Looking back on shows 4, 5, 6 & 7 of the Forever tour

Back to my official unofficial catch-up of Bon Jovi's Madison Square Garden residency, and we're looking at shows 4 to 7 -- leading up to the infamous shortened show 8, for which ticket-holders have reportedly started receiving refunds for.

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden #4 - 14 July 2026

1. With a Little Help from My Friends - The Beatles cover
2. Beautiful Drug
3. We Weren't Born to Follow
4. Lost Highway
5. Who Says You Can't Go Home
6. You Give Love a Bad Name
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Legendary
9. Whole Lot of Leavin'
10. Bed of Roses
11. Have a Nice Day
12. It's My Life
13. Livin' on a Prayer
14. Lay Your Hands on Me
15. Living Proof
16. This House Is Not for Sale
17. Keep the Faith
    
    Encore:
18. I'll Be There for You
19. Red, White and Jersey
20. Wanted Dead or Alive
21. Bad Medicine
22. Always

Literally the same set from the previous show, lol. But he probably sounded better on those songs overall.

Videos from #4:

Shout out to Tully Blanchard who recorded the whole show. Legend!

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden #5 - 16 July 2026

1. With a Little Help from My Friends - The Beatles cover
2. Beautiful Drug
3. We Weren't Born to Follow
4. Lost Highway
5. Who Says You Can't Go Home
6. You Give Love a Bad Name
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Legendary
9. Let it Rain
10. Whole Lot of Leavin'
11. Bed of Roses
12. Have a Nice Day
13. It's My Life
14. Livin' on a Prayer
15. Lay Your Hands on Me
16. Limitless
17. This House Is Not for Sale
18. Keep the Faith
    
    Encore:
19. I'll Be There for You
20. Red, White and Jersey
21. Wanted Dead or Alive
22. Bad Medicine
23. Always

A couple of changes, with "Let It Rain" and "Limitless" make their Forever Tour debuts. 

Selected videos from #5:

Let It Rain - One of my favourites from 2020, an album I genuinely still rate today. The acoustic intro/harmonica outro is kinda cool.

Limitless - One of my not-so-favourites from the aforementioned 2020, lol. But it's okay. Has its moments and probably works better in a stadium than most of the better songs from that album. At least they didn't decide to do "Unbroken" or something. 😜

 

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden #6 - 19 July 2026

1. With a Little Help from My Friends - The Beatles cover
2. Beautiful Drug
3. We Weren't Born to Follow
4. Lost Highway
5. Who Says You Can't Go Home
6. You Give Love a Bad Name
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Legendary
9. Let it Rain
10. Whole Lot of Leavin'
11. Bed of Roses
12. Have a Nice Day
13. It's My Life
14. Livin' on a Prayer
15. Lay Your Hands on Me
16. Limitless
17. This House Is Not for Sale
18. Keep the Faith
    
    Encore:
19. I'll Be There for You
20. Bad Medicine

Show was shortened, with "Wanted Dead or Alive", "Always", and "Red, White and Jersey" cut from the planned set list.

Selected videos from #6:

Bad Medicine - Look, let's be real here. Jon sounds rough. I mean, the fans he high-fived and fist-bumped probably didn't notice or care in the moment, but I'd guess his voice on the night is why the show was cut.

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden #7 - 21 July 2026

1. With a Little Help from My Friends - The Beatles cover
2. Beautiful Drug
3. We Weren't Born to Follow
4. Lost Highway
5. Who Says You Can't Go Home
6. You Give Love a Bad Name
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Legendary
9. Let it Rain
10. Whole Lot of Leavin'
11. Bed of Roses
12. Have a Nice Day
13. It's My Life
14. Livin' on a Prayer
15. Raise Your Hands
16. Limitless
17. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
18. Keep the Faith
    
    Encore:
19. I'll Be There for You
20. Red, White and Jersey
21. Wanted Dead or Alive
22. Bad Medicine
23. Always

Selected videos from #7:

Raise Your Hands - First time since before COVID. Apart from that voice crack at the end, it was a decent-sounding performance.

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead - This used to feel a teensy bit overdone on earlier tours, but I'm enjoying it here. Works fairly well live and this is its Forever Tour debut.

Thinkin' on a prayer

Bit up and down, with sets being pretty stagnant bar one or two swaps here and there, but I suspect that's par for the course going forward.

 

With this post, I've now caught up on all the MSG shows and you can see the others at the links below: 

• Show #1 (7 July)
• Shows #2 & 3 (9 & 12 July) 
• Show #8 (23 July)
• Show #9 (26 July)

After a month's break, the tour resumes in the UK this week. I hope the fans there get some consistently quality shows, no matter which one(s) they're attending, but we'll soon see if the rest has done Jon some good.

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Looking back on shows 2 & 3 of the Forever tour

As previously mentioned, Bon Jovi's Madison Square Garden shows coincided with my overseas training camp, so I wasn't blogging in real time. And I'm going to share a few retrospective thoughts in the next few posts, before shows resume in the UK.

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden #2 - 9 July 2026

1. With a Little Help from My Friends - The Beatles cover
2. Beautiful Drug
3. We Weren't Born to Follow
4. Lost Highway
5. Who Says You Can't Go Home
6. You Give Love a Bad Name
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Legendary
9. Whole Lot of Leavin'
10. In These Arms
11. Have a Nice Day
12. It's My Life
13. Livin' on a Prayer
14. Lay Your Hands on Me
15. Blood on Blood
16. Living Proof
17. This House Is Not for Sale
18. Keep the Faith
    
    Encore:
19. I'll Be There for You
20. Red, White and Jersey
21. Wanted Dead or Alive
22. Bad Medicine 

Selected videos from #2 

I'll Be There For You - generally a communal singalong moment, and the piano-only accompaniment for the first verse and chorus was quite nice.

Red, White and Jersey - technically the live debut of the song, though it was part of a rather tepid performance for the Tony Robbins special. I think this one turned out a bit better.

  

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden #3 - 12 July 2026

1. With a Little Help from My Friends - The Beatles cover
2. Beautiful Drug
3. We Weren't Born to Follow
4. Lost Highway
5. Who Says You Can't Go Home
6. You Give Love a Bad Name
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Legendary
9. Whole Lot of Leavin'
10. Bed of Roses
11. Have a Nice Day
12. It's My Life
13. Livin' on a Prayer
14. Lay Your Hands on Me
15. Living Proof
16. This House Is Not for Sale
17. Keep the Faith
    
    Encore:
18. I'll Be There for You
19. Red, White and Jersey
20. Wanted Dead or Alive
21. Bad Medicine
22. Always

Selected videos from #3 

Bed of Roses - We've had a global pandemic since this song was last played, so it was good to get it back in the set. Is it perfect? No, but funnily enough, the big ballads Jon seems to want to avoid when he's lacking confidence in his voice, are probably more forgiving of some imperfections (they can sound more emotional if you sell the performance).

Always - Honestly, even if you have to noticeably drop the key, this should be a set list staple for Bon Jovi; it's their biggest worldwide hit. And if they ever had to lower it so much that it fell off the bottom of Jon's vocal range, they obviously shouldn't even entertain performing anymore. TLDR: Play the songs people go to your concert to hear.

 

Thinkin' on a prayer

A solid couple of gigs within the nine-show MSG residency. Pretty samey sets, but with a couple of good inclusions as I alluded to above. 

 

I've already posted about:

• Show #1 (7 July)
• Show #8 (23 July)
• Show #9 (26 July)

with 4 to 7 on the way before the resumption of the tour at the end of the month. The order got all topsy-turvy due to my schedule, but I fully intend for the shows in Scotland, Ireland, and England to be blogged about chronologically. 😉 

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Bon Jovi wraps up MSG residency

With show 8's early end making the news, there was plenty of attention on show 9... which did in fact go ahead without a hitch. Or even really any mention of what happened, so no idea if the promised redo of show 8 will actually go ahead at any point... especially since it's something Jon just brought up without running it by anyone else. I suspect it will get put in the "we're not obligated/too hard" basket and forgotten, but I hope I'm wrong.

