Bon Jovi Fall tour dates announced

The following dates have been announced for Bon Jovi's upcoming North American leg of the tour:

• July 22 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga PAC
• July 23 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake PAC
• Oct. 2 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
• Oct. 5 - Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome
• Oct. 6 - Spokane, WA - Spokane Arena
• Oct. 8 - Fresno, CA - Save Mart Center
• Oct. 9 - Anaheim, CA - Honda Center
• Oct. 11 - Los Angeles, CA - STAPLES Center
• Oct. 12 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
• Oct. 15 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center
• Oct. 16 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
• Nov. 1 - Toronto, ONT - Air Canada Centre
• Nov. 8 - Montreal, QUE - Bell Centre

Visit BonJovi.com for all the tour dates.

Sambora and Bon Jovi: What do we know?

According to Rumorfix, talks between Richie Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi are going well. This is of course based on the assumption that Richie's absence from the tour is due to some kind of falling out, which hasn't actually been proven.

Meanwhile, in this Portuguese interview, Jon reiterated that Richie has not been fired and there was no fight over money, which was a claim made by TMZ and has been one of many theories regurgitated since.

Amid the rumours, innuendo and quotes that may or may not have been embellished in print, it's probably worth noting what we actually do know about the situation:

• Richie withdrew from the tour ahead of the second leg for unexplained "personal reasons" and his absence was sudden enough that Bon Jovi performed in Calgary that night without a lead guitarist.
• Jon said Richie has not been fired and the two of them have not had a fight.
• Richie said he is great and everything is good, but he can't make any other comments.
• No one in the Bon Jovi camp seems to know if or when Richie will return.
• Bon Jovi fans, Jon fans and Richie fans have been losing their proverbial faeces.
• Based on his Instagram pics, Phil X could launch another career as a tourism ambassador for several European countries.

Okay, so the last two points are my personal observations. But the irritating fact remains that despite all the drama, we barely know any more than we did at the beginning of April.

Bon Jovi Tampere set list 26/5/13

Nice to see Bon Jovi starting to play songs from the What About Now album they're supposed to be promoting. Here's their set from Finland. Were you at the show?

Tampere, Finland - Tampere Ratina Stadium - May 26, 2013

1. That's What the Water Made Me
2. You Give Love a Bad Name
3. Born To Be My Baby
4. Raise Your Hands
5. Lost Highway
6. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
7. It's My Life
8. Because We Can
9. What About Now
10. Runaway
11. We Got It Going On
12. Keep The Faith
13. (You Want To) Make A Memory
14. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
15. Last Man Standing
16. We Weren't Born To Follow
17. Who Says You Can't Go Home
18. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
19. Bad Medicine
    / Roadhouse Blues - The Doors cover
Encore 1:
20. In These Arms
21. Wanted Dead Or Alive
22. Have a Nice Day
23. Livin' on a Prayer
Encore 2:
24. I'm With You
25. What's Left Of Me
Encore 3:
26. These Days
27. Always

The first 40 minutes of the show were streamed live.


Meanwhile, Phil X is now popular enough to have his own Twitter impersonator, although the fake Phil tweets predominantly in Portuguese and now has "PARODY ACCOUNT" in their bio after the real Phil objected to someone trying to be him.

"Nothing is resolved" -Richie Sambora

And the Bon Jovi soap opera rolls on. About a day ago, Hollyscoop came up with this explanation about Richie Sambora's departure from the tour:

“Jon Bon Jovi had his ego hit hard when daughter Stephanie overdosed on heroin on November 14, 2012 in her college dorm. Since then Jon has been distraught and even angrier to business associates and friends. Jon said point-blank to Richie’s face, ‘I thought an overdose would have come from a daughter of yours, not mine.’”

It was this low-blow comment from Jon to Richie that basically ended whatever relationship they DID have. Sources say that since Jon’s daughter’s overdose, Jon has gotten even angrier and more cruel to Richie. Richie has always maintained that his exit was for "private reasons" that he would not go into. We now know that this "private matter" was actually Jon's belittling.

