Eddie Trunk review of Bon Jovi Pru Night #1
 

Eddie is an old friend of Jon's and a former Recod Label guy and is on Vh1 Classic often. Interesting read below...

http://www.eddietrunk.com/blog.php

I have said it before on this board - night 1 was pretty awful. I think the way I put it was that Jon had a stick up his ass. He was almost formal - which for him is boring.

Night 2 was better and night 3 they rocked the house. Maybe he was just getting comfortable with a new tour or perhaps the presence of all the high profile VIPs freaked him out (hard to believe with his experience).

There is no doubt that he doesn't rock like the 80's - but he's usually not as still and stiff as he was on night one.

In addition the slow songs that they played from the new album didn't help either. There are few rockers on it - it's at best mid-tempo.

He dropped most of the new ones after the first night - so far.

I thought Jon was stiff psychically as he was constantly stretching, etc. but I didn't think it was that bad. For me, I never expect the first show when they've been on a break to be the best because it seems they always have some rust on them that needs to be shaken off. I think each show has gotten progressively better.

We'll see what happens with night 4 tonight.

deb

Maybe I'm blind but from where I was I enjoyed Night 1. The thought that Richie was back especially during the solo on Any Other Day. Now as a long time fan I am not always happy or kiss the ground that they walk on but I enjoyed night one.I was like I posted in Night 3's thread I was a bit dissappointed.To each his own I guess.

Yep, maybe this guy didn't stay for the entire show, but AOD was fantastic with the extended solo from Richie. For me, night 1 was better than expected.

deb

Aloha !

Wrong board.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Nope, I found the right one. My opinion is just as valid as yours.

deb

ahh well, that's what I've been thinking since 2003.
The comparison with Mr. Tyler is absolutely perfect. Maybe Jon should take some time off and watch an Aerosmith show. That's valid for Richie as well.

I agree. I saw Aerosmith last year and made the same comaprison. I don't think Jon has liked touring since about 2001.

I love where Jon gets called about about the extra musicians. I friggin' HATE that. Get rid of those schmos. They add nothing to the music or show. I swear, Jon just has them there to fill up more space on stage so he doesn't have to move anymore.

I know Jon's no spring chicken anymore, but truthfully, he's in far better shape now physically than he was in the 80's. You watch a show from back then, the guy was all over the place. The stage wasn't big enough for him.

The first night of a tour is never going to be a good barrometer of how Jon/the band are performing.
However, on the whole the review is not far wrong on how recent tours have been. Too many musicians and a lack of energy from Jon.

You know - after thinking about this, Jon must have taken some of these poor reviews to heart, Eddie Trunk is well repected around here. Many more rock lovers would pay more attention to him rather than to a poor review in the Times

The night 3 show rocked far more than night 1 and the fiddle was gone from the old arrangements except for Richie's These Days.

There was also the quite appropriate speech:

"I love these people because they love us. And the ones that don't love us... **** 'em!"

Perhaps Jon is reading the reviews - or listening to his friends.

A huge fan e-mailed me today - he was there night 2 and night 3. He is not a fan club member and he doesn't post here - but he's a longtime fan. He asked if it was him or were these shows really weak? Or maybe he just wasn't as big a fan as he used to be?

Unfortunately for the band - many people are asking the same question.

Maybe Jon ought to start taking notice of the reviews and the fans. If he dosen't he's in danger of losing us.

R.I.P. BJ
You once were really great ! (Thank you for that).

I KNOW I've said this a trillion billion times but is it really fair to write a band off when you haven't seen them live this tour (or for some people, at all)?

I mean okay, you go to a show, you didn't care for it, you have every right to bitch and moan, burn your albums, tear down up your mementos. Some people are all in a tizzy just based on word of mouth and 2 minute you tube clips. I've been careful choosing my wording/voicing my opinion about the tour because I haven't seen it.

Opinions on the set lists so far (and this guys is a long time fan):

http://the-screen-door.blogspot.com/

Hi Everybody
I totally agree with what has been said about jbj's movement on stage.
I have posted about this subject twice and nobody cared.C'mon everybody whats the story with him?
I rate jbj as one of the best frontmen in rock,but these days he's like a las vegas lounge act.How can you just strut around the stage like that.
If your not interested in performing stop charging everybody 300 bux and go and play clubs.
People should go and have a look at paul stanley,steven tyler and bruce springsteeen,these guys are approaching 60 and they have a tonne of energy,jbj is 45 and he cant move.
The reviewer is right,he's nowhere to even being close to what he was on stage.
The stage itself is a joke.He has no room to move,and im sure he played a part in the design himself.
Considering his voice ain't what it was,at least improve your performance or otherwise they'll just become another live band.What a waste that would be.

