Shorter Shows
 

Please this is not meant to be a 'i love jon'/'i hate Jon' or his voice thread. I just think we all can agree that some voice training since that Borgata webcast would be much appreciated OR needed. OK, so Jon obviously needs to work on his voice, or maybe he just can't do a 3 hour show anymore (This is not a flaming thread please guys ;)) as he does have several other commitments. It would do the band some good (I believe) to change something in the way they do their shows possibly. Would you all be squared away if the band were to shorten the setlist and up the quality of the show a bit? Do you think this would improve the quality anyway? Do you think it would help Jon's voice? Would you still pay the minimum average of 50 dollars/ticket or more, or would you consider it a rip-off? If you drop a Cheeto through a hole in the Earth as long as the Earth is deep, would it fall through to China, or oscillate to infinity in a sinusoidal motion?
Do you like Cheetos?

B

That´s a tough one. In a way I suppose I could pay 50€ to see them rock like they used to. But then again, why should I pay 50€ for 1,5 hour show when I can see other bands do it (and longer) for 20€ and less. But if the alternatives are 3 hours of mediocre and 1,5-2 hours of NJ/KTF/TD tour-ish. I´d take NJ/KTF/TD anyday.

No I think I wouldn't want shorter shows because from a personal point of view Bon Jovi have so many great songs that I'd want to hear in a gig. I realise on tour Jons voice does take a bit of a hammering, but he protects it the best way he can. He can no longer hit the high notes of the chorus in Prayer so he lets the crowd sing them. I've also noticed that on tour Bon Jovi adopt a one night on one night off policy most of the time. This is good for Jons voice as it means he gets chance to rest his vocal chords between gigs.

I was surprissed looking at Mark Knopfler's tour schedule this year. He seems to be doing about 7 gigs in a row then a couple of days rest, then 7 more gigs. It's crazy I think, and Dire Straits used to be the same when they were together. I know that since Bon Jovi's debut album all the way up to New Jersey Bon Jovi were hammering gigs like this. It probably explains why both Jon's and Mark Knopfler's voices have deteriorated in similar ways over the years. Although both are smokers and maybe that takes its toll. Jon's voice seemed fine up until Destination Anywhere.

I can only think of one other artist I've seen who played for more than two hours. Most headliners I've seen put on shows around 90 minutes--or at least they did in Jackson. The Bon Jovi shows I've attended since 2000 have all been around that two hour mark. So, for me the poll doesn't mean much. Even if they play two hours they're putting on a longer show than the likes of Kenny Chesney, Aerosmith, and Prince.

Becky

Aloha !

Since the show started to last longer they started to rock less hard. The Keep The Faith tour was the last tour on which they really played as a true rock band. After that the slow ballads started to kick in, These Days didn't help that much either. Yes they played long shows, but the tempo of the entire show was at it's peak during the Faith tour, though shows lasted "only" 2 hours or less.

If a 2 hour or less show would mean a show that would rock almost as hard as the 92-94 Era I'd say yes. It would mean they'd take the ballads and midtempo crap like Capt. Crash (for the confetti throwing ladies WTF throws confetti around at a rock show?), Misunderstood, Say It Isn't So, The Distance out of the setlists and put a few harder rock songs there in replace.

However, they'll never do that, since Everyday will be played, because Jon believes in that song, It's My Life (a song that sounds crap live) will be played and more of that stuff. No matter how many times Jon will say that they're a rock band and not a boyband or whatever, they'll never be a real rock band like Aerosmith or Metallica as long as they'll play the stuff they're playing nowadays.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

It just happened to me once that I was at a concert that only was 90 min. and that is the reason for me not to go again to this artist. 2 hours is absolutely minimum. Less than 2 hours is not worth the lot of money you usually have to pay. It IS a ripp off.


To the original question, they rarely play 3 hours gigs nowadays anyway. Most of the shows in the past few years were between 2 and 2 1/2 hours. And Borgata was a short set with less than 2 hours and Jon had a quite long break before the show where he could look after his voice and the voice was worse than during the tour where he sang much more.

As I wrote above, anything less than 2 hours is a ripp off.

Aloha !

Why would it be a ripp off? A (for example) Velvet Revolver show from 90 minutes rocks harder than a Bon Jovi show from 120 or more minutes. More songs doesn't mean that the show gets any better.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Depends on the ticket price. Sonata Arctica played for about 90 minutes but the tickets only cost 12€, I didn´t think it was a rip-off.

Exactly! Chris what do you mean, its a rip off if you pay say €15 to go and see an 'average popular' artist. For a band for example who have only had one album release, who tour, how can you expect them to play OVER 2 hour sets? This is just rediculous. This is why you pay the reduced entry fee. The band is less known and the sets are shorter. What is so hard to understand? Sorry, but you really talk some nonesence sometimes. :?

SHORTER SHOW ??????????
ARE YOU NUTS ?.................HOW MUCH DO WE PAY FOR GD TICKETS NOW ...........?
Ditch the "opening acts" like Journey is doing, and put on a real show. We bust our a$$es off, to work 8-10 hours, per day, 5 or 6 days a week, just to pay the bills, ( or most of em' ). Think 3 hours, 5 times a week is asking too much, for a tour grossing 80-100 million ?...........
Journey has done an EXCELLENT job of integrating Ross Valory, and Deen Castronovo, ( THAT LAD CAN SING !! ) into their show, to take pressure off Steve Augeri. I don't think having Richie sing is ANY liability at all.
Remember "DRIFT AWAY"......from the SWW tour, 86'-87' .....?
...................
Throw in all those fan clubbers, who fork over BIG money for "Premiun" seats, ( don't cha love that one! ) hotels, meals, "buzz", yadda, yadda, and someone talks about shorter shows ? NO FREAKIN' WAY !!!!
Just my opinion, but thanks for asking !.............02'.........OUT !!!