Jon Bon Jovi Las Vegas set list 24/3/13

Jon Bon Jovi and the Kings of Suburbia performed at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas last weekend. Were you at this show?

Las Vegas, NV, US - The Joint - March 24, 2013

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles cover
2. (Ain't Nothin' But A) House Party - The J. Geils Band cover
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. Oh, Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison cover
5. Because We Can
6. I'm Your Man - Leonard Cohen cover
7. Bad Medicine / Shout! - Isley Brothers cover
8. Old Time Rock 'n' Roll - Bob Seger cover
9. We Weren't Born to Follow
10. Wanted Dead or Alive
11. Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie cover
12. Baba O'Riley - The Who cover
13. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
14. The Letter - The Box Tops cover
15. Who Says You Can't Go Home

Encore:
16. Livin' on a Prayer - acoustic
17. 634-5789 - Wilson Pickett cover

Richie Sambora Every Road cover contest

The Richie Sambora "Every Road" cover contest is open.

To enter, record yourself performing a cover of "Every Road Leads Home to You" and post it as a video response to this video.



It's open to international fans and Richie's favourite cover will win an ESP LTD SA-2 Richie Sambora Signature Electric Guitar.

Will you enter the competition?

Bon Jovi Lubbock set list 17/3/13

Bon Jovi returned to Lubbock for the first time in almost a quarter of a century, playing a short, hits-heavy (but no Always!) set that featured only three songs from the new album. This concert also marked the end of the first leg of the Because We Can Tour -- the band will now take a couple of weeks' break before resuming the tour in Calgary on April 2.

Were you at the show?

Lubbock, TX, US - United Spirit Arena - March 17, 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. Runaway
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 - Richie Sambora on lead vocals
14. We Weren't Born to Follow
15. Born to Be My Baby
16. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
17. Who Says You Can't Go Home
18. Bad Medicine / Old Time Rock and Roll - Bob Seger cover

Encore:
19. Wanted Dead or Alive
20. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
21. Have a Nice Day
22. Livin' on a Prayer

Bon Jovi Oklahoma City set list 16/3/13

When We Were Beautiful was probably the biggest surprise when Bon Jovi played Oklahoma City. Were you at the show?

Oklahoma City, OK, US - Chesapeake Energy Arena - March 16, 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. When We Were Beautiful
9. What About Now
10. We Got It Going On
11. Keep The Faith
12. Amen
13. Bed Of Roses
14. I'll Be There For You
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. Runaway
17. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
18. Who Say You Can't Go Home
19. Bad Medicine / Old Time Rock 'n' Roll [Bob Seger cover]

Encore:
20. (You Want To) Make A Memory
21. Wanted Dead Or Alive
22. Born To Be My Baby
23. Have A Nice Day
24. Livin' On A Prayer

Encore 2:
25. Always
26. I Love This Town

Bon Jovi - Because We Can on American Idol

Bon Jovi made an appearance on American Idol on March 14 (I guess it would have been a previously recorded segment because they had a show in Louisville that night), performing Because We Can to promote the newly released What About Now.



Jon's vocals sound live to me but the rest of the band is miming to a pre-recorded track, as evidenced by the bass that can be heard despite the absence of a bass player on stage, unless Hugh McDonald is hiding behind that screen or something. (The miming doesn't bother me, since this is pretty standard practice for television, and I guess there's no real need for Huey to rock up just to pretend to play for four minutes... but being a Hugh fan, and friends with a lot of bassists, I had to say something.)

Bon Jovi Louisville set list 14/3/13

There is some confusion over what Bon Jovi actually played in Louisville because there didn't seem to be the usual live play-by-play tweets coming through, but this is apparently the set list.

Were you at the show?

Louisville, KY, US - KFC Yum! Center - March 14, 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. Superman Tonight
8. What About Now
9. Runaway
10. We Got It Goin' On
11. Keep the Faith
12. Bed of Roses
13. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
14. I'll Be There For You
15. We Weren't Born to Follow
16. I'll Sleep when I'm Dead / Old Time Rock 'n' Roll [Bob Seger cover]
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. Blood on Blood
22. Born to Be My Baby

Encore 2:
23. Have a Nice Day
24. Livin' on a Prayer

Encore 3:
25. Always
26. I Love This Town

Bon Jovi St Louis set list 13/3/13

Bon Jovi played in St. Louis for their first show since the What About Now album was actually released in the US... I would have personally liked a couple more new songs in the set but the biggest surprise probably ended up being the return of "Superman Tonight", while "Whole Lot of Leavin'" also made a comeback and "Always" was dropped.

