Haha I WAS in Dusseldorf and had to attend it live without taking a piss break. That was worse than re-watching it on DVD afterwards because the mood of us (Kathleen, her husband, Seb, Erik, Thierry etc.) went downhill with every butchered or boring song. I was truly embarassed back then because this had been the first European show for the members from USA/Canada and we had been talking it up so much, just get this snoozefest afterwards.

But back on the good days - my personal favourite Always performance from 2010:
He sings the song with such ease that it's just great!

This one's my favorite - Boston 2010:

https://youtu.be/vf4DXrEpaNI

Jon gets more and more confident all the time and overall delivers one of his best post-2k vocal performances on any song, at least for me. His tone is really clear, pure and powerful, the high notes are seemingly effortless (considering it was '10) and he even takes the mic off the stand during the last chorus, so he really must have been feeling confident that day!

Love that long keyboard intro. I think the only did that in 1989/90 (NJ tour).

For me, this is Jon's best Always of the 21st Century. He's hitting the notes with ease, it's so good. Just compare this to Always from Greenville from last year and even though he still hits most of the notes, his voice is very weak and the overall tone is very bad.

I'm still trying figure out the ultimate goal here with everyone continuing to bash Jon's voice... I think we all get it at this point...

It's like everyone is trying to convince each other something we all already know and agree to...

It's like someone trying to convince someone that a piece of fruit is rotting from all different angles meanwhile we all know and see it... "the piece of fruit is rotting on the left side, no it's actually rotting on the inside, wait no, if you turn it this way it's really not as bad as it looks'

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The same reason people are getting mad over not liking RSO though. Or any topic about a project they don't like.

Not really... Jon's voice is shot... there is no grey area... I'm not talking about discussions on recent performances... I'm talking about these long winded posts that keep going round and round...it's not like the Flu where we'll wake up one day and Jon will be fixed...

Now with Richie and other topics there are current layers and elements... Some like it, some don't... or new EPs, etc...





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Aloha !

Don't be silly, there's no passion in nowadays Bon Jovi performances. You're talking about a man who hurried recording an album and then did a tour just so he could buy his football team. Every once in a while he enjoys a show but everything else is done for money only. If he toured out of passion he'd play the rest of the world.

That version of Always is good but pretty normal for 2010 standards. The best renditions since 1995 were done in Europe 2008, I think. But no, he's not taking a walk because of his confidence, he takes the mic from the stand because he's afraid the song will derail after the **** up and subsequently has to direct the band back into the the right gear. :)

That entire show was awful though. I'd just seen Bon Jovi play 2 shows in Toronto a week earlier and then went to see Boston which was a major letdown. Jon came up with some pointless banter about Boston while the crowd seemed to give zero ****s and the new material went over like lead balloon. It really made us cringe at how fake the entire thing was compared to what we'd seen before. For me, Boston 2010 was one of the worst Bon Jovi shows I'd ever seen and we left after Always was played.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I forgot about that performance! I agree - it's even better than Boston or London.

I personally believe the KTF tour was their peak as a live band. I saw them at the Birmingham NEC then Milton Keynes Bowl on that tour and I’d put both shows above Wembley ‘95.

It’s all subjective of course. Wembley had a great set, was an iconic venue and was generally fantastic. But....the energy, enthusiasm and hunger on the KTF tour was unparalleled for me. Jon’s voice was magical, Richie was perfect.

I’ll never forget the thunderous bass kicking in on I Believe at the NEC. It literally rattled through me. They 100% played louder on that tour too. Amazing times.



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And that's the tour (in fact the concert (Hamburg)) that I didn't get tickets to, because it was around the time I became a fan and that damn thing was totally sold out :-(

Considering the energy, I'd agree. Considering playing "perfectly" (holding the tempo, consistency, etc.), I'd say 1995 was better. But that comes down to what you like more - raw passion and energy or perfection ;-)

You’re right - they were tighter as a band in 1995 but the energy wasn’t quite as intense. Alec was replaced and they were naturally more rehearsed after two back to back studio albums and a close touring schedule. On paper that should indicate that 1995 was potentially better than 1993 but it wasn’t the case. (For me)

Still, both tours were a golden era although the 2nd leg of the TD tour was notably not as good as the first.

