Together and with The Power of We, we can start a revolution. One Soul at a time... ~Jon Bon Jovi *** There's a Story on every street corner, my friend. All you have to do is open your eyes... ~Richie Sambora

Review: Bon Jovi - Madison Square Garden 2-24-11

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Jonny B good in Jovi-al show


Hey, Jersey, keep Snooki and the gang. We here in New York will take Garden State rockers Bon Jovi off your hands. It's a good deal for us, especially after Jonny B's block buster 2½-hour show Thursday, the first of two sold-out Madison Square Garden concerts.

Jon and his longtime bandmates hit hard right up front with a snarling version of "Last Man Standing," which the singer played on a small riser set up in front of the seats farthest from the main stage.

With exaggerated arm gestures -- so everyone could see -- and a crooner's tone, Bon Jovi hammed it up for those in the "bad seats," then jogged through the aisles to join the band. As he moved through the arena, he high-fived the guys and smooched any good-looking blonde who got in his way.

"I don't wear crazy clothes," he said in a nod to Lady Gaga, who performed at the Garden earlier in the week.

"We're not the new kids on the block," he continued, referring to freshly minted Knick Carmelo Anthony. "[Bon Jovi] is like a fine wine -- we just keep getting better."

One sip of the anthemic "It's My Life" -- in which rock's golden boy beat his chest as he sang the chorus, "I just want to live while I'm alive" -- made you want to get drunk on the music.

Apparently recovered from a leg injury sustained at a summer show in Jersey, Jon showed he's still a goofy-footed frontman who finds all his moves in the beats of drummer Tico Torres and the flash-fire electric riffs of guitarist Richie Sambora.

Keyboard ace David Bryan -- whose "Memphis" won the Best Musical Tony Award last year -- was the band's unheralded hero, as usual. He was especially good pounding the keys for the old hit "Runaway."

Midshow, the band did trip with a quiet mini-set, with Torres sometimes bongo-ing the beat with his hand on a wooden box. Please, this guy's an extraordinary stickman -- he should never be separated from the skins.
But that was the only low-energy moment in a greatest-hits show that truly was great.

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Friday Funnies...

Friday, February 25, 2011

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Bon Jovi NRL Anthem...

Bon Jovi's NRL 'anthem' available Monday


The NRL's new "anthem" for season 2011, international super group Bon Jovi's track "This Is Our House", will be available for download on Monday (Feb 28).

The track, which the NRL has secured exclusive Australian rights to for the next three years, will be used to headline the game's advertising campaign for the 2011 Telstra Premiership season and will be launched next week.

Rugby league fans can download the track on Monday at Telstra Bigpond Music and see the NRL's sensational new "This Is Our House" marketing campaign exclusively on NRL.com next Wednesday (March 2) at 6am ahead of the official 2011 season launch at 12.30pm. 

The track is a "home-ground anthem" that will be echoed by fans at every NRL venue and will feature in 60-second commercials from next Wednesday (March 2).

It will be integrated into a range of NRL activities, with the Nine network already committed to incorporating the theme into its telecasts of the Telstra Premiership.

"This Is Our House" is expected to capture the game’s unrivalled passion and excitement as have previous rugby league advertising "anthem" which have featured some amazing names from Tina Turner to Tom Jones and the Hoodoo Gurus.

The NRL announced their major coup on February 9 in securing the three-year deal with Bon Jovi for the exclusive Australian Rights to "This Is Our House". 

Bon Jovi are rated the world’s number one touring act after playing to 1.5million fans in 2010 and having amassed 125million album sales in a career that has produced major hits in each of the past three decades.

The song was written with international sports marketing in mind and has already been used successfully in the US in association with the NFL. 

"Having led an American Arena League football team from inception to championship and as a lifelong sports fan, I know the intensity and dedication that goes into cheering on your team," said Jon Bon Jovi.

“We wrote ‘This Is Our House’ to be a sports anthem and ‘House’ has found a home in the US on the playing fields of the New York Rangers, the New England Patriots, and the NFL. 

“This new partnership with the National Rugby League to bring the song to Australian Rugby League gives me great satisfaction. Having played countless stadium shows in your country, I know for a fact that your fans know a thing or two about marking your turf and staking your claim."

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Bon Jovi Tour in New Jersey Area...

