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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Red, White and Jersey / Hollow Man with Springsteen out now ahead of Forever Legendary edition

Bon Jovi released Forever a little over a year ago -- and on October 24, they'll be releasing it again, this time as a collection of duets with one brand new song.

Here's the official music video for that new track -- "Red, White and Jersey":

 

I like it... it's nothing groundbreaking, just catchy and inoffensive, and feels similar to "Legendary" really... except for this line that made my ears perk up:

"It ain't no surprise that your blue eyes still feel like home to me / we'll always be red, white and Jersey"

If I'm not mistaken, Dorothea, aka Jon's high school sweetheart and wife of over three decades, has brown/hazel eyes. You know who else Jon has known and chased dreams with since they were teenagers... and has blue eyes? David Bryan. 

"Red, White and Jersey" is a love letter to our favourite keyboard player and you will not convince me otherwise.

(Yes, I realise the lyrics could also just be a work of fiction, but don't ruin my dreams, okay? 🤣 )

The other song that has dropped is "Hollow Man", now featuring Bruce Springsteen. Here's the official lyric video:

 

Plenty of folks didn't really care for the original, but I don't mind these sorts of songs, and they suit current day Jon. Plus, I love me some Springsteen... I've had the privilege of seeing him live nine times and they've all been brilliant shows. 

Maybe it's because I was revisiting Bruce's Nebraska album recently, but as soon as the harmonica kicked in on "Hollow Man", I knew this track would be elevated by his contribution. Bruce's harmonies blend beautifully with Jon's vocals, and the song just feels deeper with the two of them on it together. Though I do note with amusement that the Boss left the "masturbate" line solely to Jon.

"The People's House" featuring The War & Treaty was released in October last year, so we're waiting to hear how 11 other tracks turned out.

The track list for Forever (Legendary Edition) is: 

1. Red, White and Jersey
2. Legendary - with James Bay
3. We Made It Look Easy - with Robbie Williams
4. Living Proof - with Jelly Roll
5. Waves - with Jason Isbell
6. Seeds - with Ryan Tedder
7. Kiss the Bride - with Billy Falcon
8. The People's House - with The War & Treaty
9. Walls of Jericho - with Joe Elliott
10. I Wrote You a Song - with Lainey Wilson
11. Living in Paradise - with Avril Lavigne
12. My First Guitar - with Marcus King
13. Hollow Man - with Bruce Springsteen
14. We Made It Look Easy / Hicimos Que Pareciera Facil - with Carin Leon

Look, let's be real... no one was really begging for another edition of Forever. But I enjoyed the original album, and some of the collaborators did (and do) intrigue me. 

Can't believe they're going to make me listen to Avril Lavigne though, lol... nothing against her personally, but unfortunately, I still have some lingering damage from when "Sk8er Boi" came out and all the other girls in school suddenly rocked up wearing ties and 50 layers of black eyeliner, thinking they were punks. Also, given Jason Isbell, Ryan Tedder, and Billy Falcon are duetting on the songs they co-wrote, I'm a little surprised Ed Sheeran isn't the one on "Living in Paradise", but hey.

Jon admits this release is "an album borne out of necessity" since they obviously couldn't do a Forever tour. (Check out Rolling Stone: Bon Jovi Revisit ‘Forever’ LP With Bruce Springsteen, Jelly Roll, and More.) As much as I'd still go see Bon Jovi if they toured, I don't think I really want them to unless Jon can get his live vocals back to where they were circa 2010. If he can't and we instead get more studio work, I'm okay with that.

What do you think of the new tracks? Or the upcoming album release?

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