Originally Posted by jesyjames

Some quick thoughts on the show--

I had huge reservations about going for all the reasons that have been rehashed here a million times: static/dull set lists, frightening vocals, static Jon on stage, etc. It's kind of weird to describe my one overall takeaway from the show being one of relief. The Jon I saw Saturday night in Vegas is the exact same Jon I've loved since the mid 80s. Yeah, he's older, moves a little slower.. but he was absolutely the same guy that made me fall in love with their music. He was definitely present and in the moment. I maybe wrong, but I think he only played his guitar on the prayer intro, Who Says, and maybe WWBTF. Probably another song or two I'm missing, but the point is that for the most part he was incredibly active and bouncing all over the stage, interacting with the audience, and-- in the words of my brother-- "has twice as much energy as me and I'm half his age." And, for what it's worth coming from a straight male, he looks really good and healthy.

Vocally, he started off with the kind of whisper singing on the verses that he's been doing lately but by about 4 songs in he was full voice and on point. I got a jungle scream during KTF and it was awesome! On Amen and Bed of Roses he sounded incredible and held nothing back. The only time I thought he sounded not great was on the verses of Wanted, but in fairness I don't think he's sounded all that great on that song in a long time. It's like his breathing is off on the verses. He also skipped out on parts of the "Have a Nice Day" chorus, but did the full chorus at other points during the song just fine. Now I am sure if I went back and looked at the youtube videos I'd be like "oh yeah, he does sound like crap." But being at the show, in the moment, with the sound mixed the way it was, the crowd as loud as it was-- he sounded GREAT. On the quieter moments where you could really hear him, he sounded awesome. This isn't just my opinion, but the opinion of the others I went with who all said the exact same thing-- he sounded great. For what it's worth, one of them is a trained singer. And, believe me, I've been one who has felt the vocals have been cringe worthy more often than not lately. No it's not 1993, but I am okay with that. Completely satisfied with the show vocally. Happy, even.

The band is absolutely incredible. If you take Jon out of the equation and just focus on the band, the musicianship is amazing. I don't think they've ever sounded tighter.

Say what you will about Phil, but this band needs him so bad. He just loves being up there and the enthusiasm is contagious and oh so fun to watch. Same with Everett, but obviously to a lesser extent.

As for the set list, if I had known exactly what it was going to be going in to the show, I'd of probably hated it more than I did. But since I stayed away from all Bon Jovi sources since the start of the tour, I didn't know too much what to expect(even though I did based on the 1000 other set lists I'd seen before). That helped. It was fun to hear the new stuff and it sounded good. I actually really loved THINFS live. "When We Were Us" was kinda meh, but it's mercifully short. The only song that made me want to sit down was WWBTF, but the show was so good it didn't really bother me.

I was really hoping to hear Always as that is the one song that seems to elude me at every show I go to, but towards the end of Wanted I saw Jon turn to Tico and give Tico an expression that suggested Jon was about to pass out from exhaustion and knew it wasn't coming.

And, finally, can we take a moment to talk about Livin' On a Prayer? That was the best performance of any song I have ever heard live. It was absolutely EPIC. Everything from the band, the energy, the crowd, to the magic in the air made it the defining point by which I will measure all other live performances going forward.

I'm at a point in my life where I seem to find things mostly marginally disappointing on some level, but I can honestly say that I am beyond happy that I decided to go see the band I love so much and would do it over in a heartbeat.