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden #9 - 26 July 2026

There were at couple of (actually planned) collaborations, but "Wanted Dead or Alive" was notably dropped again (it happened on a couple of the other shows on this run). 

Set list #9: 

1. Beautiful Drug
2. We Weren't Born to Follow
3. Lost Highway
4. You Give Love a Bad Name
5. Born to Be My Baby
6. Legendary
7. Whole Lot of Leavin'
8. In These Arms
9. The People's House - featuring The War and Treaty
10. It's My Life
11. Livin' on a Prayer
12. Raise Your Hands
13. This House Is Not for Sale
14. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
15. Keep the Faith
    
    Encore:
16. I'll Be There for You
17. Bad Medicine - featuring Everett Bradley
18. Who Says You Can't Go Home - featuring Bruce Springsteen
19. The Promised Land - Bruce Springsteen cover featuring Bruce Springsteen

Selected videos from #9:

Who Says You Can't Go Home / The Promised Land - Jon had some technical difficulties with his harmonica on the Bruce song, but I love that song and it was great to see two Jersey boys perform it together:

Shout out to Harry Ward who has blessed us with videos from all the shows on this MSG residency, including the full show 9 with timestamps. I'm forever grateful to people like Harry:

Thinkin' on a prayer

Jon said before the encore that this isn't the end, and I hope the month-long rest before he heads over to the UK does him some good. Shania Twain had similar surgery on her vocal cords and seems pretty at peace with the fact that her voice will never be the same but she's able to work with what she now has. I don't know where Jon's head is at, but his voice is... okay. Maybe it gets better, maybe this is as good as it can be now, but I never stop hoping for the best.

The next show is scheduled for 28 August in Scotland, so I'd better catch up on blogging about shows 2 to 7 before then, haha. 

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Show 8 of Bon Jovi's Forever tour cut short as Jon loses his voice

We're going to try something a little different starting today... and start from the 8th show of this Bon Jovi tour. Assuming the 9th show goes ahead as scheduled, I'll post about that, then start working my way back to the second - I already blogged about the first Forever Tour show. 

In case you missed it, I've been away on a Muay Thai camp. I did watch some videos and read comments about the shows as they happened, but I didn't have time to sit down and gather my thoughts in any coherent fashion in between training for up to four hours a day in Thailand. But I'm back in Perth now, and... yeah, shit got real with show 8 ending abruptly, and Jon telling fans to hold onto their tickets for a rescheduled date.

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden #8 - 23 July 2026

The official line was sinus infection, but I spoke to some long-time fans who were there, and they're of the view that Jon's voice just gave out. Either way, I hope he's okay. I have genuinely worried about this tour and its impact on his health, especially after they announced nine shows at MSG alone, with a short turnaround. 

Set list #8:

1. With a Little Help from My Friends - The Beatles cover
2. Beautiful Drug
3. We Weren't Born to Follow
4. Lost Highway
5. Who Says You Can't Go Home
6. You Give Love a Bad Name
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Legendary
9. Let It Rain
10. Whole Lot of Leavin'
11. Bed of Roses
12. Have a Nice Day
13. It's My Life
14. Livin' on a Prayer - featuring Pat Monahan

 

Selected videos from #8: 

Livin' on a Prayer - This ended up being the final song of the night, with Train front man Pat Monahan getting the call-up from backstage to take on unplanned lead vocals. I actually used to be a big Train fan back in the day, right up until 2014 (just could not connect with anything on the Bulletproof Picasso album, and then they fell off my radar... sorry Pat). From what I recall from my fangirl days, Pat's actually got a hell of a voice and is a great performer, and that didn't come through at all here -- but to be fair, he rocked up to the gig thinking he was going to be watching it, not performing.

 

Bed of Roses - Jon started sounding really stuffed from about 4:00 onwards, or basically the second chorus. He turns around to look at his bandmates, and later needs the crowd to finish the song for him.

