Out and About...
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Look who was spotted out and about in Miami!
Love the shorts Rich, the shoes not so much! LOL
5 weeks ago
Love the shorts Rich, the shoes not so much! LOL
Atlanta - Phillips Arena 4-15-10
Friday, April 16, 2010
I am sorry to report that I have been unable to find a review of last night's show in Atlanta. I did, however, find some photos. The Atlanta Journal Constitution had these on their website:
Review - Bon Jovi @ Tulsa BOK Center
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
From Tulsa World:
Bon Jovi stays true to rock roots in Tulsa concert
Bon Jovi kick-started its set Tuesday night with an inspirational and perhaps too-literal video montage of the rock act’s tour and new album, “The Circle,” with a large circle of words that morphed into, well, a huge circle.
“So, what y’all been up to for the last 20 years?” lead singer Jon Bon Jovi asked the audience, referencing how long it’s been since his band last performed in Tulsa. He then launched into “When We Were Beautiful,” and his eyes looked misty as cameras projected his face onto a huge screen behind him and drums rumbled the BOK Center arena.
The high-definition video imagery on “We Weren’t Born to Follow” was a visual dedication to liberal icons and all-American heroes, including Bob Dylan, firefighters and athletes. But the tone soon shifted from political to party.
Jon Bon Jovi worked his larger than life antics and Mick Jagger-dance moves, hands open and fingers splayed. He didn’t need to prompt the audience when “You Give Love A Bad Name” launched to squeals and claps. The audience knew every word.
“Born to Be My Baby” wooed a crowd that wouldn’t sit down as Richie Sambora’s guitar segued into “Lost Highway.”
“Superman Tonight” flew into “We Got it Goin’ On” as Jon Bon Jovi yelled, “I’m just now getting started!” and rolled into one of the band’s signature tunes, “Bad Medicine,” followed by “Roadhouse Blues” and “It’s My Life.” Sambora then took over lead vocals for “Lay Your Hands on Me.” More than 20 songs filled the two-plus hour set.
These older white men are toned, talented and musically attuned. But they don’t dance as well as they used to. Not that anyone seemed to really notice, unless, possibly, they were big fans of musical dance productions like “Hair” or “West Side Story.”
Frontman Jon Bon Jovi, 48, easily could pass for 30 in every sense, especially vocally. He still has his full range.
Three behemoth video screens reflected the crowd back to itself as it cheered and screamed, then split into several dozen smaller screens that flashed scenes of cultural icons, including Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and even President Barack Obama.
The band performed a handful of rarely performed tunes, including “Open All Night” and “Something for the Pain.” Other hits included “I’ll Be There for You,” “Work for the Working Man” and “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”
The concert’s set list was an intelligent mix of tried-and-true and brand new.
The newest album, “The Circle,” is a somewhat contrived return to the band’s blue-collar rock beginnings. So was the tour.
After nearly 30 years together, it’s hard not to come across that way. These days, the group sings about politics and individuality more than day-long diner shifts, but Jon Bon Jovi and his bandmates are still the genre’s golden boys.
And that’s OK.
The hi-definition video screens screamed modernity. The band may be a long way from its humble beginnings, but it’s stayed true to its original path.
They’ve learned a lot about showmanship over the years and still sell out huge arena venues across the globe. The guys have worked their way up the ranks and now own their own pop culture company, so to speak.
Opening act Dashboard Confessional brought its skinny-boy indie rock doused in melodramatic, theatrical vocals. It was valiant but doomed — the audio quality was sub-par, muddy and distorted, though “Valiant,” “Hands Down” and its version of Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69” were spot-on, both lyrically and musically. The sound quality just wasn’t there.
Jon Bon at SONY Dash Launch Party
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
According to Vanity Fair, whilst Jon was home last week on a much deserved break, he attended a launch party at his friend Donny Deutsch's Trump Park Avenue Penthouse for the new Sony Dash.
Jon Visits CityWalk...
Jon Bon Jovi checks out Dallas efforts to help homeless
by GARY REAVES / WFAA-TV
DALLAS — Signing autographs is what you'd expect from a rock star. But we found Jon Bon Jovi is doing it in the most unlikely of places: CityWalk at 511 Akard Street in downtown Dallas.
A 1950s-era high-rise, the building recently opened with high-end condos, moderate rent apartments and homes for the formerly homeless — all under one roof.
Bon Jovi's Soul Foundation has spent $6 million building affordable houses. Now, in every city where he plays a concert, he's also taking tours like this, looking for ideas and trying to inspire others.
"There are a lot of hard-working families who have been displaced in the last couple of years," he said.
Bon Jovi gets his inspiration from Sister Mary Scullion, a nun from Philadelphia who is an affordable housing activist. She says housing like CityWalk works on many levels.
"What we've found is permanent supportive housing saves lives, but it also saves the taxpayers money in terms of prison costs, shelter costs, and emergency room costs," she said.
Sister Mary is also the inspiration behind the Bon Jovi song, "We Weren’t Born to Follow."
After touring CityWalk, Bon Jovi joined Jerry Jones' daughter Charlotte at the Salvation Army's Casa Shelter, which provides emergency housing for kids.
