Looking back at the Bon Jovi Tour, Bergman style

Bon Jovi photographer David Bergman has written a blog recapping his experience of the tour. He talks about Jon's knee injury and includes some previously unreleased photos. Check it out here.

Missed the Lisbon webcast?

BonJovi.com recently streamed most of Bon Jovi's July 31, 2011 Lisbon concert but in case you missed it or want to catch it again...

"Bon Jovi: 'Live' from Lisbon" Encore

From BonJovi.com:

DON'T MISS THE STREAM OF Bon Jovi: 'Live' from Lisbon Encore on Sept 21st!
September 14, 2011

Make sure to watch Bon Jovi: 'Live' from Lisbon Encore, the stream of Bon Jovi's last show of the 2011 tour performed in Lisbon, Portugal on July 31st!! The legendary performance will stream Wednesday, September 21st for fans worldwide on BonJovi.com and Facebook.com/BonJovi!

There will be 3 airings so tune in to any or all of the times below to catch this unforgettable show!

First Airing: 8:00PM EST (Sydney) // 7:00PM JST (Tokyo) // 6:00AM EDT (New York)
Second Airing: 8:00PM BST (London) // 3:00PM EDT
Third Airing: 8:00PM EDT // 7:00PM CDT // 6:00PM MDT // 5:00PM PDT

The wording is a bit ambiguous so whether that means they're broadcasting the whole show, or just the encore, or just selected highlights isn't entirely clear. I don't think I'm going to get home in time to catch it anyway so if anyone wants to record it, that'd be nice. ;)

Winding back the clock in Lisbon (last tour video post!)

Bon Jovi wrapped up their year-and-a-half-long tour in Lisbon on July 31, 2011... Here's a selection of videos, as promised. :)

Get Ready

I don't know how hard I was listening but back when I was a high school kid who couldn't wait to grow up (Ah, the naivety of youth!) I used to blast this song in my room a lot. Probably why it's one of my favourites from Bon Jovi's eponymous first album. It's not exactly a deep thinking song... but it is fun. And it was really great to see something/anything (other than Runaway) from those early albums pop up again, even if it was on the last show of the tour.

(It's Hard) Letting You Go

Perfect song? Yes. (Well... in my opinion, of course.)

Any Other Day

One of the best songs on Lost Highway was played for the first (and obviously last) time on the tour in Lisbon. Jon seemed pretty relaxed performing it (especially given he's apparently not a fan of it) and I enjoyed the jam at the end too.

I Believe

Passionate performance. And it might be the post-tour high talking, but if I close my eyes I'd almost swear it was the 90s.

This Ain't a Love Song

If Jon had just whacked that microphone stand out of the way and dropped to his knees a la Wembley '95, it would have been perfect... although given the recent knee injury, that probably wouldn't have been advisable. :P

More videos from every show of The Circle/Greatest Hits/Open Air Tour are on Hath's Circle Tour Blog.

***

It's with a tinge of sadness that I hit 'Publish' on this video post. I started Blame It On The Love back in 2008 -- at the end of the Lost Highway Tour -- and it's strange to think that another tour has come and gone. We don't know when the next album or tour (either band or solo) will be. We don't know what the future holds. But we will probably be on the ride anyway.

I want to thank each and every one of you who has read this blog... whether you've followed it or just popped in once or twice. And for everyone who's commented or emailed me, I do read what you write and I appreciate that you took the time to leave your thoughts.

And finally... the tour may be over but I ain't going anywhere. ;) There's always something happening in Jovi Land, and Bon Jovi's never far from my mind anyway.

Until next time... keep the faith and never say goodbye!

This Ain't a Love Song, Romeo and Juliet + more from San Sebastian

Bon Jovi's San Sebastián show (July 29, 2011) brought some nice inclusions... the most notable/anticipated being This Ain't a Love Song!

This Ain't a Love Song

These Days' biggest hit finally made its tour debut on the second last show of the tour. There were fans holding up signs for it in Barcelona but it wasn't played. Hope at least some of those fans got to experience it here. Jon's not moving around much but he sounds great.

Romeo and Juliet / Always

Romeo and Juliet is probably my favourite Dire Straits song so that was a cool surprise. It also segues nicely into Always.

Summertime

Jon seems to have fun with this song. It's not all that well liked, but I actually enjoy it.

Wild in the Streets (partial)

This was as much of the song as I could find but it deserved a showcasing.

I'd Die For You


Hath's Circle Tour Blog has a complete video guide to this show. I'll be posting videos from Lisbon tomorrow. :)

I Believe, Roses, Santa Fe + more from Barcelona

As promised... Bon Jovi videos from Barcelona (July 27, 2011).

