got to agree with the above. I am soooo bored of stadium gigs with Bon Jovi.

Get them back to Wembely Arena or something.

If they're gonna do 5 nights at a London venue, it'll be the O2 instead of Shepherds Bush Empire, guaranteed... although, as I said before, I hope they don't.

Making 50-60 000 fans travel massive distances to see you over consecutive nights is not exactly fan-friendly or as eco-friendly as spreading the gigs around the UK.

i cant stand the O2 either.
If your up high you might as well not bother.

Even if the stage is in the middle and your high its a waste of time.

For me its shepherds bush or nothing.
I know loads of fans would miss out if it was 5 nights there but so what? first come first serve. Maybe do 10 nights?

I dont want to stand/sit with 70000+ fans watching a 1 inch band and ending up watching video screen for £70 per ticket anymore.

OK make it a real small tour

5 nights at shep bush as well as 3 consecutive nights at small venues in Manchester, Liverpool, Scotland, Ireland & Midlands.

Its more gigs but they wouldnt need to play for 3 hours each night then.
Maybe do 90 mins per gig.

For a start, you're talking about them completely abandoning the template for every major tour event they've played since before I can remember. Not likely.

Stadium tours are what generate the band's major revenue as well as that of the promoters and anybody else on the payroll. A great gig with a great setlist is what 99% of the fans, both die-hard and casual alike, crave and seeing big bands sometimes means not being within 20ft of them unless you're prepared to queue or pay for the luxury. It's the same with any global band and Jovi aren't about to change it on a whim.

I'm sure everyone, given the choice (and taking practicality out of the equation) would love to see them play at Shepherds Bush but it makes no sense to do that from either the fans' or the band's perspective.

Small venues are for exclusive promo shows where you have to be well-off, well-connected, lucky, or all of the above to get tickets. Most people aren't so IMO, stadium shows are the only option. It's the show that matters, not the venue!

90min shows as an alternative? Can you imagine the fallout and criticism? Plus, how do they play the classic hits and anything off the new album in an hour and a half? It's simply not possible and makes no sense.

It'll be the usual stadium set up, especially given the noises Richie is making about this being geared up as one of the biggest Bon Jovi tours ever.

Of course, in the portion of the Absolute interview that aired yesterday, Jon said, "This will be the shortest tour I've ever done." That isn't what we want to hear, Jonny. :( We like Richie's version better! :cool:

http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk/playe...___part_1.html

I'm sure that was talking about HAND - at the start he says "the ninth album is out - have a nice day."

are you sure this is the one that aired yesterday? i missed it but listening to that link i think its one from 2005. The DJ says "album number 9 is out (HAND)" and also, when talking about the fanbase he says "just last year you said 100 million bon jovi fans can't be wrong" making that the boxset release of 2004. Its not last night's interview.

LOL Okay, I took my stupid pills! I was looking for a link for the interview that had aired and there was a Bon Jovi picture, so I clicked on it. Guess I should pay attention the whole time, huh?

BTW, I'm glad I was wrong. Bring on that big tour that Richie was talking about!

Shepherds Bush is a club ... 1500 people or something.
Won't play there

Sounds about right... although Wembley still owe them a gig or two.

From the official site, here's the cover of the album:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...3/33563577.jpg

Richie is more prominent in that shot than Jon, to my eye. What the hell went wrong there? That said, good to see them back on some cover art.

They walkin thru a sewer? hahaha but it all good, i like it.

Eh,

I like the huddle idea much better. This cover looks dark and dreary and reminds me of the Bounce cover. Let's hope this album doesn't resemble Bounce in any other way.

Hmmmmm... It's ok.

It's a bit too dark.

I think it's a bit shit and could have been made on photoshop.

Thank you for posting! I like it! The only thing is that Dave and Tico deserve to stand in one line with Rich and Jon... But i think its cool, its dark. Maybe the album rocks a little bit harder who knows

So could any album cover, what's your point?

I like the concentric circles, they work pretty well as a focus for the band shot.

Now that you mention it, it does kind of look like a sewer. :D

Very cool cover.

richie is in the forefront coz it's 'his' album - jon has said this... yeah jon also sed that the huddle idea was going to be the front cover.

Would look better without the obviously fake rings in the white part behind them.

Interesting though...

So, where the **** is the huddle? Is this officaly confirmed cover or just some random photo?

From the official website.

Will some people ever be happy? Who actually gives a **** what the album cover looks like? Really?

I do coz Jon said it was going to be a huddle etc and now this? :)

i think its brill that richie looks more prominent than jon lol ... maybe thats because WWWB has just jon on the cover and Richie wanted a better deal :P

Actually, do we know if that is the confirmed cover for the book? As I could be wrong!

So that will impact your enjoyment of the album? One of my favourite albums features a mulleted, blind guitarist and very little else on the front cover. You're moaning for the sake of moaning.

If the album would have simply featured a circle, people would have complained. If it had featured a newly commissioned Damien Hurst piece, people would have complained. I am seriously starting to think that this band is being judged by pretty much everything but the music they produce on this board at the minute.

Where has all the decent critique of the actual music gone?

Dont take me wrong, I m not actually atacking the band about he cover, just like I didnt judge the album by the song titles... But I just feel that Jon or the band cheated us with this cover if Jon stated a number of times that its going to be different then this one. :D

Those naughty boys, they really did owe you something.

I might sue them for not producing the exact cover that I had imagined from their short interviews over the last month.

perhaps to represent the recession we are in ? dark times.... fit the theme of the album..

Dawn

I was looking forward to the huddle as it was a good concept, but sometimes the pics just dont work out that way.. it might be on the inside... Jon said there would be pics of each of them with light emitting from Jon mouth /Daves hand, Richie heart ? cant remember properly, so perhaps this will be inside also, unless Im confused...

I think the cover is good, stands out...

Dawn

Suppose.

I don't dislike the cover.. I was just expecting something better by the way Jon was going on about it and the fact that the WWWB cover is so good.

My point is that it looks fairly unprofessional. Surely they could have done better than this.

I like it. I hope that by the fact that Richie is the most prominent member in the shot also carries over to the music. He needs to be more prominent in his guitar work 'cause his work on the last few albums has really sucked quite frankly.

No it doesn't. Go Photoshop a better one and we'll compare them.

I agree. Since this is his first album recorded since rehab, I'm confident. His playing has gotten a lot better since he sobered up.

I'm not a professional, though. Somebody on a Uni course or whatever could probably do one of similar quality.

Hey, at least it's better than the Stereophonics' new one.

Somebody on a graphic design uni course probably could, but who would you like them to employ? God?

Must beat the hell out of a black bin bag, surely...

Fair point, they've never actually been brilliant in the album art area anyway.

Just hope the music's good.

Eh, cover's not bad. Tico looks like a damn midget though.

Well I love it! The colours are brilliant and the simplicity of it all really makes an impact. I also love the fact that Richie seems to be leading the group rather than Jon.

Best cover since Keep The Faith I say!