Mid-Day Motivator: Awesome

What?  No ice cold milk with that cake?  LOL  Bay, I'm surprised at you, being a health care professional and all...

~ Hath

BJCT Post: Uncasville

Bon Jovi was at Mohegan Sun last night!

Check out the BJCT for reviews, the setlist, photos, and videos/audio (as we find it).

Do you have anything you want to share? Drop a line to the BJCT Blog Team

~ Hath

Bon Jovi: Behind the Scenes

Kiwi sent this to me earlier this week, and I forgot to share.

This comes from InMusic.ca:

Bon Jovi Behind the Scenes
Our music editor, Catherine Main takes you behind the scenes of the biggest tour in music today – Bon Jovi. Find out how the rockers get their look, see the set up and more in the inMusic exclusive.




~ Hath

WTB Interview: Richie/Nikki

Thanks, CK, for dropping this in my inbox!

White Trash Beautiful (WTB) is rocker, Richie Sambora's and Nikki Lund's fashion label. The duo presented their Fall 2011 sexy women's collection at fashion week for Style 360 in New York City. Check out the interview by Carlton Jones for ProgressivePulse.com as he interviews the designers.




How much fun was Richie having?

~ Hath

Philly Show - FULL BOOT

Thanks, Catte, for dropping this in my inbox, and thanks to whomever captured this for us!!  It's an archive of FLAC files.

Bon Jovi
Wells Fargo Center
Philadelphia, PA USA
March 2, 2011

Setlist:

01.Intro
02.Just Older
03.Bad Name
04.Born To Be My Baby
05.We Weren't Born To Follow
06.Lost Highway
07.When We Were Beautiful
08.It's My Life
09.Runaway
10.The More Things Change
11.We Got It Going On
12.Bad Medincine W/Hot Legs(Rod Stewart Cover)
13.Lay Your Hands On Me
14.What Do You Got?
15.Diamond Ring
16.I'll Be There For You
17.Love For Sale
18.Squeezebox
19.Who Says You Can't Go Home
20.Sleep When I'm Dead
21.No Apologies
22.Have A Nice Day
23.Keep The Faith

Encore

24.In These Arms
25.Wanted
26.I Love This Town
27.Saturday Night
28.Prayer
29.Blood On Blood

Download Here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QHBRG1TO

 

To open the "RAR" file, you can use 7-zip or WinRAR (google these to find the downloads).

 

You can then convert the FLAC to something your iPod will recognize, or listen to it in FLAC format via WinAmp or Windows Media Player (again, Google is your friend).

 

~ Hath

Mid-Day Motivators: Dude

LMAO Bay: I have days where I feel like this WITHOUT pharmacological assistance.

~ Hath

NMS Movie on NetFlix

Thanks to Becky (and her mom) for this bit of information.

You can now rent the NMS show on Netflix.

Here is the movie blurb from netflix.com:

Bon Jovi: The Circle Tour: Live From New Jersey (2010)

This vibrant concert film captures the rapport between legendary rock band Bon Jovi and more than 200,000 hometown fans during performances inaugurating New Jersey's New Meadowlands Stadium as part of the group's 2010 "The Circle" tour. Fabulous lighting and stage design highlight the action-packed shows as the band performs classics and new songs, including "Runaway," "It's My Life," "When We Were Beautiful" and "Work for the Working Man."

Cast: Bon Jovi, Jon Bon Jovi
Director: Anthony M. Bongiovi
Genre: Music & Musicals

Not rated. This movie has not been rated by the MPAA.

This movie has not been released on DVD. Future availability is not guaranteed.

So, while the flick is not available on DVD, if you have Netfix, a DVR, and/or a computer, you can have this for your very own.  My favorite DVR-related gadget is this Digital Video Converter, by DuPont solutions.  It's come in very handy over the past few years...

Of course if it comes out on DVD/BluRay, you're encouraged to purchase an authorized copy.

~ Hath

BJCT Post: Philadelphia

Bon Jovi was in Philly last night!

