prayer opening the show - any video?

yeah i disagree that it is necc to play an arena show, im pretty sure bands have been pulling that off decades before this was readily available in ear monitors

i disagree that it is the sign of a bad drummer - i think it is....

i disagree that its not an integrity issue - it is...bands are live, if your entire band breaks down because you dont have a click track no matter where you are playing that is ridiculous, i have played in bands, i mean cmon...i have played stadiums

so you guys are saying they use a click track on every song? i find that very hard to believe as i know bootlegs where some songs are played much faster than other times...

but maybe i am just ignorant to the process...

if max uses a click track to play live that is lame, the studio is one thing
if tico does i am gutted...

Not every song, just the ones that have a backing track like IML, HAND, Prayer and such. I also remember hearing a bootleg where the sound came from Jon's in ear monitor and he used a click track for Bells of Freedom aswell. A lot of the songs don't use them, I remember being a bit surprised that KTF didn't because that seems to be one of the hardest for Tico to play, Raise your hands, Bad Name, Bad Medicine and such they have no need for it unless there are graphics on the screens which have to be in'synch to the songs at exact moments. I don't really understand, they ARE playing live, you can't hear the click track, they are perfectly capable of playing without them, and the backing tracks of vocals that they use actually makes the songs sound better live, it's hidden behind the mix so that it doesn't overpower the live playing. It honestly seems you're going overboard with it, no purist is THAT pure, unless you are actually LOOKING for something to complain about.....

They can change the speed of the click track if they want to. For example, OWN was played faster on the OWN tour than it was on the Crush tour.

Yes you are. You are making this a bigger deal than it is.

still no consensus on if they use one on every song - some say they have to because arena acoustics and some say they are def NOT on KTF - how do you know for sure? im really interested bc that makes no sense

also - why would Jon need a click track?? i would think the drummer would, not the lead singer...

im not willing to surrender to total ignorance just yet but im listening...

i think people around here are very willing to look the other way on so many things, esp lately....

nobody is such a purist as to want a band to play live? without backing tracks and click tracks and other technological assistance - really? nobody? i suspect there are many many bands out there that would seriously disagree...

it just becomes more and more broadway....and less and less live...

and i was upset when i learned that riverdance was recorded with a click track and tapping tracks...im the ONLY one that feels that isnt authentic...really?

im mean seriously?

are there any musicians in the house?

I quite enjoyed this Prayer as an opener. I think Prayer has been great as an opener in the past but should only be done on certain occasions, this being one of them since it was the 4th show in this city on the tour.

Nice to see the "oh oh oh's" again but it got a lilttle messed up at the end. Hope they stay.

OK, we don't know FOR SURE. It's just known that nearly every performer onstage these days has a click track. It's common place.

Jon needs to stay on beat more than Tico does. As far as the casuals are concerned, Tico is just a replaceable part, so they won't make much of it if he messes up. They will if Jon does.

They are playing live, though. Richie is still playing every chord, Tico is still playing every fill, Jon is still singing every line. You can't even hear the click track, so I don't know why you're making such a big fuss about it. In their ear monitors, they have whatever they need to hear, and a click track. They can't hear everybody at full strength like we can, which is why it's necessary (that's also why they don't know the PA system is off until long after it happens).

Bon Jovi aren't riverdance. I'm a musician, and have been for 15 years. I honestly see no issue of integrity and authenticity with the click tracks and the VERY SELDOM USE OF backing tracks. Like I said before, over 90% of what they're doing is live. So if they're using these subtle tools to make the music sound better and make it easier on them to be great, I'm totally fine with it.