 

Later, he joked about how he was proving he wasn't lip syncing. But... ouch. 😟

 

Thinkin' on a prayer

Look, for any critiques and grievances I may have had over the years... I love Jon. Fingers crossed he hasn't done any further damage to his vocal cords. It was a heartbreaking end to the show, and... hopefully, just this show. I hope he hasn't pushed himself too far. 

The fact that Jon kept saying he "felt great" sounds more like he was confused about why his voice was misbehaving like that, rather than battling an illness. Personally, when I have a sinus infection, I most certainly do not feel great, but your mileage may vary.

Anyway, get well soon, Jon. I'm in your corner on the other side of the globe.

---

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Bon Jovi's big comeback in New York

And we're back! We as in this blog, but also we as in Bon Jovi the band. 

I'm actually away on a Muay Thai camp at the moment, doing two two-hour sessions a day in the heat, which is why my published thoughts on the comeback shows are delayed by several days. Training like this, plus showering and doing laundry ASAP after each session, is tiring and time-consuming, y'all!

Anyway. Jon Bon Jovi's vocal issues, and his subsequent vocal cord surgery in 2022 have been fairly well documented at this point. There was a certain buzz and trepidation about their closest thing to a tour since then. 

Jon has performed live here and there over the last few years... but to be perfectly honest, it's been a bit heartbreaking and underwhelming most of the time. So while I'm sure I would have bought tickets if they'd announced a show in Australia, I can't say I've been expecting much from this run of shows. 

But here's what they played:

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden - 7 July 2026 setlist

1. With a Little Help From My Friends - The Beatles cover
2. Beautiful Drug
3. We Weren't Born to Follow
4. Lost Highway
5. Who Says You Can't Go Home
6. You Give Love a Bad Name
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Legendary
9. Whole Lot of Leavin'
10. In These Arms
11. Have a Nice Day
12. It's My Life
13. Livin' on a Prayer
14. Lay Your Hands on Me
15. Blood on Blood
16. Living Proof
17. This House Is Not for Sale
18. Keep the Faith
    
    Encore:
19. I'll Be There for You
20. Wanted Dead or Alive
21. Bad Medicine

Selected videos from MSG

With a Little Help from My Friends - including the video intro. With lines like "What would you do if I sang out of tune?" and "I'll try not to sing out of key", it may seem a little on the nose to open with it. And it's not exactly a high energy rocker. But in this case, it felt fitting somehow, especially with everyone coming together to sing the chorus. 

Living Proof - finally, the neglected single! Actually sounds pretty decent, if I do say so myself. I can't turn back time but I so wish this had been the song that got any promotion from Forever, rather than "Legendary".

In These Arms - Jon honestly sounded way better than I was expecting here and I'm so weirdly proud of this man who doesn't know me from a bar of soap and whose achievements I have absolutely nothing to do with.

Blood on Blood - Hmm he's trying, but this sounds pretty fragile. I don't know if we can maybe bump Everett Bradley up in the mix? I know Everett's not Richie Sambora, but Richie left of his own accord and Everett does make the current lineup sound better vocally than they otherwise would.

Livin' on a Prayer - between the click track and the entire venue always singing along, "Prayer" has arguably been spared to a large extent as Jon's vocals declined, despite being a painfully difficult song to sing. But I do think he sounds a bit better here than he has in recent times?

Final thoughts

It was a solid return, not perfect but I don't think anyone's expecting that anymore. Though I do really hope Jon gives me the finger and surprises us all. The set list could be stronger but I guess it's okay. Hopefully we get some deep cuts during this short run of shows. 

I honestly don't know how much of a future my beloved band has. Or how I feel about it all. A lot has been made of Jon's voice but I'm also considering the band as a whole -- no one's getting any younger, and it's probably Phil X and Everett bringing the bulk of the animation and energy on stage. I still rate Jon as a songwriter but people don't buy music the way they used to.

Anyway, what did you think of the comeback show? Were you there, or watching from somewhere in the world?