“Richie just went quietly and played for 20 plus shows that ended in late February, but when he had to return on April 2 for the next leg, Richie decided he wasn’t being paid enough to go through with all the cruelty from Jon,” adds the source.

Personally, I think if Jon had actually said said that, Richie would have walked out there and then, not sit through the whole first leg of the tour stewing over it (and displaying remarkable acting skills). And why would Jon be suggesting the media ask Richie what happened, if he had said what Hollyscoop is claiming?

Also, the first leg finished in March, not February. But this is just another thing to add to the melting pot of speculation.

Richie, meanwhile, has tweeted again...

Hey everybody, there's nothing I can say right now cause nothing is resolved. I thank you all for your loyalty and concern...

— Richie Sambora (@TheRealSambora) May 25, 2013

...as has Jon's little brother Matt...

One GUARANTEE. Bon Jovi isn't going anywhere. Do yourselves a favor and don't believe everything you read. So called press fishing 4 scoop

— Matthew Bongiovi (@MatthewBongiovi) May 25, 2013

There also seems to be a bunch of fans repeatedly tweeting this for some reason:

@BonJovi @MatthewBongiovi @TheRealSambora Need explanations They ran out of excuses.Richie&Jon gives the face,assumes #WeWantSamboraBack

followed by a number, which I'm assuming is added because Twitter bars you from posting duplicate tweets from the same account. Apart from the #WeWantSamboraBack hashtag at the end, I'm not even sure what the tweet means. Then again, it's probably a fitting reflection of the chaos and confusion in Jovi Land right now.

Bon Jovi Stockholm set list 24/5/13

Against the backdrop of the seemingly never-ending Richie Sambora saga, Bon Jovi played at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium. Were you at the show?

Stockholm, Sweden - Olympic Stadium - May 24, 2013

1. That's What The Water Made Me
2. You Give Love A Bad Name
3. Born To Be My Baby
4. Blood on Blood
5. Raise Your Hands
6. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
7. It's My Life
8. Because We Can
9. What About Now
10. We Got It Going On
11. Keep The Faith
12. (You Want To) Make a Memory
13. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
14. Army of One
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. Who Says You Can't Go Home
17. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
    / Rockin' All Over The World - John Fogerty/Status Quo cover
18. Bad Medicine
    / Start Me Up - Rolling Stones cover

Encore 1:
19. Dry County
20. Wanted Dead or Alive
21. Have A Nice Day
22. Livin' on a Prayer

Encore 2:
23. In These Arms

Richie Sambora strikes back against JBJ

If the Daily Mail is to be trusted, Richie Sambora has done his first media interview since Jon Bon Jovi's apparent serve via The Mirror and Evening Standard:

Richie has hit back at Jon's claims, telling MailOnline exclusively: 'I don't have any major problems in life right now, I love my fans and I feel bad for them at the moment. Bottom line'

'My opinion is Jon wants to see if he can pull off stadiums by himself. He is making it very difficult for me to come back.'

He added: 'Enough with the trash talking!'

'Jon needs to stop talking about me publicly. I am fine working very hard on my fashion company Nikki Rich and this is a private matter.'

(...)

Richie has his say on whether he's replaceable, talking about the tour he tells MailOnline: '[The fans] have paid money to see Bon Jovi and right now, they are not getting the whole deal.'

(Read the full article here.)

The article exploded onto the interwebs early yesterday, but I held off posting it for a couple of reasons. One being that this ongoing saga is sometimes a bit too much to handle; let's face it, who can recall there being this much drama in the Bon Jovi world? Maybe the burnout following the Jersey Syndicate tour, which I'm too young to remember, but that was pre-social media when everything could be conducted behind closed doors. Secondly, I don't know how much one can trust the UK tabloids (and there were several typos in that Daily Mail article), but if they were going as far as to manufacture quotes, then surely Richie would have to speak up at last? I was hopeful he might actually say something to ease our minds or at least answer some questions.

