2022: Bon Jovi@Nashville,TN

In April 2022 Bon Jovi embarked on a 15 date tour during 30 days. It was the aftermath of the Covid pandemic and the band wanted to get back on the road to promote their 2020 record. I saw them in their final show in Nashville, TN, but, even before taking the plane, I was already anticipating what I would witness. As always, I had seen every set list and watched the videos fans posted of their live performances and something was not sounding right: Jon had lost his high notes! The band was still sounding musically strong; Jon, just one month after completing his 60th anniversary, still got his Rock Star moves and was able to fire up the whole crowd whether when opening the show in the middle of the crowd to deliver their biggest hit in America: “Livin’On a Prayer” or closing the night with a passioned rendition of their 80s ballad “I’ll be There for you”; Phil X was playing killer guitar solos ("We weren't born to follow" outro solo was a great addin); and the whole band sounded better than in any other tour ever since Richie’s departed in 2013. But the lead singer’s high notes were not there anymore and all the heavy lifting on vocal parts were done by David Bryan (the band's co-founder and keyboard player who has been with Jon since his High School days), Everett Bradley (the percursion guy who joined the band in 2016) and Phill X (the lead guitar who had to replace Richie Sambora in 2013 and has been in the band ever since). Maybe it was a too tight schedule for the band these days, but I believe the singer should either stop and try to recover his high notes back (because there are examples of other Rock Singers who also lost their voices in the past for periods of time and were still able to recover it), or embrace a new type of live show, concentrating on their low key and/or acoustic versions of their songs (something they have always done during their career whether in acoustic performances or even on record, when in 2003 the band released “This Left Feels Right”). I remember Jon also had voice problems back during the band’s 1986/87 “Slippery When Wet” Tour when Jon had to take shots to have his voice during live shows, and despite that, he was able to recover it to perform brilliant shows between 1988 and 1990, supporting their “New Jersey” huge success and subsequently during the 90s and 00s.


During the Nashville show I was at row 9 on the floor, to my left there was a lovely couple in their late 70s of retired Florida residents who had attended to the Eagles show the night before and confessed they were there for the entertainment and had not much patience to hear political speeches; to my right there were four teenagers who were most likely been born after Bon Jovi released their latest global hit "It's my Life" in the year 2000. None of these people knew any lyrics, the couple sat for most of the time and the young ones, although sometimes on their phones, jumped for most part of the songs. At the end all of them were with a smile on their faces and pleased with the band's performance. What does this mean? Well I felt I was filling the gap between those two generations of Americans (and I'm not totally independent since this has always been my favourite band), but as I said above, my ears hear a very poor voice from the lead singer, and despite that fact, there's something about this band that in spite of all the dificulties and nayers (that have always been there) can actually please and entertain a crowd fom teenagers to elder people, making everybody feel their passion and ultimitely having a great time.



That being said, my opinion remains however that until Jon has his high notes back, the band should not play arena or stadium shows, and either try to heal Jon’s voice first or pursue a more intimate sort of show, since this is not the voice we have all heard for almost 40 years, so there is no need to hurt a legacy, built with so much effort and that allowed so many of us to dream and survive trying times to fight for a better and happier life! I stay true to what I’ve done and believe. I have absolutely no regrets on all the Bon Jovi shows I’ve attended in the past because I got back so much more than I gave. Unfortunately I also need to tell what my ears hear and not praise them over past glories. Like one of those 80s Nr 1 single’s says: “I can’t promise you tomorrow, but I can buy back yesterday” or in their 90s anthemic album title track mentions: “these days are fast, nothing lasts, in this graceless age, there ain’t nobody left but us These Days”, it’s time to face a tough reality, not giving up and definitely putting up a fight for a better tomorrow, because their legacy can be carried on, even if in other ways.


The magic of people coming together to sing the same songs, feeling the same emotions and fighting for their dreams is the nation Bon Jovi contributed to, one with people from all walks of life, races, nationalities, cultures and/or social status. These emotions are possible through songs and other Art forms and I’ve witnessed them first hand both with 80 000 people in a stadium or in an intimate club with a few hundreds: “These are my streets, the only life I’ve ever known”! I want to believe that April 2022 is just a lowdown month in their career that, like any other, has its ups and downs. So for a better tomorrow, let’s “Keep the Faith” and see what the band comes up for 2023 and their 40 year anniversary! Until then we are once again all “Livin’On a Prayer”!!!