And which Bon Jovi song should be my walkout song if I could pick one for a hypothetical fight? 😉

---

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Bon Jovi in New York 10/05/18

Bon Jovi returned to Madison Square Garden to play the second of two consecutive shows. Here's the set list from night 2:

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden - May 10, 2018

1. This House Is Not For Sale
2. Raise Your Hands
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. Whole Lot of Leavin'
5. Lost Highway
6. Roller Coaster
7. Who Says You Can't Go Home
8. Born to Be My Baby
9. It's My Life
10. We Weren't Born to Follow
11. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
12. Keep the Faith
13. Amen
14. Bed of Roses
15. Lay Your Hands on Me
16. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars
17. When We Were Us
18. Bad Medicine
    
    Encore:
19. In These Arms
20. (You Want To) Make a Memory
21. Wanted Dead or Alive
22. These Days
23. Livin' on a Prayer

"These Days" and "Captain Crash" made their second appearances of the year. "In These Arms" was listed as an audible, but ended up being played.

Videos from New York City, night #2

Jon talks about Bon Jovi opening for ZZ Top at Madison Square Garden before performing "When We Were Us":

"These Days":

"Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars":

"In These Arms":

"Make a Memory":

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

Bon Jovi in New York 9/05/18

Bon Jovi headed back to New York for the first of two consecutive MSG shows. Here's what they played:

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden - May 9, 2018

1. This House Is Not For Sale
2. Raise Your Hands
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. Whole Lot of Leavin'
5. Lost Highway
6. Roller Coaster
7. Who Says You Can't Go Home
8. Born to Be My Baby
9. It's My Life
10. We Weren't Born to Follow
11. We Got It Goin' On
12. Keep the Faith
13. Amen
14. Bed of Roses
15. Lay Your Hands on Me
16. God Bless This Mess
17. Runaway
18. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
19. Bad Medicine
    
    Encore:
20. I'll Be There For You
21. Wanted Dead or Alive
22. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
23. Livin' on a Prayer

"Saturday Night" made its second appearance of the year.

Videos from New York City, night #1

"Someday I'll Be Saturday Night":

"I'll Be There For You":

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

Bon Jovi in New York 15/04/17 (night 2)

Bon Jovi wrapped up the first leg of their This House Is Not For Sale Tour with a second show at Madison Square Garden. Here's what they played:

New York, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden - 15 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. 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. New Year's Day 
15. Lay Your Hands On Me 
16. Born to Be My Baby 
17. Have a Nice Day 
18. Bad Medicine 
19. Keep the Faith
    
    Encore: 
20. Raise Your Hands 
21. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night 
22. Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars 
23. Wanted Dead Or Alive 
24. Livin' On A Prayer 

While the only other Bon Jovi shows that have been announced so far are Rock in Rio and the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, David Bryan tweeted that this was the last show of this leg of the tour, indicating that more gigs should be announced before too long.

Videos from New York, Night #2

"Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" (with a little false start):

"Keep the Faith":

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

Were you at this show?

Bon Jovi in New York 13/04/17 (night 1)

Bon Jovi brought their This House Is Not For Sale "home" for the first of two shows at New York's Madison Square Garden. (These were, of course, the concerts that were rescheduled after Jon got sick.) Here's what was played on the first night at MSG:

New York, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden - 13 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. 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. New Year's Day
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. Runaway
22. Blood On Blood
23. Wanted Dead Or Alive
24. Livin' On A Prayer

If you've been following the set lists at all, the main set should be quite familiar to you by now. There were a couple of changes in the encore. 

Videos from New York, Night #1

"Runaway":

"Scars on this Guitar":

If you'd like to share any videos from the first night at MSG, 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 12.12.12 Concert recap

As most of you probably know, Bon Jovi was one of the many acts that came together for six-hour extravaganza that was 121212: The Concert for Sandy Relief at New York's Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2012. It was simulcast on about 60 or so television networks internationally and streamed live on about 30 websites, not to mention covered extensively across social media as it unfolded (which is how I had to follow it from work on the other side of the planet!).