Check out the BJCT for reviews, the setlist, photos, and videos/audio (as we find it).

Do you have anything you want to share? Drop a line to the BJCT Blog Team

~ Hath

Circle Arc 8: Boston

Yeah okay, it's not officially The Circle Tour anymore.  But it's really the same tour.  Really.  It's the same set list, so it's the same tour :)  Brace yourselves; this is a long one.

Where do I start with this one? Let me get the complaint out of the way first.

NONE of the new songs from the Greatest Hits were played last night. I guess Boston wasn't a good radio market for them. Still, it was a massive disappointment to my 10-year old son, who absolutely adores "No Apologies" and has me play it every time he's in my car. We thought that one was a sure bet.

Okay, enough of that. Now onto the HIGHLIGHT of the show -- no "Work for the Working Man". They tried, God bless 'em, but Boston said, "Uh, no" and the speaker system blew. Like smoking blew. One of the couples we talked to on the train ride out of the city was on the side-stage, and could see smoke (not the effects, but an acrid-smelling smoke) coming from the general wires-and-boards area. Now, I have no idea if where they were sitting is where all the sound is coordinated from, but still, #FAIL! Epic #FAIL!



#FAIL to the point that Jon stopped the show and sat down on the stage with a WTF look on his face.

#FAIL to the point that they LEFT the stage and brought the house lights back up (at which point Hathlet innocently asks, "Is the show over already?")

It took them nearly 15 minutes to get the sound back up and running (I think that was the time box, we used the time to take care of the five words a mom doesn't want to hear in the middle of a show -- Mama, I hafta go pee -- so I can't be certain of the time). A general announcement came across the in-house PA that they were working on it and to just hold on a few minutes. When the sound check came over the speaker system, the place roared. Jon comes out with a "can you hear me now?" and the place erupted in laughter. I wonder who's in trouble over this one.

When I saw a similar thing happen at the 1st night of NMS in May, I thought "I'll never see something like this again -- this is something to remember!". Boy was I wrong. That night in Jersey, the guys at least kept singing, and the crew/stadiumites got the sound back in a minute or two. Not so last night. But I will say, it's something I'll always remember. Hathlet too.

OK, so Hathlet. He's 10. And short. In hindsight, floor seats, even though they were only 10 rows from the stage, were not the best option. We managed to move up to the next row on the aisle for a few songs at the beginning, so he could see, but when those folks came to claim their seats we went back to ours, and he spent a lot of time dodging around the arms/heads/signs (grrrr) of the people in front of us. He watched a good portion of the show on the monitors, but was able to watch the stage too. Especially when the guys came out onto the circle -- but more about that later.

The venue. TD Garden. First, will-call ticket pickup was an absolute BREEZE.  Easiest thing, and smooth as silk.  When we got to the will-call window, the line to get into the Garden was very short, only about 20 people or so.  By the time we got our tickets, had a slice, and hit the rest rooms, the line was through the length of the building, out the door, and up the block.  Damn.  It was all worth it though.  Especially when we realized where exactly our seats were.

If you haven't been there, it's small. The floor section anyway. Holy crap. We were SO close to the circle. And the pit seemed to be pretty small, so when the guys were on stage, I was able to see them perfectly. This guitar picture was taken on half-zoom with  my POS camera.  Not too shabby.  *shallow comment alert* When Jon raised his arms on stage, the V of his hipbones that make Jonny girls swoon on five continents were completely visible...growl lol *end of shallow comment* It also wasn't as loud as I remembered the other shows being, but that could just be me. It had great sound though (when it was working lol) and I have to say, a fantastic crowd. I need to do a few shout outs to some of the people (aside from the band) who made this a special night for my son.

#ShoutOut to @XDRegina, who brought her friend Kendra over to say hi. They had pit tickets, her mom was somewhere up in the arena lol Hathlet was thrilled to see some of my "Bon Jovi friends".

