JBJ & Friends at the City of Hope Gala

*sigh* I really wanted to go to this, and I tried, but the coordinator never got back to me about public tickets in time. GRRR.

Anyway, here's some eye candy from the Spirit of Life award gala last night, honoring president of AEG Live, Tim Leiweke. Sorry about the ugly watermarks on half of them, but I'm not paying $10-75/month for the privilege of removing them. :)

Modern-day Gina gets to see Bon Jovi for free

This is refreshingly good "news" in the Bon Jovi department - instead of laughing at her, they buy her a ticket! I love it.

http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/28692/

Fargo Police send maintenance employee to Bon Jovi

Long after the dayside officers leave the Fargo Police Department, Genevieve Schell is starting her own night shift, cleaning the police department. When Fargo Police Officers heard Genevieve is a die hard Bon Jovi fan, they put out their out their own all-points bulletin, hoping to raise enough money among Fargo Police Officers to send Genevieve to the March Bon Jovi concert at the Fargodome.

“Officers are extremely appreciative of the work she does. She comes to work enthusiastic and brightens up our gloomy days.”

Fargo Police raised enough money for two tickets. They gave her gift certificates to boot.

“They did that from their heart. Not many people do that. It tells me what kind of people they are.”

“That some of the line level officers would got together and did something gracious and out of the goodness of their heart is impressive.”

This grandma and great-grandmother sure likes her music and come March, she will have the night off from cleaning to line up with the rest of the Bon Jovi fans to hear the songs she knows by heart. Bon Jovi comes to town March 13th.

“I might be an older lady, but when it comes to Bon Jovi, that is my thing.”

Create your own: Greatest Hits II

I'm bringing back a post I did in May last year, where I listed my choice track list for a second greatest hits album. Now that everyone has had a chance to listen to and get to know The Circle, I'm curious what everyone else holds to be their favorite tracks of all-time - Bon Jovi's greatest hits in your eyes.

Mine would be a two-disc set featuring every hit from 1983-2008, plus some special bonus collector's material, including off-album tracks, singles, etc.

Sample:

Disc 1 (1983-1995)
1. Runaway
2. In & Out of Love
3. Wanted Dead Or Alive
4. You Give Love A Bad Name
5. Raise Your Hands
6. Livin' On A Prayer
7. Born To Be My Baby
8. Lay Your Hands On Me
9. Livin' In Sin
10. Blood On Blood
11. I'll Be There For You
12. Keep the Faith
13. In These Arms
14. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
15. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
16. These Days
17. Something To Believe In


Disc 2 (1996-2010)
1. Radio Saved My Life Tonight
2. It's My Life
3. Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen From Mars (I am one of the few that LOVES this song!)
4. Thank You For Loving Me
5. One Wild Night
6. Bounce
7. Everyday
8. Have A Nice Day
9. Last Man Standing
10. Who Says You Can't Go Home
11. Lost Highway
12. Whole Lots of Leavin'
13. (You Want To) Make A Memory (okay, actually not that fond of the song, but it WAS a top single)
14. I Love This Town
15. We Weren't Born To Follow
16. Superman Tonight
17. Happy Now


Collector's Bonus Disc:
1. Hallelujah (live)
2. Mister Sambo (hey, Richie should get a spot since Jon's got Always and Blaze all over the place)
3. Tumblin' Dice (as should David...)
4. Waltzing Matilda (did you forget Teek?)
5. Twist & Shout live (again, LOVE this one)
6. IBTFY or These Days (live w/ Richie on vocals)
7. Memphis Lives In Me (David)
8. Last Man Standing (original version from boxset)
9. I Get A Rush (live)
10. If I Can't Have Your Love (Richie)


What would you pick? You don't have to create a 2-disc set or collector's edition, just list whatever you'd like to see on a second greatest hits album.

I'm curious. :)

Ten things you could buy instead of a Bon Jovi tour ticket

It's no surprise that fans are less than thrilled with the skyrocketing prices of Bon Jovi's tour tickets - both from the Lost Highway tour, and now The Circle. For the first time since I joined the fan club, I actually bought tickets to their shows on Ticketmaster instead of through the FC. Why, you ask? Because Backstage was asking a good $10 MORE than Ticketmaster for a seat restricted to OUTSIDE the circle section (meaning higher than row 10)...put it this way: I could pay a total of $154.25 (including service charges and tax) and get a chance at anything row 1 and up, OR pay $164.50 (and put money in Matt Bongiovi's pocket) for anything behind row 10. Call me crazy, but I'll save the $10.25.