Jon channeled his 13-year-old self, joining Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band on Born to Run, before returning to the stage later with Bon Jovi and playing the following set:

• It's My Life
• Wanted Dead or Alive
• Who Says You Can't Go Home - feat. Bruce Springsteen
• Livin' on a Prayer

The full set list for all the artists is at Noise11 among other sites. But of course, this is a Bon Jovi blog so here is the video of Bon Jovi's set:


And here's JBJ helping Bruce close his set with Born to Run:

Jon can't wipe the grin off his face. Neither can I. He's living a 70s kid's teenage dream. Hell, he's living one of MY teenage dreams, and I grew up in the 90s. I'd say he probably got the better deal too; I'm not that much of a Who Says basher but really, Jon gets to sing Born to Run while the Boss gets Who Says You Can't Go Home? :P

Did you watch the whole concert? What did you think?

Anyway, you can revisit all the #121212concert social media highlights at 121212.mahaya.co as well as download the benefit album on iTunes. Proceeds from the album are being donated to the Robin Hood Relief Fund. Here's the track list:

1. Land of Hope and Dreams (Live) - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
2. Wrecking Ball (Live) - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
3. Another Brick In the Atlantic Wall (Live) - Roger Waters
4. Us and Them (Live) - Roger Waters
5. Comfortably Numb (feat. Eddie Vedder) [Live] - Roger Waters
6. Hallelujah (Sandy Relief Version) [Live] - Adam Sandler & Paul Shaffer
7. It's My Life (Live) - Bon Jovi
8. Wanted Dead Or Alive (Live) - Bon Jovi
9. Got To Be Better In a Little While (Live) - Eric Clapton
10. Crossroads (Live) - Eric Clapton
11. You Got Me Rocking (Live) - The Rolling Stones
12. Jumpin Jack Flash (Live) - The Rolling Stones
13. No One (Live) - Alicia Keys
14. Who Are You (Live) - The Who
15. Baba O'Riley (Live) - The Who
16. Love Reign O'er Me (Live) - The Who
17. Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway) [Live] - Billy Joel
18. Moving Out (Anthony's Song) [Live] - Billy Joel
19. You May Be Right (Live) - Billy Joel
20. Viva La Vida (Live) - Chris Martin
21. Losing My Religion (feat. Michael Stipe) [Live] - Chris Martin
22. Us Against the World (Live) - Chris Martin
23. Helter Skelter (Live) - Paul McCartney
24. Empire State of Mind (Live) - Alicia Keys

Bon Jovi Inside Out: What would you ask them?

Bon Jovi Inside Out will be screening in the US on November 27 and Canada on November 28... and on Twitter, they've invited fans to submit questions for the live Q&A by hashtagging #AskBonJovi. There are a lot of stupid ones being asked to be honest (I won't give examples) and I don't know what sort of questions will get answered, but it is cool to see the band and its "people" actually start to embrace the social side of social media in more recent times instead of only using it to hard sell merchandise and expensive packages.

If you could ask Bon Jovi any question what would it be? Tweet #AskBonJovi now & your question might be answered at the #InsideOut Q&A

— Bon Jovi (@BonJovi) November 22, 2012

Meanwhile, Inside Out executive producer John Rubey gave an interview with AL.com:

John, what does a major rock band like Bon Jovi hope to achieve with a one-night-only cinema event like "Inside Out"?

I think it's a moment for them to let their fans know what they're doing and what's next. Tell them about the new tour in 2013. Bon Jovi doesn't do a lot of interviews, and they're going to take the fans questions from the theaters. It gives you an opportunity to see the band's performance on movie theater screens that are so massive in scale – it's a really awesome experience with all the big pictures and big sound.

Tell me about the process of selecting performances, which were culled from shows at the O2 Arena, Meadowlands Stadium and Madison Square Garden, for "Inside Out"?

Well, you've got three epic performances recorded over three years. What's pretty amazing about it is how consistently the band performs from year to year, and yet at the same time every one of them is so different. MSG was on the 25th anniversary of the band, and Madison Square Garden has been such an iconic venue for so many years. Meadowlands Stadium, that was the opening of the stadium in the band's home state of New Jersey, so that's pretty special. Then the O2 in London is probably the busiest music venue at the arena level, and that was about a 15-show run there. They all sort of have their stories to them.

