Bon Jovi's These Days album is 20

I haven't blogged here in a few weeks and These Days is my favourite Bon Jovi album so I think I should say something about this.

Yep, These Days is 20 years old! It was officially released on June 19, 1995. I was an oblivious six-year-old at the time, but I'm actually glad I discovered the album later in life because I wouldn't have appreciated it as much as a kid. As a teenager or young adult, however, it helped me through some of the toughest periods of my life. And that's why I'll always consider myself a Bon Jovi fan, even when they do things that make me want to rip my hair out. :P

Let's relive the singles of These Days, just because.

Bon Jovi - These Days


Bon Jovi - This Ain't A Love Song


Bon Jovi - Something For The Pain


Bon Jovi - Lie To Me


Bon Jovi - Hey God


Which track from These Days is your favourite? Where does the album rank for you?

Meanwhile, Bon Jovi is working on a new album (No official word on who's playing lead guitar, but it's not Richie Sambora) and have announced a string of rare dates in Asia in September and October. Jakarta, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Macau, Abu Dhabi, and Tel Aviv are on the bill.

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.

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.

Videos from Dublin 2

As promised... videos from Bon Jovi's second night in Dublin (June 30, 2011). It's probably fairly obvious from a diehard's perspective why I've picked the songs I've picked to showcase, so I'll let the videos speak for themselves. Your comments, of course, are always welcome.

(My video post for the first Dublin show is here.)

Bounce


Happy Now


Hey God


Damned


Never Say Goodbye


Love for Sale


Bad Medicine medley (partial): Roadhouse Blues and Vertigo


More killer videos at Hath's Circle Tour Blog. Not long now 'til Istanbul!

Hard Rock Calling audio and video

Bon Jovi blew us away at Hard Rock Calling in London on June 25. I don't know if there's any chance of an official live release, but it'd sure be nice.

Absolute Radio has a photo gallery from the show. They are also streaming Blaze of Glory, Born to Be My Baby, It's My Life, Livin' on a Prayer and Always until July 26, 2011.

There's also a fan recording of the full audio stream here. Various other fan recordings are floating around for download.

And finally, here are some fan videos. :)

Hey God

Considering this is the opening track of my favourite album, I recognised the intro of the song when I heard it coming through my headphones during the live stream, but I don't think I really believed what I was hearing until Jon started singing.

Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman

Jon squeezing Richie Sambora's butt at about 3:27.

Hallelujah

Some people bag it for being too slow or over-emoted but I don't care; I love Bon Jovi's version of Hallelujah. I never really appreciated the song until Bon Jovi started doing this in 2007... now I love the original as well as many of the cover versions. Though I have to admit, Jon looks rather pained here.

Dry County

If you follow the blog, you'll probably already know I'm a sucker for this song.

Livin' on a Prayer / Always


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

Videos from Zagreb

Bon Jovi kicked off their European tour in Zagreb, Croatia on June 8, 2011. It also marked the return of Richie Sambora after spending May in rehab.

This is my blog so obviously my bias is going to come through, but they played three These Days songs in Zagreb and all of them are going to be posted below. ;)

Hey God

I've heard better renditions but Jon usually takes some time to "warm up" at the start of a leg. I enjoyed the performance and it's nice to see Richie back. Also nice to hear some voices singing along to this song.

These Days

Damn, what a great song. That's all.

Something for the Pain

Shot from the second tier. Something for the Pain was one of my favourite moments in Perth so I for one don't think I could get sick of them playing it.

And now for a couple of others...

Love's the Only Rule

Probably my favourite live track from The Circle, Jon messes up the lyrics a little bit here but that's okay. ;)

Have a Nice Day

Jon has a hood on and Richie's rocking the double-necked guitar.

Wanted Dead or Alive

"Are there any cowboys in Croatia? Let's find out." The Zagreb fans taking lead vocals the first verse. :)

There are more great videos over at Hath's Circle Tour Blog. I'll have some Dresden videos up next.

Videos from Uncasville: A Day for Diehards

First up, I'd like to apologise for being late with these; blame it on a combination of work and, in the last couple of days, being unable to login to the Blogger dashboard from my usual browser. I'm typing this from IE right now, which is not something I like to do by choice. :P

Anyway, I promised a video showcase and it's time to deliver. I'm glad there's this break in the tour at the moment or I'd be even further behind. ;) Without further ado, here's a bunch of videos from Bon Jovi's amazing set in Uncasville on March 4, 2010.

The Radio Saved My Life Tonight

Surprising choice for opener, but I dig the song.

Thorn In My Side

The twin solo at the end just takes the song to another level every time. Sure, I'm biased because I loved The Circle from the start, but it's the live performances of "Thorn", along with "Love's the Only Rule", that convinced me that Jon gave up on the album way too easily.

Wild in the Streets

Some people were just about bursting blood vessels over the decision to let Bobby Bandiera take the solo on this. Thoughts?

I Got The Girl

This song is roundly hated but I don't mind it... Crush isn't a favourite album of mine, but when I think about it, there are really only two songs on it that I particularly dislike and this isn't one of them. I enjoyed the little jam at the end too.