Instead he tweeted this...

Just to be clear,I've been running the fashion company for 5 Yrs. It does not take me away from the band,I'm an artist first. Always will be

— Richie Sambora (@TheRealSambora) May 23, 2013

... without denying any of the quotes attributed to him. Does that mean one can assume the gloves are well and truly off? Or maybe Richie's just taking the piss now, if he wasn't already. After all, he sees what people have been saying about the situation on Twitter, etc but chooses to tweet asinine things that don't address anyone's real concerns.

What saddens me is how it's turned into Jon vs Richie, not just between the men themselves (if that is indeed what is going on, since we still don't really know any more than we did on April 2) but between their fans. To be fair, there has been an element of this for years. Fans discontent with Bon Jovi's recent musical output have, at various times sought to blame "CEO Jon" for turning Bon Jovi into a greedy moneymaking machine at the expense of the art and accused him of forcing Richie to play uninspired pop instead of showing off his true guitar-playing talent.

As someone who's never been "pro-Jon" or "pro-Richie" -- just a fan of the band and supporter of its members' outside projects -- I can't say I agree with that assessment. Sure, What About Now is about as close to a JBJ solo album as you'll get without having "Jon Bon Jovi" printed on the front cover, but Richie had as much to do with the direction Bon Jovi had taken over the decade or so prior to that. I very much doubt Jon was standing over Richie forbidding him to play any complicated solos, for instance. And maybe Richie did find his "artistic soul" while making Aftermath of the Lowdown and decided the Bon Jovi machine was not for him right now -- that suggestion has been made several times and it's as plausible a reason as any for his continued absence. But if that's the case, he should have put his foot down before the tour began. Walking out the day of a show when tens of thousands of fans have purchased tickets, even if it's to "fight for the art" or because "he's sick of Jon's crap" doesn't make him a hero (IF that is what has happened; like I said, we know zilch).

Meanwhile, Jon had some interesting things to say in an interview with Spiegel in Germany. If, like me, you don't speak or read German, you can run the article through Google Translate or check out this translation by alessiasambo on Jovitalk. Bearing in mind that the original interview has been translated from English to German and now back to English, here's an extract from that translation:

SPIEGEL: "On your new record you sing about a punk rocker, who is crying after the legendary Club CBGB's, about a journalist, whose paper has closed down..."

Bon Jovi: "...and of a factory worker, whose factory was outsourced to Asia, yes. That is the social and cultural reality in our country."

SPIEGEL: "But what do you have to do with that? You are in a matter of speaking the CEO of one of the most successful companies in the entertainment business and for sure no poor man."

Bon Jovi: "How can a rich man sing about the problems of a poor man?"

SPIEGEL: "That's what I would like to know from you."

Bon Jovi: "Nobody would care for the worries of a rich man, particularly his worries are rather laughable compared to those of an unemployed man. That is not my task either. I tell stories, this is my job: to tell believable stories about things with which my audience can relate to. Do I need to be a punk rocker to sing about punk rock? I don't think so. My grandparents were poor people, who had to work hard, my parents have worked hard, and my brothers don't have any money even today, they have debts! So I do know what I am talking about pretty well. And when I sing about washing the dishes that is more than a metaphor too. Because I really wash the dishes, when I am in the kitchen of my restaurant."

SPIEGEL: "And how long is it supposed to go on like this? Just now your guitarist Richie Sambora has left the band."

Bon Jovi: "I believe it's not gonna last very long anymore for us either. My management doesn't like it, but I thought recently: People, we now are where artists like Elton John and Eric Clapton have been before. Not, that they still aren't great musicians still today, but I think we have reached the highest point of our journey. It might be that we are going to go downwards from now on. Not that I wouldn't like to earn more money, but at 70, like the Stones, I really don't wanna do this job anymore."

SPIEGEL: "So what's next then? "Bon Jovi - the musical"? You would have the hits for this."