Which performance are you most fond of?

I love them all and it's hard to call one out. I think we open with "Blood on Blood," and that's an awesome song. So I really like that one. We close with "Who Says You Can't Go Home."

Check out the rest of the article here.

Here's a video of Livin' on a Prayer from Inside Out. Looks like this is how they're tackling the 2/3 shows in one movie thing. Hmmm.


Anyway who's going to see this?

Dry County, sound issues, and JBJ playing Dad in New York City (MSG 3)

Yes, I know I'm two weeks late for videos from Bon Jovi's Madison Square Garden show on March 5, 2011... What can I say? Love alone doesn't pay the bills. ;) I wasn't originally going to post vids from this show because while the set list was still good, it's not like they played something I haven't already showcased on this tour.

But I decided it was worth posting a couple of videos of this incredible "Dry County" from that night. Might well be one of the best versions they've done in recent years; everyone sounds great.



There were also technical issues at this show with the PA system dying as it had in Boston. Jon took the band off stage once he realised no one could hear anything.


And this is "Who Says You Can't Go Home" immediately after they returned to the stage. One of the very few times I will post a video of this song on Blame It On The Love, because I know how passionately many of you hate it. :P


The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues" is a cool song , but the real reason I posted this here was because of Jon's comment: "I gotta keep Jakey entertained over there so he don't play his DS game!" I guess when your father's just always been a rock star, it's not terribly exciting anymore. ;)

New York City (MSG) 3 set list

Unlike the night before in Uncasville, I don't think there was anything entirely unpredictable in Bon Jovi's return to MSG. That said, it was still a solid set; it'd be a pipe dream to get half this stuff in Perth, for instance. But apparently technical issues, a la Boston during "Love for Sale" and "Saturday Night" saw Jon angrily lead the band off stage before "Who Says". There was also reportedly no proper encore break (where the whole band left and returned) due to the forced break earlier the set.

If you were at this show, I'm keen to hear your thoughts on it.

New York City, New York, USA - Madison Square Garden - March 5, 2011
Raise Your Hands
You Give Love A Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
We Weren't Born To Follow
Lost Highway
When We Were Beautiful
It's My Life
Runaway
The More Things Change
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine / Roadhouse Blues [The Doors cover]
Lay Your Hands On Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Bed Of Roses
Diamond Ring
I'll Be There For You
Love For Sale
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Who Says You Can't Go Home
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead / Start Me Up [Rolling Stones cover]
Work For The Working Man
Have A Nice Day
Keep The Faith

ENCORE:
Dry County
Wanted Dead Or Alive
I Love This Town
Livin' On A Prayer
In These Arms
Always

Video links on Hath & Co's Circle Tour blog in due course.

(PS - Linn: Sorry you didn't get "Just Older"... hopefully next time.)

MSG, New York videos, JBJ's birthday

Bon Jovi... live from Madison Square Garden. I should really be in bed now, so instead of rambling on, I'll just let the videos do the talking. Most of them are from the second show (February 25) but "The More Things Change" is from February 24.

Dry County


Bed of Roses


Love for Sale


These Days


And because it's ticked over into March 2 where I'm from, meaning it's officially Jon Bon Jovi's 49th birthday...

The More Things Change


Just Older


Happy birthday, Jon! ;)

New York City (MSG) 2 set list

Night #2 at MSG, and I can forgive Bon Jovi playing "I Love This Fake Southern Accent" given the rest of the second half of this set. Better still, Titan4Ever2488 got his "These Days" wish during a second encore. :)

New York City, NY, USA - Madison Square Garden - February 25, 2011
Blood on Blood
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
Runaway
Start Me Up [Rolling Stones cover] / I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
The More Things Change
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine / Hot Legs [Rod Stewart cover]
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
What Do You Got?
Bed of Roses
Love for Sale
Squeeze Box [The Who cover]
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Love's the Only Rule
Have a Nice Day
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
Dry County
Wanted Dead or Alive
I Love This Town
Livin' on a Prayer

ENCORE #2:
Always
These Days
In These Arms
Just Older

Inboxed updates...

