The musicians on stage are a BS excuse. The thing is, Jon is lazy to even play the songs they have rehearsed, and he doesn't have any voice left to sing most of his back catalogue.

Agreed. I'm currently collecting all of Pearl Jam's 2000 bootleg series, and at that point they had A LOT less than BJ currently have to work with, but mixed up every set each night with different openers, encores, covers etc. Bon Jovi can do that, but have clearly decided not to anymore. A shame.

Some things are better left unsaid...because then you face the harsh truth and you either stick to the past and its sweet memories or to the present and it's unfair to the latter. What was then is gone and what is now needs to be changed to fit. If they were to drop the old hits altogether, would the fans be finally satisfied? The answer is: no.

Thank you, 100% my own thoughts. I can see them getting away with static setlists in the 80s and 90s but they have so much material now, there's no excuse not to have altered setlists every show. It's just laziness, or an unwillingness to alter the flow of the show.

Remember that Facebook Q&A video he did in January? He answered my question about the set lists and he said they were gonna cover more songs this tour, songs like Right Side Of Wrong, Joey, Love's The Only Rule, etc...wtf happened? You can't take them seriously anymore.

Bury Joey please. Awful song on a very good album.

'Was actually just thinking about 'Joey' today. I quite like it.

Nooooooooooooooo

Don't get me wrong it's not in my top ten or anything but it's decent. I like the piano-driven songs.

At this point I'd rather hear Joey every night than Born To Follow or We Got It Going On...

But no one has said anything even close to the fact that they need do drop all the hits. Where did you even get that idea?
People are complaining about why not change a 4-5 songs each night? Lost Highway, WLOL, Sleep, We Got It Goin On could easily be exchanged for let's say Love's the Only Rule, Last Man Standing, Everyday and One Wild Night. Not all at once but just change the songs every now and then.

And to be honest the only songs they can't get away with not playing are Prayer, Wanted, It's My Life, Bad Name and maybe Bad Medicine (they did skip Bad Medicine in Amsterdam in 2008 and no one seemed to mind). They don't have to play Born To Be My Baby, Have a Nice Day, Keep the Faith, Who Says, Born To Follow etc every show. I like all of them but none of them are that enormous of a hit that people demand them to be played. See Iron Maiden. I've seen them several times and there have been shows where Fear of the Dark wasn't played, there have been shows where Run To the Hills wasn't played. Great songs yes, but it's not like bands who have released albums in 30 years doesn't have songs enough to keep it fresh.

Iron Maiden don't have close to the type of radio hits Bon Jovi has. I guarantee people minded Bad medicine was dropped. I think you're spot on about the rest. No one is saying drop the hits, it's change up the non hits.

I genuinely think as long as they play 'Wanted Dead Or Alive', 'Livin' On A Prayer', 'You Give Love A Bad Name' and a big ballad, the people just going for the hits will be satisfied.

Yeah, I'd probably throw in It's My Life there as well. Even though it wasn't a big single success in the US when it was released it has grown into one of those worldwide anthems since.

Wow can't believe I forgot 'It's My Life'. My bad! Add that, and there's five major hits. Play them and mix everything else and they're good to go I think.

It was huge in the US. It just didn't chart well because they didn't release it as a CD Single in hopes of selling more albums... But the song was massive!!!

This is true. It got massive radio play for a long time. It was inescapable. Not that I wanted to escape.

https://youtu.be/Lwo32m40a9w

Definitely vocally better than the first shows of the tour. Even moving away from the mic stand on a few occasions!

The US sets always get tbr vanilla treatment.

Expect the European Tour for rarities.

That was pretty awesome! You can tell Jon felt pretty vocally confident by the way he sang Blood on Blood and the line in Prayer before the solo wasn't the playbacked one he's been using on and off since 2013....

I was at the St Paul show. I thought it was fantastic!

The last show I saw was in Lincoln, NE in October 2013. Jon was definitely exhausted and struggling in his so called "auto pilot" mode. Last Monday night he had great energy and definitely seemed like he enjoyed performing. My seats at both shows were third row.

I am not a "die hard" who has been EXTREMELY blessed to have seen TONS of shows because I was busy raising kids during the 90's and 00's. I am so grateful that BJ is still touring so I may enjoy them now. I can understand how someone who has been to many, many shows would want to hear the rarities, and I do too, but for me just seeing Jon performing once again is all I need. No complaints from me!!