Bon Jovi: "True, there even has been an offer for that not long ago already. If you meant that as an insult, I cannot take it like that. I mean, ABBA have earned more money with "Mamma Mia" than with all their records in the past. Without this musical nobody in the USA would know anymore who ABBA were. So if somebody wants to write the story for it and bring our songs to Broadway - do it!"

Well, they do have one half of a Tony Award-winning duo in the band in David Bryan...

Anyway, I have tickets to see Bon Jovi (whichever lineup is in Australia) in December and unless something dramatically positive happens, I'm guessing that will be it from the band for a while... Very little seems to have gone to plan on this tour. If this is indeed the end, it's a shame it had to be like this after 30 years.

Bon Jovi: Always & These Days in Munich 2013

It was good to see These Days finally make an appearance when Bon Jovi played in Munich on May 18, 2013. Here's a video featuring Always and These Days.



Phil X later apologised for his solo on Twitter.

@janie_piranha it was me. sorry... was the first time I played that song & blanked on the solo. it'll be closer to the record next time.

— Phil X (@TheRealPhilX) May 19, 2013

Bon Jovi: Dry County in Munich 2013

Bon Jovi opened the encore with Dry County in Munich on May 18, 2013. This video was shot from further back in the stands but showcases the much-talked-about new stadium stage and production.

Bon Jovi Bergen set list 22/5/13

A fairly short set in Bergen by Bon Jovi standards, but they played Hey God, and I for one am not about to complain about that. ;)

Were you at the show?

Bergen, Norway - Koengen - May 22, 2013

1. That's What the Water Made Me
2. You Give Love a Bad Name
3. Born to Be My Baby
4. Raise Your Hands
5. Lost Highway
6. Whole Lot of Leavin'
7. It's My Life
8. Because We Can
9. What About Now
10. Hey God
11. Keep the Faith
12. I'll Be There For You
13. Last Man Standing
14. We Weren't Born to Follow
15. Who Says You Can't Go Home
16. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
17. Bad Medicine
    / It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) - Rolling Stones cover

Encore 1:
18. Wanted Dead or Alive
19. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
20. Livin' on a Prayer

Encore 2:
21. Blood on Blood

Bon Jovi Oslo set list 21/5/13

Amidst all the off-stage drama, Bon Jovi had a concert to play in Norway and it looks like the pleas about changing up the set list are starting to get some positive answers. Were you at this show?

Oslo, Norway - Telenor Arena - May 21, 2013

1. That's What The Water Made Me
2. You Give Love A Bad Name
3. Born To Be My Baby
4. Raise Your Hands
5. Superman Tonight
6. It's My Life
7. Because We Can
8. What About Now
9. Happy Now
10. Keep The Faith
11. Amen
12. Bed Of Roses
13. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
14. Army Of One
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars
17. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
18. Bad Medicine
    / Roadhouse Blues - The Doors cover
    / Old Time Rock & Roll - Bob Seger cover
19. I'm With You
20. Wanted Dead Or Alive

Encore 1:
21. Have A Nice Day
22. Who Says You Can't Go Home
23. Livin' On A Prayer

Encore 2:
24. These Days
25. Always

Jon Bon Jovi turns heat on Richie Sambora

If these articles are to be believed, Jon Bon Jovi is getting pretty frustrated with Richie Sambora to say the least. And possibly issuing ultimatums via the press, depending on how you read his words.

From The Mirror:

Sipping water in his suite, 24 hours before a sell-out gig, Jon says: “We were all in Calgary, Richie was going to turn up on show day but we went the night before because it’s a long flight.

“At 3.30pm on show day the phone rang and it was Paul the manager and he said guess what, and he didn’t even have to finish the sentence. I said, you’re kidding. We went on that night. I haven’t seen Richie since.

“Love him, spoken to him once. I talked to him once, once in six weeks and 18 shows. He’s not fired, we didn’t have a fight, it certainly isn’t about money.

“We go back 30 years. He can return when he is ready to die every night the way I walk on the stage. It’s different without Richie. No one’s mad, no one’s sad. But fortunately because we had been through it before we performed that night. We couldn’t let down the fans.”

