Taking On the Old Standards (and Jon's voice)

I totally agree with that. The set lists and concerts have gotten too predictable. If you look back at the Borgata thread you'll find post after post of "No... not Shout!" posted while they were still doing Bad Medicine. And we all knew as soon as Sleep started that the next two songs were Bad Medicine and Shout. Even doing a special show, they had to break out some of the tiredest material like the ones mentioned and Bad Name. YAWN. Since the show was to highlight the box set, why didn't Richie sing that song instead of IBTFY? Why not throw out Bad Name and have Dave sing Memphis Lives In Me? The audience payed $250 each to be there, odds are they all have the box set and would not have missed the old standards.

Last night, I really enjoyed the new songs because they were new. But the old songs were just more of the same. It's like you said, they don't vary those old songs enough to make them exciting. And no one can tell me that you can't play the same song differently every night. I'll bring up my other concert addiction here... I've seen Keith Urban 5 times this year and he varies the way he sings/plays the songs nightly as a lead singer and a lead guitarist. The show doesn't have to run like a well-oiled machine. I like that I don't always recognize a song when he starts playing it because he's letting his moods come out in his playing.

I still love Jon's voice and I like that he sings in lower registers than he did in the 80's. That just sounds better and more manly than the screaming did. But I do wish he'd quit smoking and damaging himself. Then maybe there wouldn't be the cracks like on Prayer last night. I'd like for them all to quit smoking for their health, but I feel like I cross a line when I say that because I haven't given up sugar from my diet... so who am I to preach what someone else should do with their body? I'm no one. They all have to reach those decisions on their own and, if they're like most people, the more someone else says, "You should quit smoking," the less likely they are to do it.

Depending on the set list for next year, I don't know if I can see myself going to show after show. It's almost become a chore since they never play anywhere close to me. I'd rather get more bang for my dollar. I've seen the alternative of getting great seats from a fan club via the internet and having someone I like actually play in my region of the country (there's a novel idea) and I've heard songs varied from night to night and that makes it more interesting.

The box set only reiterates the wealth of material they have. Now, if only they would use it...

Becky

AMEN

enough said

gaz

Jon only has to take a look at one of his idols, namely Southside Johnny. He varies the setlist every night and when they ask for a special song, most of the time he will and can play that song with the entirer band.

For me they don';t have to play it in another way, but simply chance the setlist around every 2 or 3 nights. Yes, it will cost more work, time, rehearsels, but I think that the reaction and respect from the fans, that they will surely get then, will make up for that. So come on with songs like Living In Sin, Wild Is The Wind, Shot Through The Heart, Dry County, Neurotica etc. Listen to the fans... Don't forget your are still here because of them also. Fans in 2000 asked multiple times, a whole lot of times, to play Neutorica, but Jon didn't want to. Put your proubt aside and show respect for the fans and play the damn song .

But hey Jon and the boys can play that special song too!....Bad med/shout

Just stop and think for a short while........Jovi ain't about music anymore. Not about fans. Dunno if it's the contract that keeps 'em going, but sure like hell they're taking the easy way out with everything. Box set? sure old stuff finally being released is kinda cool, but hey, they didn't have to work for it, it was all already recorded. From my point of view, they'd need a reality check. If they aren't going to put any real effort into their musical career, I'd rather see them quitting than becoming a las vegas creep show playing same set over and over again. Oh, but that's quite close to what they're already doing....

Once again about *the voice*. It's not like he's the only person who's voice has changed. Some change for better, some for worse. There still are ways to improve. If he lost the high register, so be it. He should use his "matured" voice as his strenght, not trying to cover it up. Rich can do them high parts, and Im sure fans wouldn't mind hearing them songs divided between two of them. Especially them old boring standard tunes. Hell, they could do like Rainbow did during 80s.....hire few female back-up singers and still it would work. But the main thing would still be boring set that they've done over and over for years.

Becky.....good view on things, I totally agree with ya. Suprises are the salt of the earth. And rock concert.

Stone reminds me of something. He talks about their contract with the record companie and that made me think of something Jon said last night. Jon said that the fans should be nice to Bon Jovi's record company, because they made it possible to release all these great albums. I wondered at that time why he said that and I again do now, because that's not like Jon, is it ?

The head of the record company changedlast year I think.
Maybe Jon's more happy with L.A. Reid and wasn't happy with the way Lyor Cohen worked with things.
But that's just really my speculation of it.

As for the voice, yes it's let me down when it goes all flat, whenever they perform In these arms, and when even when the song it's tuned down half a step jon still misses some notes.
I still care about these guys and their music, which is why I love seeing them perform to their fullest.
Jopn still has a great voice, way better than most of his competition from the 80's have nowadays.
I just wish he would get a vocal coach like he did in the 90's and use it to his and the bands full advantage.

Maybe we should ask the Oompas to be sure he doesn't has a vocal coach right now and hasn't had one over the last years, because we don't know for sure. However, if he does have one, that person isn doing a terrible job .

EXACTLY! You nailed everything that I would suggest.

For those rushing to defend Jon's singing....or using "don't forget what he's been through" as an excuse (Tip for those people....what he's "been through" refers to the Slippery Tour 1986-1987. NOT the Jersey Syndicate Tour or any later where he had a voice coach and had great balance going with voice preservation and performance.) This isn't about Jon not doing high notes. When I refer to his past performances being superior...it isn't for the high notes at all. I love the idea of Richie handling those vocal duties. I'm definately down for female backup singers, which would only beef up the overall vocals without the use of samples. All of this would make hearing live recordings truly exciting again.

Like they did on Radio Saved My Life? Richie sang Jons recorded part and Jon sang an octave lower.

Ice

I agree...no-one can tell another what to do, but I do wish he's quit if he hasn't. There are a few serious effects of smoking on the vocal chords themselves [not-withstanding the very obvious one to the lungs]. That, and anti-histamine use, may well be the reason Jon can't hit those notes now. I apologise in advance if this sounds 'lecturey'...not meant to be...just as a person in the health profession, I find people [not you, just generally] often think/ associate cancer with smoking [with respect to the respiratory organs] not knowing/realising there are other issues, especially for singers.
Smoke burns the cilia that line the airways to your lungs. These cilia protect the surface they line from infection. In addition, without these cilia lining your airways, you will likely begin to experience a retention of fluid in your lungs because the mucus created in your nose and elsewhere will continually slide down your windpipe.
You will find yourself short of breath not only because of fluid in your lungs, but because the smoke burns, turns black, and destroys your alveolar, the air sacs in your lungs. Less of them means less air, the exact thing you need to have to sing. Cigarettes are highly irritating to the delicate tissues (mucosa) of the vocal chords. The heat and dry smoke ‘burn’ the vocal mucosa causing redness, swelling and in some cases poor vibration. The poorer the vibration, the worse the pitch of the voice [and the increased difficulty in reaching the higher range]
Anti-histamines have a drying effect and coupled with singing can aggravate the vocal chords...if they are not well lubricated, they don't vibrate the way they could/should.
Now none of this may be the reason Jon can't hit those high notes...but it could be. I matters not to me whether he can hit them anymore [better he didn't try to if he can't though - if there is an issue, doing that will only make it worse for him]...I like the way he sang in the 80's, the 90's and now.
Allergies is something Jon can't do a lot about [and he has my sympathy...allergies SUCK]...smoking, that's something he can do something about. [if he chooses to, I know]

S.