The Faith
11. Amen
12. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
13. I'll Be There For You
14. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. Army of One
17. Wanted Dead or Alive
18. Who Says You Can't Go Home
19. Bad Medicine

Encore:
20. (You Want to) Make a Memory
21. In These Arms
22. Born To Be My Baby
23. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
24. Have A Nice Day
25. Runaway
26. Livin' on a Prayer

Bon Jovi University Park set list 23/2/13

It was down to four new songs for Bon Jovi when they hit the renamed "Bon Jovi Center" at Penn State... although I'm personally hoping that won't be a trend once the album comes out because I'd actually like to hear the new songs at my show(s) in Australia. The More Things Change from the Greatest Hits collection made a surprise appearance, as did Working Man from The Circle.

University Park, PA, US - Bryce Jordan Center - February 23, 2013

1. You Give Love A Bad Name
2. Lost Highway
3. Whole Lot Of Leavin'
4. Because We Can
5. That's What The Water Made Me
6. It's My Life
7. The More Things Change
8. What About Now
9. We Got It Going On
10. Keep The Faith
11. (You Want To) Make A Memory
12. Bed Of Roses
13. I'll Be There For You
14. Army Of One
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. Work For The Working Man
17. Wanted Dead Or Alive
18. Who Says You Can't Go Home
19. Bad Medicine

Encore:
20. In These Arms
21. Born To Be My Baby
22. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
23. Have A Nice Day
24. Runaway
25. Livin' On A Prayer

Were you at this show?

Bon Jovi Pittsburgh set list 21/2/13

Bon Jovi headed back to the States, specifically Pennsylvania, after a few shows in Canada... Were you there?

Pittsburgh, PA, US - Consol Energy Center - February 21, 2013

1. You Give Love a Bad Name
2. Lost Highway
3. Whole Lot of Leavin'
4. Because We Can
5. That's What the Water Made Me
6. It's My Life
7. When We Were Beautiful
8. What About Now
9. We Got It Goin' On
10. Keep the Faith
11. (You Want to) Make a Memory
12. Amen
13. I'll Be There for You
14. Army of One
15. We Weren't Born to Follow
16. Superman Tonight
17. Wanted Dead or Alive
18. Who Says You Can't Go Home
19. Bad Medicine
Encore:
20. Blood on Blood
21. Born to Be My Baby
22. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
23. Have a Nice Day
24. Runaway
25. Livin' on a Prayer
Encore 2:
26. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Next stop on the Because We Can Tour: The newly renamed (for the weekend, anyway) Bon Jovi Center at Penn State.

Should Bon Jovi release Amen as a single?

Amen is one of the ballads from Bon Jovi's upcoming album What About Now, and according to reports from their Ottawa show, is set to be the follow-up single to Because We Can.

Jon has said he wishes he'd written Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah so I guess this is his attempt at his own Hallelujah.

What do you think of Amen as a single?

I've included a couple of live videos of Amen from Toronto and the pre-tour promotional show in Stuttgart, as well as lyrics (Corrections welcome).





Last night I had a dream
The dream I had was true
I fell through the stars
We were walking on the moon
Burned like a thousand candles in her arms
The skin under my fingertips
Honeysuckle on her lips
Sweeter than a man deserves to taste
Mercy, mercy, what else can I say?
But Amen
Amen
Amen

Last night we were born together
It was like we'd always been
She'll be with me forever
If I don't see her again
We poured the wine until the cup ran over
Unfolding like a mystery
Inside of her like poetry
A thousand horses running through my veins
Mercy, mercy, what else can I say?
But Amen
Amen

I lay down in the garden
Naked on her floor
Windows up, the curtains blowing
She'd unlock the door
Amen
Amen

At the banquet table
A beggar at a feast
I felt her tongue between my lips
And I forgot to breathe
We stayed there til the candles burned the carpet
Last night I had a dream
The dream I had was true
Mercy, mercy, what else can I say?
Mercy, mercy, I'll kneel down and pray
Amen
Amen
Amen

Bon Jovi Ottawa set list 20/2/13

Bon Jovi's Canadian tour continued in Ottawa overnight. Jon suggested Amen would be the second single from the album.