And that's not to mention INSIDE the circle section - the apparently now-coveted 10 rows within the catwalk's ring that cost a whopping $354 for ticket only. Or don't forget the 5 different VIP packages, all at varying prices as well.


In any case, prices are outrageous. So Bjorn and I composed a list of ten things you could buy with a standard ticket price, and a fan club ticket price. Mind you, I bought three tickets, so I am by no means shoving this in anyone's face.

It's just for perspective.

For the price of ONE $155.00 average Ticketmaster ticket:

1. Two tickets to see Nickelback or Bruce Springsteen on tour.

2. Two-day park hopper pass to Disneyland or Walt Disney World.
3. Two iPod shuffles.
4. Two Blackberries.

5. A multi-tool Leatherman pocket knife
6. A weekend's hotel stay on the Las Vegas Strip.

7. I could pay the monthly installment on my $10,000 car ($144), my car insurance ($126), or my cell phone bill for two months ($75/month).

8. Groceries for an average 4-person family for a week.

9. A Guitar Hero game pack.

10. All of Bon Jovi's studio albums...and have $$ left over.

These days are looong gone...

For the price of ONE $355 fan club Inside the Circle ticket:

1. An 8GB iPod touch with protection plan, black protective case, and headphones w/ remote and mic - or the 32GB iPod touch with protection plan.
2. An iPhone 3G 16GB

3. A Nintendo Wii console, plus a couple games.

4. A Palm TX PDA

5. A Coach designer purse

6. A brand new full set of all-season tires for your car or truck.

7. A standard 5 piece dinette set (4 chairs + 1 table) at Jerome's or Ikea.

8. Three nights at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

9. A round trip plane ticket from San Diego, CA to New York City, NY (that's cross-country, folks)

10. Ten days at Disneyland or Walt Disney World, with souvenir and food money left over; OR a 3-day vacation package including a hotel suite and dining plan.

Of course, there are a zillion things you could buy for a TOTAL of $155 or $355, but we tried to find things that were close to that price - things you could buy in exchange for a ticket.

So. Make ya think?

Entertainment Weekly names The Circle #5 worst album of the year

I STRONGLY DISAGREE.

While The Circle is certainly not their best work ever (New Jersey and Keep the Faith will forever dwarf future musical masterpieces), it IS good. I didn't think the choruses were "tired," although everyone will have a different opinion on the suggestion of "pallid rock cliches." The material was, for the most part, new and fresh - classic Bon Jovi with a modern twist. Some recycled lyrics, sure, because the guys are traditionalists in the lyrical sense - but the music is unlike any other album they've put out.

I have found myself thoroughly enjoying the entire album (okay, besides skipping When We Were Beautiful a few times) and belting out the lyrics to Superman Tonight and Love's the Only Rule especially. The passionate vocals mixed with the crescendoing melody absolutely slays me - I actually get goosebumps.

Clearly, everyone's opinion will differ - I am one of few who actually LOVES the album - but it is certainly not one of the WORST of 2009. Then again, the moron who compiled that list featured the Yeah Yeah Yeah's as the best rock album, as well as Rihanna for best pop album (can we say commercial pop machines??), and Kelly Clarkson for best...comeback? How ironically appropo.

Jon was dead-on when he said they never were - and never will be - a critic's darling. It's because the critics nowadays wouldn't know good music if it hit them square between their narrow eyes. Just gotta take them with a huge grain of salt.

Thirty followers!

I just wanted to post a little THANK YOU (okay, a big one...) to all of my lovely devoted readers - I just logged on and saw that Jovi Bits now has 30 followers! It was at 27 this morning, and 25 about a week ago, so that's pretty significant.

I truly appreciate all of your support and feedback, and I LOVE reading what you have to say (so keep the comments coming!). And I was happily surprised to see how much you all seemed to enjoy my last post with Bjorn - I will try to post more of that sort of read in the future.

Thanks again, and keep reading!!

xoxo

Five songs Bon Jovi could cut from their setlist...and we wouldn't complain.

