I was at the Amsterdam gig and I take it you just saw the webcast, so trust me on this one, the webcast did not represent in any way Jon's actual performance. The mix or whatever coming out of the webcast was absolute shite. It was on the television in the UK over the weekend and Jon's vocals were as good as they sounded in person and waaaaaaaaaaaay better then on the webcast. Whoever ran that webcast deserves to be fired.

Jon can still sing Always, not with the ease of the mid nineties but I have a recorded performance of it during the Bounce tour and he did it perfectly. Close your eyes and you wouldn't know he was stuggeling. He's also said that "Bells of Freedom" is the song he's most looking forward to performing out on tour and since that's the one where he pushes his voice the most, I doubt he'd have any problems with the others.


Phil

Sorry to double post but I wanted to ask you, since you obviously know your stuff, would it not be possible for them to lower a few songs like Always or These Days for example, while still keeping them recognisable, so that Jon could start singing these songs alot more often?


Phil

I did only see the webcast unfortunately, which I know doesn't even come close to the atmosphere of being at a gig, nothing does, but I actually think you can make a better judgement of a vocal performance when you listen to a recording rather than being at a gig listening to the band through a huge PA, surrounded by a screaming audience....of course that's the whole great thing about gigs but I don't think they're the best way to judge. Just my thoughts anyway, you might disagree with that.

I'm probably being a bit unfair because the Amsterdam show may have been better than many others lately but I can't help compare all shows to the tours of the 90s. I still enjoy seeing Bon Jovi live and on TV of course, just can't help comparing. I'd love to hear a version of "Always" from the Bounce tour. I think I have a video of always from the Crush tour in Paris. It was a bootleg so the quality was bad but Jon did a decent job....he stood rigid and never moved from the mic I don't think. It was clear it was much more of an effort than in the 90s but good nonetheless.

I take it singing always in the key they used for the boxset version would be easy for Jon to do, but I doubt it will be as recognizable to the audience.

Bon Jovi have always lowered the songs live by half a tone to make things a little eaiser for Jon. Lots of bands do actually. But when you start changing things much more than that it does become noticable unfortunately. I'm sure they could change the key of lots of older songs and play them live, but in many cases the lower notes would then become a problem! That's something I love about songs like Always and These Days. They have a great vocal range from the low to high notes, and were written in perfect keys, which gives great emotion in a song

Jon has made jokes about the keys that they had written songs in the past in, and richie and the guys have joked about trying to kill him live, but Jon has never really talked about his voice problems. Back in the Slippery days when he couldn't sing at all some nights he did his best to hide it from everyone. He has said that he has learned to be a better singer, ie using his voice properly rather than hurt it more, but I doubt he will ever publicly sit around and talk about any problems he has, I've never known any singer to do so.

Aloha !

And I do. For the first time in my live I heard a show in person, and afterwards in the soundboard quality the Bon Jovi sound engineers deliver. What I've always thought is simply true, the soundboard "quality" they deliver nakes Jon sound like he's out of breath, while audience recordings of fans give a much better showcase of what Jon is capable of. Simply never judge Jon's vocals from a soundboard bootleg, as most of the cases he sung a show much better, Amsterdam being the perfect example for that. Jon was very good that night. Ofcourse, he struggled here and there, but there's no way that the webcast showed what it actually sounded like there: At times brilliant, at most times good and only a few times average or simply crap.

Yes it is, but it makes songs lose a lot of their power, the perfect example for that is the version of In These Arms they play nowadays. It's normally in E, then in 1993 it was played half a key lower meaning it's in D#, now it's in C#. One and a half tone lower. The song simply has lost all it's power due to the chords simply not being as powerfull as they are in the original version. In the end, In These Arms is still recognisable, but in no way it matches the studio version, which is that great because of the way it builds up. Now it's a song that's as simple to sing as Captain Crash, which has made it one of the least favourite songs live, while it's one of my favourites on the Keep The Faith bootlegs.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

The webcast won't sound anything like what it sounded like to be there. You won't notice Jon sounding out of breath when his mics being put through a huge PA system, combined with screaming fans who drown out the small details (and sing along!). But the webcast will give an accurate representation of what went straight into Jon's mic, minus the crowd noise and incredible volume of the PA system. I'll stick with judging the recorded performances, but I'll never enjoy them as much as being at a live show.

Aloha !

You're wrong there. If your theory is true, why is it that Jon sounds better on an audience recording than the soundboard quality they deliver from the same show? Compare the soundboard recordings from the Japanese Crush show on the Crush bonus disc to the audience recording from the same show and you'll notice that Jon sounds better on the audience recording. The overall soundboard recordings sound dull, muffed, while an audience recording actually showcases what it really sounded like.

And believe me, I did notice what Jon sounded like at the show. This is not my way of thinking now, this is how I always thought about soundboard recordings on radio, tv and b-sides. The audience recordings are soundwise not as good, but Jon, or the entire band, simply sound a lot better, which is why the soundboard recordings give a distorted view of what this band is capable of.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I've recorded many people in the studio, and many bands live and gained a lot of experience in both so I don't think I'm wrong (though it has happened before!). To answer your question, Jon will often sound better on an audience recording because it won't pick up the same kind of detail that a direct recording will. Like being at a live show it will be blended with acoustics from the venue and noise from the audience.

You're right that the audience recordings may give a better representation of what the gig sounded like, but they won't give a more accurate representation of the actual performance.

Although the audience recordings people hear may often make Jon and the band sound "better" by picking up venue reverb, and often giving a more live feel, they will be distorting the view, not direct soundboard recordings.