Monday, November 30, 2020

On a Night Like This: Bon Jovi 2020

Bon Jovi's pandemic concert documentary, On a Night Like This premiered on Facebook on Friday, but it was available on SiriusXM before that. If you missed it or want to watch it again, you can do so on Facebook and YouTube:


The band performed the 2020 album in its entirety, though not in the expected order (which was kind of good... kept me on my toes):
  • Do What You Can
  • Lower the Flag
  • Let it Rain
  • Story of Love
  • American Reckoning
  • Blood in the Water
  • Brothers in Arms
  • Unbroken
  • Beautiful Drug
  • Limitless

The performance was shot while David Bryan was in iso preparing to shoot his Broadway musical, Diana, for Netflix. Greg Mayo from the Kings of Suburbia filled in for him as he has for the other 2020 promo shows.

Bonus tracks were also performed and made available as an exclusive for members of the JBJ Experience but have since been leaked.

Here's "Luv Can":

And "Shine":

I enjoyed this. As a film, it was nicely put together. Performing to no one is awkward AF though. 

I would've liked more of Phil X rocking out -- his excitement is always a joy to watch. Though I was pleasantly surprised by John Shanks' guitar playing... too bad he can't get the "In These Arms" solo right. (By the way, Shanks has more musical talent in his pinky nail than I do in my entire body, but that doesn't mean I don't yearn for better versions of that solo.)

I guess the real litmus test will come much later, but a couple of months on, I still really like the album. It's more of a Jon album than a band album, but it demonstrated (to me, at least) that regardless of the patchiness of his voice these days, the dude can still write a banger.

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