1995: Bon Jovi at Lisbon: what could had been my first Bon Jovi show

On June, 15th 1995 I was a 12 year old kid listening to the radio and feeling what could have been my very first Bon Jovi concert. I had to wait 8 more years, but still these are my memories from an evening that the band played their third show in Lisbon, Portugal. Enjoy.....

2019: Bon Jovi European Tour

In 2019 Bon Jovi toured Europe to promote This House is not for Sale(2016).

From historic venues (Wembley in London, the RDS in Dublin, the Olympic Std in Munich; Wanda Std in Madrid or the Piața Constituției in Bucharest, Romania) to cities they hadn't visited for over 30 years (Moscow, Russia and Liverpool, England) or even ones they never had been before(Tallin, Estonia). From remote places like Stavenger, Norway; Sonderborg, Denmark; Coventry, England or Klagenfurt, Austria; to parks in Tel Aviv, Israel and Nijmegen, the Netherlands and even a Festival in Werchester, Belgium playing with John Forgery (from the Credence Clearwater Revival); or with the Manic Street Preechers in the UK and Ireland; or even Def Leppard in Germany and Austria.

My journey began in Moscow where the band would go back after 30 years to Lenin Std, one week later I was in Stavenger, Norway to see the band and the Fjords in a Northern Summer; the 2 dates at the RDS in Dublin followed and the leg's finalle took place in Wembley and Coventry, England, UK.As to the second leg of the European Tour I went to Munich, Madrid and historic Bucharest. Thank you to all my friends who joined through this journey. It was a very fun one:)

With Phil X and Hugh McDonald now officially on board and with John Shanks and Everet Bradley as back musicians Bon Jovi have once again seen a million faces and Rocked them all.

Great memories on the road and great official videos from the band to let us remember not to forget this great chapter of the history of the iconic band from New Jersey. So here's my playlist from the official videos that were released:

Have a Nice Day (2005)

"Have a Nice Day" is Bon Jovi's 9th studio record and was originally meant to be released in 2004. However the lead singer wasn't happy enough with the result and postponed it in order to rearrange some songs and include new ones. After an unsuccessful Greatest Hits with a Twist, "This Left Feels Right", and a 20 year commemorative box set meant for the fans, it was time to hit the big time again.

Advertised as a big rock record "Have a Nice Day" had a strong image, the black smirk over red was simple and direct. The first single and album title track didn't let any one down, a rocker with great guitars filled with ironic lyrics, rough riffs and a back to the basics kind of attitude. The guitars play a central part on the theme driving it from start to finish. Another hit song for the New Jersey band. "I wanna be Loved" is an organic guitar driven song with the talk box echoing during the verses. Once again the lyrics are not plain, showing anger and bitter sweet. Eventually the optimism prevails, but the struggle is what makes this a complex album track to hear."Welcome to Whatever you are" is one of the band's favorite songs and it was even released as a single, although with no major acclaim. The optimistic ballad about self acceptance has probably one of the band's finest lyrics, although some may find it too much romantic when Jon sings "When you wanna give up and your heart's about to break, remember that you're perfect, God makes no mistakes".

"Who Says you Can't go Home" is a classic mid-tempo written about the importance of home for those who spend too much time far away from it. The instant crowd pleaser was a huge hit in the Country radios. The simple melody and endless Alrights make this a great song, perfect to be played before massive audiences. "Last Man Standing" had originally been written for the acoustic album  "This Left Feels Right", but eventually made it to a proper studio record, being completely redone as a great rocker. The guitar riff drives the song about the "living breathing spectacle" of  "the real thing". This is an iconic song about the romantic view of an artist with "real life calloused fingers wrapped around those guitar strings". The lyrics are at Bon Jovi's best, while the melody has a muscle that sustains the thematic. An instant classic.