Main Road, Manchester for example sticks out. From where I was in the stands, the energy really dipped at times, notably during the ending of STBI when Jon was trying to get the crowd to participate in the “hey hey hey HEY” chant and it never took off. People were not bothered. It was sad to see. Also, Jon was vocally less consistent on that leg. Still a million miles better than now, but you could see the slight dip already.


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https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=1491s&v=DXRU4ZeUoi0

Nice concert. One of the best from the Bounce tour. The band are enjoying themselves and the crowd is loud.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=6471s&v=RdR6QkM-XSE

Great show, one of the best from 1993.

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The best one from 1993! The band are tight and Jon is singing great. He's also singing the high notes on the regular choruses of Prayer. The only bad thing is that a part of the 2nd encore is cut off.

There were better ones in my book, even though it's a close tie since probably around 10 shows from April/May can be discussed for the best ones.

I don't know what the uploader did to the video, but the missing part was actually recorded:

I have a question for some of you guys who remember individual concerts in detail like this and seem to be able to remember them in sequence.

When was the last time Richie regularly did extended intros like that? Did it happen in most shows, up until it basically just stopped? Or did it just happen randomly the whole time? I thought it was mostly during the SWW and NJ tours. But this is obviously later than that. And it seems unreal to me, after watching something like this video, that he suddenly got tired of doing that and just fell into doing the same basic intros in show after show.

It was done until the end of 1995 in the way that Richie sat down on his chair and kept playing a longer intro. For the shows in 1996 all the long band intros were dropped due to the changes in the setlist structure (Wanted in the acoustic set, Lay Your Hands On Me being done with the marching band intro).
From 2000 onwards these long intros were basically dismissed in order to make room for more songs.

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Everything about that performance highlights just how far the mighty have fallen. Jon’s voice has power, depth and control. Richie is fluid and oozes confidence.

I understand it’s 25yrs on, I’m not saying they should still be at that level. Just, what a level.....


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https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=934s&v=MtRikwM9W14

This is a nice one, the band are energetic and the crowd is loud. Also, the setlist is pretty great. Overall, a great show.

There's something about that Wanted performance that always gets me. Somehow the mixture of the old, aged recording and the screen footage including original video pieces make it special for me:

That show also had my 2nd favourite Always performance (right behind Milwaukee the same year):

Thanks for the information. The question occus to me every time I watch one of the old videos, but I never think to ask. Much appreciated!

God, I love the way Jon used to sing the second bridge of IBTFY back in 2010-11:

https://youtu.be/4MpJemd06EQ?t=3m21s

EDIT: He did it even better here - Charlotte '10 my arse, THIS is what I'm talking about:

https://youtu.be/o2hhP76RlKI?t=3m19s

Actually, I think that the later version as a whole was one of the best IBTFY performances of the tour. No, Jon doesn't do the ad-libs at the end of the song, but there's still some kind of magic that appeared quite rarely on these "mandatory" songs (except for KTF) even back then.

HOLY COW. I watch that Charlotte clip maybe once a month but that second one you posted is pretty frigging great.

And yet even back then some members wished Jon's voice to have been better... I mean, wasn't THAT enough?

Christ, that one note alone puts the whole rendition into the category "Jon's best post-1996 vocal performances" without a doubt... it's THAT good. Actually, it's a pretty damn impressive moment for basically any male singer pushing 50 overall.

If Jon sounded like that in '18, I'd surely cream my pants - and shout it out loud! But I guess it's needless to say that he (and therefor I) won't. However, what a f***ing awesome moment.

(EDIT: Cut the word "probably" out of the statement about me creaming my pants if moments like that happened this year, and replaced it with the word "surely"... screw sensitivity of all kinds, I gotta be honest with these things here!) :D

I don't think there was too many complaints about his voice that tour. I remember the board, while it has problems with the album, the tour was getting decent audibles and rarer songs, Jon's voice wasn't giving out as much. There were people griping but not like they are today at his voice, and rightfully so.

Talking about "one note alone", we already discovered who is the making the "one more silver dollar"? I remember a huge discussion back then here about it. For me it's clear Jon, and it's the most impressive "one note alone" in the 00's for me.

Back in August 2011 someone (can't remember who) started a thread called "Hopes/wishes for the next tour", and one of the replies - a longer list - had this as the first point:

* An improvement in Jon's voice.

