The grass is Greenville for Bon Jovi

Yeah, that was an awful pun and may or may not be my silly attempt at distracting you from the fact that I'm falling behind again. But hey, I work full time and spend a lot of that time in front of a computer screen so sometimes watching videos and blogging isn't necessarily my priority afterwards. I'm sure it's no skin off Jon's back. 😜

Anyway, show #6 of Bon Jovi's 2022 tour took us to Greenville -- which was actually the scene of the opening show of the This House Is Not For Sale Tour way back in 2017. Gosh, that feels like a lifetime ago.

Here's what happened in 2022...

Greenville, South Carolina, USA - April 11, 2022

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

1. Limitless
2. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. We Weren't Born to Follow
5. It's My Life
6. Beautiful Drug
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. This House Is Not For Sale
9. I'll Be There For You
10. Just Older
11. Let It Rain
12. Keep the Faith
13. American Reckoning - acoustic
14. We Don't Run - acoustic
15. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
16. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
17. Lost Highway
18. Roller Coaster
19. Wanted Dead or Alive
20. Have a Nice Day
21. Livin' on a Prayer
    
    encore:
22. Who Says You Can't Go Home
23. Bad Medicine

 

Selected videos from Greenville

 "I'll Be There For You". I mean, the voice is what it is. But the crowd "whoa-oh-ohs" are always cool:

"Keep the Faith". Phil X is fire and hands-down my favourite thing about live performances of this song:

"Born to Be My Baby". Jon can definitely still do his front man thang, I won't deny that:

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Feel free to share your thoughts below. 😊

Want to stay connected? You can find us on Facebook @blameitonthelove, Instagram @blameitonthelove and Twitter @bonjoviblog.

Bon Jovi in Madrid 07//07/19

Bon Jovi headed to Madrid, where "Bed of Roses" got the "Cama de Rosas" chorus as one might predict in Spanish-speaking country. (I would've loved "Como Yo Nadie Te Ha Amado" as well but Jon's probably forgotten that exists. 😜) Here's the full set from Madrid:

Madrid, Spain - Wanda Metropolitano - July 7, 2019 set list

1. This House Is Not For Sale
2. Raise Your Hands
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. Born to Be My Baby
5. Roller Coaster
6. Lost Highway
7. Runaway
8. Have a Nice Day
9. Keep the Faith
10. Amen
11. Bed of Roses/Cama de Rosas
12. In These Arms
13. It's My Life
14. God Bless This Mess
15. Wanted Dead or Alive
16. Lay Your Hands on Me
17. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
18. Bad Medicine
    
    Encore:
19. I'll Be There For You
20. Livin' on a Prayer

Videos from Madrid

"Bed of Roses":

"It's My Life":

"Born to Be My Baby":

Feel free to share your thoughts, other videos, etc. 😊

Extras

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and bass player extraordinaire Hugh McDonald is now on Instagram @hugh_mcdonald_official so give him a follow. 😉

View this post on Instagram

@bonjovi #bonjovi

A post shared by Hugh McDonald (@hugh_mcdonald_official) on Jul 9, 2019 at 2:16am PDT

Want to stay connected? You can find us on Facebook @blameitonthelove, Instagram @blameitonthelove and Twitter @bonjoviblog.

Bon Jovi in Sydney 8/12/18

Bon Jovi ended the Australian leg of the This House Is Not For Sale Tour in Sydney. I'd spent the week in Sydney catching up with family and friends before going to the concert on Saturday night so it's been a busy few days, but I'm finally home in Perth and writing this blog post.

Here's what was played in Sydney:

Sydney, NSW, Australia - ANZ Stadium - December 8, 2018 set list

1. You Give Love a Bad Name
2. Raise Your Hands
3. Lost Highway
4. Who Says You Can't Go Home
5. This House is Not For Sale
6. Roller Coaster
7. We Weren't Born to Follow
8. We Don't Run
9. It's My Life
10. God Bless This Mess
11. Born to Be My Baby
12. Have a Nice Day
13. Keep the Faith
14. Bed of Roses
15. Lay Your Hands on Me
16. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
17. Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen From Mars
18. Livin' on a Prayer
    
    Encore #1: 
19. Bad Medicine
20. Wanted Dead or Alive
21. I'll Be There For You
    
    Encore #2: 
22. Blood on Blood
23. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night

Videos from Sydney

"Blood on Blood":

"Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" plus the final bows:

"Born to Be My Baby". Jon goes into the crowd and sings in front of the person filming:

"Livin' on a Prayer". Jon dips into the crowd for this one too:

If you have any videos from Sydney you'd like to share, feel free to link to them in the comments.