#shoutOut to Kelly, our next-seat neighbor who was enjoying her 41st show, and was just the nicest woman. She was wonderfully chatty, including Hathlet in the conversations.

#ShoutOut to the guys behind us in Section D who got a kick out of Hathlet's excitement, and knuckle bumped with him periodically throughout the show. Made him feel like "one of the guys".

#ShoutOut to the woman who stopped at our seats on the way out of the arena and told Hathlet it was her first show too, and they shook hands.

#ShoutOut to the two girls we walked with on the way to the train station who chatted with Hathlet about the show and gave me credit for "raising him right" by nurturing his love for Bon Jovi. Thanks girls!  They were also sitting near Coach Belichick and his guest during the show.  I can neither confirm nor deny if Coach smiled.

and finally #ShoutOut to the two guys behind us in line getting through the turnstiles at North Station -- Dude 1, hope your work day doesn't suck too badly, and Dude 2, Hathlet skipped school today too ;)

Okay, okay, onto the review.

I had expectations of a vanilla set list, and honestly, that was fine by me. This show wasn't about hoping for that rare gem, it was all about my concert-going partner. This was my son's first rock show experience, and I was more interested in his reactions, and trying to see things through his eyes. I even brought my camera in, but was too mesmerized by my son's obvious joy to take more than a handful of shots. I have to say, this was my favorite show ever. Not that I've been to a ton of shows, but the seats were great, the music was great, there was an adventure thrown in, and the company was beyond compare. Definitely one of my top nights ever.

The show opened with "Last Man Standing", with Jon on a satellite stage at the back of the floor. Hathlet stood up on his chair, and was able to see everything. The grin on his face was priceless. I was a bit bummed they didn't start with "Blood on Blood" since that's one of Hathlet's faves, but this was a great song to start with as well. When Jon ran back to the stage for "You Give Love a Bad Name", Hathlet tracked his progress (by watching the spotlights as he ran up the length of the arena) with a huge grin on his face.

For "Bad Name" and "Born to Be My Baby" we were up at the aisle seats, so he was able to watch both of those songs on the stage "live" rather than on the screens. High energy, great sound.  Lots of dancing and singing, both on stage and in our seats :)

I love "We Weren't Born to Follow" and "Lost Highway" live. LH is on permanent rotation on Hathlet's iPod, so he was jazzed for that song.

When "Love's the Only Rule" started, I sighed. This is one of my favorite Circle tracks. Hathlet joined in on the whoa-oa-oa-oh-oh's at the end when Jon was having us all sing, and he thought it was just great.  He loved the way that Jon gets the crowd into the show.  I think that was the point he finally understood the pull of the Live Jovi Machine.

Next came "Work for the Working Man". Part of it anyway. That's when the PA system blew out. I have to say, couldn't have happened to a nicer song.

"It's My Life" and "Runaway" had Hathlet singing and dancing and smiling a mile wide, and when they launched into "Just Older", he grabbed my arm with excitement. He loves that song too.

He got a kick out of Jon going up the robot platforms for "We Got It Goin' On" and thought they were pretty cool. The robots didn't do too much this show -- I don't know if it was because the venue wasn't that large or what -- but they seemed to mostly provide some background graphics, and that's about it.

"Bad Medicine" is another of Hathlet's favorites, though he didn't understand the whole 'jukebox' thing and had to ask what the Roy Orbison song was (lol). I guess there are still a few more music appreciation lessons to give him.

When Jon started the opening bars of "Lay Your Hands on Me" (to get the crowd to sing along, and make it like church lol) Hathlet says, "Isn't this Richie's song?" See? I am getting some of the lessons right. It was. We got the funky cool keys/guitar jam for the solo which was just awesome. I'm so glad I got to see it, and even gladder (is that word?) that Hathlet got to see it.

A gorgeous "Hallelujah" out on the circle, followed by dual-mics for "I'll Be There For You" -- I guess one of them must still be a little sick -- no mic sharing for them. Hathlet cuddled into my side for that one, and I swear, I got misty eyed. I may have a new top-5 Jovi song. Hmmm... what to bump....

