Did anyone predict this Jon we have today?

Aging is not something good.

I can't say that I ever thought about the future of Bon Jovi in 1995. However, lately I have wondered if the Jon of 1995 would recognize the Jon of 2013 or if he would think "who is the old fart?" I think Jon has always been driven but he definately had a rock star vibe to him that somewhere along the way got lost. Watching him perform Always at Wembley in 1995 was magic, not just his voice but the whole thing. It seems like today he is more concerned with being relevant through philanthropy, politics and football rather than music. I understand he is seeking the approval he has never received from the critics but what qualifies someone to be a critic? IMHO, I think not liking Bon Jovi is the cool thing to do. You could tell a critic an album is Paul McCartney and its genius and then tell them its actually Bon Jovi and all of a sudden it becomes junk.

After this tour I hope they take a long break to reinvent themselves and make some quality music. Not only that, but regain the chemistry within the band. If they do that, I think I will be enjoying Bon Jovi in 10 years and Bon Jovi will put a new face to the new senior citizen generation! If they keep going down the road they are on, they will continue to lose fans and not gain any new ones. If they do that, in 10 years, Jon will probably be on some kind of solo career while really focusing on other projects (like the NFL).

I agree that Lh tour was OVER ALL better than The Circle tour.
But i think THAT we have to make a difference between 2010 tour and the 2011 one.
I think that the first part of this tour had a better Jon than the second part.
And we have to be careful not to consider the LH tour better than it was in reality. An example: I think that the these days, hey god and always from the 2010/11 tour were much better than the lost highway tour one.

Examples:

Always, Chicago 2010 Hey god, Zagreb 2011 these days, wien 2011
and i think that, comparing soundboard concert, hyde park 2011 was much better than the nyc msg 2008 dvd

Aloha !

Jon sounds a lot better on the audience recording of MSG compared to the audiotrack of the MSG 2008 DVD. He wasn't in good form on any shows of that short leg, but wasn't as bad as the DVD makes him sound like either.

The examples you gave of songs that supposedly sound better in 2010 all have a Jon Bon Jovi not being able to sing the verses and sounding strained throughout most of the song. Musically, Hey God sounded better in 2010/2011. Vocally, Jon was in better form in 2008. There is no better rendition of These Days than the way he sang it in Frankfurt that same year, hence me saying 2008 was the last year he sounded decent and could actually blow away a crowd with his voice if he really wanted to.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

This !

I attended to several shows in Europe in 2011, and even though Jon was in good shape, there wasn't a single moment when he carried a song only with his vocals. I Believe in Lisbon was very good, but when you compare it with London 2008, you can really tell the diference. In 2008 he was actually hitting the notes, instead of just aiming for them.

Lately I'm hardly polite to Jon. He became a parody of himself. But I love the man. It's just damn hard to look at what's going on. I 'miss' the old Jon (I've become a Bon Jovi fan in 2002, but since then I've seen old interviews and, mainly, old gigs). I feel like we've lost a very unique person... I think it could be just his way of dealing with critics.. They don't compliments him, so he tries to do it by himself. Funny.. Years ago he was so natural, yet so charismatic, ultimate rock star. And now he's trying so hard, but it makes him look even worse.. And he's ageing and dealing with it.

I hope he could get out of the artificial rockstar shell and just be himself again.. That was the real rockstar, and, what's more important, just a cool guy aura.

Damn, why do I love that band SO much..

hi
This is Jon' big effort to take them bind still.This is to much long period
of any band.I could not think that they were still after 15 years in 97.
No one have endless youth,every one have to be old one day so Jon also will leave this after next few years.I am happy to see this band work till now and I pray for them for the next.

How I miss this band ...


Incredible how a lot changed in only 5 years ...

Aloha !

Yeah, that was right after Jon had given David the stink eye for not picking up on how Jon wanted to do Can't Help Falling In Love as an intro. Things were so much better back then. Only 1 stink eye per show, as opposed to an average of 5.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

LOL !

But what I'm really talking here is the performance itself. Jon puts so much passion here, and his vocals are ace.