Operation Bon Jovi headlines Savannah

Shout-out to the BJtours site for alerting me to the fun tidbit that this was Bon Jovi's first headlining show in Savannah -- the last time they played there was as an opening act for the Scorpions in 1984.

So here's what Bon Jovi played almost 38 years later.

Savannah, Georgia, USA - April 13, 2022

Enmarket Arena

1. Limitless
2. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. We Weren't Born to Follow
5. It's My Life
6. Beautiful Drug
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. This House Is Not For Sale
9. Just Older
10. Let it Rain
11. Keep the Faith
12. American Reckoning
13. Whole Lot of Leavin'
14. Do What You Can
15. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
16. Lost Highway
17. Wanted Dead or Alive
18. Roller Coaster
19. Have a Nice Day
20. Livin' on a Prayer
    
    encore:
21. Who Says You Can't Go Home
22. Bad Medicine

Selected videos from Savannah

"Wanted Dead or Alive". Although this was played, it was actually listed as an audible (along with "I'll Be There For You") which is wild:

"American Reckoning". Electric version as the sit-down acoustic portion of the show was dropped for the first time this tour:

"It's My Life". Okay, this is gonna sound like massive shade but the backing vocals are great:

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The grass is Greenville for Bon Jovi

Yeah, that was an awful pun and may or may not be my silly attempt at distracting you from the fact that I'm falling behind again. But hey, I work full time and spend a lot of that time in front of a computer screen so sometimes watching videos and blogging isn't necessarily my priority afterwards. I'm sure it's no skin off Jon's back. 😜

Anyway, show #6 of Bon Jovi's 2022 tour took us to Greenville -- which was actually the scene of the opening show of the This House Is Not For Sale Tour way back in 2017. Gosh, that feels like a lifetime ago.

Here's what happened in 2022...

Greenville, South Carolina, USA - April 11, 2022

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

1. Limitless
2. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. We Weren't Born to Follow
5. It's My Life
6. Beautiful Drug
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. This House Is Not For Sale
9. I'll Be There For You
10. Just Older
11. Let It Rain
12. Keep the Faith
13. American Reckoning - acoustic
14. We Don't Run - acoustic
15. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
16. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
17. Lost Highway
18. Roller Coaster
19. Wanted Dead or Alive
20. Have a Nice Day
21. Livin' on a Prayer
    
    encore:
22. Who Says You Can't Go Home
23. Bad Medicine

 

Selected videos from Greenville

 "I'll Be There For You". I mean, the voice is what it is. But the crowd "whoa-oh-ohs" are always cool:

"Keep the Faith". Phil X is fire and hands-down my favourite thing about live performances of this song:

"Born to Be My Baby". Jon can definitely still do his front man thang, I won't deny that:

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Sweet North Carolina - Bon Jovi goes back to back in Charlotte & Raleigh

That's right, it's a double show post 'cause Bon Jovi did back-to-back shows on the weekend (which is a little rarer these days than it might have been in tours gone by). Here's what they dished up to the fine people of North Carolina.

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA - April 8, 2022

Spectrum Center

1. Limitless
2. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. We Weren't Born to Follow
5. It's My Life
6. Just Older
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. This House Is Not For Sale
9. Let It Rain
10. Keep the Faith
11. American Reckoning - acoustic
12. We Don't Run - acoustic
13. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
14. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
15. Beautiful Drug
16. Wanted Dead or Alive
17. Roller Coaster
    
18. Have a Nice Day
19. Livin' on a Prayer
    
    encore:
20. Who Says You Can't Go Home
21. Bad Medicine

Scroll down for videos.