My thoughts

Jon's vocal issues have been pretty well documented by fans over the last few years. But he sounded good by current standards, even if he was kind of running out of steam in the second encore (I'm still glad he did the second encore though). There are concerts where he's been pretty much rooted to the spot and clinging to the mic stand while sounding average, and that obviously doesn't make for a good show. In Sydney, however, he was moving around, working the crowd, and being a front man worth seeing. I had the best time, and I'm really glad I made the trip.

Plus, as I briefly mentioned in my belated Brisbane post, I got to meet Phil X in Sydney... I might do a separate blog post about that?

I'm also quite proud of the fact that the lead singer of my favourite band is one of the few Americans who can pronounce "Melbourne" and "Brisbane" correctly. 😛

Birds of Tokyo were great as the support act too. They're from Perth, by the way. Hopefully Bon Jovi can make it there next time. 😉

Were you at the show?

Where to next?

Bon Jovi have announced tour dates for Europe in May, June, and July 2019. The Sydney concert also coincided with a Runaway Tours trip, so there was a Q&A with Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan, Tico Torres, where it was reportedly revealed a new album is slated for release in 2019.

Bon Jovi in Boston 2/04/18

After about a week off, during which the "Walls" music video dropped on YouTube, Bon Jovi resumed their This House Is Not For Sale Tour in Boston. If you've been following the set lists at all, this one was pretty predictable:

Boston, MA, USA - TD Garden - April 2, 2018

1. This House Is Not For Sale
2. Knockout
3. You Give Love A Bad Name
4. Whole Lot Of Leavin'
5. Lost Highway
6. When We Were Us
7. Born To Be My Baby
8. Who Says You Can't Go Home
9. It's My Life
10. We Weren't Born To Follow
11. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
12. We Got It Goin' On
13. Keep The Faith
14. Amen
15. Bed Of Roses
16. Lay Your Hands On Me
17. God Bless This Mess
18. Have A Nice Day
19. Bad Medicine
    
    Encore:
20. Wanted Dead Or Alive
21. Livin' On A Prayer

Videos from Boston

"Born To Be My Baby":

"Wanted Dead or Alive":

If you'd like to share any videos from Boston, feel free to link to them in the comments. 🙂

Bon Jovi in Bueno Aires 16/09/17

Bon Jovi headed to Bueno Aires on the next stop of their South American tour. Here's what was played:

Set list: Bueno Aires, Argentina - Estadio José Amalfitani - September 16, 2017

1. This House Is Not For Sale
2. Raise Your Hands
3. Knockout
4. You Give Love a Bad Name
5. Born to Be My Baby
6. Lost Highway
7. We Weren't Born to Follow
8. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
9. Runaway
10. We Don't Run
11. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
12. Bed of Roses / Cama de Rosas
13. It's My Life
14. Who Says You Can't Go Home
15. God Bless This Mess
16. Wanted Dead or Alive
17. Lay Your Hands on Me
18. Have a Nice Day
19. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen From Mars
20. Bad Medicine
    
    encore 1:
21. In These Arms
22. I'll Be There for You
23. Livin' on a Prayer
    
    encore 2:
24. These Days
25. Keep the Faith

It was the same set list as the previous show in Santiago. 

Videos from Bueno Aires

"In These Arms":

"You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Born to Be My Baby":

"I'll Be There For You":

"Bed of Roses":

UPDATE 18/09/17: "Captain Crash" and "Bad Medicine", with Jon using the "catwalk" to interact with the crowd:

If you'd like to share any videos from this concert, feel free to link to them in the comments. 🙂

Were you at this show?

Bon Jovi in Pittsburgh 05/04/17

Hot on the heels of the "playback" scandal in Uncasville, Bon Jovi played a short (approximately 90-minute) show due to Jon being ill. Jon pulled a fan from the crowd up to sing "Born to Be My Baby" and David Bryan sang "Livin' on a Prayer" from the second verse onwards. Here's what was performed:

Set list: Pittsburg, PA, USA - PPG Paints Arena - 5 April 2017

1. This House Is Not For Sale
2. Knockout
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. Lost Highway
5. Whole Lot of Leavin'
6. Roller Coaster
7. We Weren't Born to Follow
8. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
9. Runaway
10. We Got It Going On
11. Who Says You Can't Go Home
12. It's My Life
13. Lay Your Hands On Me
14. Born to Be My Baby [ft. Brad]
15. Bad Medicine
16. Livin' on a Prayer [David Bryan vox on 2nd verse]

"God Bless This Mess", "New Year's Day", "Keep the Faith", "Raise Your Hands", and of course "Wanted Dead or Alive" were the songs cut from the planned set list. Jon apologised midway through the show for "singing like shit". He has reportedly been sick since Saturday night, which is concerning with the Madison Square Garden shows coming up.