Were you at the show?

St. Louis, MO, US - Scottrade Center - March 13, 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. Whole Lot Of Leaving
10. Superman Tonight
11. We Got It Going On
12. Keep the Faith
13. Amen
14. Bed of Roses
15. I'll Be There For You
16. Runaway
17. We Weren't Born to Follow
18. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
19. Wanted Dead Or Alive
20. Who Says You Can't Go Home
21. Bad Medicine / Old Time Rock 'n' Roll [Bob Seger cover]

Encore:
22. (You Want to) Make a Memory
23. Born To Be My Baby
24. Have a Nice Day
25. Livin' on a Prayer

Social media chat with Richie Sambora

Richie Sambora partook in a Google Hangout and Twitter chat with fans earlier today. Here is the Hangout video...



...and his Q&A tweets:

@therealsambora if you were to describe Jon, David and Tico with one word each, which words would you choose? #AskSambora

— ❤ Jovi is my life (@joviismylife) March 12, 2013

.@joviismylife Oh god! Dave is FUNNY, Tico is STRENGTH and Jon is ENERGY

— Bon Jovi (@BonJovi) March 12, 2013

@bonjovi What is your favorite Bon Jovialbum, guitar-tone wise? #AskSambora

— Alex Arce (@enquencle) March 12, 2013

.@enquencle That's a tough one. I like the energy of Slippery When Wet. I like the depth of These Days. They're my 2 favorites

— Bon Jovi (@BonJovi) March 12, 2013

@bonjovi #AskSambora what do you guys do to prepare yourself for such long tours?

— MacklemoreYelaShady! (@AracelyC24) March 12, 2013

.@aracelyc24 Work out and stay in shape. You gotta be in shape to be traveling, doing three hours shows and all of that

— Bon Jovi (@BonJovi) March 12, 2013

#asksambora what us your favourite song on the new Bon Jovi album? @bonjovi @therealsambora

— Monika Tribb (@Monpheb) March 12, 2013

.@monpheb That's a tough one... "Pictures Of You" because I thought it was an evolution of this particular album...

— Bon Jovi (@BonJovi) March 12, 2013

.@montheb Also I like the production

— Bon Jovi (@BonJovi) March 12, 2013

what electric guitar is good for a beginner like me? #asksambora

— Sonja B. (@s_6b) March 12, 2013

.@s_6b A stratocaster or a Les Paul!

— Bon Jovi (@BonJovi) March 12, 2013

@bonjovi Do you guys think you'll ever stop touring? :P #asksambora

— KellyBob :3 (@Kawee6281) March 12, 2013

.@kawee6281 Probably not! I like it too much.

— Bon Jovi (@BonJovi) March 12, 2013

@bonjovi #asksambora LOVE the new album! Thick As Thieves couldbe my hubby and I but who was the real inspiration behind that lovely song?

— Patty Eiben (@Patrieka) March 12, 2013

.@patriekawell obviously the inspiration in my head, I was thinking about Jon and his wife. Also the energy of it.. the band, you know?

— Bon Jovi (@BonJovi) March 12, 2013

#asksambora Will there be any more live streams of shows this tour? @bonjovi @therealsambora

— ♬♪♫❤ĵᎯɴε❤♫♪♬ (@dcfanjane) March 12, 2013

.@dcfanjane You know, I'm pretty sure we will!

— Bon Jovi (@BonJovi) March 12, 2013

@bonjovi Do you go to other bands/artist live shows and which was your favorite? #askSambora

—Sandra van den berg (@Sandravdberg) March 12, 2013

.@sandravdberg 121212 was pretty good too because there were a lot of bands there that I like to see

— Bon Jovi (@BonJovi) March 12, 2013

@bonjovi @twittermusic What's your favourite thing to do in your free time on tour? #asksambora

— Renate S (@Schuerfi) March 12, 2013

@schuerfiitake it as a "me day". I like to relax, go to the gym... baseball, rugby, basketball... it's something I do in every town

— Bon Jovi (@BonJovi) March 12, 2013

Living in Sin - Live in Columbus, Ohio

Bon Jovi played Living in Sin for the first time on the Because We Can Tour during their March 10 show in Columbus. Here's a video.



