Official April 7, 2013, Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul thread

Yeah, it's rather unfortunate that the reviewer sets up his argument: 'How dare Jon and Co. tour without Richie, his songwriting partner of 30 years; would fans go to a U2 show without Edge?' --and when he asks the 'fans' for their POV, they're saying: 'Jon is hot' or 'I only missed Richie for a few songs.'

Just reinforces the "Jon Bon Jovi Show" concept, and if Jon didn't even utter Richie's name during the entire show, he's the one furthering that idea in fans' minds (along with the 'me', 'I' 'my' statements, appearing in promotional videos in a separate frame from the rest of the band, taking a solo bow at the very end of the show, etc.).

Bill23. Sounds like it was a great show. My seat is row 2, seat 12 in the pit on X's side so I should have an awesome view as well. Thanks for the info!

This made me laugh. I can't imagine finding a 51 year old man "hot" when I was 16. Now - yes - but not then. Obviously this girl is taking cues from mom, lol.

Meh! Both times this has happened I congratulate admire Jon, Dave, Tico and the rest for going on with the show and giving their best to the fans plus keeping the road crew employed. Richie has had his problems that are none of my business but in this I never look at him like the innocent defenseless little guitar player everyone thinks of him as....

Have a great show!

So they weren't normal people? was something wrong with this mother and daughter?

Far from it. This is just what gets shown to the public, you would be surprise to hear what goes on behind the scenes with Richie. Has anyone ever wondered why David and Tico never go the Richie route? Last time when the tour continue and this time when the tour has continued? They have never stood up and said, no Richie, no us? It's not the paycheck, it's because they know the full story.

So here's my review. My seats were behind the stage, but for $30 they were actually pretty good. I had a full view for most of the night, and I was pretty close to Tico. The crowd was pretty decent and the arena was packed, even in the nosebleeds. If they were to tour without Richie, I would buy the cheap seats again since I feel like I get the best value with them. Onto the show. Bad Name was actually a good opener, and the show started out strong. The new songs fell flat on the crowd, but I enjoyed them. From where I was I saw Phil X talking to Hugh a lot throughout the night, and it seems like he's helping him know the chord progressions and such. Jon was somewhat on autopilot for most of the night, and there wasn't enough interaction with the band or crowd. One the the biggest disappointments of the night was KTF. The extended solo was cut, and it was just the typical version instead of it being special like I expected it to be. Also WWWB was terrible, and I actually yawned during it. The encore after that was great. Blood on Blood was a nice treat, and then I was thrilled to get Always. I haven't heard it since the lousy version on the HAND tour, and haven't heard it properly since the OWN tour, so I was thrilled with it and that alone made the whole show worth it without a doubt. Overall it was better than I expected, though Jon is getting old and Richie was deeply missed throughout the night.

Glad you enjoyed it!

I just have one question. Where the **** is Love's the only rule?

I was sure it was working live and it was one of the highlights of the shows

And same with Any Other Day. That song worked the most (after We Got It Goin On... like it or hate it, it's the best live song on LH) and it was played only once during the entire Circle tour.