Until yesterday, I've been pretty crazily busy. At the time of writing this post, I have 106 unread e-mails. No joke. Granted, only a handful of these are actually e-mails from people... the others being e-newsletters and things like that. But here are some bits that Blame It On The Love readers and marketers have sent me, as well as a couple of Google Alerts.

• Bon Jovi is of course playing North America again in 2011, including a return to Madison Square Garden for two shows on February 24 and 25. Tickets go on sale Monday, November 15, 2010.
• Daniele Fruzzetti who developed the Bon Jovi Tour Guide app for the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad has released an update with the 2011 North American and European legs added. You can also now post comments and reviews of concerts.
• A woman who sued when a Bon Jovi roadie ran over her with a golf buggy has been awarded £33,000 in compensation.
• Keyboards and pro guitar parts have been added to Rock Band 3, and the Bon Jovi tracks that were already available in Rock Band have been upgraded (but you'll have to pay $2 per song).
• There are currently no plans to release a DVD of The Circle Tour movie that screened in the US on November 8. Oh come on, Jon, since when did you pass up the chance to make some extra money? (Hmm, maybe that's not the best way to get the Jovi camp to change its mind. How about...) Jonny, darling, you're wonderful and perfect and a true gift to humanity... now make the DVD happen, pretty please? :P

Oh, and the YouTube webcast is on tonight/tomorrow (depending on your timezone). If I'm not mistaken, it begins at 1am GMT on November 11. If I am mistaken, I'm sorry; I haven't really done any maths in five years and I sucked at it then, so I asked someone else. ;) Bon Jovi really ought to give GMT times, especially for global events, since that's kind of the world standard, and it would be easier to work out your own time from there instead of figuring out which American timezone to convert from.

MSG tracklist

According to Obie, these songs will be on the Madison Square Garden DVD.

Lost Highway
Born To Be My Baby
Blaze of Glory
It's My Life
Keep the Faith
Raise Your Hands
Living in Sin
Always
Whole Lot of Leaving
In these Arms
We Got it Going On
I'll be There for You
Make a Memory
Blood on Blood
Dry County
Have a Nice Day
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Hallelujah
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer
Bad Medicine
You Give Love a Bad Name
Runaway
Bed of Roses

Guess that means the DVD will include both nights after all...Phew! :)

Bon Jovi new release dates

I've been crazy busy this week on the editing, laying out pages, and chasing people up for my university newspaper but at last, here are the release dates as revealed by Obie O'Brien.

The Circle album and When We Were Beautiful documentary:
November 2 - UK
November 4 - Japan
November 6 - Europe, Australia
November 10 - USA

I don't know about the rest of the Americas, Asia or Africa but if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say it'd be either the 6th or the 10th.

When We Were Beautiful book will be released November 3, and the long awaited Madison Square Garden DVD/Blu-Ray outside of North America on November 23. No North American date set yet.

Madison Square Garden DVD trailer

Looks like the long-awaited MSG DVD is going to be released in conjunction with the When We Were Beautiful documentary. This trailer was made available to BackstageJBJ members and has since been ripped and put onto Youtube so it might get deleted soon. But if not, you can view it here.


As some of you know, I'm not a Backstager. I love Bon Jovi with all my heart but I'm sorry, I'm also a full-time student with neither the means nor the desire to pay those kinds of prices for a messageboard and few exclusive videos. I also don't understand the logic in keeping a trailer exclusive, when the purpose of trailers is to promote a product that will hopefully be purchased by many people and result in a lot of profit, but who am I to argue with the marketing strategy of the all-knowing fan club? :P

I'm a bit worried about this DVD too. It was originally promoted as being a combination of the last two nights of the Lost Highway tour, but I see only one date on that trailer: July 15, 2008, the final night. And quite frankly, with the exception of "Blood on Blood", the first night was superior. If there is no footage from July 14 on this DVD, we won't get "Always", "Bed of Roses", or my personal wish "Dry County".