Now, I'm kind of torn here. Part of me is thinking, "This is your damn instrument, Jon, stop wrecking it. Reschedule the show, take the hit on social media. There's no point being a 'fighter' when you're a professional singer who can't sing." Plus, as a fan, if you'd saved up to go to this one show, it wouldn't be unreasonable to feel a bit ripped off. But then there are fans who have travelled for the show and can't get refunds on accommodation and airfares. And aside from the fact that Jon doesn't typically cancel when he's sick, he probably felt like he had more to prove after what happened in Uncasville. It got picked up quite a bit online, and now casual fans, former fans, and non-fans alike seem to think Jon routinely mimes entire shows, which is patently false. Even now, there are people claiming Jon is "conveniently" sick because he "got caught lip syncing". So whether he did the show poorly or cancelled it, it was a no-win situation for him.

UPDATE 07/04/17: Jon has bronchitis. On doctor's orders, the two Madison Square Garden shows have been postponed until April 13 and 15 respectively. Bon Jovi's website still has the previously-rescheduled Denver show going ahead on April 14.

UPDATE 08/04/17: Denver has now been cancelled. I'm assuming it wasn't logistically possible to go from NYC to Denver and back again. And doing so many shows in close succession whilst recovering from bronchitis may not have been the best idea. But cancelling a show that had already been postponed, in favour of the two MSG shows, effectively tells Denver fans that they are worth less than New York fans. I'd feel pretty hurt in that situation.

Videos from Pittsburgh

"Born to Be My Baby" featuring a fan from the crowd:


UPDATE 7/04/17: More videos have been uploaded. Thanks to the commenter below for links.

Here's "Livin' on a Prayer" with Dave on the second verse:

"It's My Life":

"Bad Medicine":

This is another angle of "Born to Be My Baby" with Brad:

If you'd like to share any videos from Pittsburgh, feel free to link to them in the comments.

Were you at this show?

Bon Jovi in Memphis 16/03/17

Bon Jovi were back on the road again after a week-long break in their This House Is Not For Sale Tour. Here's what was played in Memphis:

Set list: Memphis, TN, USA - FedExForum - 16 March 2017

1. This House Is Not For Sale
2. Knockout
3. You Give Love a  Bad Name
4. Lost Highway
5. Whole Lot of Leavin'
6. Roller Coaster
7. We Weren't Born to Follow
8. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
9. We Got It Goin' On
10. Who Says You Can't Go Home
11. It's My Life
12. We Don't Run
13. God Bless This Mess
14. Scars on this Guitar
15. The Devil's in the Temple
16. Lay Your Hands on Me
17. Born to Be My Baby
18. Have a Nice Day
19. Bad Medicine
20. Keep the Faith
    
    Encore:
21. Wanted Dead or Alive
22. Livin' on a Prayer

It was a short show with no surprises. The audibles were "Always", "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night", "Raise Your Hands", and "Blood on Blood" (as they've been all tour) but none of them were played.

Would've been cool if David Bryan had done "Memphis Lives in Me" like he did at the same venue in 2011:

 

Videos from Memphis in 2017

"Born To Be My Baby":

 

"Wanted Dead or Alive":

If you want to share any videos from Memphis, feel free to link to them in the comments. 🙂

Were you at this show?

Bon Jovi in Birmingham 16/2/17

Bon Jovi continued their This House Is Not For Sale Tour with a trip to Birmingham, Alabama for the first time since the New Jersey Tour, if I'm not mistaken.

Here's what was played in 2017:

Set list: Birmingham, AL, USA - Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex - 16 February 2017

1. This House Is Not For Sale
2. Knockout
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. Lost Highway
5. Whole Lot of Leavin'
6. Roller Coaster
7. Work for the Working Man 
8. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
9. We Got it Going On
10. Who Says You Can't Go Home
11. It's My Life
12. We Don't Run
13. God Bless This Mess
14. Scars on This Guitar
15. The Devil's in the Temple
16. Lay Your Hands On Me
17. Blood on Blood
18. Have a Nice Day
19. Bad Medicine
20. Keep the Faith
    Encore:
21. Born To Be My Baby
22. Wanted Dead or Alive
23. Livin' on a Prayer

I was happy to see "We Weren't Born to Follow" dropped for reasons previously stated, but it's still not a terribly exciting set on paper. I do hope Jon stands his ground and keeps playing lots of songs from This House Is Not For Sale... though I feel like they could've rotated through the entire album by now instead of only playing the same few songs. (They repeated the live listening party four times so it's not like they haven't performed the other tracks before.)

Here's a video of "Born to Be My Baby":

UPDATE 20/2/17: Here's a video of Jon exchanging some banter with the crowd before the band plays "The Devil's in the Temple":

Were you at this show?