Chicago night 1 set list + review

Bon Jovi has played the first of two nights in Chicago that will bring this leg of the Circle tour to a close. I am loath to criticise sets containing "Always", "Bed of Roses" and "Sympathy for the Devil", but I actually thought they might just have pulled out something more for Chicago. Maybe tomorrow.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA - SOLDIER FIELD - JULY 30, 2010
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born To Follow
You Give Love A Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
Lost Highway
When We Were Beautiful
It's My Life
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
We Got It Going On
Bad Medicine / Old Time Rock and Roll [Bob Seger cover/ft. Kid Rock] /Shout! [Isley Brothers cover]
Lay Your Hands On Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
Bed of Roses
Diamond Ring
I'll Be There For You
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night [acoustic]
Runaway
Work For The Working Man
Have A Nice Day
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep The Faith / Sympathy for The Devil [Rolling Stones cover]

ENCORE:
Always
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' On A Prayer

The BJCT blog should have videos up as they become available.

Anthony Kuzminski has reviewed the show on his blog The Screen Door.

For 150-minutes on Friday night, Bon Jovi fought a bloody fight on the concert stage where they did their best to keep the 55,000 in attendance occupied. I’d be lying to you if I said it was a resounding success. It wasn’t a flawless show, but it didn’t stop Bon Jovi from trying their damndest.

Read the full review at this link.

Halfway There: The Screen Door's greatest hits vision

Over at The Screen Door, Anthony Kuzminski has weighed in on Bon Jovi's upcoming greatest hits compilation.

Any “Hits” compilation is a tough sell these days, but if Bon Jovi can seduce the masses into buying far more expensive concert tickets, they should be able to do the same, but only if it’s career encompassing.

The best thing they can do is release a double disc set

Read Tony's blog here.

Soraia: The Road Not Taken

Soraia is an up-and-coming rock band from Philadelphia that opened for Bon Jovi at Summerfest last year. Obie O'Brien also produced their album Shed the Skin.

Anthony Kuzminski has written a riveting feature on antiMusic, detailing lead singer Sue Mansour's truly incredible story... Read all about it here.

You can also check out Tony's other articles/reviews of Soraia at The Screen Door.

An open letter to Jon Bon Jovi (regarding set lists)

After hearing the band talk about playing long lost rarities ahead of The Circle tour and canvassing the opinions of Bon Jovi fans, music writer Anthony Kuzminski has written this open letter to Jon.

I think his words speak to the heart of many a diehard... Check it out here.

Tony has also come up with a guide that could be followed to create an "ideal" set that balances what "needs" to be played and what diehards are craving. Check out his take on what Bon Jovi should play on The Circle tour. Agree? Disagree?

Bon Jovi's fall from grace

Bon Jovi had the dubious honour of the third biggest drop from the #1 spot in US Billboard chart history this week, with The Circle falling to #19.

Anthony Kuzminski discusses some of the possible reasons (other than the padding of album sales in the first week by forcing people to purchase the digital album with pre-sale tickets) for this decline on The Screen Door.

Bob Lefsetz also had some interesting things to say in an e-mail to his subscribers... here's a taste:

If older folk still buy music and younger people steal it, why did John Mayer sell almost twice as many albums the first week out as Bon Jovi?

Yes, according to hitsdailydouble.com, John Mayer sold 301,204 copies of his new album, "Battle Studies", this week. Whereas last week, Bon Jovi moved 165,871 copies of "The Circle".

Ready for some truly horrifying news? This week "The Circle" fell all the way to number 19, selling 50,153 copies, a whopping drop of 70%. Whew!

What's the difference between John and Jon?

One is living in 2009 and the other is living in the last century.

Jon Bon Jovi was positively old media, tying in with NBC.

John Mayer was new media, appearing in concert on Fuse and tweeting up a storm.

It doesn't matter the total reach, it matters who actually watches and what the perception is.

Fuse would be canceled, the entire channel, if its programming was on NBC. To say the ratings are anemic would be charitable. But Fuse airs music, unlike MTV. And most people watching the shows featuring Bon Jovi on NBC don't give a shit about the man's music. In other words, Jon's shoving it down the wrong people's throats.

EDIT: The full article is now up on Bob's website. Click here for the link.

The Screen Door reviews Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful

Check out Anthony Kuzminski's review of the new Bon Jovi book on The Screen Door and antiMusic:

Many of the quotes and stories can be heard in the documentary, but the book houses dozens of stories and quotes not found in the film. We get some interesting anecdotes from Jon about how he keeps his voice in shape, some minor reflections on the These Days record and individual reflections from all four main members of Bon Jovi. While there are no earth shattering revelations in the book, but there is enough here to hold one's interest amidst the stunning photos.

The full review can be read here and here.