I was a bit bummed we didn't get the acoustic experience, especially since they were so DAMNED close when they were on the circle... But again, I guess it was something that they decided Boston wouldn't like, so Richie left the circle after IBTFY (and after having some butt-pack problems and no guitar sound lol), and Jon launched into "Bed of Roses". No dance-with-a-lucky-audience-lady, but he did do the sit-on-the-edge-of-the-circle-JUUUUUUST-out-of-reach-and-croon thing, which was fun.

Jon headed back to the stage for "Who Says You Can't Go Home", which is one of my son's favorite songs. He was singing and dancing and we did the "it's alright"'s with the hand motions and everything, and he was grinning the whole time.

Then they launched into his all-time favorite Jovi song, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead". I'm glad they did this one -- Hathlet was commenting just the other day in the car that he hoped they'd play that one. The The filler, "Start Me Up" was met with a "what's that song?"

When Richie strapped on the electric double-neck for "Have a Nice Day" Hathlet was all excited. He loves cool guitars as much as I do. We didn't get Richie flipping us off (booo) but it was still an awesome tune. Then the maracas of "Keep the Faith", which Hathlet loved. He got a kick out of Jon's big poofy hair from all the shaking around.



I know this isn't from Dry County --
but it's the best Richie shot I got last night

 When the lights came back on for the encore, and the opening straings of "Dry County" that was all for me. Hathlet prefers the harder rocking songs. Though he did enjoy the solos. Damn they get me every time. Richie was on FIRE last night.

"Wanted Dead or Alive" or the crab-show-song as it's known in our house (thanks to Deadliest Catch) was a lot of fun. Hathlet loves this song too, and has a deep adoration for the double-necked Taylor like I do. One thing that he couldn't get over was the number of times Richie changed guitars throughout the night. He had questions about Richie's techs, and why the guitars have different sounds, and do they use different strings -- Takumi, care to drop me a line?  I can pass along Hathlet's email address :)

For me, "I Love This Town" is one of those take it or leave it songs, but the crowd seemed to love it.

And of course, the iconic "Livin' on a Prayer" finished the night. Hathlet sang along with everyone, and when the house went dark and the house lights finally came back on, he was a mess. Exhausted. And we still had an hour and a half or so left of our night -- we had to get home. Two trains later, he was passed out in the back seat of Darlin' (sorry Catte, Wills, Liz, and Tara -- I wanted to let him sleep, but have a blast tonight!)

All in all, an amazing night, mostly because of the company and not the show. Some cool moments mixed in, a lot of really GREAT fans around us, and a perfect mother-and-son bonding experience.  Virtually nobody sat at all during the show -- even during Richie's solo -- which was amazing.  I've always seen the mass exodus to the beer stands during Richie's song.  I was glad to see people stay to pay him respect. 

The one thing that was annoying as all hell about our seats was the constant stream of security people walking in front of us.  Yeah, we were in the first row of the section, and yes, there was a corridor there, but DAMN we spent more time looking at the security guys as they stalked back and forth than we did the actual band.  Note to self, only take Row 1 next time if it's ACTUALLY Row 1.  Oh, and win the lottery too.

I always thank the band for bringing certain women into my life over the course of my fandom, but now I have something else to thank them for -- an unforgettable night with my son.  He's still humming with excitement and keeps breaking out into song JOVI of course ;)

~ Hath

NRL Ad Campaign

~ Hath

Jon: Through The Years

A creepy, but kinda funny picture-morphing look at JonBon through the years.  From People Magazine, in honor of Jon's birthday.  The link is here.

Thanks Mys for dropping this in my inbox :)

~ Hath

Wish Jon a Happy Birthday!

From the Bon Jovi Website:

US/CANADA FANS: Call & leave Jon a voicemail message for his birthday! Call 1-201-984-5711 and leave your best birthday greeting.
UK FANS: You may also call and leave Jon a birthday message! Call 0208 8206662 and leave a voicemail after the beep.


