13th April 2017 - Madison Square Garden, New York, Night 1 Thread

That's a relief! It is so much more entertaining when something hilarious is not an act.

I'm going again tomorrow night as a guest again of one of the band members, I can ask what they mean if you want.

My favorite way to start the song.


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I/we would love that actually!!

I would love Jon to sing other songs... just not THAT song... Give me something like Next 100 Years (a song that hasn't been played since, what, 2003??) and let Phil shred that solo


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N100Y hasn't been done since Crush tour.

Does anyone know if this was the last time Wild in the Streets was done?
Cut to 3:20 to see probably why. I can't recall if Phil has ever done Wild in the Streets.

EDIT: Scratch that, it's been done 5 times since then but not since that tour.

Nina! Hello So pleased to see you here again. I was wondering if you were there last night. You and I had similar reactions to the last 2 MetLife shows. I was really disgusted. In the past I had gone to many multiple shows. This tour I only had 3, Mohegan Sun and both MSG shows.

For those of you who read my Mohegan Sun review - here:
https://drycounty.com/jovitalk/bon-j...939/page8.html
I will post a bit of additional information.

The show itself was miles better than Mohegan Sun. The sound in MSG was also far superior to Mohegan Sun. That may have been the way they mixed it at Mohegan Sun because Jon was already sick. Last night he wasn't as buried in the mix and he sounded far more like himself. Does he sound great - no. He has a decent middle register left and that's about it. The really low register is so soft you can hardly hear it and the highs sometimes sound ok - and sometimes not. That's just reality.

The energy in MSG was sky high over the top and Jon and the band was on fire. I'm looking forward to night 2 on Saturday. Hearing New Years Day was a highlight for me - it really is great live if you like the new album.

I live here and I see a lot of shows come through New York. I will repeat what I said in my previous review; This is NOT Jon embarrassing himself, it just isn't the same band (or sound) that we were all used to. It's different but it's a hell of a good show.

Review:
I was first level, right side of the stage (Phil's Side)...This time around, I had better seats which always just adds to the experience...I wasn't even going to attend this show at the original scheduled date but once people started cancelling/refunding, I just so happened to get decent priced tickets once it was rescheduled... and considering it was now 2 weeks after Philly, I said "why not".

TBH, my review is really just a carbon copy from Philly as far as the show went... The more you go, the more you observe and understand though...

For starters, Jon's entire family were standing below me in a pitted section. It was cool watching their reactions to Jon's performances... They really are a tight family... The oldest son has that "I'm in a fraternity" type of swag... Hanging out with a few of his friends, drinking beer... Him and Matt were laughing at a few girls in the front row. I think they were doing something crazy to get Jon's attention... He really didn't react much to the music. He was playing air maracas to KTF which was cool to see. Jon's wife and daughter are very close, almost like sisters... They shared a lot of laughs together.... His wife was probably into the show the most out of everyone down there... Even his family were more into the classic hits verses the new stuff and looked like fans during LYHOM, Wanted, Prayer, Etc... It was just cool watching them react to Jon. They really do seem like a great family... I can't believe how big Matt got. I remember him when he was just a litter wanna be skater punk from back in the day. He does a good job with security though... I have to hand it to him.

So back to the show:

Vocals are much better. What I think stands out the most is when Jon pronounces certain lyrics with odd syllables. It just comes off as an unnatural way of singing... But then he quickly recovers and sings fine so you forget about it...

Set List: Yeah! Song choices could be better! I wouldn't say, not switching the sets is Jon being lazy. I think he's just playing it safe. New members in combination with vocal issues is the safe approach... And that's all I'm going to say... Most acts do the exact same sets night after night with zero changes so being that it's a quick 30 date tour, I get it. Jon is still however an amazing performer. In regards to these shows, I will say that a 55 year old JBJ and a 33 year old Bon Jovi still do it better than most acts today... Not all but most... And I'll just end it there...

All in all, I had another great time. We went with a group of friends. Had dinner before and drinks after. One more show to go, tomorrow night and that's it for a while I guess... Who knows when I'll see this band again. Maybe next summer!!!

This!!!!!!

His voice is gone for the live shows. Too many tours in a row, too many shows, I think the last few years Jon's voice has worked too hard and it has definitely gone off.

All the musicians do it right, as you say, it sounds different but it's not bad at all, but this makes it clearer where the real problem is, which is Jon's voice.

I know that in the past he always had some difficult stages where his voice was gone, but he seemed to be on the show, and there was still passion to do a great performance with his limited voice. Now the thing gets worse, since I do not find any performance that really stands out.

Hope he can bring some of his voice back, and reinforce his performance, because if he does not feel safe, there will never be great performances that are worthwhile.

I understand that many fans are content to see Jon smiling, and making his poses in a show, but I need something more than that to have fun.