Raleigh, North Carolina, USA - April 9, 2022

PNC Arena

1. Limitless
2. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. We Weren't Born to Follow
5. It's My Life
6. Just Older
7. Born To Be My Baby
8. This House Is Not For Sale
9. Story of Love
10. Let It Rain
11. Keep the Faith
12. American Reckoning - acoustic
13. We Don't Run - acoustic
14. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
15. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
16. Lost Highway
17. Wanted Dead or Alive
18. Roller Coaster
19. Have a Nice Day
20. Livin' on a Prayer
    
    encore: 
21. Who Says You Can't Go Home
22. Bad Medicine

Selected videos from Charlotte

"American Reckoning". Bruce Springsteen is quite possibly my favourite live act, so I have a real soft spot for the use of "The Promised Land" harmonica intro/outro. Actually, Jon cranking out the harmonica was one of my favourite things about this song anyway. And the "New Jersey vs Everybody" shirt is a nice touch, ha:

"Let It Rain" with another harmonica outro. Harmonica, more like HarJonica, amirite? Okay, that was terrible -- I'll shut up now and let you watch the video (with bonus David Bryan facial expressions):

 "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" is probably one of my less liked Keep the Faith tracks, but it's a fun song that made its tour debut in Charlotte:

Selected videos from Raleigh

"Story of Love". Big fan of this song, which made its tour premiere in Raleigh:

"Limitless". I'm still disappointed this was the lead single over "Beautiful Drug" but whatever. The song is okay and I don't mind it as the show opener:

"Someday I'll Be Saturday Night". Jon has a bit of a coughing fit in the middle of this performance but I'm fairly confident he hasn't re-contracted COVID. Anyway, I always dug the acoustic version of "Saturday Night" regardless of why they might be doing it that way now:

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Like a phoenix from the ashes - Bon Jovi's call to #StandUpForUkraine

Bon Jovi joined Global Citizen's Stand Up for Ukraine campaign with a pro-shot version of the acoustic "We Don't Run" they've been doing on this tour:

It appears to be the performance from Omaha, but they could potentially have used some of the  St. Paul footage or audio, since I think everyone was dressed and set up the same for both nights.

You can find out more about the Stand Up For Ukraine campaign and donate to crisis relief efforts via the Global Citizen website.

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We're all alright! Hello Wisconsin! Bon Jovi in Milwaukee

Sorry about the title, I was just thinking about That 70s Show for some reason. 😜

But after two identical sets to start the tour, we got a few set list changes when Bon Jovi played in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA - April 5, 2022

Fiserv Forum

1. Limitless
2. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
3. You Give Love a Bad Name 
4. We Weren't Born to Follow
5. It's My Life
6. Just Older
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Beautiful Drug
9. I'll Be There For You
10. Let it Rain
11. Keep the Faith
12. Lower the Flag - acoustic
    
13. We Don't Run - acoustic
14. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
15. Who Says You Can't Go Home
16. Lost Highway
17. Wanted Dead or Alive
18. Roller Coaster
19. This House Is Not For Sale
20. Have a Nice Day
21. Livin' on a Prayer
    
    encore:
22. In These Arms
23. Bad Medicine

Selected videos from Milwaukee

"Bad Medicine". Well, Jon's moving around a bit, the backing vocals sound pretty good, and the band members seem to have a good vibe with each other:

"Lower the Flag". One of my favourite songs from 2020, and I'm glad it's made its tour debut. Plus, Jon's current tone actually kind of works to convey the mood of a song like this:

"Just Older" comes with added "sha-la-las" on this tour:

"In These Arms". Part of me wants David Bryan to sing this one permanently, but unfortunately that would just highlight the difference between him and Jon vocally:

"I'll Be There For You". This is an emotional experience for me, honestly, but probably not in the way it's supposed to be:

Anyway, we're a week into the tour but no dates have been announced beyond this month so I don't know what happens after April. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

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The same sunrise, it's just another day for Bon Jovi in St. Paul

Okay, that title came across snarkier than I intended. (But it's a reference to "The More Things Change", which was probably my favourite previously-unreleased track from the Greatest Hits album that came out in 2010.)