In These Arms (David Bryan vox)

I ALWAYS love hearing Dave sing.

Superman Tonight (acoustic)

I absolutely adore the unplugged version of this. The touch of violin from special guest Lorenza Ponce worked nicely here.

Living in Sin

Ah, the forgotten New Jersey hit (it was one of five top 10 hits from that album, and the only one that didn't make the recent Greatest Hits).

Hey God

This was my favourite song at one point. It's now slipped down the list a bit but it's still comfortably in my top 10, so it's always great to see this pop up in a set.

Videos from London June 10-11 + June 8 review

LET IT ROCK - As Joe Biden might say, this is a big f***ing deal. Bon Jovi played "Let It Rock" at The O2 last night (June 11, 2010). It was obviously the song's tour debut, and I didn't think it had been performed at all in the past 10 years... but I've since been told that "Let It Rock" was last played in Osaka, Japan on January 8, 1991. A very big f***ing deal, then.

Here's a video of the first couple of minutes...


Here's a lower quality video of the full song...


And let's not forget the awesome-ness of the night before (June 10, 2010)...

HEY GOD - Now that's rock! :)


I'D DIE FOR YOU


NEVER SAY GOODBYE


LIVING IN SIN


And because I can, some more videos from June 11.
OH, PRETTY WOMAN


OPEN ALL NIGHT (partial)


Still waiting for "Radio Saved My Life Tonight".

Finally, here's a fan review of the second night at The O2 by Roger Allen from Fanzeyreview:

Bon Jovi are back to their spiritual home of London for a virtual month residency at the O2 Arena. This is all part of The Circle Tour in support of the same name titled cd that hit the stores last year. The band has come a long way since I first saw them in London in 1988/89 for the New Jersey tours.

Check out the review and his website at this link.

Hey God in Anaheim

The jaw-dropping magic moment from the second Anaheim show on February 27, 2010.

HEY GOD - Great to see this one. I hope it gets more outings during the tour because I expect Jon's voice to get stronger (It takes him a little while to "warm up") and it fits with the working class theme they're trying to portray. And it's just a great rockin' song.

Apparently Jon told the crowd that Bon Jovi hadn't played "Hey God" in 12 years. He is mistaken; it was played a few times on the Lost Highway Tour, the last time being in Barcelona on June 1, 2008. But prior to that it was played in 2001, which is still a pretty long time between drinks (not quite 12 years, but Jon's a singer, not a mathematician).

Also here's a review of the first night in Anaheim by George A. Paul for the Orange County Register.

Modern technology sure is a wonderful thing. Bon Jovi played on a round stage with a small semi-circular catwalk, within which was filled with rows of people who paid a pretty penny for VIP packages. But my eyes were often glued overhead: I’d never seen anyone utilize screens in a similar way before. They came together, multiplied and changed shape. Additional panels morphed into makeshift stairs when Jon briefly gave fans behind the stage his undivided attention.

Yet the music is still what matters most, and this veteran New Jersey group turned in a mostly satisfying two hour, 15-minute performance that sounded great at the Honda. The still boyish-looking frontman (who turns 48 on Tuesday) was happy-go-lucky during a smattering of big ’80s hits and appropriately serious amid selections from latest studio album.

Read the full review here.

LH Magic Memory #2: Kansas City 2nd show

The second magic memory I'll be recapping takes place two days after the first.

The date is April 22, 2008. The place is Kansas City, which is apparently in the US state of Missouri (not Kansas??). Bon Jovi had played there five days earlier, with two other cities in between. Maybe they felt they had to go the extra mile. And what a mile it was! Just take a look at this set list.

Kansas City, Missouri, USA - Sprint Center (22/4/08)
LOST HIGHWAY
BORN TO BE MY BABY
YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME
ONE WILD NIGHT
RUNAWAY
JUST OLDER
I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD w/ Gimme Some Lovin' + Start Me Up
BLOOD MONEY
BLAZE OF GLORY (feat. Chris Daughtry)
WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN'
MISUNDERSTOOD
ALWAYS
WE GOT IT GOIN' ON
IT'S MY LIFE
BAD MEDICINE w/ Shout
I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU (Richie)
MAKE A MEMORY
BED OF ROSES (This Left Feels Right version)
WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME
HAVE A NICE DAY
HEY GOD
LIVIN' ON A PRAYER

Encore:
I LOVE THIS TOWN
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

To understand how amazing that is, "One Wild Night" and "Hey God" had not been played since 2001. Jon even dedicated "Hey God" to the YouTubers.
We were still pinching ourselves over "Always" being played in Des Moines and there it was again. And while the song pales compared to the others I highlighted, "Misunderstood" was a surprise too. For a diehard it was arguably the best set list of the North American leg.

ONE WILD NIGHT



HEY GOD


MISUNDERSTOOD


BLAZE OF GLORY... As was the case for most of this leg of the tour, Jon sang "Blaze" as a duet with Chris Daughtry, whose own band was Bon Jovi's support act.