I am clueless at all those technical stuff but the best band live is a band that sounds good live *anywhere* even in places they don't have their material with them like tv for example...I think Bon Jovi is a doing a great job live but they are never half as good on tv (like most bands ! - tv shows the noticable help they usually have at their shows - you notice that when they DON'T HAVE IT : ON TV) .... Their sound is perfect at concerts but today they are not playing truly LIVE that often in a way you KNOW it's spontaneous jamming session with just raw instruments because all those technical helps are behind the scene and they are tied to those .... call this programmation production whatever ... bon jovi is a major pro band
- live they are the best for me - and I don't say that watching you tube but watching them live in flesh ...but the perfect sound today is probably technically enhanced more than what we think it is ... that doesn't make them bad or fake they are still great but what we get at shows is definitely not just tico dave richie bobby hugh and Jon on the vocal anymore ..... there is a lot behind ...like ppl said to have click track or auto tune etc is common today even for bon jovi

And now we are comparing using a click track as being in the same league as using auto tune on live shows???
I give up......

Jon needs to stay on beat more than tico does - you are a musician? i honestly cant even believe you actually believe that...if the whole band is focused on the click track more than the drummer than it isnt live, - maybe bc i a understand it from a drummers perspective but that is ridiculous...tico is a replaceable part....youve totally lost me here...esp live - that man drives the whole band - or at least i used to think so....

There is a huge difference between playing every piece of music and playing ALONG with music at the same time...anyone can do that...i think they do that on American Idol...i remember the crowes busting apart aerosmith for using backing tracks in the 90s and i lost a lot of respect for aerosmith then...it does matter, to me anyway, and again i would suggest a lot of serious bands out there big and small would agree...

I would have assumed that the ear monitors were the same as the vocal monitors of old so jon can hear if he is in key or not over all the other noise, etc - i did not think jon had a click track pulsing away in there - i assume he has both but who knows - he sounds so good this tour and i know he is signing live - or at least i hope he is...

I still dont understand how you are getting these 90% figures - im kinda with jovimimi - she makes a GREAT point - remember how terrible they were, i think on American Idol or Oprah or something where richie and jon were both out of sync during Superman i think...it was awful and im watching with my buddies who are still trying to understand why i love jovi so much and what do i say...oh well every band uses help and clicks, and backing vocals, and cue card guys and conductors and ashley simpson drum loops so you cant expect them to play well when its somebody else's equipment.

i think they prob use this stuff much more than we know - and if they do use it a lot vocally as jovimini was suggesting that is gross. I rem in the 90s maybe listening to LYHOM with just the whole band singing - maybe crush tour, not sure, and it was beautiful, i sure hope it wasnt fake...

the only place i dont agree is that it is no big deal and everybody does it...

i suggest wrong and wrong...

and i also suggest you should want and expect more, just like setlists, this isnt riverdance, i think riverdance was on broadway...

if they want some click tracks, maybe i can see that, but not really it just makes it not live - its too programmed - no wonder they cant unleash and jam - it would throw the click track guy off...and it makes no sense they would use it for some songs and not others - if theyve got it theyre using it...

and it they are using any form of autotune i am officially done so if anybody knows that just let us know and i will stop posting here

i understand they are a big band, but you can be a big band and maintain being real musicians playing live - just because a lot of other people do it doesnt mean you have to, click track maybe - backing vocal walls of sound - sorry, no good

THAT doesnt even happen on broadway...they have actual musicians playing actual instruments and people actually sing...do we think broadway would be okay with people getting backing vocal assistance?

imnot a guy that doesnt understand that cds sound better than vinyl...but seriously....

man - its just not live, its more and more memorex....

no wonder my boots all sound the same....zzzzzzzz

I think you're blowing this WAY out of proportion. It's really easy to tell what's a sample and what's not. You're bringing up cue cards and conductors and Ashlee Simpson like it's even remotely the same. Ashlee stood there and pretended to sing. These guys are up there singing and playing. I feel a hint of 80s/90s versus the 2000 era. Look at Tico's giant headphones during Prayer in the 80's, this has been going on for way longer than you think.

The click track wouldn't affect them being able to jam in the least because it's not switching time signatures. It's still a constant 4/4 beat. Unless they jam to the point of altering that, which would never happen regardless, it's not the click tracks fault.