Also, back in late '09 Seb said that Jon's vocals were mostly wank (he also said that The Circle was the first album where the production couldn't hide Jon's "shit voice"), and around the same time someone else started a thread called "It's time to tune down a whole step, Jon".

But you're right, his voice didn't get criticized nearly as much back then as it (rightfully, I'd admit - hell, I'm quite a critic about it myself as well) does nowadays.

Nah, it's not THAT high. Actually, it's a pretty easy-sounding G#4 that I think he would have nailed nonetheless back then (remembering that the very highest note within his range on the LH and Circle tours was C5/C#5). The IBTFY note discussed before is way higher - am I right, is it a B4?

EDIT: Listen to this performance of These Days as a whole - Jon hits multiple seemingly effortless Bb4s and near the end even some powerful B4s with no obvious strain at any moment:

https://youtu.be/Za-lZf44Jms

Pretty incredible, isn't it (even considering the standards of that period)?

EDIT 2: What do you think about this mid-'13 version of the same song? Call me crazy, but I think it's almost as good... you can certainly tell from Jon's facial expressions that he's struggling quite a bit, but close your eyes and it's 2010 again:

https://youtu.be/VNtLjw1DKsM

PS. My prediction: Walleris quotes this post next and replies something along the lines of this...

"That really is a very good performance, but again, this was Jon pushing through on 120% effort and it did no good for his voice long-term, as you can even hear on later recordings from the same month already."

If Jon can get back to 2010 levels - I'd be satisfied.

That These Days performance posted above is pretty good. He puts a lot of effort into the performance and really tries his best. Intonation is mostly good as well (especially going for the higher notes Bb4/B4).

Incredible. I just love the way Richie reacts when Jon hits that note. You can tell he is impressed.

I agree. For 2013, it's actually f***ing amazing.

Jon struggles a bit at the start, but he gets more and more confident with his voice all the time as the song goes on. Him gaining confidence throughout the performance makes his range stretch back to '08-'11 levels one more time and the result is - at least for me - the last honestly GREAT vocal performance Jon Bon Jovi ever gave on stage (as it's basically impossible for him to ever match, let alone surpass, it again).

It's such a great performance that I'm honestly amazed about it basically having been ignored here until now. That said, I've tried to make you watch it numerous times on several different threads up to this date... mission finally accomplished! :D

I was talking about that London 2010 performance! You must have added more links to your post or something!

The London 2013 performance isn't the worst version from the tour by far, but you can tell how far his voice fell from the 2010 performance (the straining and the thinner/weaker tone). His intonation is also a bit off in spots.

Alright - and yes, I did. :D But surely you agree that he hits some pretty good notes on the '13 version as well - especially towards the end of the song? For example, the two "ain't nobody LEFT but us..." parts are sung perfectly; probably because Jon cuts the B4s from three to just one on both, but at least he doesn't fall flat on them doing so!

By the way, does anybody here know when was the last time Jon went for the high "ain't no TIME to waste..." on the last chorus? Was it maybe in Kiel '03?

https://youtu.be/vEHPWHBroCs?t=5m59s

It's depressing how 2010 became the new 1995...

Depressing in terms of people praising the 2010 performances or in terms of how much the decline has been since then that it's always regarded as a landmark year around here?

On the one hand - 2010 definitely had some great moments and a few of my favourite post-2000 shows. On the other hand people tend to forget that not everything was great in the 2008-2011 era. In early 2008, Jon sounded quite ****ed up in Japan and was bad again throughout 2009 and the early 2010 promo/US tour performances (up until around 10 shows into the tour).
There were downers such as the fiasco concert at the NMS and I remember him sounding pretty much off on the first Japanese show as well as the horrendous webcast from State College in 2011. There were great moments which outweigh this, but there were also quite a few downers.
The consistency wasn't there.

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Nice show. Blame It On the Love was played for the first and only time.

Alongside Frankfurt '08, this is probably the best post-2k performance of BOR I've ever seen:

https://youtu.be/7HVykpwP5N8

Jon does the raspy "I've got nothing to prove..." part again and goes for the final "on a BEEEEEED of naaaaaails..." like pretty much nowhere else since the TD/early Crush (at least) tour. Richie really f***s up the end of the solo, though... :D

That's These Days and not Bed of Roses...

It's Bed Of Roses now, I corrected the link :D Check it out again...