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Bon Jovi tour comes back to the New Jersey area


WHAT: Rock.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and March 5.
WHERE: Madison Square Garden, Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street, Manhattan; 212-465-MSG1.
HOW MUCH: $41.30, $52.90, $69.40, $94.50, $175.35, $331 (fees included in all prices).
FOR MORE INFORMATION: bonjovi.com.

He is not the first musician to view albums as artwork, vinyl collections as galleries. Richie Sambora stares at his own collection, knowing many would think that 99-cent downloads have rendered this hobby impractical.

"I mean, the album experience is now dead," the Bon Jovi guitarist said during a conference call with drummer Tico Torres. "And it's an unfortunate thing, because that was something that was a piece of art in a way."

Well, vinyl has been limping around for a while, followed by tapes, then CDs …

And yet Bon Jovi is not limping around. The band members are not scrounging for musical crumbs, even as more and more musicians are reportedly chasing fewer and fewer dollars.

In 2010, no band on the planet grossed more money on the road than Bon Jovi, according to Billboard. If the album well has run dry — and let's be honest: the band's "Greatest Hits — The Ultimate Collection" did debut at No. 1 on several charts late last year — the road has not.

If Sambora's record collection belongs in a museum, the band that funded that collection does not.

"Things always change," Sambora said, "and we've got to keep ourselves interested. And I think that's the reason that we've been together for almost 30 years now, because we keep each other challenged. We challenge our production team. We challenge everybody to just keep it going and moving in an evolutionary direction. That's really the truth. And it makes us all happy. Those three hours or 2 1/2 hours onstage every night is what we live for."

So get ready for three more nights around here before the band vanishes for a while. Bon Jovi plays Madison Square Garden Thursday and Friday, then has a third show on March 5 before the money train exits these parts.

"We're going all the way to August 1 this year," Torres said. "When we're done with the States, we're going to the rest of Europe. And I think we need to take a break. I mean, it's a long, expensive tour since last February. And not only just the tour, but putting it together, doing the records … it's a long process."

The process featured those four reserved-for-the-archives gigs at New Meadowlands Stadium last year, a series of shows during which Jon Bon Jovi injured his leg.

"Yes, we carried him off the stage, man," Sambora said. "Put him on a gurney."

The band did not cancel any tour dates. Sambora called the incident "inspiring."

"It was amazing because two days later we had a bunch more gigs," he said. "And you know what? They fixed him up and he walked out there and for the first gig he looked like a Civil War unit, but sang his [butt] off.

"I broke my arm at one point and I still played 20 stadium shows with a broken arm," Sambora said. "And he looks at me and he said, 'If you could do that, I can do this.' "

you can read the rest of the article here.

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Story Update...


The next chapter of New Beginnings has been posted.

Enjoy!

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QnA with Richie Sambora...

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Q&A: Richie Sambora, Bon Jovi Guitarist

Richie Sambora, guitarist for Bon Jovi, talks about how the iPhone and home theater affect today's music.
 
 
If someone were to put a soundtrack to Generation X, it would require at least a few selections from Bon Jovi. With a career that includes more than 120 million albums sold, countless worldwide arena tours and a recent nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Bon Jovi is, along with U2, arguably the most enduring rock band of the last quarter century.

Led by the songwriting duo of singer Jon Bon Jovi and guitar player Richie Sambora, the band’s hit list includes classics like “You Give Love a Bad Name,” “Wanted Dead or Alive,” and “It’s My Life” plus soon-to-be classics like “Have a Nice Day” and “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”

It’s been a milestone past year for Bon Jovi, Sambora, keyboard player David Bryan and drummer Tico Torres, who along with their original bass player Alec John Such, received the Hall of Fame nomination (the band was passed over for induction this time around), journeyed through another world tour and released a Greatest Hits album.

We recently sat down with Sambora to talk about the music business and home theater.

How does a veteran musician like yourself adapt to the trends of the music industry and sustain a career that’s been as successful as yours for so long?

There are a lot of components to that question. Number one, it’s the songs … they are the foundation of the business, whether you are selling records or touring. Number two is the dedication to evolution, from continuing to learn - I still learn all the time - to the dedication to touring. The most simple analogy I can make is, if you have a dog and you don’t pet it, it’s not going to like you - it’s going to bite you. So, in essence, when I play South America, South Africa or Australia, I have to keep going back to those places.

