What next for Bon Jovi as a live act?

Originally Posted by Captain_jovi

Shanks has a pretty accomplished history as a guitarist/producer. I absolutely think he's worn out his welcome with the band but it feels like people are rewriting his history to fit their theories.

I think you're talking about Patrick Leonard. While I remember interviews with Jon saying he liked the experience of making TLFR and saying Patrick was for sure producing the next band album (until it tanked of course) I don't recall him saying much else as far as him helping him believe in himself. Can you clarify?

Originally Posted by thesedays2014

Shit, I’m going to listen to TLFR this morning, haven’t done for years

Originally Posted by bonjovi90

I agree about Lost Highway having been the last record he's really been into, all the other stuff was just going through the motions. And you keep moaning on whatever he's currently doing too, just because you'd like to hear TLFR and Stand Up Guys songs doesn't make it much different



And just to clarify: I would've wished for them to do something different, be it an acoustic tour or re-arranging songs with a symphonic orchestra like Kiss, The Scorprions, Metallica (hell, even Bounce) had done. But they never had the balls to do so and always played the safe card because that meant steady tickets sales and big tours.



Even up until 2011, they would've been great in doing such a thing as a laid-back acoustic show where they dug deep into the albums. The band definitely would've been up for it, it usually was Jon who stopped this. Just like that show in 2010 when people requested In And Out Of Love and Richie spontaneously started jamming on his acoustic guitar until Jon made him stop. Or in Mannheim 2011 with the NSG sign where he kept asking him "you wanna do that?! you wanna do that?!" until Richie said no and they started I'll Be There For You.



I feel that, of all people up there, Jon's always been the one least interested in digging out rare songs. Once something wasn't successful, it was cut off. Fahrenheit wasn't the breakthrough they had hoped for, so it all got scrapped from the setlists once SWW and then NJ had hit big. These Days failed in the states and was basically ignored on setlists there onwards. Bounce didn't follow up the success of Crush, so it was even scrapped from the Greatest Hits. Who Says and then the Lost Highway record were quite big in the USA, so we get in everywhere now. And so on...



He could've done a solo album and then tour these kind of songs, but ever since Destination Anywhere failed on US soil, I feel he doesn't have the guts to do another one. Which is rather sad. After the big break in 2014, they kept touting that they don't have to proof anything anymore, yet we get another carbon copy of the same album. After the RnR Hall of Fame, they said the same, yet we're most likely to get WAN part 4 next year.



If Jon wanted to lay the focus on rare songs he truly believed in, he could easily do a solo tour and play these. His current solo line-up sounds a lot better in terms of guitar playing and vocal harmonies anyway.

But if the artist doesn't believe in his work, how could one expect the audience to do so?

Originally Posted by steel_horse75

They’re coming to take you away hehe haha to the funny farm....




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Originally Posted by thesedays2014

Interested in hearing some decent Shanks accomplished guitar work, do you have any references/links? I have said before that some of the stuff on BB is the best since TD, but I get the feeling he put a lot of work into those tracks, as if Jon said ‘let them hear you’re a great guitarist’. TDTTR, Fingerprints and WWYDF have some great guitars.

Patrick ‘hit the lights’ Leonard, that’s the guy. Don’t you agree that LMS is one of Jon’s latest greatest? Although it tanked, Jon believed in himself in that era and TLRF had great production and made the point I’m trying to make... Yokohama acoustic was scrapped because Jon sounded like a strangled cat (a younger one lol) on TLFR, Jon sounded good. Some versions were just too boring and it could have been a lot better (not much Richie on there TBH), but Jon DID sound good, confident and comfortable. The reworks of Bad Name, Bad Medicine were cool and I for one would prefer to hear them live instead of the originals.

Shit, I’m going to listen to TLFR this morning, haven’t done for years 😹

Originally Posted by DestinationJovi

The Patrick referred to in LMS is Pat Brannon, who used to be the band's lighting director on tour.

Originally Posted by Captain_jovi

Said it before I could, yup.

First and foremost I think Jon and Shanks and are stuck together because of Jon's voice. He knows how to produce it in such a way that doesn't restrict his obvious limitations in the studio. And I'm not saying Shanks is a virtuoso guitar god but he mainly got he got his start playing with Melissa Ethridge in her band and went on to define a very specific sound in the early 2000's. He's fallen under the curse of everyone involved in the band: They're much better than musicians than let on because they're stuck playing in such a small box.

Absolutely I agree TLFR was the last band album and they took a ton of chances. I love the idea, love the production, the versions just fall short but it sounds like a band trying something and I respect it. I wouldn't go as far to say I'd rather hear those versions than the originals though (maybe a few).

But back to my original point. Shanks can play. He has the ability. But it's not the sound they want for the band and that drives me crazy. A bluesier sound would be pretty easy to accomplish but we're getting watered down U2/Killers tones and single notes washed in reverb.

Originally Posted by thesedays2014

Thanks for that, I always thought it was the producer 😅.

Agree with a lot of what you say, but it seems like you’re comparing, musically, Shanks with the others, and from a musician’s point of view, I don’t agree there at all. Let me try to explain...

Although BB has some very good guitar work and a few technically good solos, the live Shanks stuff I’ve seen is extremely mediocre. Now Bobby was what he was: a great addition and support for Jon, both vocally, guitar-wise and most importantly, a friend. Shanks is a fantastic producer of ‘guitar-driven pop’(taken from his website) Alanis, Take That,...; I don’t think he has ever been a great guitar player. David is a fantastic musician, so is Tico, Hugh and Phil. Shanks just isn’t in their league and that’s why I don’t think it’s appropriate for him to play lead guitar, in the studio or on stage. He does because Jon is narcissistically thankful, not because of talent or musicianship. I would like to stand corrected though, so any videos/audios of Shanks playing good guitar would be interesting.

Agree with a ‘blusier’ sound being more adequate for Jovi. Phil is a great player in his own right and I would love him to influence Jovi on the new album (I loved his BAT solo and the live outro to THINFS), but I don’t see it happening.

So we have a voiceless Jon writing mediocre songs with Shanks, a mediocre guitarist taking lead on the new stuff; Phil playing Richie’s solos without the sound and feeling necessary to make Jovi sound great and a great backing band doing what they’ve always done... it just doesn’t work.

Which is why I’d prefer something new, acoustic-based, tight and based on where Jon is right now vocally.