I Believe

Love this song! Looks like it's fun to play too. And Jon sounds awesome here.

Bed of Roses / Cama de Rosas

Bed of Roses with the Spanish chorus... a treat for the local crowd. I'm willing to bet Jon's Spanish pronunciation isn't exactly perfect, but sometimes it's more about the effort and heart than the polish. Case in point: Stick to Your Guns in Amsterdam 2008.

Santa Fe

This has only been played one other time (during Bon Jovi's residency at London's O2 arena). Just to give you fair warning, the Barcelona rendition also features an audible female voice from the crowd. ;)

Something to Believe In

Still one of my faves. I don't know what it is but the "hey hey hey heys" give me goosebumps.

Hey God

Energetic performance.

Always


There are more awesome videos over at Hath's Circle Tour Blog.

Lisbon set list

This is it, folks... the final show of Bon Jovi's Circle/Greatest Hits tour that began a year and a half ago. And boy, did they go out with a bang! Were you in Lisbon? How are we feeling now that it's all over?

Lisbon, Portugal - Bela Vista Park - July 31, 2011

1. Raise Your Hands
2. You Give Love A Bad Name
3. Born To Be My Baby
4. We Weren't Born To Follow
5. Lost Highway
6. It's My Life
7. Get Ready
8. In These Arms
9. We Got It Going On
10. Captain Crash And The Beauty Queen From Mars
11. Bad Medicine / Gloria [Van Morrison cover] / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover] / Shout! [Isley Brothers cover]
12. (It's Hard) Letting You Go
13. When We Were Beautiful
14. I'll Be There For You
15. Who Says You Can't Go Home
16. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
17. Any Other Day
18. Have A Nice Day
19. Keep the Faith
    
    
    encore #1:
20. These Days
21. Wanted Dead or Alive [ft Richie Sambora]
22. I Believe
23. This Ain't a Love Song
24. Livin' on a Prayer
    
    
    encore #2:
25. Always
26. I Love This Town
27. Twist and Shout

Hath's Circle Tour Blog will have all the videos from this show in due course. I'll also be doing video posts for the last couple of shows that I haven't covered yet.

Audio from the first half hour of the Lisbon concert (up to Get Ready) was streamed live on the radio. If you missed it, you can (hopefully) listen to it here.

San Sebastian set list

The second last show of The Circle/Greatest Hits Tour took Bon Jovi to San Sebastian for the first time since the Keep the Faith/I'll Sleep When I'm Dead Tour. Incredible setlist, on paper at least... I'd love to hear from anyone who was there. :)

San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain - Estadio Anoeta - July 29, 2011

1. Raise Your Hands
2. You Give Love A Bad Name
3. Wild in the Streets
4. Born To Be My Baby
5. We Weren't Born To Follow
6. It's My Life
7. In These Arms
8. I'd Die For You
9. Summertime
10. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
11. Bad Medicine / Hot Legs [Rod Stewart cover] / Old Time Rock & Roll [Bob Seger cover]
12. When We Were Beautiful
13. I'll Be There For You
14. Living in Sin
15. Who Says You Can't Go Home
16. Thorn In My Side
17. Wild Is The Wind
18. Have A Nice Day
19. Keep The Faith
    
    
    encore #1:
20. This Ain't A Love Song
21. Wanted Dead Or Alive
22. Livin' On A Prayer
    
    
    encore #2:
23. These Days
24. Romeo and Juliet [Dire Straits cover] / Always
25. I Love This Town
26. Twist and Shout [The Isley Brothers cover]

Hath's Circle Tour Blog will have all the videos in due course.

Just ONE more show left on the tour... what will we get in Lisbon?

Barcelona set list

Bon Jovi... Barcelona.... Wow. Just. Wow.

That thud you heard was the sound of my jaw hitting the floor. (Also, I decided to number the set for the first time for easier reading... better late than never, right?)

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain - Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys - July 27, 2011

1. Raise Your Hands
2. You Give Love A Bad Name
3. Born To Be My Baby
4. We Weren't Born To Follow
5. I Believe
6. It's My Life
7. In These Arms [ft David Bryan]
8. Just Older
9. We Got It Going On
10. Captain Crash And The Beauty Queen From Mars
11. Bad Medicine / Bad Case Of Loving You [Robert Palmer cover] / Not Fade Away [Buddy Holly cover] / Vertigo [U2 cover]
12. Bed Of Roses / Cama de Rosas
13. Santa Fe [acoustic]
14. Diamond Ring
15. I'll Be There For You
16. Who Says You Can't Go Home
17. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
18. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
19. Have A Nice Day
20. Keep The Faith
encore #1:
21. Something To Believe In
22. Hey God
23. Wanted Dead or Alive
24. Livin' on a Prayer
encore #2:
25. Always
26. I Love This Town

As usual, Hath's Circle Tour Blog will have all the videos as they come. You can bet there'll be a healthy video post on Blame It On The Love too.