Very interesting, on stage [recently] in Toronto Jon said, “Now finally after 27 years we’ve effectively played every venue in Toronto” - starting out at the El Mocambo club, where the Stones played and where they recorded that live album [side three of Love You Live], to two nights at the Rogers Center.

The dedication to touring is a very important component [to long-term success]. Making sure that you go back to the area, doing the press to other commitments, it’s a very meat-and-potatoes kind of way to look at things.

Is being a musician different now than it was when you were breaking into the industry?

Yes! It’s lifestyle basically. Obviously, you mature and as you get older you have to take care of yourself physically. So the approach is very different in that respect. In the 1980s, everyone was [just] living. Think about it - just imagine what one of the biggest bands in the world was doing, and multiply it by about 20 on a daily basis. So the approach now is a lot different.

Essentially, the playing part of it is just the same. The way the band plays, our dedication to putting on great shows, but now we couldn’t live that way [we did back then].

How has technology aided you and the band to create and record music, and do you prefer the older analog technologies to digital technologies?

Yes, basically Jon and I recorded a lot of our songwriting sessions on iPhones. Both of us backed them up on iPhones. But we’re also old-school guys. Pro Tools [popular recording software] has become a great help to be able to edit and move things around so quickly, it’s a definite help.

If you listen to our older records, which are analog, they sound great too.

People listen to everything from low-resolution MP3 files to high-res 24-bit/96kHz WAV files. Do you have preferences?

The WAV file is better than a low-resolution file. It’s harder to transport, because it’s a dense file when compared to low-resolution file. Look,compressed music is not going to sound as good as analog ever, it just can’t, but the ear does get use to it.

From a musician/songwriter’s perspective, do you think that compressed music takes away from the listening experience?

Honestly, what happens is the ear trains itself to listen to it. A lot of people don’t know what analog sound is - I would say the majority of people. You have to be, what, 40 to know what analog was even, and then to actually remember it?

For my birthday someone recently got me an amazing gift. Somebody bought me a bunch LPs [vinyl], and now I’ve got to go out and get myself a record player. I’m looking forward to [playing them], and that I’ll be an analog freak. I can’t wait to go out and get all this stuff and re-visit all of that [vinyl and analog].

My ear is now trained to listening to digital music. It’s all conditioning.

Do audiophiles make too much of the differences between lossy and lossless music files?

No, I think it’s a different experience. If you are a music lover you should experiment to see which one you like better.

I use my iPod all the time. I’m always in the gym and it comes in handy. I have 4,000 songs on my iPod, and I have a myriad of everything, but right now I am stuck on the new Stones Exile on Main Street [re-release of the 1972 Rolling Stones double album]. Bob Clearmountain and Don Was, who also produced my second solo record [Undiscovered Soul], did an amazing job. I was a big fan of Exile when it came out, and then I lost it. The original analog version was pretty murky, but they remixed it and I was, like, ‘Wow!’ There is stuff going on there that I didn’t hear [on the original version].

In this case it is the reverse of what was happening, but when they were doing the double record Exile, they … kind of dismissed the sound quality in the mix. Now they’ve paid attention to it, and boy, it kissed me! I can’t stop listening to it.

You’re known as a guitar player who’s not afraid to use new equipment - how have your equipment preferences evolved and how does your live rig compare to the equipment you use to record?

I use all kinds of stuff in the studio. Live I use Marshall Amplification and have used Marshall for years. I was honored - back when we were in England, Jim [Marshall] came to the show and [told me] they’re making a Richie Sambora signature Marshall.

I went to the factory and played through a lot of different heads [amplifiers] for all different eras. I’m also a vintage collector and I have a lot of vintage guitars that I bring on the road. I have about 30 guitars I bring on the road and I have the Richie Sambora model guitar that I also use. I use about five of the Richie Sambora model guitars for half of the show.

The thing about Marshall Amplification is that it sounds good with every guitar. I’ve tried other amps before, but they don’t have the dexterity that I need because I switch guitars so many times during the show.

As far as pedals, I use a lot of analog pedals these days. I do try stuff. I have about 15 pedals on my pedal board and I’m just messing around up there, having a good time. That’s what I do.

If you could recommend any Bon Jovi or solo material recording (videos and CDs) for a killer home theater/music system demo, what would you choose and why?

