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.

This Is Our House (another vid + lyrics)

Another video of Bon Jovi's first (and second) ever performance of "This Is Our House" in Regina. Oh lordy Jon, did you just flash the corna ("horns" sign) two minutes in? XD



The lyrics as far as I could hear:

This is our time
This is our night
Are you alive?
Get up, get up, get up, get up, time to fly
Are we gonna raise the roof? (Oh yeah)
Are we gonna touch the sky? (Hell yeah)
Everybody with me let me hear you now
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

This is our house
These are my people, mister, this is my town
This is our house
Ain't nobody know we're gonna knock it down
(Oh whoa oh oh oh oh oh)
This is our house
(Oh whoa oh oh oh oh oh)

With the wind at our side
We have arrived
We won't be denied
Get up, get up, get up, get up, time to shine
Are we gonna turn it up? (Oh yeah)
Are we gonna shake it up? (Hell yeah)
Let me see you raise 'em up and shout out loud
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

This is our house
These are my people, mister, this is my town
This is our house
Ain't nobody know we're gonna knock it down
This is our house
These are my colours, this is sacred crowd
This is our house
Ain't nobody know we're gonna knock it down
This is our house
(Oh whoa oh oh oh oh oh)
This is our house
(Oh whoa oh oh oh oh oh)
This is our house
Ain't nobody know we're gonna knock it down

Corrections welcome. :)

Regina review + This Is Our House debut

Here's a snippet of Jeff Dedekker's review of Bon Jovi's show in Regina for the Leader-Post:

Even Jon Bon Jovi is willing to admit that time flies when you're having fun.

"Somebody told me before the show that it's been 20 years since we were last in Regina. How is that possible?" the 48-year-old rocker asked the estimated crowd of 35,000 at Mosaic Stadium on Wednesday night.

"I like lots of things about Regina. I liked the flyover before the show. I liked the nice things written about us in the newspaper. And I met Jovi, a baby who was named after the band. It won't be another 20 years before we're back in Regina."

Read the full article here.

Meanwhile, Bon Jovi also performed "This Is Our House" for the first time ever at this show (and filmed an official video for it). Here's a fan video:

Regina set list + article

Bon Jovi shot a video for "This Is Our House" at this show, suggesting that it might be the first single off the greatest hits. No offense, but I sure hope the other new songs are a LOT better.

Nice to see "Love's the Only Rule" played.

REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA - MOSAIC STADIUM AT TAYLOR FIELD - JULY 28, 2010
Blood on Blood
We Weren't Born to Follow
You Give Love a Bad Name
Whole Lot of Leavin'
Born to Be My Baby
Lost Highway
It's My Life
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine / Oh, Pretty Woman [Roy Orbison cover]
Love's the Only Rule
Lay Your Hands on Me [Richie Sambora on lead vocals]
(You Want to) Make a Memory
I'll Be There For You
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
In These Arms
Work for the Working Man
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep the Faith

ENCORE:
This Is Our House [played twice for live video shoot]
Wanted Dead or Alive
Livin' on a Prayer

Videos on BJCT blog as they come.

Also, an article by Jeff Dedekker appeared in the Leader-Post ahead of the Regina show. It's a nice article but this bit made me smirk, Have a Nice Day style:

"During the course of the late afternoon, we come in every day, even 60 shows in, and do a power sound check. I'd have a list of songs in my head -- 'I was thinking about this one from that album. Why don't we play this one and tomorrow we'll do it.' I always kept them going," explained Bon Jovi. "It became a bit of a game for us so that by the end even Tico was bringing me a list of songs saying, 'We didn't do this one and we didn't do that one.' It became fun, because for whatever it's worth, not that many bands go out there and do 70 different songs in one location."

Read the full article here, and Hath's response at this link. I know us diehard fans can seem difficult to please, but the truth is, we're cynics with faith -- faith in the band, faith that our faith will be rewarded -- or else we wouldn't still be here.