Bruges set list

Shortish set for Bon Jovi's Belgium show... Had some really nice inclusions from a diehard's perspective but from what I've read and been told the show was just "okay" as opposed to great. I'd love to hear comments from anyone else who was there, though.

Bruges, Belgium - Zeebrugge Beach - July 24, 2011
Happy Now
You Give Love a Bad Name
Blood On Blood
We Weren't Born To Follow
Lost Highway
Whole Lot Of Leavin'
It's My Life
The More Things Change
Raise Your Hands
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
Bad Medicine / Hot Legs [Rod Stewart cover]
Bed Of Roses
I'll Be There For You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Garageland
Have A Nice Day
Keep The Faith

encore:
Wild Is The Wind
Never Say Goodbye
Wanted Dead Or Alive
Livin' On A Prayer

As per usual, Hath's Circle Tour Blog will have all the videos in due course.

Videos from Vienna

Here's a selection of videos from Bon Jovi's recent concert in Vienna (July 22, 2011).

Have a Nice Day

Some fans seemed a bit shocked at Jon flashing his middle finger about 2:03 into the video, even though Richie Sambora's been known to flip the bird during this song. :P

Thorn In My Side

I can't help but laugh at how deep in concentration Jon looks compared to Richie during the (still awesome) twin solo. I know I say this every time they play Thorn, but they really should play it more.

Bad Medicine / Wild Thing / Old Time Rock 'n' Roll


Wild is the Wind


For more videos, check out Hath's Circle Tour Blog.

Videos from Udine

July 17, 2011 marked Bon Jovi's first Italian show in eight years and it was one to remember.

Spanish Harlem / Bed of Roses

Spanish Harlem was a surprise but nice little intro to Roses.

Lie to Me / Always

Lie to Me was unplanned (it wasn't on the printed setlist) but I love this song pairing. And how good does this crowd sound!

Just Older

Jon dedicated this to Max, the fan who organised the crowd choreography to form the American flag and the word "JOVI".


These Days

One of the best songs this band has ever released... The "whoa oh ohs" were a cool finish.

There were a heap of great songs at this show and great videos too, so be sure to check out Hath's Circle Tour Blog for a complete video guide! :)

Vienna set list

Bon Jovi's first Vienna show since the Bounce Tour looks to have been a great night!

Vienna, Austria - Ernst-Happel-Stadion - July 22, 2011
Raise Your Hands
You Give Love A Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
We Weren't Born To Follow
Superman Tonight
It's My Life
In These Arms
Radio Saved My Life Tonight
Runaway
We Got It Going On
Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen from Mars
Bad Medicine / Wild Thing [Chip Taylor song] / Old Time Rock and Roll [Bob Seger cover]
(You Want To) Make A Memory
Hallelujah [Leonard Cohen cover]
I'll Be There For You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Have A Nice Day
Keep The Faith

encore #1:
Whole Lot Of Leavin'
Wanted Dead Or Alive
Thorn In My Side
Blood On Blood
Livin' On A Prayer

encore #2:
Wild Is The Wind
Always
These Days

Check out Hath's Circle Tour Blog for all the videos in due course.

There are only four shows left on the tour, so here's hoping they'll give us something to remember.

Athens set list

This was Bon Jovi's first show ever in Greece.

Athens, Greece - Olympic Stadium - July 20, 2011
Raise Your Hands
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
We Weren't Born To Follow
Lost Highway
It's My Life
Blaze of Glory
In These Arms
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover]
When We Were Beautiful
Bed of Roses
I'll Be There For You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Work For The Working Man
Have a Nice Day
Keep the Faith

encore:
Wanted Dead or Alive
Always
Livin' on a Prayer

Videos will all be on Hath's Circle Tour Blog in due course.

Lie to Me / Always from Italy

I'll probably do another video post from Bon Jovi's Udine show (June 17, 2011) when more vids pop up, but I couldn't log off tonight without posting Lie to Me and Always...



There was a bit of a false start with Lie to Me, but it was a great lead-in to Always... love the cheer that went up as Jon began to sing!

Udine set list

Viva l'Italia! Bon Jovi hadn't played in Italy since the Bounce Tour but at least the fans got a pretty sweet set to make up for it. Feast your eyes on this...