Aloha !

Yes. If a band can not excite you when just the setlist is posted, and the bootleg recordings make you able to hear the show properly, then yes, it's varified.

You don't need to hear Blood On Blood with violins in it in person in order to know that it would suck live.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebatsiaan

Which night had violins in BOB, that would piss me off...ALOT.
I didn't hear any sunday, so did they drop them?

C'mon, you know what he means...... or you enjoy violins on Wild in the Streets, These Days, Summertime...... I bet you heard this ones.

No, I was serious.
I avoided watching clips of the first two shows before I wen to the third.
Summertime didn't bug me, I didn't hear 'Streets, and it over the TD solo did bug me. But TD was really the only classic Jovi son that had them (sunday anyway)

It upsets me to read stuff like this about longtime fans questoning their love for the band anymore. However, I too have to admit the other night what I really liked about the band anymore. They are not the same band they were in the 80s and 90s and unfortunately, I was too young at the time to see them then.

hey
 

i liked night 1 as well as my mom:)

i think jon layed it all out though he is just not is game shape...neithr is shaquille on game 1 but go see him mid season....

and i loved that they played some of the slower songs from lh lie a seat next to you - i loved it for them dong it and experimenting even though it needed workrk and wasnt perfect!

jovi rocks live and i like the violins and think they add a great new layer to the songs...just like keyboards do, and some rockc bands think that is too much....

go jovi!
m

After seeing the setlists for night's 1, 2, and 4....I'm ****ing overjoyed I was at night three.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the other shows were good, but Night Three seems to have been really special.

I agree with this. Just knowing that they rearrange songs that I love into something different would totally turn off seeing the band live.

I was at night one and thought it was OK couldn't compare to the five times I saw them on HAND tour where they constantly rocked the house. I am hoping they mix it up more, Eddie Trunk hit the nail on the head with his review in my opinion. My next show is Sunday with Daughtry opening up which should be interesting, sometimes when the opener kicks major ass it makes the headline act come out with their game. Daughtry is known for putting on a great show so we shall see.

Aerosmith setlists are about 60 minutes shorter than Bon Jovi ones, let's not forget. Jon doesn't try as much, sure. I was angry during the last word tour that they went to the expense of having a walk way so he (and Richie if he had bothered to do away with guitar cables) could interact better with the crowd. Jon starts on it and used the damn thing on one other song.

However, for me, Aerosmith were pretty poor in Dublin. One one song encore. 34 year career.

It's fantastic that These Days is back as a setlist regular where it belongs.

I'm just saying it's very, very early days for the Lost Highway tour.

I'm going to be in Utah for the next 6 months. I was hoping for a date in Salt Lake City but looks like Denver is the closest to me. Or I may just wait till the summer and see them in Scotland. Unless it's Ibrox or the SECC.

Actually, who cares where it is? Despite the truths about the show having less energy, I am not missing a tour in which Richie Sambora sings These Days. No way!

Looking at the prices for the Chicago shows top price is $129.50 that's in line with the HAND tour.

deb

agreed - and i loved night one - specifically because they played more LH songs...which did impact the energy level somewhat possibly - and has maybe led to them playing less LH songs which i think stinks and prob eliminates any chance of them playing the whole album...which i also think stinks....

maybe gretchen will play strangers with the band :)

m

BUMP.

Kathleen mentioned it, so I thought this was relevant given Jon's recent interview with Eddie.

Unfortunately, the link is broken. Does anyone know where I could read that review? A simple Google search didn't give me anything.

i remember a fan reviewed a show from the start of the WAN tour and said it was the worst he'd been to as the album hadnt even been released but they played something like 8 songs off it.
He said the entire band looked bored playing the new stuff.

I have been looking because I remember it being very negative. I didn't save it and it doesn't seem to be on the websites of the usual suspects LOL.

NOW this is what i think..the musicians didnt add anything..they just to fill space on the stage....Finally, i thought i was the only one !

