By now energy was at an all-time low and when Hard Times Come Easy was started it was way too late to save the show. It got a full on electric treatment which made it another muddy experience, although Ebbin was strumming away and looking confused at his guitar, if you'd have told him he was playing a banjo he might've believed it too. I think there was another sing along moment to this one which didn't really work, and what followed were the band intro's. Which no one really seemed to listen to. Richie was making "funny" jokes about a bass drum in his ass and all of that, but no one really listened to the intro's. When Richie announced Ebbin as the one responsible for Crush and Bounce there was room for a cheer, which never came, everyone just stood there talking. After the band intro's we got another chorus and that was that.

Now it was time for Richie's words of wisdom. Substance abuse, got over it (WHOOO TIME TO CHEER FOR RICHIE) and what followed was another one no one cared for. You Can Only Get So High is just not that much of a song. It just goes on and on and never picks up. While he'd gotten a bit of the energy back during Hard Times Come Easy, all was lost during this one. Richie stood there singing his heart out (while reading the lyrics from his iPad) and I think it was during this one that he couldn't get the page turned, so stood there pointing to the technicians "II, II", so someone came on stage, took away the teleprompter, flipped the page, and put it back. I think Richie, being the highly technical guy that he is, thought they could flip the page just by clicking the button on the soundboard, but we're not there yet, Richie.

Once the song was finished we got an acoustic set so I hoped for something like The Answer or Harlem Rain, but instead we got treated to the ultra rare acoustic version of Prayer. Which also went over like a lead balloon. Sure, people sang along to it, but it became obvious how people lost focus during the show. The guitar solo was a joke as well, remember that first acoustic performance a few months ago? Picture that, just slightly better. Richie was sloppy, missed out on a lot of notes and never really finished anything he started. Halfway through the song he started singing the chorus in the original key which confused people even more, and once this was done I think he knew as well how it didn't really work out, almost apologizing to the crowd for "sorry we're trying something new here", thinking this crowd had never heard that acoustic version before. Richie, if you can YouTube things, we can as well. Probably 5 years before you could as well.

But do not fear. We'd get another classic. WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME. Yes. Everyone around me was like "dude what the ****" (but in Dutch, obviously), and although at the first few rows everyone started waving their arms again because it seems to a mandatory thing to do for when you're a clueless dipshit, nobody picked up on it halfway through. Everyone kind of stood there watching him play this one. He also added a cover song to it which he encouraged us to sing along to, but no one had any idea what he was singing. Instead of giving up on it, we got the cover song anyway, and although sadly there were no extra alrights near the end I was glad it was over.

During the encore break I started talking to others around me. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, but no one was really impressed by anything they'd heard by now. It kind of was like "yeah that's nice dear". I, with all my brilliance that I took with me, came up with the most brilliant metaphor for Richie so far. His show was like having a Ferrari and only driving 30mph all the time. There was never any real spark during the show, it was all very bland and safe. No real extended jams, there was no edge.

And then the encore opened with the Abbey Road medley. I know he's played it before, but this was actually the first time during the entire show that that specific spark emerged. This was the moment when the full band showed what it could do. Richie also seemed to be comfortable singing this one, the musicianship was excellent, the only downside is that with Bon Jovi's dumbed down crowds nowadays not many people seem to know classic songs like these. A 40 year old guy stood next to me, surprised that me and my brother knew all the words. The Abbey Road medley was done excellent, and got very close to McCartney’s own live versions of it. The jam near the end should've been longer, but if he keeps on doing this one you're in for a treat.

I'll Be There For You followed, and he seemed to be in a rush. This one was finished out of the blue, and I noticed that originally another song was planned, so obviously there were time constraints. I'll Be There For You was done well, but it was only during the encore that Richie actually came across as the Richie Sambora were all familiar with. I've read reviews from others now and people have mentioned how his guitar work was great, but it wasn't. He played like me on a bad day at most times. I'm not a brilliant guitar player, but where I seem to be getting better ever year Richie seems to get worse. That jamming during Homebound Train on The Circle tour, the looseness, it was never there. It’ll be interesting to see how this who will go over in America as none of that singing along that happens over here is going to happen over there, Richie’s a lot more famous over than he is in America, and considering how his ego must’ve been hurt a few times tonight I’m not sure if how he’s going to handle the crowds over there. And just for the record, this doesn’t count for all you Jovitalkers from Amurreca. I’m sure you know all the words and all of that, but the atmosphere in the Melkweg is something you won’t get in America, different culture over there and all of that.

I was with good company, the crowd was fantastic, I've had a lot of fun, but a lot of was due to Richie being so disappointing and coming across as a joke during, for example, Sugar Daddy and Weathering The Storm. It's not that my expectations were sky high either, I was mostly expected it to be this dreadful. He's not comfortable in his own skin, then throws half of his new album at us, but seems to think that he needs to play big Bon Jovi hits at a crowd that can sing pretty much any solo song of his catalogue. If this would've been a Bon Jovi show I'd most likely have walked out of it. I am well aware on how Richie Sambora is no Slash who plays his ass of on guitar, but this was the exact opposite. And that’d be ok if the songs were of good enough quality like in 1998, but this was not the case. Half of the set didn’t hold up so when you then throw predictable Bon Jovi covers at a bunch of die hards you’ll most likely lose their attention. I’m sure most had a good time because it’s safe to say that about 90% of that crowd just came to see Richie play and didn’t expect anything of it, but for a guitarist who’s talking about wanting to break free from the Bon Jovi mold it was an awful lot like a bad Bon Jovi show. I'm going again tonight, and people have asked me why. And honestly, if it was possible I'd sell my ticket for tonight. So, anyone interested?

And there you have it. The most in depth review on any Bon Jovi show of the past 2 years on Jovitalk. Thank you very much, and let the bitchfight begin.

My verdict?
*****

Rating on the Supersonic’s all mattering Bon Jovi review index:
***** The ****ing bollocks!!!
**** Top show.
*** Yeah, well that was alright...
** Piss poor performance. Zzzzz…
* Back to the drawing board.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan