The Official December 4 Adelaide Botanic Park, Adelaide, Australia Thread

I can't think of enough thumbs up, Jackie. Oh, God, why are they so freaking stubborn? :/

Agree with this completely Jackie, I was purely talking about the vocals, which in my opinion too would remain as they are now, even if Richie came back. Jon absoutely misses Richie on a performance level, it was always the two of them out there on the front and now it's just one. That's got to be tough!

I have an answer for that. (But the males on the board probably wouldn't like it.)

I'm of two minds about this so I agree with you both.

My rational side knows that the band is over. Jon will never go back to being the performer he was and even if I lowered my standards (which are admittedly very high because I wouldn't accept less for the price they ask) I would NEVER see them without Richie. It feels wrong to me, simple as that. I can't even watch a whole show because I feel absolutely numb, BJ live do absolutely nothing for me post Richie. To be fair the point of no return was the 2013 BBC promo show, the embarrassingly (and pathetically funny) display of disrespect to the fans. If they didn't care about getting their shit together for the fans, I wouldn't waste my time and money. What came afterwards was just the icing on the cake. So this ship has sailed for me and I know nothing will happen that can pull me back in.

But there's also a tiny romantic side that wants things to improve, wants to feel proud about the band again. To see them making people happy and performing to their usual standards to boast about what a ****ing great live band they are, even if it's not for me. And this side of me is intrigued by this impostor that has taken Jon's place. About the whole situation really, it's just very strange that they drone on and on about how much fun they are having, how amazing their touring schedule is now, how rejuvenated the band feels and then you see Jon either plastering a very fake smile or having that vacant look in his eyes.

I also see the "outside" world view and I get why Jon is still venerated as a god. You have to admit that the guy has fought his way back through all the shit that happened before, during and after the BWC tour and has managed to make a comeback with a no.1 album, a successful tour and "hit" singles. Yes, we know that's not true by any stretch, but the casual fan or the music fan that doesn't follow Bon Jovi closely gets that info from serious sources so why would they doubt it? I get why they keep touring, why they keep charging exorbitant amounts of money for a lifeless, sub par show. They spin the story and sell that underdog narrative that attracts people and back it up with all those articles, so... *shrugs*

Mental or physical..
Theoretically (Maybe hypothetically idk..) the best Jon ever will sound singing BOR, Lost Highway, etc:
He will sound like what he currently does if he doesn't change anything (Using twang or whatever you might do) and might be a bit flat sometimes (Depends on how high the note he's hitting is of course.) but he won't crack, be inconsistent, be out of tempo or anything like that at all.
I think that's easily listenable if it was like that.

If he sounded like 2011 it would have been good enough for me.

1:30 - 2:20 he is so friggin tense and just can't shake it off. It's stressful to watch.

I don't care how many tickets they are selling or how great the press reviews are, it really wouldn't surprise me if this is the last tour. Jon is so uncomfortable in his own skin.

Poor Johnny U_U
In the meantime, on bonjovi.com...

That performance is honestly heartbreaking - one of the saddest things I've ever had to witness during the 15 years of my fandom. Jon is trying so hard, but it seems like his whole body has run completely out of gas at this point. His technique is basically non-existent, he's shrugging his shoulders and tensing his gut/diaphragm all the time (which makes hitting the notes even harder), gripping the mic stand as if he was dying.

Poor guy. I feel very bad for him, even though I think he (at least mostly) caused it all by himself. Had it been because of Richie/psychological reasons, he definitely would've gotten over it by now as it's been almost six years since his departure.

Yeah, and then he starts walking and immediately things get better. It's got to be at least 60% a mental problem...

Genuinely felt a bit sad watching this. He looks so awkward. It's almost as if he's wanting to look like it's easy but his body just won't let him. No surprise that he sounds better the second he walks away from the microphone stand. Still not great though.

I was speaking to Andy (Jeeper) yesterday as I was watching a video from this show and the quote 'we have nothing to prove' that JBJ said during the THINFS promotion kept coming into my head and I wondered what he meant by that.

It got me thinking, at that point of saying the quote, did he care about his vocal state? Did he care about being a frontman anymore? Does he have to prove he can still sing and move around? His voice has deteriorated since 2016, let alone 2013.

They're playing stadiums so he's obviously trying to prove they can play these venues.

It's sad seeing him like this.

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