Ottawa, ON, Canada - Scotiabank Place - February 20, 2013

1. You Give Love A Bad Name
2. Lost Highway
3. Whole Lot Of Leavin'
4. Because We Can
5. That's What The Water Made Me
6. It's My Life
7. When We Were Beautiful
8. What About Now
9. We Got It Goin' On
10. Keep The Faith
11. (You Want To) Make A Memory
12. Amen
13. I'll Be There For You
14. Army Of One
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. Superman Tonight
17. Wanted Dead Or Alive
18. Who Says You Can't Go Home
19. Bad Medicine
Encore:
20. In These Arms
21. Have A Nice Day
22. Runaway
23. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
24. Livin' On A Prayer

Were you at the show? How did you rate it?

The Because We Can Tour heads to Pennsylvania tonight.

What About Now lyric video + Bon Jovi tour interview

What About Now is the title track from Bon Jovi's soon-to-be-released album. It's also yours now when you pre-order the album from iTunes.

Here's the lyric video.



Also, it's not that often we get to hear from the rest of the band, but Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres gave a teleconference interview (sans Jon Bon Jovi) prior to the start of the Because We Can Tour. You can read a transcript here.

Bon Jovi Toronto set list 18/2/13

New song I'm With You made it into Bon Jovi's second night in Toronto.

Toronto, ON, Canada - Air Canada Centre - February 18, 2013

1. You Give Love A Bad Name
2. Lost Highway
3. Whole Lot Of Leavin'
4. Because We Can
5. That's What The Water Made Me
6. It's My Life
7. What About Now
8. Born To Be My Baby
9. We Got It Going On
10. Keep The Faith
11. (You Want To) Make A Memory
12. Amen
13. I'll Be There For You
14. Army Of One
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. Superman Tonight
17. Wanted Dead Or Alive
18. Who Says You Can't Go Home
19. Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars
20. Bad Medicine

Encore:
21. I'm With You
22. Have A Nice Day
23. Runaway
24. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
25. Livin' On A Prayer

Were you at this show or the night before?

Bon Jovi Toronto set list 17/2/13

Bon Jovi's first of two nights in Toronto didn't really produce any surprises if you've been following the set lists on this tour, although it's nice to see Wild is the Wind being played so often. But... early days yet.

Toronto, ON, Canada - Air Canada Centre - February 17, 2013

1. You Give Love A Bad Name
2. Lost Highway
3. Whole Lot Of Leavin'
4. Because We Can
5. That's What The Water Made Me
6. Wild Is The Wind
7. It's My Life
8. What About Now
9. When We Were Beautiful
10. We Got It Going On
11. Keep the Faith
12. Amen
13. The Fighter
14. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
15. Army Of One
16. We Weren't Born To Follow
17. What's Left Of Me
18. Wanted Dead Or Alive
19. Who Says You Can't Go Home
20. Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars
21. Bad Medicine

Encore:
22. Have A Nice Day
23. Born To Be My Baby
24. Livin' On A Prayer

Encore 2:
25. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
26. I Love This Town

Were you at this show? What did you think of it?

Bon Jovi plays a second show in Toronto tonight.

I wanted to be your valentine: Bon Jovi in Montreal

Some of the vaguely Valentine's Day themed songs from Bon Jovi's February 14 show in Montreal.

Bed of Roses


I'll Be There For You


(You Want To) Make a Memory


Superman Tonight


Wild is the Wind -- This is actually from the previous night at the Bell Centre, and was also played in Washington DC and Connecticut but was swapped out for Superman Tonight on February 14. I thought the song deserved a little play so I included it in this loosely themed post. ;)


Do you have a favourite? Which ballad do you think they should have done?

Bon Jovi's Because We Can Tour continues in Toronto tonight.

Alex Goot covers Livin' on a Prayer

Bon Jovi's signature song is the latest release from Alex Goot, one of several "YouTube musicians" who have made a name for themselves online by covering popular songs while also releasing original music.

What do you think of his take on Livin' on a Prayer?

Bon Jovi Montreal set list 14/2/13

Valentine's Day at the Bell Centre with Bon Jovi brought, somewhat unsurprisingly, a few extra "love songs." Still no Always but my personal favourite Bed of Roses got a whirl.

Montreal, QC, Canada - Centre Bell - February 14, 2013

1. You Give Love A Bad Name
2. Lost Highway
3. Because We Can
4. That's What The Water Made Me
5. Superman Tonight
6. It's My Life
7. What About Now
8. Born To Be My Baby
9. We Got It Going On
10. Keep The Faith
11. (You Want To) Make A Memory
12. Bed Of Roses
13. I'll Be There For You
14. Army Of One
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. What's Left Of Me
17. Wanted Dead Or Alive
18. Who Says You Can't Go Home
19. Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars
20. Bad Medicine

Encore:
21. Runaway
22. Have A Nice Day
23. Livin' On A Prayer
24. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
25. I Love This Town

Who was at this show and/or the previous night in Montreal? How would you rate it?

Bon Jovi - Because We Can (The Boxer: Act 1)

The second of four music videos for Bon Jovi's single Because We Can -- entitled "The Boxer: Act 1" -- has been released. Check it out.



In case you missed it, the first video was released two weeks ago and can be viewed at this link. You can also watch the behind the scenes video for Because We Can here.

What do you think of the new video?

Bon Jovi Montreal set list 13/2/13

Bon Jovi's Because We Can Tour rolled into Canada last night and this is what they played.

Montreal, QC, Canada - Bell Centre - February 13, 2013

1. You Give Love a Bad Name
2. Lost Highway
3. Whole Lot of Leavin'
4. Because We Can
5. That's What the Water Made Me
6. Wild is the Wind
7. It's My Life
8. What About Now?
9. When We Were Beautiful
10. We Got it Going On
11. Keep the Faith
12. Amen
13. The Fighter
14. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
15. Army of One
16. We Weren't Born to Follow
17. What's Left of Me
18. Wanted Dead or Alive
19. Who Says You Can't Go Home
20. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
21. Bad Medicine
Encore:
22. In These Arms
23. Have a Nice Day
24. Livin' on a Prayer
25. Blood on Blood
26. I Love This Town

Very early days yet but the sets have been pretty similar so far. Not to mention there are more Lost Highway songs being played than there were Circle songs during much of The Circle Tour! Personally I'd like I Love This Town dropped permanently and I have no love for We Got It Goin' On either, but I can understand why they play it. Also, I've harped on about this on previous tours but Always is their biggest worldwide hit and should be a staple.

Bon Jovi plays in Montreal again tonight (Valentine's Day)... Wonder what we'll get?

Bon Jovi Washington DC set list 2/11/13

Bon Jovi made it safely out of Connecticut and into Washington, DC for what became the official start of the Because We Can Tour after blizzards thwarted the big Mohegan Sun launch. The set was as follows:

Washington, DC, USA - Verizon Center - February 10, 2013

1. You Give Love A Bad Name
2. Lost Highway
3. Whole Lot Of Leavin'
4. Because We Can
5. That's What The Water Made Me
6. Wild Is The Wind
7. It's My Life
8. What About Now
9. When We Were Beautiful
10. We Got It Goin' On
11. Keep The Faith
12. Amen
13. The Fighter
14. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
15. Army Of One
16. We Weren't Born To Follow
17. What's Left Of Me
18. Wanted Dead Or Alive
19. Who Says You Can't Go Home
20. Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars
21. Bad Medicine

Encore:
22. In These Arms
23. Have A Nice Day
24. I Love This Town
25. Livin' On A Prayer

Was anyone at the show? What did you think?

Stormy start to Bon Jovi tour + Uncasville set list 9/2/13

Bon Jovi scraped through a potential PR disaster overnight with the late cancellation of the opening show of the Because We Can tour. The show at Mohegan Sun was set to kick off the widely anticipated tour, but with a severe blizzard in Connecticut, a state of emergency declared and driving bans in place, there was no way most of the ticket holders were going to get to the concert unless they'd somehow had the foresight and finances to arrive at the resort almost two full days beforehand.