The set list was perfect for me also. Since this was my 5th show (1 in 2005 and 3 in 2013) I have heard the hits and didn't mind the new songs at all. I loved hearing them as they mean BJ is still growing and evolving. Being the same age as Jon, I can appreciate that he wants to move on and create new music - not just relive only the past.

Also being the same age as Jon, I am awed by his ability to perform with so much energy and passion. I thought he would always be at his white mic, but he wasn't. He didn't run back and forth from one side of the stage to the other like he did in the 80's, which would just be silly, but he did move around a lot in the center of the stage and went to the sides and back. The stage is not big enough for running anyway.

I've watched a ton of YouTube videos and agree that he sounds so much better in person than in the videos. His singing did not always look effortless on Monday but I appreciate how hard he was trying. It wasn't 1990 - 1995 great - that's unrealistic considering how much he's used and abused his voice over the years - so I'm not complaining. He was so awesome and pushed himself so much back then that it was inevitable he could not sustain that level forever. I think the main reason he overused his voice (80's & 90's) is because he always gave 150% because he just can't help it. He didn't think about the consequences later on. Like me going to a concert that's hurting my ears and not worrying about the damage occurring until it's comes on when I'm older.

The crowd was really engaged the whole concert. Even during the new songs. I was down front, though, so it may have been different in the nosebleeds. I couldn't tell.

I love the band, Jon and the music so much. How lucky we are that they/he are still able and willing to tour?! No one will ever hear me complain about a set list because I'm just so happy to still have the opportunity to see them. I know I'm probably unusual on this board but as more than just a "casual" but not a "diehard" I was very, very happy with the show.









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Great review! Thanks for sharing. :)

To add to my post just above, the only negative I felt during the show was John Shanks. I was in front of him and felt very uncomfortable looking at him. I dislike saying something negative, but he gave me a very uneasy feeling. I regret saying he seemed sleazy to me. The moves he made and the looks he gave. It's hard to describe but I avoided looking at him all because of this.

He kept throwing a bunch of picks our way which seemed to be a way of getting attention. I could not have cared less.

Now Jon can shake his ass and be cute about it. Shanks just creeped me out just playing his guitar. Maybe it was just me....


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You're welcome!

I have so many observations! When Jon first took the stage before they began "This House Is Not For Sale" and the lights were still off, he was behind the see through curtain making silly poses and faces! He seemed so happy!

During the concert, a few things went wrong and he just had a goofy look on his face and laughed. He was having a good time with Tico.

He needs to double tie his shoe laces! I saw him tying them three times. He even said in the microphone he was having trouble with them. He was very engaged with the people down front with smiles and nods, even talking to them between songs. Someone had paper plates they were writing messages on for him. He acknowledged the signs and signed the last one during the bows. He wrote something on one side and signed his name on the other.

He was given two red roses. When he kissed them, one fell on the stage so he only had the stem.

When they began BOB for the encore, I believe it was Phil who strummed the first note and it was totally off! Jon looked so surprised, so much so that I thought something had blown up.

Anyway, I love watching what he does when the lights are off. He definitely seemed very playful. When I last saw him that close in October 2013 and the lights were off between the songs, he looked very worn out - like he wasn't going to make it through to the end.

In 2013 he was spitting so much that the stage had to be slippery. Probably had phlegm problems. I'd never seen so much body fluid (of course sweat also) come from a performer. This time there were a few spits. Yes, I am fascinated by these things! I've only been to 5 BJ concerts - and 2 up close.

Jon mentioned that his Uncle Bob was in the audience. He said to say hi to Uncle Bob and that he and Jon's cousins who live in the area had never seen him before. (Hard to believe!). He said they were probably thinking, "what the shit"!








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Thanks for posting that review! I enjoyed the details

It's nice to be able to follow this tour on here

I think it was still playback in Prayer. He might have started singing the line live, but the vocal was still going when Jons mouth was closed! lol

Its just pleasing to hear the little things improving, like the woah-oh-ohs at the end of prayer and having a little bit of confidence to walk around the stage in LYHOM.

Yes, it was still the playback line. But, as you both said, otherwise great performance for today's standards!

I can totally see where you're coming from. He does seem a bit sleazy and unappealing...

That fits perfectly with my observations that he sounds like he just has too much spit in his mouth while singing. Don't know what's caused it, but glad it's gone for the most part...

It definitely was playback



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