Do you think they should play it more often?

Bon Jovi Columbus set list 10/3/13

Bon Jovi's Columbus show saw Living in Sin -- a top 10 single which should have been on the Greatest Hits, by the way -- make its tour debut. Great to see Always stay in the set. :)

Were you at this show?

Columbus, OH, US - Nationwide Arena - March 10, 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. When We Were Beautiful
9. What About Now
10. We Got It Goin' On
11. Runaway
12. Keep The Faith
13. Amen
14. Living In Sin / Chapel Of Love [Dixie Cups cover]
15. I'll Be There For You
16. We Weren't Born To Follow
17. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover]
18. Who Says You Can't Go Home
19. Bad Medicine

Encore:
20. (You Want To) Make A Memory
21. Wanted Dead Or Alive
22. Born To Be My Baby

Encore 2:
23. Have A Nice Day
24. Livin' On A Prayer

Encore 3:
25. Always

What About Now - Bon Jovi lyric videos

With the new Bon Jovi album already out in some parts of the world and being released this week everywhere else, lyric videos are now up for all the songs on What About Now (excluding bonus tracks):

1. Because We Can
2. I'm With You
3. What About Now
4. Pictures of You
5. Amen
6. That's What the Water Made Me
7. What's Left of Me
8. Army of One
9. Thick as Thieves
10. Beautiful World
11. Room at the End of the World
12. The Fighter

What is your favourite new song?

Bon Jovi Cleveland set list 9/3/13

Bon Jovi streamed their Cleveland concert in its entirety online and it was a pretty good webcast and show, even though Jon's voice was nowhere near its best. I loved the ad libs in Saturday Night, and appreciate the extra effort of singing Always when he looked ready for a rest.

What did you think of the show?

Cleveland, OH, US - Quicken Loans Arena - March 9, 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. Work for the Working Man
10. We Got It Going On
11. Keep the Faith
12. Amen
13. Bed of Roses
14. I'll Be There For You
15. Runaway
16. We Weren't Born to Follow
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

Encore 2:
24. Have a Nice Day
25. Livin' on a Prayer

Encore 3:
26. I Love This Town
27. Always

My thoughts on What About Now - album out now

Bon Jovi's new album What About Now was released in Australia yesterday (March 8, 2013) and by lunchtime I'd started getting messages asking me if I liked it. Short answer? Yes, but I've honestly never disliked an album I paid money for on first listen, let alone a Bon Jovi one so the real test will come in a few months or even a year from now when you ask me if I'm still listening to it. I remember The Circle getting pretty good initial feedback before the hate started pouring in ;) but I for one still enjoy it.



Here are a few of my thoughts on What About Now:

• Several of the songs have already been played live so if you liked them live I don't think hearing the studio versions will change that, and if you hated them then I don't think the studio versions will change that either.
• What a lot of people have been wondering about is "production". And the people who pay attention to that sort of thing would also know that John Shanks produced the album, as he's been doing with Bon Jovi since Have a Nice Day. So for better or worse, there's your answer.
• If we'd gotten a solo Jon Bon Jovi album after The Circle, this might have been it or pretty close to it. It's sort of been a trend but the band didn't seem to have a whole lot to do with this album. FYI Richie Sambora is credited on five tracks on What About Now along with a third collaborator (either Billy Falcon, John Shanks or Desmond Child). Apart from that Jon wrote with Falcon or Shanks.
• I might as well get the "Beautiful World" = "How Far We've Come" (Matchbox 20) comparison out of the way...
• "That's What the Water Made Me" is still my favourite song from the album. And currently right up there with my favourite Bon Jovi songs of the last 13 years.
• "I'm With You" reminds me a little bit of "Nothing", which was originally written for Have a Nice Day but ended up being recorded by Bo Bice as "Nothing Without You" on his debut album instead. I always liked the Bon Jovi version of the song though. Shanks has co-writing credits on both songs.
• "Thick As Thieves" is dire. It reminds me of "Save the World" from Crush, which is one of my least favourite Bon Jovi songs (Sorry to anyone who loves it). Bonus tracks "With These Two Hands" and "Into the Echo" aren't perfect but at least they don't make me cringe like "Thick as Thieves".