All of our stuff sounds pretty good. Obviously, if you’re looking for a classic Bon Jovi album, Slippery When Wet is that. I think as an audiophile [recording], New Jersey may be the best-sounding record that we’ve made, because it’s the last analog record that we made. The production team of Bruce Fairburn and Bob Rock [put together New Jersey], and unfortunately Bruce died [in 1999]; it was Bob’s last album as an engineer. (Rock went on to produce Motley Crue’s Dr. Feelgood and Metallica’s “Black” album immediately following his work on New Jersey.)

To put Bruce and Bob together with the songs that Jon and I wrote - Jon and I were also becoming producers at that time - to put four record producers in the room who really wanted to make a great record, that really wanted to do something special, and to follow up Slippery when Wet was no easy task, but we did. We had more top-10 hits on Jersey than we had on Slippery.

DVD wise, I would say Bon Jovi Live from Madison Square Garden from the last tour is the best sounding that we have so far. It’s also well shot by a guy named Phil Griffin, and it’s mixed by our longtime cohort and engineer Obie O’Brien. He did an amazing job.

source

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Richie Sambora - WTB Interview...

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Richie Sambora on His WTB Fashion Line, His Ex Cher, and Why He Thinks Being A Little Trashy Is a Part of Femininity


 

Last week, as Gwen Stefani was showing her L.A.M.B. collection in the Lincoln Center Tents, another rocker, Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, was hosting the New York debut of WTB—or—White Trash Beautiful, the fashion line he designs with Nikki Lund. Shown at the Metropolitan Pavilion, the models walked to music which was also co-created by the designers. We spoke with Richie about his views on fashion, women and his very atypical life as a designer.

Racked: When did you start being interested in doing a collection and what made you take the plunge?

Richie: It came out of a song idea I had called "White Trash Beautiful," which was obviously about a girl on the wrong side of the tracks, but she was a fox and everybody dug her. Jon [Bon Jovi] and I had written the song, and it obviously was something we would have wrote when we were in our 20s—it didn't actually fit the style of what we are saying now, being more grown-up. So we shelved the song. Now we fast forward six months, and I'm walking around my house one day and I said, "You know, that really sounds like a cool name for a women's fashion line." So I called my agent and I started to meet people, and he hooked me up with this wonderful girl, Nikki Lund, who had an existing company called Eccentric Symphony. We hit it off and she got exactly what my vision was.

She came over my house a couple of days later, with a truck-load full of fabrics and we just started to jam just almost like song writers. We started putting fabrics together—we'll make a skirt out of this, and we'll compliment it with this, that, and the other thing.

Racked: So you're contribution to the line is literally, physically, designing the clothes with Nikki?

Richie: Yeah, I get into the whole choosing fabrics. Obviously she's the main designer. She's extremely talented. Then six months later, I find out she also happens to be a songwriter and musician. I'm kind of skeptical about it, but we sit down and we write a couple of songs and they are really good. So I asked, "Who do you want to work with?" And she said, "The production team The Matrix." They've worked with Avril Lavigne, Brittney Spears, David Bowie and Korn. So I called them up and said, "Let's get together," and now we have a record. The girls walk to some of the songs at our fashion shows and it's completely different than anything you'd think I'd be involved with musically. Guerilla dance music! I toyed with the idea of putting a song or two on a drive and attaching it when you buy the clothes. It will drive you right to a site where you can see everything.

Racked: You were talking about your vision. What is the inspiration for this collection?

Richie: Well this is like a spring collection, more or less—chiffons and silhouettes, and things like that, but there are a lot of jeans, short jackets and bustiers. It's a spring kind of thing. Our first collection, off the bat it was rockier and heavier: leathers and snakes skins and zebra prints. This collection is a little more airy, a little more ready to wear, so to speak. I think it's going to do well.

Racked: What type of woman—although we kind of have an idea from the name White Trash Beautiful—would you say wears your clothing?

Richie: I think any woman could wear this collection, really. It's like sexy jeans and sexy little shirts. It's not trashy—what it is, is elegant. The name is a little bit funky, so we're going to keep it at WTB. I think the name might constitute some kind of negative connotation but it's really just fun. We're trying to create stuff that's timeless. Nothing to do with trash.

Racked: Whose designs do you wear?

Richie: Everything that I wear on a day to day basis now, and also on stage, I design. So I've been kind of doing this haphazardly for a long time, but now there's a concept behind it...Actually a turning point for me, was when I was about twenty eight years old and I started dating Cher. Obviously she's a fashionista, she taught me a lot.