You can also leave a birthday card message on Causes.

~ Hath

Mid-Day Motivators: Found

Now see?  Jon's pointing right at me (lol) Bettina has my back; thanks girl!

~ Hath

Call for Donations

In honor of JonBon's birthday, the Soul Foundation is calling for donations. This was all over twitter last night:

Our Board Chairman, Jon Bon Jovi, is celebrating his birthday on Wednesday March 2nd and we have created this Birthday Wish campaign in celebration!

All donations are welcome and go a long way in helping those in need...every little bit helps!

The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation exists to combat issues that force families & individuals into economic despair. It is our goal to recognize and maximize the human potential in those affected by poverty and homelessness by offering assistance in establishing programs that provide food and affordable housing while supporting social services and job training programs. For more information, please visit our website: www.jonbonjovisoulfoundation.org

Thank you for your support!

Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation

~ Hath

Wanted Wednesday: On This Day...

First and foremost, to band and all the crew who made last night possible, thank you for a night neither I nor my son will ever forget.

Second, happy birthday, Jon!!! Not old, just older, baby.

OK. NOW, please rise for the playing of our national anthem.

Two shows from the recent past, both on Jon's birthday. First, Wachovia in 2008.





You can download this track here.

And, thanks to LoveMyCon on YouTube, we can watch the performance:



Second, Sacramento 2010:

"Alright, this is for all the guys out there...I'm smart enough to sing most of these songs for the girls, see..."

Yeah Jonny, people can say whatever they want about you, but they can't say you're dumb.

I have to ask, how many other concerts (not TV appearances) did Richie NOT wear the Stetson (or some other hat) during this song? Isn't that sacrilege or something? Oh, and bring back RED in the tour wardrobe, Richie -- it's a really good color on you...





You can download this track here.

And plaspohlme captured the 2010 performance for your viewing pleasure:



Let's Ride!

~ Hath

BJCT Post: Boston

Bon Jovi was in MY back yard last night! Hathlet and I had a great time, and I'll get a review up at some point later today or tonight.

Check out the BJCT for reviews, the setlist, photos, and videos/audio (as we find it).

Do you have anything you want to share? Drop a line to the BJCT Blog Team

~ Hath

Mid-Day Motivators: Look Bro

NOOOO!  That's not where my seats are Bay!!!  (lol)

~ Hath

Steel Wheelchair Tour?

This article from PhillyBurbs talks about Bon Jovi being a Touring Machine, and how, if they tour for another 20 years, will reach Richie's goal of "becoming the Stones" who are working a 50th anniversary tour.

Bon Jovi has sold more than 120 million albums and it has no problem filling stadiums.

The group's 2010 "Circle" tour was the most popular jaunt of the year and the band is more celebrated now than during its 1980s heyday.

What's left for the mega-loved, New Jersey-based phenomenon to accomplish?

"We want to be the Rolling Stones," guitarist Richie Sambora says. "I know I do."

Well, if that's the case, expect to see Sambora and his bandmates - vocalist-guitarist Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan and drummer Tico Torres - to be rocking in the year 2033.

That's when the band will mark its half-century together. The Stones are planning for a tour next year, which will celebrate its own 50th anniversary.

What a drag it is getting old, indeed, but Bon Jovi has a way to go before it embarks on any "Steel Wheelchairs" tour.

The group, which will perform on Jon Bon Jovi's 49th birthday Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center, is hitting its stride at midlife. It still has energy to burn and the members of the act know how to bring it.

"We know how to give good stadium," says Sambora.

You can read the whole article here.

~ Hath

Mid-Day Motivator: Coffee

Bay, it IS that kind of Monday -- but I prefer my caffeine cold and bubbly :)

~ Hath

BJCT Post: Washington DC

Bon Jovi was in Our Nation's Captial last night!

Check out the BJCT for reviews, the setlist, photos, and videos/audio (as we find it).

Do you have anything you want to share? Drop a line to the BJCT Blog Team

~ Hath