Have you listened to the album? What do you think?

Feel free to rip anything I've said to shreds. :P

Bon Jovi Nashville set list 6/3/13

Bon Jovi played Always for the second night in a row (and second time on the Because We Can Tour)! The set list had "Always or I Love This Town" written down as the final song, but they ended up playing both. Were you at this show?

Nashville, TN, US - Bridgestone Arena - March 6, 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 Goin' On
10. Keep The Faith
11. Amen
12. Bed Of Roses
13. I'll Be There For You
14. Runaway
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
17. Wanted Dead Or Alive
18. Who Says You Can't Go Home
19. Bad Medicine / Old Time Rock & Roll [Bob Seger cover]

Encore:
20. (You Want To) Make A Memory
21. Born To Be My Baby
22. Blood On Blood

Encore 2:
23. Have A Nice Day
24. Livin' On A Prayer

Encore 3:
25. Always
26. I Love This Town

Because We Can: the complete story

Now that the last of four videos for Because We Can, the lead single from Bon Jovi's new album What About Now has been released, let's put the story together...

Official video


The Boxer: Act 1


Astrid: Act 2


The Beginning: Epilogue


So... what do you think?

Interesting trivia: The boxer is John Francis Duddy. Jon Bon Jovi's birth name? John Francis Bongiovi. Well, I thought it was interesting. :P

What About Now is released this week.

Bon Jovi Charlotte set list 5/3/13

Bon Jovi's trip to Charlotte included the long-awaited return (and tour debut) of Always (which I still maintain should be a concert staple). Even more surprising, Hey God was an audible on the set list along with When We Were Beautiful, Army of One and What's Left of Me.

Were you at the show?

Charlotte, NC, US - Time Warner Cable Arena - March 5, 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. Captain Crash And The Beauty Queen From Mars
10. We Got It Goin' On
11. Keep The Faith
12. Amen
13. Bed Of Roses
14. I'll Be There For You
15. Runaway
16. We Weren't Born To Follow
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. Whole Lot Of Leavin'
23. Born To Be My Baby
24. Blood On Blood

Encore 2:
25. Have A Nice Day
26. Livin' On A Prayer

Encore 3:
27. Always

Bon Jovi Fort Lauderdale set list 2/3/13

Bon Jovi played in Sunrise, Florida for Jon's 51st birthday. The set looks a little dry on paper, with no Just Older or any expected tidbits like that, and there are some reports that the crowd "sucked" and Jon's back might be giving him trouble. Ahead of the show, Matt Bongiovi sent some tweets (which seem to have been deleted) saying that "our leader" had requested no birthday signs, and later that no signs were to be allowed at any show from now on.

Were you at the concert?

Sunrise, FL, US - BB&T Center - March 2, 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. Runaway
8. What About Now
9. We Got It Goin' 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. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
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
Encore 2:
24. Have A Nice Day
25. Livin' On A Prayer

Next stop: Charlotte.

Bon Jovi Tampa set list 1/3/13

Bon Jovi headed to Florida to kick off Spring and streamed the first 10 songs online. If you missed the webcast, you can watch it here or catch the re-broadcast on Radio.com on March 9.

After the official broadcast ended, a Bon Jovi diehard named Ridge Collins picked up the slack with a highly entertaining Ustream from his phone. Between knowing every word (and identifying each song within a couple of seconds), counting the "alrights" in Who Says You Can't Go Home (there were 50, by the way) and narrating all the action ("air clap, air clap"), he showed us all exactly how to enjoy a Bon Jovi concert even when the set list isn't as mindblowing as we wished it could be.

Were you at this show?

Tampa, FL, US - Tampa Bay Times Forum - March 1, 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. Runaway
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
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
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

Encore 2:
24. Have a Nice Day
25. Livin' on a Prayer

Encore 3:
26. Blood on Blood
27. I Love This Town

Bon Jovi heads to Fort Lauderdale for Jon's 51st birthday tonight, and our man Ridge will be there too.