From the London Evening Standard:

Jon hinted that the reason may be the same as in 2011, when Sambora missed dates to go into rehab for alcohol abuse.

He said: “It’s getting more and more difficult every day to not just sit here and say something... Because all I can say is this — it’s for personal reasons. He’s been through it before, fortunately for us the same guy who filled in last time was available this time.

“Life goes on, so if someone chooses not to be here... unlike if this were, God forbid, The Edge, and he for some reason couldn’t make a U2 show, [then] it would be very difficult to just step in.

“You have a choice — you either figure it out, go and grow, not only survive but thrive. Or, you say, ‘I hate my brother and I’m gonna quit the band.’ ”

Yikes. That's more blunt than I would ever have expected from cool, diplomatic JBJ...

EDIT: Since these interviews were published, Richie has tweeted a couple more times, which is doing nothing to hose down speculation...

Hey there's too much to say right now so I won't say anything......love you all...thank u for your support...

— Richie Sambora (@TheRealSambora) May 22, 2013

Just don't worry... Everything's good....

— Richie Sambora (@TheRealSambora) May 22, 2013

Bon Jovi Munich set list 18/5/13

Bon Jovi usually puts on a pretty good show for Munich and there were some welcome inclusions to the set for this concert. Were you there?

Munich, Germany - Olympic Stadium - May 18, 2013

1. That's What the Water Made Me
2. You Give Love a Bad Name
3. Born to Be My Baby
4. Raise Your Hands
5. Runaway
6. Lost Highway
7. It's My Life
8. Because We Can
9. What About Now
10. We Got It Going On
11. Keep the Faith
12. (You Want To) Make a Memory
13. Bed of Roses
14. When We Were Beautiful
15. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
16. We Weren't Born to Follow
17. Who Says You Can't Go Home
18. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
    / Jumpin' Jack Flash - Rolling Stones cover
    / Start Me Up - Rolling Stones cover
    / Rockin' All Over the World - John Fogerty/Status Quo cover
19. Bad Medicine
    / Shout! - Isley Brothers cover

Encore:
20. Dry County
21. Wanted Dead or Alive
22. Have a Nice Day
23. Livin' on a Prayer

Encore 2:
24. In These Arms
25. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
26. Always
27. These Days
28. I Love This Town

Bon Jovi Vienna set list 17/5/13

Bon Jovi had a couple of days in between the allergy-aborted Sofia show and this concert in Vienna, although the break itself was not without drama... Were you at the show?

Vienna, Austria - Race Course Krieau - May 17, 2013

1. That's What The Water Made Me
2. You Give Love A Bad Name
3. Born To Be My Baby
4. Raise Your Hands
5. Lost Highway
6. Whole lot Of Leavin'
7. It's My Life
8. Because We Can
9. What About Now
10. We Got It Goin' On
11. Keep The Faith
12. When We Were Beautiful
13. Amen
14. I'll Be There For You
15. Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars
16. We Weren't Born To Follow
17. Who Says You Can't Go Home
18. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
    / Start Me Up - Rolling Stones cover
    / Rockin' All Over the World - John Fogerty/Status Quo cover
19. Bad Medicine
    / What'd I Say - Ray Charles cover

Encore:
20. Last Man Standing
21. Wanted Dead Or Alive
22. Have A Nice Day
23. Livin' On A Prayer

"You've gotta ask him." - JBJ on Richie Sambora

Richie Sambora should stop tweeting about how great everything is and make some kind of statement. Or at least in some way acknowledge the fact that the band is on tour and he isn't. Yes, he is human and has the right to privacy and his "issues" are "personal". We don't need all the gory details. The question that really matters, that it appears only he can answer, is this: Is Richie returning to Bon Jovi or not?