Racked: What did Cher teach you?

Richie: How to put things together. You shouldn't wear this with that; what was right for the occasion. Because when you're a kid you don't know that kind of stuff, especially when you're a man. She's a great lady.

Racked: So that had an input into your line today?

Richie: Absolutely, I think you bring everything in your life to where you are at this point, right now. Everything I see on women walking down the street is a big part of my input in this particular line. I know what I like to see women in. I think that clothes are an expression for women especially. That's what I want this line to do. Empower women, make them feel like they are an individual, make them feel sexy. Cause everybody's got a little bit of white trash in them. No matter where you are. Everybody wants to be a little sexy and a little trashy. I think it's a part of femininity.

Racked: You've mastered one creative field, what's it like starting as a novice in another one?

Richie: It's great, that's the beauty to life, that you never stop learning. Nikki's teaching me a lot about that stuff. I'm learning a lot about retail, and about fashion retail and all this other stuff, all over the world. It's a great experience and I'm having fun because I get to create in a whole other realm.

Racked: What do Jon Bon Jovi and the rest of the band think of the line?

Richie: They're digging it. Jon's daughter walked in my show in London. My daughter walked in both the LA shows that we've done. Everybody's very supportive in the band of each other's individual projects. No matter what they are. That's what I think is the main ingredient that keeps this band together almost thirty years now.

source

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Bon Jovi Trivia Sweepstakes...

Monday, February 21, 2011

From BonJovi.com



You can win tickets to the Bon Jovi 2011 tour by answering any of the trivia questions that we ask on Twitter ! Keep reading for details!

Bon Jovi's Twitter account, @BonJovi, will be asking 1 trivia question a day starting at 12pm PST on Monday, February 21, and will continue doing so until Friday, February 25. Answer any of the 5 questions in order to be entered to WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO THE BON JOVI TOUR!

Be sure to reply @BonJovi to the tweet with your answer and the city nearest you to the trivia questions with the hashtag #BonJoviTrivia (i.e. "@BonJovi My answer - Los Angeles #BonJoviTrivia"). Each response will be noted and a random winner will be chosen to win the prize of 1 pair of tickets to the nearest Bon Jovi show. Good Luck!

Tour Dates
March 9, 2011Chicago, ILUnited Center
March 17, 2011San Antonio, TXAT&T Center
March 19, 2011Las Vegas, NVMGM Grand Garden Arena
March 22, 2011Salt Lake City, UTEnergySolutions Arena
March 26, 2011Vancouver, BCRogers Arena
May 14, 2011Atlanta, GAPhilips Arena
May 17, 2011Houston, TXToyota Center
May 19, 2011Memphis, TNFedEx Forum
May 21. 2011Milwaukee, WIBradley Center
May 22, 2011St. Louis, MOScottrade Center
May 06, 2011Uniondale, NYNassau Coliseum
May 15, 2011Orlando, FLAmway Center
May 12, 2011Des Moines, IAWells Fargo Center
May 10, 2011Columbus, OHNationwide Arena

Read the Official Rules Sweepstakes end February 25, 2011

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Story Update...

Sunday, February 20, 2011




The next chapter of New Beginnings has been posted.

Enjoy!

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Searching for his Future Ex?

Richie Sambora Ready to Meet His 'Future Ex-Wife'


Richie Sambora is looking for his Mrs. Right – or at least Mrs. Right, for now.

"I'm on a search for my future ex-wife," the Bon Jovi guitarist, 51, told PEOPLE at the N.Y.C. Fashion Week Style 360 afterparty for his line, White Trash Beautiful.

All joking aside, Sambora – whose 2006 split from Heather Locklear came after 11 years of marriage – is ready to settle down, which can only mean one thing: more kids.

"I'm just looking for the right person to have more children [with]," said the father-of-one, whose daughter Ava (with Locklear) is 13. "I just love being a dad."

He adds: "There's nothing like a love for our children. I love being a papa, and that's the truth."

So what's he looking for in the potential mother of his future kids? Sambora says he doesn't have "any preconceived notions."

"I think it just hits you," he says.

source

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Queenie's Loyal Subjects

About Me

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I am and always have been a Bon Jovi fan. This blog is just my obsession taken a step further, my imagination in high gear if you will. I love to read and decided to see what would happen when I took that love of the written word and ramped it up a bit.

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