Bon Jovi says it's time to change from the "me" decade to a "we" decade.
"This is the issue that moves me," he said. "It may not be the issue that moves them, but the point is: Find something that does. Volunteer."
source
Monday, April 12, 2010
Finally my darlings, there is a new chapter of Sweet Dreams up for your reading pleasure. Please forgive the delay, some times, the words just don't want to flow in any coherent direction.
Enjoy the latest!
Music Radar Interview - Part 2
Richie Sambora on songwriting, soloing and Bon Jovi's success
"Good songs, man. That's why we're still around"
Joe Bosso, Mon 12 Apr 2010, 6:30 pm BST
A couple of weeks ago, Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora sat down with MusicRadar to answer questions submitted by our readers. 
The affable guitarist, singer and songwriter was fresh from a sound check at the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in Connecticut where Bon Jovi were going to rock an intimate crowd (for them) of 5000 screaming, crazed fans.
We're now pleased to present part 2 of our interview with Richie Sambora, during which the uber-successful musician - at last count, Bon Jovi have sold over 120 million albums worldwide - discusses his approach to songwriting, guitar solos, instrument design and the band's latest album, The Circle.
Oh, yes, Richie also weighs in on that most important question of all: The Beatles or The Stones?
You and Jon were inducted recently into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. Some pretty heavy are in there.
"It was a real honor, because it's basically voted on by your peers. The first time I went was five years ago - I went as a guest of my publisher. So I go to the dinner, and the next thing I knew I was on stage with Paul McCartney, James Brown when he was still alive, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Carole King, Brian Wilson, Neil Diamond…and myself!"
Now you're name-dropping.
"It's true. Man, I standing there and I'm going, 'Wow, this is incredible!' They all got inducted that year, so it was pretty heavy. So I'm up there and I'm gonna jam, right? And Paul goes, 'Kansas City - you start it!' I was like, 'Me?!' I'm like junior. But it was cool, so I started it and we had a great time. And then I became friends with those people.
"Since then, I've inducted Les Paul into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. And then we got inducted. It was a real honor. I loved it."
Let's talk about songwriting. If you can put it into words, what have you learned over the years? Can you learn something over time?
"Absolutely. Sure. You just gotta keep at it. Songwriting is something that's very daunting until you have your first successful song, I think. And you can measure success by a couple of different things: Finishing a song first lyrically and looking at it yourself and saying, 'OK, now I have some cohesive lyrics.'
"And then the other part of success is obviously making a record and having it be accepted by people, having it touch people and actually mean something to people. Livin' On A Prayer, Wanted Dead Or Alive, It's My Life - I'm lucky to have written a bunch of those."
You can read the rest of the interview here.
Here is the podcast:
Monday Morning Pick-Me-Up
It's Monday, back to work day... I needed a little pick me up to get me going, and these guys never fail to bring a smile to my face. Even on a Monday morning.
Review: Dallas, Night 1
Sunday, April 11, 2010
From the Dallas Morning News:
Concert review: Bon Jovi has lost its snarl, but that's not a problem
12:24 PM CDT on Sunday, April 11, 2010
By MIKE DANIEL / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
Bon Jovi has lost its snarl.
But that's not really a problem. It's by design, as demonstrated by the band's polished-to-a-mirror-shine performance Saturday to a long-sold-out American Airlines Center.
Arguably the U.S.'s most consistent rock act of the last quarter-century, Bon Jovi is two months into its largest world tour in 20-plus years – "The Circle Tour," so named officially after its latest CD and, perhaps, unofficially for its promise to perform some of its oldest songs to complete a cycle of sorts.
With one or two exceptions (most notably "Runaway," Bon Jovi's first hit in 1984 and the three-song encore's cracking opener), the older sounded much the same as the recent – not a bad trait considering the 26-song, 145-minute set's pristine sound and the act's deliberate delivery of it. Age has understandably tempered the band; David Bryan's keys are more prominent while Richie Sambora's guitar is inched back, even during his tastefully flamboyant solos.
Jon Bon Jovi, 48, looks half his age and still gestures with the drama and romanticism of a conductor or Shakespearean actor. His voice has lost little tonality or effective range, as shown by skin-tingling turns through Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and his charge's own "I'll Be There for You."
But Bon Jovi's a stately heartthrob now, unconcerned with exorbitant bombast in favor of solidifying his niche as blue-collar rock's aw-shucks golden boy. For instance, the half-circular stage was small for an arena setup; the money plainly went to the video monitors – one could snap to horizontal and be danced upon, while another could physically split into 64 separate screens above the band.
But even the halcyon-days hits sounded more mature. "Wanted Dead or Alive" had its gritty tension neutered; "Lay Your Hands on Me" was sung by Sambora with an overtness bordering on contrived machismo; "Love for Sale" was plain despite novelty (Bryan on an accordion? Whoa); "Bad Medicine" became an unfortunate medley with two even older covers – the Doors' "Roadhouse Blues" and the Temptations' "Shout."
That Bon Jovi chose this night to film a new video (for the ballad "When We Were Beautiful," the next single from The Circle) was cool, but not novel. It could've been done in any city. When the snarl's faded, a good band – and Bon Jovi's very good – can repeat at will what remains, both old and new.
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