This video includes footage from the Bon Jovi press conference ahead of the Vienna show and a tour of the stadium stage set-up, but what Jon says about Richie (at about 1:39), especially on the back of the Cool FM interview, stands out:

"To keep addressing the Richie thing, and it's very difficult for us because, in truth, it's almost to the point... you've gotta ask him. He didn't show up, that's all that happened. He didn't get fired, we didn't have a fight. We've been through this before. And when he works through his personal issues, then he can talk about what date, if at all, he chooses to come back. We love him, we miss him, it's different but it's still just as good, and we're fortunate that the guy that filled in for him last time that he had issues was available, so the shows have not suffered one bit."

JBJ can't confirm Richie Sambora will return

Jon Bon Jovi has firmly placed the ball in Richie Sambora's court in an interview on Cool FM.

Pete Snodden interviewed Jon about touring, playing Slane, the new album What About Now, and songwriting... but when it came to the question of whether Richie would be back with Bon Jovi in the future (at 5:55), this is what Jon had to say (after a pause):

"Let's just say I certainly hope so. He has not been fired from the band, he is not ill, he's got some personal stuff that he's gotta deal with and I can't comment any further and it's not me being elusive, but it's for him to answer any further than that. We did not have a row, but we go on and he is always gonna be welcome as long as he's up for it."

I don't know about you but that doesn't sound overly promising. :/ Here's the interview in full.

Bon Jovi Sofia set list 14/5/13

Jon Bon Jovi's voice hasn't been in the best shape lately but his hay fever/allergies killed it during this show in Bulgaria. After Bed of Roses, he was forced to skip chunks of songs; David Bryan had to sing In These Arms; and the concert ended after 20 songs with no encores.

Jon apologised to the crowd before Wanted Dead or Alive.


After the show, Matt Bongiovi sent out a couple of tweets about the situation:

Jon is good. We feel allergies got best of him 2/3's through set. Still 2 hour show. He feels bad to have to cut.The audience was AMAZING

— Matthew Bongiovi (@MatthewBongiovi) May 14, 2013

@joviholic31 it hit during the show. Tons of junk in the air their. You could actually see it in the lights.

— Matthew Bongiovi (@MatthewBongiovi) May 14, 2013

Sofia, Bulgaria - Vasil Levski National Stadium - May 14, 2013

1. That's What the Water Made Me
2. You Give Love a Bad Name
3. Born to Be My Baby
4. Raise Your Hands
5. Lost Highway
6. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
7. It's My Life
8. Because We Can
9. What About Now
10. We Got It Going On
11. Keep the Faith
    / Sympathy for the Devil - Rolling Stones cover
12. When We Were Beautiful
13. I'll Be There For You
14. Bed of Roses
15. Runaway
16. We Weren't Born to Follow
17. Who Says You Can't Go Home
18. In These Arms - David Bryan on lead vocals
19. Livin' on a Prayer
20. Wanted Dead or Alive

Pumpcast News: Bon Jovi gas pump karaoke

Things have been a bit heavy in Bon Jovi Land recently so here's something on the lighter side... This video of Will and Monifa Sims singing Livin' on a Prayer and the Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams while pumping petrol on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno has been doing the rounds. I challenge you to watch it without having a huge grin on your face.



It was cool to get some acknowledgement from Jon Bon Jovi too. :)

Bon Jovi Johannesburg set list 11/5/13

Bon Jovi played in Jo'burg with Phil X continuing to fill in on lead guitar, while Richie Sambora continued to tweet about how well he is without explaining why he's not touring or whether he even intends to return. (Sorry if that seems rough, Richie and Richie defenders, but one can't blame fans for getting restless.)

Johannesburg, South Africa - FNB Stadium - May 11, 2013

1. That's What the Water Made Me
2. You Give Love a Bad Name
3. Born to Be My Baby
4. Raise Your Hands
5. Lost Highway
6. Runaway
7. Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen From Mars
8. It's My Life
9. Because We Can
10. What About Now
11. We Got It Going On
12. Keep the Faith
13. I'll Be There for You
14. Bed of Roses
15. In These Arms
16. We Weren't Born to Follow
17. Who Says You Can't Go Home
18. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
    / Jumpin' Jack Flash - Rolling Stones cover
    / Start Me Up - Rolling Stones cover
19. Bad Medicine

Encore 1:
20. Have a Nice Day
21. Blood on Blood
22. Wanted Dead or Alive
23. Livin' on a Prayer

Encore 2:
24. Always

Encore 3:
25. I Love This Town
26. Twist And Shout - Top Notes/Isley Brothers/Beatles cover

Bon Jovi adds Perth to Australian tour

Perth was originally left off Bon Jovi's 2013 Australian tour dates, but the band will now be playing at Perth Arena on December 12.