I know I'm running behind already but given the second show of Bon Jovi's 2022 Tour featured the exact same set list as the first, it's not like I made y'all miss much! (Also, this blog isn't really a "breaking news" kind of space -- there are other fan sites and social media pages covering that sort of thing.)

Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA - April 3, 2022

Xcel Energy Center

1. Limitless
2. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. We Weren't Born to Follow
5. It's My Life
6. Just Older
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Beautiful Drug
9. Let It Rain
10. Keep the Faith
11. American Reckoning - acoustic
12. We Don't Run - acoustic
13. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
14. Who Says You Can't Go Home
15. Lost Highway
16. Wanted Dead or Alive
17. Do What You Can
18. This House Is Not For Sale
19. Have a Nice Day
20. Livin' on a Prayer
    
    encore:
21. Love's the Only Rule
22. Bad Medicine

 

Selected videos from St. Paul

"We Don't Run". Sharing this one again because I said I wasn't sure about the arrangement after Show #1 but it's growing on me. And because I kind of think an acoustic/unplugged tour might be the best way to go after April, but that's another post for another time:

"Keep the Faith". Look, I don't think there's any point pretending that was an outstanding vocal performance, but I always love the band on this song:

"Let It Rain". Ooh, that harmonica outro is cool:

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No April Fools, it's 2022 - Bon Jovi's "2020" tour begins in Omaha

And we're back! And by we, I mean Bon Jovi, but I've been MIA for a long time as well. I haven't decided how I want to approach the tour at Blame It On The Love this time around, but we'll figure it out over the course of this leg, I guess. 😀

After two years on the sidelines, Bon Jovi finally began their tour in support of the 2020 album -- on April Fool's Day of all days. Kelli McDonald, Hugh's wife, made Jon's American flag leather jacket. And this is what the band played:

Omaha, Nebraska, USA - April 1, 2022

CHI Health Center Omaha

1. Limitless
2. The Radio Saved My Life Tonight
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. We Weren't Born to Follow
5. It's My Life
6. Just Older
7. Born to Be My Baby
8. Beautiful Drug
9. Let It Rain
10. Keep the Faith
11. American Reckoning - acoustic
12. We Don't Run - acoustic
13. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - acoustic
14. Who Says You Can't Go Home
15. Lost Highway
16. Wanted Dead or Alive
17. Do What You Can
18. This House Is Not For Sale
19. Have a Nice Day
20. Livin' on a Prayer
    
    encore:
21. Love's the Only Rule
22. Bad Medicine

 

Some nice inclusions there, including: 

• "The Radio Saved My Life Tonight" for the first time since 2015;
• "Just Older" for the first time since 2011, and
• "Love's the Only Rule" (aka The Circle song they should be playing all the time) for the first time since 2013.

Cheers to Bon Jovi Updates for the heads-up on how long it'd been since those songs were played, 'cause I'm so not keeping track of that stuff.

 

Selected videos from Omaha

"Beautiful Drug". I like this song a lot and I'm bummed we haven't gotten that single and music video for it:

 

 

"We Don't Run". The This Left Feels Right-style acoustic version was dedicated to the people of Ukraine. I'm in two minds about the arrangement but I like Jon in acoustic mode:

"American Reckoning". I alternate between thinking this song is too ham-fisted and thinking it's beautifully sad. But anyway, here it is, with a bit of Bruce Springsteen's "The Promised Land" as a harmonica intro/outro:

"Livin' on a Prayer". This has been transposed to a noticeably lower key but I'm honestly fine with that:

"Love's the Only Rule". Won't lie, this is a bit of a vocal mess. But I still maintain that every time Jon goes to put "Born to Follow" in the set, he should take it out and put this in instead. Or maybe "Superman Tonight". I know he doesn't really rate The Circle anymore, but it's got some good tracks on it:

 

Got other videos from the show you want to share or highlight? Add a link in the comments.

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