How Richie Sambora saves the show:
 

he's like a secondary front man during that one. watch the whole thing and you'll know what I mean. and hell, if he's gonna be the one who keeps saving the show till Jon gets back on his feet it's only fair, really. considering the rest of the band kept it going even when he was at his worst, it's time for him to pay the debt.

Jon went for that high note (I wasn't there when yOOOOOOuu were dooown) ... That's a good sign ...

It's so great to see Richie in a very good mood...He is so comfortable, so happy...

I was hoping a lot for him.

Okay, that's the best performance of anything I've seen off this tour. Wow.

Like.. wow. 3:35 onward is gold.

Jon's still got the pipes.

This alone will be worth the (hefty) price of admission if I get this in Nashville.

Always think more often than not Richie delivers on this song. His performance of it at his solo gig in London was great and when he plays with the band he comes alive. IBTFY makes for a great duet, it should always be played like that video.

This song is still a great song, a real classic, and a world away from some of the current stuff.

They must realise this when playing it..''why can't we write something like this anymore?!''.

For Richie, as a guitar player, it is still interesting to play and has room for little improvisations here and there, as well as fun backing vocals and room for an extra solo and some crowd participation. Richie comes alive on a track like this, unlike something like 'Make A Memory', although still a decent track, is very much a 'JBJ track' and is nowhere near as interesting to play live.


Andi

I think that Richie actually IS the second frontman of the band.

It's like this in most bands obviously; Keith Richards, Joe Perry, Slash (when he was in GNR), Brian May, Jimmy Page etc.

Great performance. Richie was his usual self (if we measure by standarts since coming back from rehab in 2011) and did his job well, but I'd give Jon credit for finally delivering. That performance wasn't far away from the last tour, if I was listening to the bootleg not knowing the date, and Richie hadn't played the outro solo, I'd guessed it's from 2011, not 2013. The high note in the 3rd verse definitely shows Jon's confidence being back, so I expect Always to return in a couple weeks time.

Probably the only way this performance could be further improved with Jon's current limitations is the extended "blow those candles aaaaaauuuuuuuuuuut" note, like it was done in Charlote, 2010. However, I don't expect this, because, to my knowledge this was the only performance ever where Jon did that.

Off topic, It's definitely nice to be back to the ''Jovi die-hard" mode, where you over-analyze live performances :D The previous shows didn't have much to over-analyze, but things are looking bright with this IBTFY rendition.