Single review: We Weren't Born to Follow

Yesterday I heard "We Weren't Born to Follow" on Perth radio for the first time, while listening to 96fm. I always get excited the first few of times I hear a Bon Jovi song on the radio, and then kind of warm and happy thereafter -- even if I don't like the song that much, which is odd. I think it's because it's so rare to hear a Bon Jovi song other than "Livin' on a Prayer" or "You Give Love a Bad Name". I can't vouch for anywhere else but it seems a Bon Jovi song has to fit a certain mould to get airplay here. For example, "It's My Life" and "Have a Nice Day" got lots of airplay when they came out, and "Lost Highway" in the lead-up to the Australian tour, but I didn't hear "Make a Memory" on the radio once. (That said, Mix 94.5 is the only other commercial station I listen to, so for all I know, I could switch on another station and suddenly hear "This Ain't a Love Song" -- I highly doubt it though :P ).

But despite the flutter of excitement I felt yesterday, I think Tony Kuzminski has summed up my basic feelings about "We Weren't Born to Follow" in his review on The Screen Door.

I like the song, I really do, it's just... lacking something. It's so sweet and safe. Sometimes I feel like Bon Jovi realised they stumbled upon a formula for commercial success in their native market at the start of this decade and have been too busy trying to follow it ever since. They're still making a lot of music I enjoy but I know they can do better.

"We Weren't Born to Follow" also seems to be the latest Bon Jovi song being used to promote Major League Baseball. Well, I reckon it's a step up from "I Love This Town". :P

2009 TBS MLB Open- Bon Jovi from Turner Sports on Vimeo.

More of JBJ on volunteering

More videos from the National Conference on Volunteering and Service.

Jon talks about the Philadelphia Soul Foundation and the "power of we". The video includes the first 45 seconds of "Working Man".


Freelancer Melissa Jun Rowley interviews Jon Bon Jovi for Causecast:


Also, Part 2 of Anthony Kuzminski's These Days review is now up at The Screen Door. One particular line I think sums up Bon Jovi quite well:

Bon Jovi’s 1995 reflective and somber These Days is a record that would be hailed as a masterwork only if it had been created by any other artist on the planet.

But this part of the review is particularly interesting because Tony delves into his personal connection with this album. These Days is a great record musically, but what makes it special is the way it has touched and changed people's lives. Check out the rest of the review here.

These Days review: The Screen Door

Check out Part 1 of Anthony Kuzminski's in-depth review of These Days.
http://the-screen-door.blogspot.com/2009/06/bon-jovi-these-days-album-reflection.html

There are few music writers who could have done justice to this masterpiece. I think Tony is one of those few. The passion and intensity with which he writes and the ability to give credit where it's due is second to none.

Bon Jovi Fan Club Proves Itself To Be Morally Bankrupt by Anthony Kuzminski

If you haven't already, be sure to head to The Screen Door and check out Tony Kuzminski's post on the Backstage members-only concert.

Click here to read it.

An Evening With Bon Jovi '92 - Livin' on a Prayer (acoustic)

In defense of Anthony Kuzminski and antiMusic

This is sort of a follow-up to my previous post about Bon Jovi being accused of plagiarism. Well, it seems Anthony Kuzminski from The Screen Door was flamed because antiMUSIC, a website he happens to write for, picked up on those stories. This is an extract from his blog on the matter:

antiMusic is not anti-Bon Jovi, in fact, we report all aspects of all genres of music. There is a reason RollingStone.com likes to steal stories from us, because my editor puts together the most comprehensive music news found anywhere on the net. He gathers stories, posts links to them and ultimately it’s why the site has huge traction and a few million visitors every month. What really amazes me is that if you added up all of the emails I got combined for my reviews of their shows from last summer (link here), Chicago this past February (links here and here) and recently about “Whole Lot of Leavin'” (link here) it would still be less than the hate mail I received today for an article I did not write or have any part of.

Click here to read his full post.

Now I don't know who specifically decided to flame Tony over this, and I don't wish to offend any of my readers (most of whom are here because I keep spamming the blog on the Bon Jovi website with my shameless advertising). And perhaps being a media student makes me more inclined to defend my fellow journalists and industry. But remember: Just because you don't like the news, doesn't mean it's not the news. The news was that some people ACCUSED Bon Jovi of plagiarism. antiMusic didn't say that Bon Jovi HAD plagiarised anything. As for Tony Kuzminski, he's a rare breed: a music writer who's also a Bon Jovi fan. He will criticise the band when it is justified and praise them when they deserve it, and that's what makes him good. Don't make people like him suffer just because you're angry at Bart Steele or Joel Ellis or all those other critics and hard rock fans who refuse to afford Bon Jovi any music cred.

Anyway, stay tuned for more of my Lost Highway Tour Magic Memories, coming soon. ;)