To put it simply, I believe in Jon again. Don't get me wrong, he's still sounding rough in general, but his voice somehow seems to be improving day by day, and if the progression continues in the way it's lately been, the guy will probably be back to decent vocal shape on the European tour next year.

But even now, there's lots to like. For example, the set list might be pretty static on the first sight, but at least they've given the boot for some of the crap songs they've previously been playing in every show, or at least perform them more rarely nowadays. I don't hate Because We Can, Captain Crash or I Love This Town, but none of them is in a real need to be a live staple, and overall I can say I'm happy to see ILTT having bitten the dust. And, to be honest, Jon has made some good/rare-ish choices to be included in the set lists pretty regularly - for example, Lay Your Hands On Me (sung by Jon) hadn't been a staple since the OWN tour! The sets have a great flow in general and the crowds no longer seem to lose their interest during the concerts.

Another positive thing: although Jon's voice is shot, he seems to be much braver with it than previously and no longer dodges all the high notes he had been avoiding for years until the THINFS tour (most notably, the "lay my hands on YOOOUUU..." on LYHOM that he never went for even on the non-Richie versions from 2010-11, when his voice was in about its best post-2k shape; this tour he goes for - and nails - it every single time). His pronunciation of the lyrics has also gotten a lot better and nowadays he sings the "I wasn't there when you were happy, or there when you were down" part on IBTFY properly again instead of mumbling "AAANDEEEWEEE UUUEEE HAAAPEEE, HOONEEEWEEE UUUWEEE DAAAN". Even on Always he sings the "I'll be there 'til the stars don't shine..." part clearly again.

But, most importantly, the band seems like a band again. It's no longer just the CEO & the employees. JBJ gives both Phil and Big John lots of chances to shine, interacts both with his bandmates and the audience a lot (something that was largely absent during the latter part of the BWC tour and the 2015 Asian tour), JUMPS INTO THE CROWD FROM THE MAIN STAGE AGAIN (having pretty much stopped it after the Crush/OWN tour) etc.

Mark my words: the rest of the tour will be awesome. It was OK to good in the States, it's really good to awesome now and it will (most likely) be epic next year. Let's just not give up on Jon; the guy will get himself together again, he's a trooper. The band seems to genuinely enjoy performing for the first time in quite a number of years, even the static set lists are good (at least) for a change and as Jon's vocals improve, the band will probably bring out some real goodies again.

JBJ might still be just halfway there, but he'll make it, I swear. Just keep the faith!