Tours: 1996 vs 2008
 

First a laugh to all the people who said (and worse some who still are) that the Bounce tour wasn't bad, well LMFAO, there ya go.

Like most I'm stunned by what I'm seeing, Jon's voice, the 'spontaneaus', energy in the shows and bla bla bla.
First tour I'm not there and first tour Im actually have the idea they are enjoying theirselves again.
Almost as they are best during or after dark era, on stage that is.


Anyways I want to know what I'm missing this tour, so for the ones went to both 96 shows as 2008 shows;

Are they coming close (or even better?) then back in 1996?
Besides the less energy due to less running on stage of course, I mean that's acceptable 12 years later... but voice-wise, Richie-wise.
Even song setlist wise its having more suprises as 96? Sure more choices but the suprises in 96 were the many TD songs first of all, which ofc was more pleasant then the current albums of recent tours....

Curious what you guys think?

Youtube and bootlegs won't tell me that much....

Aloha !

I've never been at a show from 1996 but there are some reasons why this European leg of the Lost Highway Tour is better than the 1996 These Days Tour.

1. The shows are better paced. Any show from 1996 was a bit too slow for my liking. Half of the songs were ballads or just slow songs. A bit too much like a Bryan Adams show, if I'd have to compare it to something. And although These Days is a good album, putting 7 songs in the set from the album makes the show rather boring too. It'd be like playing Mystery Train, Open All Night and Right Side Of Wrong after another. That doesn't work either.

2. Jon sings Always better now than he did in 1996 as well. His voice sounded thin at times back then, and with a little more practice I'm sure he could pull of Something To Believe In as good as he does Always now. Generally, Jon sounds a lot more consistent. He sounds fuller on Hey God too.

3. There's no bootleg from the 1996 tour that has the intensity as the shows from Hamburg, Amsterdam, Belgium from this tour. 1996 was too laid back. Yes, it was a good tour, but if there's one tour that came after it this is the tour you should visit.

That said, a 1996 show didn't have any shit songs in the set, while the current sets still do. I'm not sure if I'd pick a show from this tour over a show from 1996 but for now I'm having a blast seeing, listening and thinking about the shows. All that wasn't there during the Bounce and HAND tours. Those shows were made by the fans, these shows are made by the band. It's the first tour of which I'd actually love to go to more shows than I've planned now, simply because most shows have been that good. I know you're not going but you're missing a lot, it's as simple as that. And I don't think anyone would've thought to hear me say this either. :)

Yes. This European Tour is ****ing brilliant.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Apologies, you know I'm a bit dumb, but what do you mean by this?

Hey Jade. Howa you?

The atmosphere was better than the band then.
Now the band are just better than that even if the crowd are on top form, i think that's what he means.
Hard to put into context

If you transported todays band back to '96 and took out the These Days songs... I still think it would be slightly better than the tour of 2008. The feeling back then was more electric for me, but then it was my first tour and I loved TD.. the standout part of those shows was the acoustic mini set, more Richie and the love for them that was in the UK at the time, of course its always there amongst us lot but it seemed to be wider spread back then!

Not making any sense am I lol, it is a tough question to answer!

Given a choice I'd go back to 96!

I saw 4 shows in 1996 and so far 5 shows in 2008, and as much as I enjoyed this tour, to me the best shows ever were on the These Days tour! The fact that they played so many ballads and every gig lasted so long, made these concerts so special to me. They played all the songs on a regular basis that nowadays people are begging for, like Always, TAALS, Dry County, These Days, Bed of roses etc. And the shows were somehow 'slower'. The acoustic part was also something they should do again!

There was so much emotion. But maybe that has also to do with the fact that I was only 16 at that time. ;)

But shows like Stuttgart & Frankfurt 2008 are nearly as special as shows of the These Days tour.

Well.. IMO You shouldn't take the word of someone who hasn't been to a 96 show and has been to a 2008 show.
IMO people that went to a few shows back then and a few shows now should say.

Anyway, I never been to a Bon Jovi show. However, I will speak my mind.

I've only listened to bootlegs from both tours so I'm kinda impartial about it.
I believe 96' tours were much better for some reasons:

* Even though Jon is great vocally these days, then it was much better despite the vocal decline that was taking place.

* Even though the setlists didn't have the "shock factor" that setlist have in 08', they included less shitty songs due to the fact that most shitty songs are post-96'.

* They open with Lost Highway most of the times in this tour, that's another reason for choosing 96'


Remember not to give too much extra credit to this tour (even though its amazing) just because the past tours sucked so much.

I don't think past tours sucked, some shows weren't always GREAT but that happened on all tours, even TD. I think it's hard to compare '96 and '08 but the fact they are being compared is a good thing. :D

deb

The two shows from the Bounce Tour I've seen (Mannheim & Munich) were the best shows I've seen in this millenium. While Munich 2008 was actually pretty good (ok, really really good, juts for "Always" & "Hey God" alone), just nothing compares to Munich show in 2003. Not the setlist, but the mood of the band (or say: the spirit) was so much better than this tour. I'm quite sure you don't believe me or don't get my point, but it's late and I need sleep. I've never seen Jon so much into a show like those in 2003. What they did with "Bad Medicine" was beyond words. All those stories Jon told about the other band members, like making fun about giving Huey's phone number away etc. It was the last tour Jon did actually. Even if the Lost Highway Tour is really great setlist-wise, sometimes Jon seems a bit out of place. They must be enjoying themselves with all the stuff they pull out, but back then it still was a different feeling. It made up for the shitty stage design, and that means a lot. That was an ugly black monster.

So I don't know what you experienced, but for me the Bounce Tour was a magical experience. And I've seen every tour from 1995 on. Seen as the whole tour, this LH European leg beats anything else since the Crush Tour, sure. Just wanted to point out that the band did a great job on my two Bounce dates.