"Bells of freedom" is an acoustic ballad plain and simple. The melody is ok, but the lyrics are so abstract no one dares to wonder what they are really about. "Wildflower" is an interesting mid-tempo ballad about the mysteries and ambivalence of the feelings a girl can trigger. "Last Cigarette" is like a tribute to the Beach Boys with loud chorus and again ironic lyrics. The guitars and keyboards highlight the chorus, while the drums and bass drive the verses. A great rocker with the urgency of a love that is like a one last cigarette. "I Am" is the emotional mid-tempo with an epic feeling. A fan favorite that was played live once in the very last show of the 2005/2006 tour.

"Complicated" is a talk box rocker that resembles "It's my Life". The guitars echo while the lyrics are catchy. "I'm smart enough what I don't know, but fool enough to stay when I should go" is just a simple example of the kind of complicated personality the band sings about on this 3 and a half minute song. "Novocaine" is an angered song about splitting up. Melodically upbeaten, the name of the drug fits the bitter sweet feelings of parting ways with a person with whom you spent a significant part of your existence. Finally "Story of my Life" is a great rocker, wrapping up the album with optimistic lyrics.

This was a very important record for the band since it allowed them to have another two hit songs, one of them, "Who Says you can't go Home", in he Country scene. The duet with Country band Sugarland allowed both bands to climb the genre's tops and eventually influence the band's following studio effort.

Have a Nice Day allowed the band to tour for 12 months between the Autumn of 2005 and the Summer of 2006, filling up arenas and  Stadiums across the two sides of the Atlantic ocean.

All in all a great Rock album, probably Bon Jovi's finest Rock statement of the decade. 8/10

One Wild Night (2001)

As Bon Jovi were about to resume their World Tour in 2001, the band decided to release their first live record. After being dropped as the title for their comeback 2000 album, One Wild Night sounded more than appropriate for what was supposed to capture all the energy, passion and enthusiasm a Bon Jovi live show is known for. With a hit single and record under their belt, the new generation would be exposed to their past hits, while old fans would be given one treat they always had waited for: a live album.

Before One Wild Night came out, they also released the EP "The Love Songs", including Bon Jovi's finest ballads in a deluxe package for Valentine's day and "Tokyo Road - Best of Bon Jovi", a Japanese only greatest hits, released in order to prove to the Japanese fans they could fill 1 album with all rockers, no ballads and hence surpass their 90s stigma of Soft Rockers.

With the goal set, there was a discussion about the format of how the album should come out. Jon imposed to the record company it should be affordable, to which the record label agreed only if it were 1 single disk. The deal was set and so Obie O'Brian, the band's long friend and engineer, was given the task to dive into the band's archives and come up with recordings worth of Bon Jovi's live reputation. Truth to be told, it was no easy task since the band had forged its legacy upon 18 years of memorable shows. The idea of a live album had been on the table for at least 2 times, in 1990 and 1996, so the archives were filled with countless versions of almost every song the band had ever performed. Add the fact that the band had always brought cover songs, as well as acoustic and re-arranged versions of their own material to their tous, and it's easy to guess the track list for this album was no less than a big head ache that wouldn't be able to please to all of Bon Jovi's fans or even be fair to represent the band's live legacy.

On May, 28th 2001 "One Wild Night: Live 1985 - 2001" hits the stores.


The track list includes inevitable hits such as "It's my life", "Livin'on a Prayer", "You give Love a Bad Name", "Wanted Dead or Alive", "Keep the Faith" and "Bad Medicine", but surprises most fans and critics for having no ballads. In stead, it includes album tracks that please most hardcore fans such as the epic "Something to Believe in", the fan favourite "Someday I'll be Saturday Night", Jon's personal favourite "Just Older" or 90's single "Something for the Pain". The album also includes "Runaway" and "In and Out of Love" recorded in Tokyo 1985, which surprisingly end up being the only recordings from the 80s. There are also 2 cover songs, "Rockin' in the free world" and a duet with Bolb Geldof, "I Don't like Mondays". Finally, a remixed studio version of "One Wild Night" wraps up the album, becoming its promotional single.