Still, reports for most of the day were that the gig was going to take place as planned with no refunds offered to those who couldn't make it. Which would have been both greedy (Fans have already paid the money) and irresponsible (There are always people who are willing to risk their lives, not to mention a fine or jail time for driving during a ban, just to see their boys). The worst snowstorm in over three decades would have been a small gust of wind compared to the shitstorm Bon Jovi was facing if common sense hadn't prevailed, and I'm not sure even the band's most super-ardent defenders could have saved them from that.

Luckily, the right decision was made in the end, even if it took a lot of social media raging to get there. The concert was rescheduled for October 25, 2013 and Bon Jovi performed a free gig for the approximately 2000 people who had managed to get to the venue. And the big kahuna himself, Jon still came out looking like the good guy after being cast as the villain for most of the day.

The set for the free show was as follows:

Uncasville, CT, USA - Mohegan Sun - February 9, 2013

1. You Give Love a Bad Name
2. Lost Highway
3. Whole Lot of Leavin'
4. That's What the Water Made Me
5. Because We Can
6. Wild is the Wind
7. It's My Life
8. What About Now
9. When We Were Beautiful
10. We Got It Goin' On
11. Keep the Faith
12. Amen
13. The Fighter
14. Someday I'll be Saturday night - acoustic
15. Army of One
16. We Weren't Born to Follow
17. What's Left of Me
18. Wanted Dead or Alive
19. Who Says You Can't Go Home
20. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
Encore:
21. Livin' on a Prayer

Oh, and Washington DC... You're now officially the first stop on the Because We Can tour. ;)

A couple of videos of new songs from the free concert:

Amen


The Fighter


What's Left of Me

Because We Can tour + What About Now pre-orders

Bon Jovi's new album What About Now will be unleashed onto the world on March 8, 2013. You can pre-order the album on iTunes from February 12, which comes with an instant download of the title track. Here's a list of the official release dates in different markets:

• Australia March 8
• Austria March 8
• Belgium March 8
• Canada March 12
• Denmark March 11
• Finland March 13
• France March 11
• Germany March 8
• Ireland March 8
• Italy March 12
• Japan March 13
• Norway March 8
• Netherlands March 8
• New Zealand March 11
• Poland March 11
• Portugal March 11
• South Africa March 15
• Spain March 12
• Sweden March 13
• Switzerland March 8
• UK March 11
• USA March 12

Meanwhile, it looks like the Because We Can Tour will kick off in Connecticut at Mohegan Sun on February 9 as scheduled -- blizzards, state of emergency and all. They are streaming the first 30 minutes live on BonJovi.com from 8pm New York time (pre-show from 7:30). No word on whether any ticket holders who can't physically get to the show will be offered a refund but I suspect not if the show does go ahead.

The second of four videos for Because We Can will be released on the Bon Jovi app this weekend too.

Jon Bon Jovi talks What About Now

Jon Bon Jovi talks about the themes in What About Now; how Liu Bolin's art and a Halloween catalogue Jon's son Romeo brought home inspired the augmented reality album cover; and writing for Stand Up Guys in this interview with Televisionet.

Keep the Faith Viddy contest

You only have until February 6, 2013 (not sure what time zone) to be on the big screens during Keep the Faith this tour.

To enter the contest:

1. Install the Viddy app on your phone or tablet and setup an account.
2. Using Viddy, record a 15 second video of yourself shaking maracas (or get creative and use whatever you have!) to “Keep the Faith” in front of your favorite hometown landmark.
3. Add the hashtag #becausewecan to your video.

You have to get the video in by Feb 6 to be considered.

What About Now AR album cover + Because We Can (behind the scenes)

Bon Jovi's been introducing a lot of people to augmented reality and you can now check out the artwork for What About Now via the Bon Jovi app:

1. Download the Bon Jovi app via mobile roadie or the Google Play (for Android users) or iOS App Store (Apple users) if you haven't already.
2. Open the app (Music will start autoplaying but you can stop/pause it) and click on the Augmented Reality tab.
3. Point your device at the image below. The animation should start along with a clip of the title track.
4. Tap the animation for a video of Jon Bon Jovi talking about the track Not Running Anymore.

Also, the Because We Can image at this link now unlocks other content, including the behind the scenes video of Because We Can. The Behind the Scenes vid is also on YouTube.