Sunday, April 28, 2024

2011 Bon Jovi@Europe

After one week in Canada in the winter, it was time to attend to some Spring/Summer Stadium gigs in Europe. First stop Dresden, Germany the second show of the tour and what a great concert it was right from the start when the band played "Bounce" a song rarely played since 2003. Among the few new ones "Superman Tonight" and "No Appologies" were the surprises, whereas from the vault the band took "Bells of Freedom", "Undivided" and "Something to Believe in" in a 28 song long set list filled with passion and energy. Only 2 days afterwards it was time for the band to return to their beloved Olympic Stadium in Munich and deliver another historic evening of songs whose highlights included "Blaze of Glory", a snippet from the Scorpion's "Rock you like a Hurricane", the magnificent "Dry County", the queen of all ballads "Always" and the fan favourites "These Days" and "Blood on Blood" closing the night.

It was then time for Scandinavia with Oslo, Norway having surprises such as "Damned", "Diamond Ring" and "I'd Die for you" whereas Helsinki, Finland saw "Thorn in my Side" being debuted in this leg of the tour. "Love's the Only Rule" and "Wild is the Wind" were played in both of the shows for the delight of the hard-core fans.

London, England, UK followed in no other than its own Hyde Park with the band delivering a greatest hits collection centered on the 90s including gemns such as "Hey God" and "Dry County" with "Always", "These Days" and "Blood on Blood" appearing at the end of the show. Dublin 2 back-to-back shows were the next in line and the hard question is to decide which out of the 2 was better. If the former had "Just Older", "Love's the Only Rule", "Dry County", "These Days" and "Always", the latter had "Bounce", "Happy Now", "Damned", "Never Say Goodbye", "Love for Sale", "Blood on Blood", "Always" and as show grand finalle "Love's the only Rule".

In Vienna, Autria the band only debuted "Radio Saved My Life Tonigth" but repeated "Blood on Blood", "Wild is the Wind", "Always" and "These Days" in a 30 song long set-list; in Bruge, Belgium they played a short set but nevertheess surprised with "Happy Now", "Garageland", "Never Say Goodbye" or "Wild is the Wind", but nothing could prepare us for the tour finale in Lisbon, Portugal: "Get Ready", "Any Other Day", "(It's Hard) Letting you go", "I Believe" and "This ain't a Love Song" in a 30 song long setlist that also included "These Days" and "Always".

These were the 10 shows I went from this leg of the tour but I'd not regreat any other show, because this was simply the best leg I ever seen the band play: great selection of songs, band attitude and chemistry, fan's interaction, you name it. The hard part is to pick something that was not near perfection.



2017-19 This House In Not For Sale Tour

"This House is Not For Sale", Bon Jovi's 13th studio record, was released in the Fall of 2016 and it was promoted until 2019. Although the band did 9 shows in Asia by 2015 this was the first time an Era of the band began without Richie Sambora which raised many questions about the future. Would it be successful? would the dates sell-out? would the new material stand side-by-side with the legacy? would the band's chemistry live rise to past levels or would it pick up where it last had been in 2013 when the band finished the tour wihout its charismatic guitarrist?

The album showed some of the wounds the band had which were addressed in some of its tracks, but, above all, it was a statement of pride to continue with the legacy. There were a couple of promo shows but the proper tour had 6 legs: Nother & South America 2017, North America & Japan/Australia 2018 and Europe & South America 2019.

I was initialy not very into touring again since uncertainity was high but nevertheless opted to go to places I'd love to visit and enjoy the concerts. First stop 2017 at the world's most famoust arena in New York City: Madison Square Guarden. Problem: once I landed in America news had it the shows were postponed 1 week! Although with a lot of thought I decided to rent a car and drive to Toront to see the next shows and postpone my return flight and attend to the shows in NYC. The trip led me again to New Jersey's spots related with the band and to visist NYC highlights, but the best part was the road trip with a stop in Niagara Falls.

Arriving in Toronto by the end f the day, we found the show was already on going, but led by sheer adrenaline we were able to get inside and after 4 years without seeing the band, it felt great to see the band in action all over again. The next day we were able to come in early and fully apretiate the full show. Yes the dynamics between band members were not the best, just like in 2013, but being those songs and that band, it was impossible not to enjoy and to party like if it were our first show ever. A couple of days later at Madison Square Garden the addrenaline levels were a lot lower, but to hear "Runaway" where the band played it in 1983 during their very first gig opening for ZZ Top was no less than magical.



Next year , 2018, I knew what to expect but nonetheless I flew to South of the USA to see the band play. First stop Austin, TX just to sightsee and enjoy the vibe of the city. However early did I realize it wasn't such a big town so I decided to go to Little Rock, AK and see the band play there. The set list was very static with not many surprises, except the droping of "Scars in this Guitar" and the adition of the new song "When We Were Us", written for the Hall of Fame. This stop allowed me to see the capitol building where president Clinton served as governour, just the day after I had seen the one where George W. Bush did.