Although having a reasonable response among occasional fans much due to the sound quality of the recordings and musical diversity, hard core fans are mostly disappointed with it, since they aren't able to feel the Bon Jovi experience while listening to it. The reasons for such a downside are mostly concerned with the fact that the mixing didn''t merge the songs, splitting tracks and creating a sense of rushed copy and paste production. On the other hand, the song sequence is very artificial and for those who had witnessed Bon Jovi shows and were used to a very cohesive sequence of songs, the album couldn't take them back to the pleasant memories. Finally, the fact that half of the tracks had already been released as B-Sides or Video recordings, ended up creating the sensation not of the Bon Jovi live record, but more of a rushed live compilation, assembled for occasional and new fans, that was prematurely released only to achieve commercial goals and no long term perspective to represent the band live legacy.

The album had its momentum and served the intent to introduce 80s and 90s hits to the 2000 generation who had heard Bon Jovi for the first time with "It's my Life". Its singles, "One Wild Night 2001" and "Wanted Dead or Alive", allowed the band to have some airplay, helping to sell out most of their summer stadium shows. However, most fans will definitely prefer a good quality bootleg, over the only official live full length the band released. It is with no surprise that Bon Jovi fans are still waiting for a definitive live album that can bring them back to the 2 hour plus show where all the problems seemed to vanish and entertainment and art were hands in hands in the best experience a human being can have with his/her clothes on. 6/10

2011: Hope Concert in New Jersey by Xmas

During Christmas 2011 I had the chance to visit New York City for one week and just like in the movies I was overwhelmed by the spirit of the city. All its shinny lights, Christmas trees and ice skating rings provide the perfect atmosphere for the season. Wherever you go, there’s always a Christmas classic playing and even if the streets are filled with people rushing to buy all the presents, it is impossible to ignore the countless Christmas street decorations and smiling faces, who warm the low temperatures. Whether in Central Park with its ice skating ring, cozy zoo or epic urban nature landscape; Times Square where it is impossible not to stumble upon hundreds, if not thousands, of locals and tourists under the most concentrated area of neons in the world or Rockerfellar Center with the Worlds most famous Christmas tree, ice skating ring and zillion tourists trying to capture the place’s magic; it is impossible to avoid the grandiosity of the city and the season. It is like the whole world is concentrated in a couple of squares and dozen of streets that connect mid town New York! From the busy city where everything is rushed and there’s no time to waste, we took a train and headed South, passed through the industrial Newark, its international airport, and as we were going on and on, more and more familiar names started to show up in the signs. First Perth Amboy, then Woodbrigde and just a few minutes from our final destination there was Middletown. The trip only took hour and a half, but the difference between big city New York and the small town Red Bank is one of the United States most signature wonders! Red Bank is a very small town, but one filled with charm and sophistication. Impeccably adorned for the Christmas season, Broad street overwhelms its visitors with cosy shop fronts. Either in Starbuks, Jack Music shop, in one of its of fancy restaurants or cool dinners, the little town is a fairy tale wonder land of brick and stone. After a sunny day, the centenary theater named after the famous Jazz legend Count Basie, lightened for a sold out night. Local legends and young generations shared the same stage to raise money for a good cause. The musical production was under the direction of Bobby Bandiera, a long time Jersey shore veteran who is more familiar to the theater than anybody else. Tim McLoone and the Shirleys kicked off with a 3 song set, warming up the crowd, before the theater’s CEO and city’s mayor introduced the show with humorous and yet eloquent speeches. It was time for the main act to go up, so Bobby B. himself took the microphone and immediately melted the ice. His 8 piece band included Hugh McDonnald, who we were very familiar with since he’s been touring and recording with Bon Jovi and Jon for the last 15 years. He then introduced Layonne Holmes and shortly there after Nicole Atkins. Each main act was given between 2 to 5 songs leading the professional band conducted by Bandiera to harmonious renditions of either old time classics or their catalog’s hits. Bryan Fallon folllowed Nicole Atkins, counting with the helpful hand of Southside Johnny, the Jersey Coast local legend. Gary Bonds took her own bass player, switching sides with Hugh, delivering a soulful performance. Once again SSJ jumped in towards the girl’s final song, staying for the performance of one of his most memorable songs: “This Time is for real” and an excellent duet with the night’s host Bobby during “Broke down piece of man”. It was then time for the show’s most iconic artist to appear and it was easy to realise why the 49 year old Jon Bon Jovi still rocks millions of faces to this day. The crowd couldn’t stay on their feet and the fuzz of countless cameras shooting at the stage was impossible to ignore. The Pearl Harbour native conducted the band, taking over the stage’s spotlights. He came up quietly with “the letter”, but couldn’t help himelf not to rock, before “Having a Party” and his band’s classic “Wanted Dead or Alive”. He also had time to joke on the fact that a gossip had spread all over the internet just a few hours before that he had been found dead. He made it a funny moment before kicking with another hit: “Who says you cant’ go home”. It’s funny to see how cheered the song is in the man’s home State, while in so many stadiums around the world it gets such an average response. The feeling of belonging the sing along chorus carries is unmistakably from the Garden State that embraces it and echoes heart felt “It’s Alrights” over and over again. The main set was closed by Bon Jovi’s latest hit single “We weren’t born to follow”, getting also a warm response from the small theater’s attendees. The 3 song encore included the Season’s favourite tunes with JBJ making the harmonies for “Blue Christmas” along Southside and commanding the troops for “Run Run Rudolph” with all the artists sharing the stage. A handful of Sesame’s street characters made an appearance and even Santa showed up on stage. For the show’s grand finale, “All you need is love”, JBJ left, avoiding rush hour, leaving a joyful town singing along in a Christmas evening. The warmth faded silently into the Jersey night, but the spirit can never be forgotten by those who were present in such a cosy evening. For the following day we had time to make a stop in JBJ’s brand new Soul Kitchen, a “pay what you want” stylish restaurant, that is the latest of his philantropic initiatives, before waving Broad street, Navesink river and our very familiy oriented hotel fair well. Heading to the big city lights we experienced an entertaining evening watching Broadway’s Musical “Rock of Ages”, which is a pleasant narrative unified by the 80’s Hair Metal classics including songs of artists such as White Snake, Poison, Twisted Sister, Journey and even Bon Jovi. Hilarious, but still cohesive, the story has all the glamour and professionalism of a Broadway production.It should have been named Rock of the 80s though. With nothing more than 24 hours left, there was only time to go back to Mid Town’s hot spots and try to capture a little more of the city’s season spirit. New York city is definitely worth visiting during this time of the year since despite the low temperatures and yet lack of snow, it has a pulse impossible to describe in words, sounds, pictures or videos. The atmosphere is simply overwhelming and one cannot help but to feel such an almost tangible magic. Although decided last minute, and with basically no preparation, this trip will always be remembered as the one that showed me Christmas can merge both materialistic and spiritual worlds in a single season.