So tonight, Bjorn (for those who don't know, my boyfriend) and I came across another Jovi blog that discussed five songs they could do without Jovi playing live. That got Bjorn and me thinking (because I disagreed with three of them, although he agreed with four), and we came up with our own list, as well as some thoughts on WHY they play some of those cookie-cutter tunes that have die-hard fans holding their ears.

First off, you have to give them some credit. As an enormously successful rock band with such a huge fan base, they - like it or not - have to play to the masses. The average fan probably doesn't know what Miss Fourth of July or Radio Saved My Life Tonight even sounds like, but they sure as hell can belt out every word to Bad Name and Prayer. And those are the classics that EVERY FAN - die-hard or average - will know. So, naturally, a band wants to hold the attention of its entire audience, and not isolate those who don't buy the box set or demos or B-sides....etc. However, that doesn't mean that every show should be full of the classics. I definitely want them to spice it up with some new stuff, some old stuff, some rare stuff, and a taste of everything in between; otherwise, the die-hard fans are then the ones isolated...and bored!

So, while a good taste of all their material spanning over the years should always be played, Bjorn and I agreed on five songs that we personally could do without hearing - and gave a few thoughts on why:

1. You Give Love A Bad Name

(Me) Seriously, it's old. Not that I don't like it, I'm just really tired of hearing it. The lyrics are almost monotonous at this point, and I don't get any of that 'oomph' when they launch into it anymore.

(Bjorn) There's something about that song that doesn't work live. It doesn't have the beef that the original recording does have - it sounds stripped when it's live. It's been the same version for 23 years...it's time for something new, I guess.

2. Who Says You Can't Go Home

(Me) I can explain this in one sentence: IT'S NOT ALL RIGHT!

(Bjorn) It's like a bastard child - it's not Bon Jovi! All of the Lost Highway album is a bastard child - all of it has to go. I don't even recognize it as a Bon Jovi album; it's never in my CD player.

3. I'll Be There For You (Jon version)

(Me) That sounds so mean, but I don't mean to bash Jon here. It's just that the song gets really overplayed and really overworked and really oversung...and when its played at practically every show you go to, you start to get sick of it, too. However, I thoroughly enjoy it when Richie performs it - mostly because he has a phenomenal voice that NAILS it. Besides, him taking center stage adds that new flavor and new kick to an otherwise very tired tune.

(Bjorn) I think Jon's voice is whining in that song. I like when Richie sings it, because he has the voice to do it.

4. Always

(Me) Now, I absolutely adore the version from Live From London, but those days are past. Jon can't hit those high notes anymore, which is the whole point of the song, so now it just sounds too melancholy and boring. Without that emotion and passion, the song is stripped.

(Bjorn) You expect this great performance that you see in the DVDs (like in the London one, for example), but it's just not going to happen anymore...so you'll always be disappointed.

5. Bad Medicine

(Me) Okay...as much as I like the "commercial breaks" and the goofing off, I'm really tired of this 10-minute performance. It drags on and on, and just takes up too much of the show. They've played it so many times (with the same standard inserted song) that it just needs to go now.

(Bjorn) It bugs me. I like the Osaka version with Richie in '98, because it has more guitar. I really enjoy playing the song, but I don't like listening to it live...which is weird to say. But it drags on, and it bugs me.

Happy 2010!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I hope you all had a safe, happy, and enjoyable New Year's Eve with your loved ones - I had a very nice evening with my boyfriend and friends, playing games and watching the ball drop (3 hours delayed, though, lol). Had a wee too much champagne, though - tummy was a bit unsettled when I went to bed. LOL

Anyway, I truly hope your 2009 was better than mine. I'm hoping earnestly for a much better 2010, filled with success and love, joy and laughter, accomplishments and improvements...and I hope the same for all of you.

I know one thing 2010 will be - full of BON JOVI! I'm SO ready for The Circle tour - having managed to get tickets to three shows (and hoping for two more, if I can get these paid off in time.) Bring on the boys, live music, good friends, and a rockin' ass good time, like all Jovi tours are.

As for this site, I've got some refurbishing plans on the way - I'm really getting into the blogging scene and enjoying learning more about it, so I'm hoping to expand and enhance this place. I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy, and even pass on the name to other Jovi-ites out there. And as always, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for following along.

So while you go about your day today, take a minute to raise a glass...in the name of a brand new year, dear friends and family, and good God-blessed rock and roll.

Cheers!