Bon Jovi to play Peru and Costa Rica

Two new dates have been added to the Circle tour:

September 26, 2010: Costa Rica - Estadio Ricardo Saprissa
September 29, 2010: Lima, Peru - Estadio Universidad San Marcos

The link to the announcement about Costa Rica on BonJovi.com isn't working at the moment but the main thing you need to know is:

[Bon Jovi's] number one world tour “The Circle” tour is set to come to Costa Rica’s on September 26th at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa.
...
Tickets will be on-sale on August 7th at 10 AM by www.specialticket.net, authorized retail outlets as Servimas, Bansbach and La Barbería.

As for Lima, Bon Jovi.com says:

One of the most important and established bands in rock history, BON JOVI is going to perform in Lima on Wednesday, September 29th, 2010 at Estadio San Marcos as part of the #1 tour in the world, 'The Circle World Tour 2010'.
...
Tickets will go on sale on Saturday, August 7th at 11 AM online on Teleticket (http://www.teleticket.com.pe) and at outlets at Wong and Metro stores.

Great news!

Reading material for Bon Jovi fans

I've been meaning to do a post like this for a while, but with the reported release today of former tour manager Richard Bozzett's book Sex, Drugs and Bon Jovi, now seems like a timely moment.

• Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful -- The accompanying picture book to the documentary of the same name. You're mostly buying this for the photos but there are also some comments and reflections from the band. Check out Anthony Kuzminski's review on antiMusic.com.
• Star Man: The Right Hand Man of Rock'n'Roll, by Michael Francis and Paul Elliott -- The son of boxing trainer George Francis spent three decades as a bodyguard for some of the biggest names in music. This is Michael Francis' autobiography, and a large part of it is about his time with Bon Jovi in the 80s. (As a side note, you can spot Michael briefly in the "Wanted Dead or Alive" video and Access All Areas IIRC.)
• Bon Jovi Encyclopaedia, by Neil Daniels -- If you're a diehard fan you'll probably know most of what's covered here, and as an "encyclopaedia" I think it has a few problems, which I outlined in my Suite101 review last year. There are also some issues with editing but I can't really blame the author for that. And credit where it's due, it's a mammoth effort for someone who's not a crazy fan to write something like this, and I think the book would make for a decent stocking filler for casual fans or people who are new to the band.
• Jon Bon Jovi, by Laura Jackson -- This completely unauthorised biography seems to attract mixed reviews for that very reason. Of all the books I mention in this post, this is the one that's had the most time elapsed since I read it, but again: if you're a diehard, particularly one who's followed the band from its early years, you'll know most if not all the content. And being written by someone without connections to the band, there aren't any great insights either. However for a "bio from afar" I seem to recall it being reasonably comprehensive.
• Gospel of Jon, by Rebecca Wilson -- Rebecca's self-published memoir, harrowing and touching in turn, articulates why Bon Jovi's music means so much to her. While her personal story may be vastly different to ours, I think many of us diehard fans could relate to it. (NB: This is temporarily unavailable as a hard copy but you can get a digital copy by e-mailing Rebecca via rwilson311 AT gmail DOT com -- Put "Blame It On The Love" in the subject line.)
• Finally, if you qualify as a "mature audience" and you're okay with the concept of Real Person Fic, you can head to the Bon Jovi Fan Fiction Directory and peruse the stories for some entertainment. :P

Anyway, those are my thoughts... Feel free to add your two cents on these and any others.

As for Sex, Drugs and Bon Jovi, TMZ has posted some images from the book, including one of Jon posing with some naked and topless women back in 1985.

Wanted Dead or Alive: Bon Jovi and Dierks Bentley at HullabaLOU

Another video of that "Wanted Dead or Alive" duet at Louisville's HullabaLOU music festival. Having never heard Dierks Bentley sing before, I have to say the sudden deep voice coming in after Jon sang the first verse and chorus threw me off a little. Then again, Dierks looks like such a little fanboy up there that it's any wonder he could sing at all, LOL. :P



Jon: "That was cool. Anybody else wanna get up and sing with me? I dunno if I can 20,000 up on the stage..."