I then went to San Antonio, TX with its beautiful riverside cruise, tower, Mexican market and the one and only "Alamo" battle spot. In this city the crowd was much louder and the band added "(You Wanna Make) A Memory" and "I'd die for You" in the encore. I then took the train to Houston, TX where I was able to visit NASA's Johnson Space Center. The show had no surprises but I remember how good it was to hear "Bed of Roses" and "Lay your Hands on Me". Next stop: New Orleans, LA and its famous French quarter with all its bars with live music. The crowd there was loud and the band awarded with them with "Blood on Blood". Finaly Dallas, TX was my last stop to see a very urban city with not so much to sightsee and a show with no surprises.



Later in that year I took a plane litelaly to other side of the worl and visited the country of the rising sun: Japan. During this one week trip I was able to sightsee Tokyo, Kyoto and Mount Fuji. As for the Bon Jovi shows, two dates back-to-back: one in Tokyo and the other in Osaka. I was not ready to see a baseball arena covered, but to witness concerts in both this Domes was nothing less than amazing. I remember walking towards Tokyo dome and, as I saw it with its light signs, tears came to my eyes as I recallled all those mythical recordings from the 80s and 90s that played in my stereo and video over and over again during my teenage years.

The audience was super polite only singing when the lead singer asked them to and to hear the line "From New Jersey to Tokyo" from their song "Raise your Hands" felt realy great. "Blood on Blood" and "I'll be There for you" were the surprises during the first show whereas "In These Arms" and "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" were played in the second night. The Domes are huge and just as I had seen on video the audience left the buildings row by row taking an eternity to take everybody out once the show was done.



In 2019 I attended to the weekend dates of the European Spring/Summer tour (see the details here) and in the Fall I went to Brazil for another week on the road to attend to 2 shows of the band: one in Recife and the other in the "Rock in Rio" Festival at Rio de Janeiro. The former with "Blood on Blood" being sung as surprise in a stadium that was half standing. As to the later, the ballad "Always" stood out in one of the shortest shows I've them play on tour but notheless very energetic in an Olympic Park with its more than 100 000 attendees.



All in all 22 shows during 3 years in 4 different continents and 11 countries to see my favourite Rock Band not it their finest hour but rather controling their efforts to perform as good as they could. Jon's voice kept declining during the tour but as the band got more and more rotation the songs became more solid. For the memories and places that I visited this was without a doubt a remarkable tour that I will never forget!

2013 What About Now Tour

By 2013 I had already crossed Atlantic and followed Bon Jovi both in Europe and North America, so it was no surprise that during that year I went to Montreal to see the band playing two nights. It was an interesting time since Richie had released a solo record and the band as well, so what I saw during those 2 nights was a Richie Sambora on fire and Jon not so much. Little did I know that a month after the guitarist would depart from the band, simply not showing up for a show. Nobody knew then if it would be something for a short or long period of time so hope was kept that Richie would tour with the band during the Spring shows in Europe.

That didn't hapened so I saw Bon Jovi play in the historic Olympic stadium in Munich, Manchester city's Ethiad Stadium, Birmingham, Lisbon and at Milan's San Siro Stadium that year. The band rocked in Munich, Manchester and Milan but not so much in Lisbon. Their new tunes fit the set list and "That's What the Water Made me" was well received by the audience as the show opener. The single "Beacause you can" or the album tracks "What about now" and "What's Left of me" were ok, but the acoustic balldad "Amen" felt a little unconfortable since it took the spot from a great rendition the band had done the tour before of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".

Phil X gave a lot of energy to the crowd and the huge stage consisting of a replica of the front of a classic buick car took the event to the stratosphere production wise. The classics were of course not forgotten and every night the crouwd would sing "Bad Name", "Wanted", "Bad Medicine", "Keep the Faith", "It's My Life" and "Livin'on a Prayer" from the top of their lungs. During the Milan's show the Italian fans prepared a surprise for the band consisting of a stadium sized banner that took the lead singer to tears.



In October I went to Las Vegas to see the band play the MGM arena and although they rocked there was some sort of strangeness with the lack of Richie on the guitar. Phill X and Boby Bandiera covered all the guitar parts while David Bryan assumed most of the backing vocals, but the chemistry of the band was afected which led me to tears by the end of the show. By this time I already picked the shows I wanted to see Bon Jovi in places I was interested in visiting so although the Bon Jovi show was sort of a confirmation that the great times had passed, the trip had a lot of good moments.


Monday, May 2, 2022

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”!!!

Thursday, June 17, 2021

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.....

Sunday, February 21, 2021

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 came 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:

Friday, March 25, 2016

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