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 Pittsburgh set list 21/2/13

Bon Jovi headed back to the States, specifically Pennsylvania, after a few shows in Canada... Were you there?

Pittsburgh, PA, US - Consol Energy Center - February 21, 2013

1. You Give Love a Bad Name
2. Lost Highway
3. Whole Lot of Leavin'
4. Because We Can
5. That's What the Water Made Me
6. It's My Life
7. When We Were Beautiful
8. What About Now
9. We Got It Goin' On
10. Keep the Faith
11. (You Want to) Make a Memory
12. Amen
13. I'll Be There for You
14. Army of One
15. We Weren't Born to Follow
16. Superman Tonight
17. Wanted Dead or Alive
18. Who Says You Can't Go Home
19. Bad Medicine
Encore:
20. Blood on Blood
21. Born to Be My Baby
22. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
23. Have a Nice Day
24. Runaway
25. Livin' on a Prayer
Encore 2:
26. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Next stop on the Because We Can Tour: The newly renamed (for the weekend, anyway) Bon Jovi Center at Penn State.

Videos: The More Things Change, This Is Love, Just Older from Pittsburgh

Who wants to see some Bon Jovi videos from night #2 in Pittsburgh (February 12, 2011)? They played two new songs, so you know what that means... Video Showcase Time. :)

The More Things Change / Lost Highway

"The More Things Change" is probably my favourite new track from the Greatest Hits and Ultimate Collection. It sounds decent for mine, though Jon looks as if he's concentrating too hard on the teleprompter too hard to really get into the song. But to be fair, there are actually quite a lot of lyrics in it, and I'm sure he'll get better with practise (hint, hint). Jon swapped over to a cool new Takamine guitar with a heart and dagger logo for "Lost Highway".

This Is Love, This Is Life


Not too bad, albeit not as powerful as the studio version which would have been difficult to replicate live, but I think it has promise as a live track. Hope they keep performing this and "The More Things Change" to iron out the kinks (and because, in my opinion, they are both superior songs to "What Do You Got" and "No Apologies").

Just Older


Bon Jovi opened with "Just Older" instead of "Blood on Blood" which makes for a nice switch. Jon also made a personal change, playing an electric guitar on the song.

Pittsburgh 2 set list

Now that's more like it! Bon Jovi's second night in Pittsburgh netted some nice changes, such as "Just Older", "Roses" and the live debut of "The More Things Change" and "This Is Love, This Is Life" (my favourite new Greatest Hits/Ultimate Collection tracks).

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA - CONSOL Energy Center - February 12, 2011
Just Older
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
We Weren't Born to Follow
The More Things Change
Lost Highway
In These Arms
It's My Life
Runaway
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover] / Shout! [Isley Brothers cover]
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Hallelujah [Leonard Cohen cover]
Bed of Roses
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Have a Nice Day
Raise Your Hands
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
This Is Love, This Is Life
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

I'll have videos of the new songs in the next post, and you'll find other great vids from the show on Hath's Circle Tour blog.

Welcome to the 2011 Tour

I'm not sure if Bon Jovi's 2011 live tour has an official name, but I guess it's safe to call it the Greatest Hits Tour. At any rate, here's the new concert intro, with the gold heart 'n' dagger and shots of the band and crowds replacing the blue Circle tunnel.



And here's a review of Bon Jovi's February 11 show from Scott Mervis for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Maybe all that big hair obscured the charisma underneath, but when Bon Jovi first came around in the early '80s, no one figured him/them to be the No. 1 touring act in the world three decades later.

Clearly there's something to say for living on a prayer.

Friday night, Jon Bon Jovi and company kicked off the first of two nearly sold-out nights at Consol Energy Center to an adoring crowd with a two-plus hour set of beloved hits from the '80s and a sprinkling of new songs.

Read the full review at this link.

Pittsburgh 1 set list

The first of two consecutive Bon Jovi shows in Pittsburgh. Nice to see "Superman", "Always" and "Pain" in the set. Hopefully it was a good performance, too. Was anyone at this show?

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA - CONSOL Energy Center - February 11, 2011
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Born to Be My Baby
Lost Highway
Superman Tonight
When We Were Beautiful
It's My Life
Runaway
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
What Do You Got?
I'll Be There For You
Something for the Pain [acoustic]
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Who Says You Can't Go Home
No Apologies
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead / Start Me Up [Rolling Stones cover]
Keep the Faith

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

Video links will be added to Hath's Circle Tour blog as they come.