Web.archive rules! :)

Here you go:

10/28/07: Was invited to a special opening night event at the new Prudential Center Arena in Newark NJ this past Thursday. This is the new home of the NJ Devils and was opened by Bon Jovi who is playing 10 nights (contrary to some reports, many of the shows not sold out). The building is really nice, and as a lifelong NJ resident I am rooting for it to do well and bring back the city of Newark. Hopefully they can use this to revive the area. Since this is the first new arena in the NY area in over 25 years it is clearly the nicest and newest. State of the art all the way and a really cool street level practice rink for the Devils you can see from the street. The only issue I see for the place is the lack of an NBA team. It is just stupid that the Nets don't go to this building instead of trying to build yet another arena in Brooklyn! Even in the NY area there is now way all these places can survive, and Newark makes perfect sense for the Nets. Really hope a deal can be made and this whole Brookyln thing goes away. I admit as a Nets fan I am bias, but throwing that out, it really does make so much sense and gives the Pru Center 41 more games a year.

As for Bon Jovi, majorly dissapointed to say the least. I have followed this bands history since the beginning, from opening act to 38 Special, to one of the biggest bands on the planet. I always had a huge respect for the group, and as a Jersey guy myself, always liked how proud they were to be a NJ band. Obviously they were never a metal band, but they were a high energy semi hard rock group at one time, and Jon was one of the best frontmen out there. Lets not forget Jon is the guy that gave us Cinderella and Skid Row and spawned the entire pop metal 80's scene! Something he wants no part of now clearly. And that's fine because Bon Jovi is the only band from the era and scene that has a MAJOR career now, so I get it. But what I do not get is how Jon Bon Jovi has gone from being one of the great frontmen in rock, to a guy that looks like he's going through the motions on stage? This guy RULED the stage at one time, now he just struts, smiles and poses here and there. Steven Tyler has 15 years on him and works circles around him on stage. Bon Jovi these days barely resembles a rock act, and Jon is clearly trying to be the next Springsteen, but still doesn't work on stage as hard as Bruce does now. He's even building his own E Street band with extra backing musicians on stage. It's now an 8 member band live, with a female fiddle player who played on almost the entire set. She even put fiddle in some of the old school rocking stuff! Even that stuff was diluted and had no real energy or edge. This is sad beyond belief and even more shocking is that Jon never gets called on it! Look at the explosive rock act this was in the 80's compared to what they have become.

Look, Bon Jovi does not have to please me. There were plenty of screaming house wifes there just happy to shreik when he smiled, but if you saw this band during the Slippery/New Jersey era, and then saw them now, it is shocking. The stage set they played on resembled a road side bar, and that is exactly the approach the band took to how they now perform and play their songs, like a low key bar band. Hard to get away with when charging $300+ for some seats! This should have been one of NJs finest exports triumphantly opening a new arena and instead looked like a bunch of guys going through the motions. This all falls squarely on Jon's shoulders. He is the show, he is the frontman, he clearly calls the shots, and instead of working on stage and giving a real show, he looked like it was our priveledge to watch him. NOTHING like what this band once was! Richie played and sang well but also is real reserved now that he has had some high profile public issues. Tico (great drummer!) and David are great players and actually do work hard on stage, but they play instruments they must be anchored to, so there is only so much they can do. One can only hope that one day Jon will go back to being a performer again and rock. Take a look at the video for "Lay Your Hands On Me" VS what he is now, sad to say the least. And how cool would it be if he did throw a bone to a couple of the 80's bands he spawned as an opener for one of the 10 nights? My Chemical Romance opened the night I saw and had some good songs and at least came to the stage with some genuine fire and excitement and energy! Hope Jon watched them perform and remembered when he was that hungry.

Great, thanks!!

Eddie makes a lot of valid points. It's interesting if he saw the band during the Jon's renaissance period (2008-2011) if his opinion on those shows were different, cause they weren't as country-heavy as those in the Prudential center. Also, it's nice how he gave some credit to MCR, despite them, much like Jovi, being a band that is really cool to put down.

I usually think Eddie Trunk is a ***** but he is spot on with this. This sums up my feelings for the band since LH. Every word is true. Still valid to this day and it only got worse: JBJ is not even posing anymore the music got worse, Richie is gone. At least the fiddle player is gone too. That was really awful back then. WHat was he thinking.

Thanks so much for digging this up. I certainly remembered correctly that Eddie Trunk really creamed them. I was at all those Prudential shows and they were definitely sub-par, especially the first one.