Crossroad (1994)

The year Bon Jovi completed 10 years of life they were still releasing singles in Europe of their 1992 come back effort 'Keep the Faith'. In the aftermath of a successful worldwide tour that absorbed all the band's energy for the whole year of 1993, they spent the first 9 months of 1994 catching their breaths, making some occasional promotional appearances on the media and composing a brand new album. By Christmas time the new material wasn't ready to be released, so the idea of a greatest hits collection celebrating their 10th anniversary seemed not only reasonable, but a smart marketing move in a time the format was becoming more and more popular. Although the band had only released 5 studio records, they already had enough hits to fill an album worth of good material and it was the perfect excuse to introduce their 80s catalog to their new fans from the 90s.

Although initially planned as a 2 cd collection including some album tracks, it was eventually decided to release a single disk with 2 brand new songs, that would give old fans a good reason to buy it. The album was named "Crossroad - The Best of Bon Jovi" which in the words of its lead singer was mostly because it closed a chapter and initiated a brand new one. Along the 10 year celebration, the album marked the band's first change on its line up, with bassist Alec John Such leaving the group. No further reasons were detailed, but rumors had it that his leaving was a natural decision after some years of an increasing process of detachment from the band's focus. The fact that Alec was never formerly replaced increased the sense of Bon Jovi working as a family in which no member, although leaving, cannot be replaced.




The song selection for an album with these characteristics may seem logic and pretty straightforward, since it was merely an exercise of picking up the most successful hits on the charts. However, "Crossroad" would not only recap the band's hits, as it would become a staple of how a greatest hits collection should be assembled.

The first strength of the album was obviously the song selection. There is only one minor decision that may not be entirely obvious, which is the exclusion of "Born to be my baby" in favor of "Never say goodbye" or "In and Out of Love". However as we listen to the album, we eventually realize the latter ones are better choices, since although not peaking as high in charts, they provide a more complete picture of the band's musical diversity. All the other songs are obvious choices and are able to fit together surprisingly well.