Udine, Italy - Stadio Friuli - July 17, 2011
Raise Your Hands
You Give Love a Bad Name
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
It's My Life
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
We Got it Going On
Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover]
Spanish Harlem [Ben E. King cover]
Bed of Roses
I'll Be there For You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Love's The Only Rule
Have A Nice Day
Keep The Faith

encore #1:
Dry County
Wanted Dead or Alive
In These Arms
Just Older
These Days
Livin' on a Prayer

encore #2:
Lie To Me
Always
I Love This Town

Videos from the show will be on Hath's Circle Tour Blog in due course.

Videos from Mannheim

Setlist-wise, Bon Jovi returned to a bit of form at the Mannheim concert (July 16, 2011). Here are some videos.

Hey God

Good performance of this, though I hope no one was accidentally sprayed by Jon's spit. ;)

I Get a Rush

Is David Bryan pulling faces at someone or is he just really happy? :P

Bad Medicine medley (partial)

Featuring Mercy (with some botched lyrics), Old Time Rock 'n' Roll, the tail end of Bad Medicine, and a tease of Shout. Jon seems to be in a great mood and it's always nice to see Dave get a bit of the spotlight.

In These Arms

Speaking of Dave, he got to take lead vocals here briefly after the first chorus.

The Radio Saved My Life Tonight

In my humble opinion, this is one of the best tracks from 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong even with the chorus down an octave.

Miss Fourth of July

Beautiful as always. I've been a sucker for this for years.

Love's the Only Rule

Played after what had appeared to be the final bows. Jon's love/fear speech kind of reminded me of a scene from Donnie Darko, but I still love this song... Should have been The Circle's lead single (or any single for that matter).

jovigirlfm has a heap of other great videos on her YouTube channel, and you'll find a complete video guide on Hath's Circle Tour Blog in due course.

Mannheim set list

If you loved the box set, you would have appreciated Bon Jovi's Mannheim set. Unless you loved the box set but hated Radio, I Get a Rush, and Miss 4th of July, in which case never mind. :P

And I was wrong about them not playing Mercy again. Hey, it happens. ;)

Mannheim, Germany - Maimarkt-Gelände - July 16, 2011
Raise Your Hands
You Give Love A Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
We Weren't Born To Follow
The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
It's My Life
Runaway
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead / Start Me Up [Rolling Stones cover]
We Got It Goin' On
I Get A Rush
Bad Medicine / Mercy [Duffy cover] / Old Time Rock and Roll [Bob Seger cover]
Bed Of Roses
I'll Be There For You
Miss Fourth Of July [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Captain Crash and The Beauty Queen From Mars
No Apologies
Have A Nice Day
Keep the Faith

encore #1:
Hey God
Wanted Dead or Alive
In These Arms [ft David Bryan]
Hallelujah [Leonard Cohen cover]
Livin' on a Prayer

encore #2:
Love's the Only Rule

Videos from the show will be on Hath's Circle Tour Blog in due course.

Jon flips the bird... Oh Lord, have Mercy...

Haven't done a Bon Jovi video post since Dublin. There hasn't really been anything we haven't seen before in the shows since, but I figured I may as well post these little "incidents". ;)

JBJ flips the bird: Long story short, there was a girl in Bucharest who felt she'd been wronged by the fan club and had attended several shows with a banner for Jon. Jon's middle finger pops up at about 0:51 of this video of Dry County, followed by a dry Jersey shrug.


Mercy x 3: Apparently there were banners in Dusseldorf requesting Mercy, the Duffy song Bon Jovi covered a few times on the Lost Highway Tour. Jon couldn't remember the lyrics and tried the song three times. First, during the Bad Medicine medley (Wait, is that a sign requesting Twist and Shout I see?!)...

He tries again, acoustic, after When We Were Beautiful...

Before finally nailing it (albeit with the obvious help of a teleprompter).


I have a feeling this is the last time we'll see Mercy. Anyway, you know the drill... Hath's Circle Tour Blog for the complete video guide.

Zurich set list

Strange set for Bon Jovi in Zurich. Apparently Jon's been struggling with his voice; Richie Sambora finally got lead vocals on a song again, but as I've said before I'd really rather he not do Lay Your Hands on Me.

Zurich, Switzerland - Letzigrund - July 14, 2011
Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen From Mars
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
We Weren't Born to Follow
Lost Highway
Whole Lot of Leavin'
It's My Life
We Got It Going On
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover]
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora vox]
(You Want To) Make a Memory
Bed of Roses
I'll Be There For You
Who Says You Can't Go Home
No Apologies
Work For the Working Man
Have a Nice Day
Keep the Faith

encore:
Superman Tonight
Wanted Dead or Alive
Love's the Only Rule
Livin' on a Prayer

Videos will be on Hath's Circle Tour Blog in due course.