Carson Details

You know, I really HATE it when someone posts something about an interview or appearance and all they say is "Jon looked great" or "He sounded great" or really vague things. So, here are some details about what was said on the interview portion of the show:

Carson introduced Jon with "He acts. He sings. And I find him very attrative" and Jon came out to thunderous applause. Carson told Jon he could run for governor of NJ and Jon said that wasn't a bad idea because he couldn't be any worse (he got cut off, but I imagine he would have said than the current one).

Carson introduced Jon to Noelle his intern and Joelle her best friend who were big fans. He had a plastic bag with an autograph and a sharpie Jon had used and said it looked like a crime scene. He also had one of their photo albums from a concert and Jon flipped through it and said he'd seen flashbulbs going off for 20 years and figured that's what the photos looked like--the backs of the heads of the people in front of her at every show.

Carson mentioned that Jon was still married to his high school sweetheart and Jon said, "Awwww" as the audience did too. Carson asked Noelle if she knew his wife's name and the whole audience answered "Dorothea." Carson asked wasn't the point of becoming a rock star to get women and Jon joked that he was 8 or 9 on the waiting list for J.Lo. Then turned serious and said he got the girl thing right the first time and you don't mess with that. Then the audience went "Awww" again.

Next Carson showed an old photo from the 80's and Jon got this hysterical expression on his face, looked at his watch and said approximately, "Well, it was nice seeing you Carson... I've got to go" and pretended to get up. He sat back down and gave Carson a hard time for showing that photo when he'd come to do the show on a day off.

Carson then asked how the band had managed to stay competitive and successful when so many of their peers had disappeared. Jon said the word was "relevent." Carson was kind of fumbling around trying to find the right word. Jon explained that when they started the popular thing was Culture Club and Cindi Lauper and the look of the Cure and if they'd started with that they would have had to be grunge in the 90's and he'd had to have learned to dance by 2000 and he didn't know how to dance. He said when they started and were trying to figure out who they were they knew they had to be true to themselves and not follow the fads. Some will like it and some will not, but their records are honest.

Carson asked specifically about 1992 and the KTF era. Jon said that it was a culmination of a lot of things--the success of SWW and NJ which could have led to the band imploding, hitting 30 affected him, plus the success of Blaze of Glory all led to wanting to come back with something anew. The times affected it--like the riots in LA and the wall coming down in Germany. He felt Kurt Cobain was the shot of adrenelain the industry needed because it had gotten mundane.

Carson asked how hard it was to not alter the music to fit that sound. Jon said it wasn't hard at all because it wasn't who they were. They couldn't come off of being the biggest band in the world to staring at their shoes and acting like they were miserable. He said he wasn't going to say he hated that. He wanted to say something more and be something more, but do it on their own terms.

Carson asked what his opinion was of newer bands like Limp Biscuit, Linkin Park and Kid Rock. Jon said that Kid was amazing and brilliant and that he'd come to the Detroit show and they hung out for hours afterward. He said his kids listen to Limp Biscuit and Linkin Park more than they listen to Bon Jovi records. They all have a fantastic energy. He enjoys the GGDs and Matchbox 20. He thinks John Mayer and The Calling are talented.

Carson asked if Jon wanted to get fat and follow the Giants around and Jon answered, "After I'm mayor of New Jersey." Carson mentioned that Michael Jordan said he'd quit if the didn't feel it on the court anymore and Jon said he would quit before he they would allow the history or the legacy of the band to be pulled away. Then he told a story about leaving a show with Richie and being in the car like (making coughing, throat clearing, sniffing sounds). Jon said he said to Richie, "Shit, I wonder what it sounds like with Jagger and Richards in a car" and Richie answered that they had snot older than they were. Jon said you look at the Stones as a guage and he would be humbled just to carry their luggage.

Then he posed for photos with the girls and turned around so they could get the back of his head in the photo to match the others. LOL Of course he posed the right way and they took two photos.

Then the band came back on and Carson talked to Richie for about 5 seconds. Richie mentioned how all the shows were selling out and the tour was going phenomenally. He specifically mentioned that they were playing 25 sold out stadiums in Europe culminating at Hyde Park and ending with two sold out shows at Giant's Stadium.

They they played The Distance which sounded INCREDIBLE.

Becky

Thanks for posting this Becky. I missed it & was wondering how the interview went. BTW-I got the tapes, thanks again!

a) who the hell Is Carson

b) Richie mentioned how all the shows were selling out - Not over here

Thanks for posting the IMPORTANT details of the interview..I missed about 10 minutes of it so it was great to get details of the conversation. I think that shirt must have distracted some ppl too much

a) He's a talkshow host

B) the same here

Thank you so much, Becky, for your detailed review. These are reviews that we - who can't watch the show - really like.

How often have you watched it to write it down? LOL.

Thanks again .

yours
Chris

Thanks Becky for such a good review So far, I/we over here in Europe were able to see only the pictures. Thanks again!!

richie sad that...

Thanks so much for the detailed review, now I can really picture it!