Aussie dates now as follows:

• Saturday 7 December 2013 – Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
• Wednesday 11 December 2013 – AAMI Stadium, Adelaide
• Thursday 12 December 2013 – Perth Arena, Perth
• Saturday 14 December 2013 – ANZ Stadium, Sydney
• Tuesday 17 December 2013 – Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

There was a December 8 date reported for Melbourne earlier, but this has apparently not been confirmed.

Bon Jovi Cape Town set list 7/5/13

Bon Jovi played in South Africa for the first time since 1995, sans Richie Sambora.

Cape Town, South Africa - Cape Town Stadium - May 7, 2013

1. That's What The Water Made Me
2. You Give Love A Bad Name
3. Born To Be My Baby
4. Raise Your Hands
5. Lost Highway
6. Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars
7. It's My Life
8. Because We Can
9. What About Now
10. We Got It Goin' On
11. Keep The Faith
12. I'll Be There For You
13. Bed Of Roses
14. In These Arms
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. Who Says You Can't Go Home
17. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
    / Rockin' All Over The World - John Fogerty/Status Quo cover
18. Bad Medicine

Encore 1:
19. Dry County
20. Wanted Dead Or Alive
21. Have A Nice Day
22. Livin' On A Prayer

Encore 2:
23. Always

Encore 3:
24. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night

Bon Jovi's Australian dates + What About Now video

Bon Jovi has announced their tour dates for Australia in December. As indicated earlier, my hometown of Perth is absent so I'll probably be doing a spot of travelling at the end of the year (I won't be going to every show or splashing out on an expensive package though).



The dates are as follows:

• Dec 7 - Melbourne - Etihad Stadium
• Dec 8 - Melbourne - Etihad Stadium
• Dec 11 - Adelaide - AAMI Stadium
• Dec 14 - Sydney - ANZ Stadium
• Dec 17 - Brisbane - Suncorp Stadium

Will you be at these shows?

The video for Bon Jovi's latest single What About Now has also been released.

Confirmed: Richie Sambora will not play in South Africa or Europe

The statement we didn't want has been made on Bon Jovi's official website:

Due to a personal matter, Richie Sambora will not be performing on the European and South African leg of the tour. All shows will go on as scheduled.

At least we know now, as opposed to the day of a concert like when the announcement was first made. But honestly, the longer this drags on the less "vague personal issues" is going to cut it. The ball seems to be firmly in Richie's court. We don't need a blow by blow of what's going on. If it's a health concern, say that. If it's family, say it's family. If it's a legal issue he can't comment on, say he can't comment at this stage for legal reasons.

The whole saga has been poorly handled from a PR perspective. But more to the point, fans have supported the band for years and shelled out for tickets, travel and accommodation. They should get some idea of if/when the band's most recognisable commodity behind Jon Bon Jovi himself is returning. Richie being out for South Africa and Europe takes us all the way to early July -- that's three months off the tour with no explanation. And it's getting to a point where we can't dismiss the possibility that Bon Jovi will just continue to make meaningless statements like the one above ahead of each leg for the rest of the tour... maybe even culminating in an announcement that Richie Sambora is leaving the band "due to a personal matter".

Matt Bongiovi has said he isn't but who knows what to believe these days...

Richie is still in band. It's not money it's not ego it's truly personal for him. He will be back in time. Support with love

— Matthew Bongiovi (@MatthewBongiovi) April 30, 2013

Will you still go see the band without Richie?