Another of the album's strengths is the song sequence. As we listen to it from start to finish, there is a natural flow that is carried from track #1 to the very last one. The album is able to create a balanced atmosphere that despite the different productions and styles, is very cohesive, creating an overall bigger picture to it. From the beginning of "Livin' on a Prayer" that creates a fade in effect to the album, to the sequence "Lay your hands on me" "You give Love a bad Name", "Bed of Roses" followed by "Blaze of Glory" or "I'll be There for you" that makes the transition between post and pre Slippery songs, the whole sequence is able to capture the song's strengths and create bursts of energy brilliantly separated by mellower moments with transitions that are never disruptive. Either with "Runaway", in its US release, or "Never say goodbye", internationally, the album wraps up brilliantly, suggesting a new listen to the whole album as the next natural thing to do.

There were some minor differences in the album's track list, adapting it to the different markets. If in the US "In these Arms" had not been as huge as internationally, why not try a new arrangement on "Livin' on a Prayer", the band's biggest hit in the market? The Japanese version also didn't include the "Keep the Faith" 3rd single, getting "Tokyo Road" in stead. Finally "Never say goodbye" was not included in the US version, as it hadn't been released as a single there. So, all these small but effective differences were able to capitalize the band's reputation on each market.

Although the song selection, market adaptions and song sequence all contributed to the final result, the most important fact that would determine the album's market reaction was the brand new songs included in it. Probably this is mostly what sets "Crossroad" apart from so many other "Greatest Hits" collections, the inclusion of a brand new hit single. It's true most these collections have new songs, the rare thing is that these new songs become as big as the album's remainder tracks. "Always", released as the album's lead single rapidly climbed the charts world wide, becoming Bon Jovi's biggest hit ever. The song had been written for a movie, whose title was used in the song's first line, and it consisted of a power ballad that was able to capitalize on the success of the previous album's most successful single, "Bed of Roses", but which surprisingly was able to surpass it, becoming one of the decade's trademarks.Promoted with a video no teenager from the 90s will ever forget, the song became a phenomena, creating the awkward effect of carrying the greatest hits package further away. It was like people were buying the album because of this particular song and as a bonus they would get Bon Jovi's greatest hits as b-sides.

Although not as successful, "Someday I'll be Saturday Night", the album's other brand new song, was also released as a single in 1995. This one didn't aim the massive success but a more artistic recognition, creating a bridge with the content of the band's forthcoming album. The storytelling threads and "Springsteen" working class values guaranteed "Sat. Night" a rightful place among Bon Jovi's fan favorites and a spot on most of the band's shows ever since, becoming a highlight every time it was played not only because of its public recognition, but mostly due to the passion the performers put whenever they deliver it.

It is also worth to mention the massive promotion the band chose to do, appearing in virtually every talk show all round the globe. The band also released a Christmas single by 1994, consisting of the classic "Please come home for Christmas" originally released by Charles Brown and made popular in the 70s by the Eagles. The video in which singer Jon Bon Jovi appeared in more intimate scenes with top model Cindy Crawford was also motive of endless buzz in the media. The band had also released a brand new song for the soundtrack of the movie "The Cowboy Way", for which they had directed all their anger and heavier leaks on a charismatic B Side the band even dared to play live in 1995, "Good Guys Don't Always wear White".

With an excess of 10 million albums sold in a short period of time, Bon Jovi would spend the beginning of 1995 in the studio recording a brand new album. By April they started a world tour initially built on top of the band's greatest hits collection and only later, evolving to a new album promotion. The band took advantage of all the media attention around them and not only returned to most of the cities they had played 2 years before, as they performed sold out shows in countries they had never been to, such as India, Korea and South Africa.

Although initially planned as a filler marketing move to buy the band some time to finish their 6th record of originals, "Crossroad - The Best of Bon Jovi" represents the band's peak of popularity in the 90s. In a period all major artists put out similar albums, whether Nirvana's "MTV Unplugged", Aeromsmith's "Big Ones" or Bruce Springsteen's "Greatest Hits", Bon Jovi's release stood out and became one of the industry's most successful releases of the format. 10/10