Bon Jovi at this point is still putting out material on a steady basis. This time around we get their 5th live video called ‘Live at Madison Square Garden’. It was released on several different dates around the world, but here in the U.S., it was released on May 11, 2010, but elsewhere around the world it was released in November 2009. In the States this thing did go to #1 on the Video charts.

The show was recorded on July 14 & 15, 2008 in New York City at the famous Madison Square Garden…I know, that was a shock given the name of the video. It was directed by Anthony Bongiovi and Brian Lockwood, glad to see Jon keeping it in the family. The version I have is the DVD, but if you buy the Blu-Ray, you get the great documentary we discussed last week, ‘When We Were Beautiful’. The story around that DVD centered around the free Central Park show which was like a day or so before these fine concerts. The band was tight and ready to go.

The video doesn’t waste anytime and once you hit play, the band is there ready to go at full speed. They open with the song “Lost Highway” and not just because I don’t like that album, but what an awful song to kick off the show with. They used to kick off with something so powerful and energetic that this falls flat. With that being said, this is probably the only mistake they make the whole night. You get a band that is still in their prime, Jon’s vocals sound amazing and the band is as tight as ever. They go in to “Born to Be My Baby” and then Jon pulls out his acoustic guitar, Richie picks up his slide guitar and they go in to “Blaze of Glory” and things pick up from there.

“It’s My Life” gets the crowd worked up even more and let me tell you, they are worked up. They are really in to “Keep the Faith” and when “Raise Your Hands” starts to play, those hands and arms never come down. Then the band slows things down with a medley of “Living in Sin” and The Dixie Cups’ “Chapel of Love”. This is the only time I hear a hiccup in Jon’s vocals, but it short lived and momentarily brief. Probably my least favorite song of the night as I swear they are playing too slow. Now, Richie’s solo is great though. They keep things go and things do improve with the song “Always” which is such a great ballad. Richie’s solo on this goes on and on and it is freaking fantastic. These boys know how to do a ballad, no doubt.

Things go a little country with “Whole Lot of Leavin'” with the guitar picking, but they do a fine job on this as it isn’t a terrible song. What is great about it here is that Richie and Jon are basically singing the song together and they sound great together. A big hole there now without Richie…sorry, but there is. Then we get “In These Arms” so the slow part of the show is still going on. Nothing to add about this song, they know how to play this one. With “We Got It Going On”, the country is back yet again, but the energy is turned up and the energy returns except for me this would be called a bathroom song…enough said.

The mic is turned over to Richie now and he sings “I’ll Be There For You” which is awesome…too bad it wasn’t one of his solo songs…I mean Jon got one of his own solo songs so why not Richie?? Just sayin’. Now with what happens a few years later, I guess Richie wasn’t there for us. Sorry…was that too soon! “(You Want To) Make A Memory” slows things back down, but with this song it is welcome. This is really a great song. Jon is out on a satellite stage in the crowd now dressed in a red shirt. The women or really singing along with him and looking up at him in awe. I bet their husbands wished they looked at them that way.

Jon stays out on the satellite stage with his acoustic guitar and he goes in to “Blood on Blood” by himself. The band kicks in to full gear and Jon gets down and walks through the crowd slowly back to the stage. It isn’t the best performance because he is distracted slapping everyone’s hand. One of my favorite songs by the band doesn’t live up to snuff here. The band then goes in to one we don’t hear enough. From ‘Keep the Faith’, we get “Dry County”, an epic song that goes on for almost 10 minutes here and every second of it is wonderful and welcomed especially when it turns it to a utterly brilliant guitar solo and jam session. Tico, David and Richie just slay it.

The energy turns electric again with “Have a Nice Day” which is a fun song and then they do another from that album with “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” and back to country we go…yawn. Maybe if Jennifer Nettles came out to do a duet that would be fine otherwise this was cheesy. The crowd loved it so what do I know. Then one of the highlights of the even is Jon doing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. It was beautifully shot, great lighting and great emotion from Jon on vocals. The violin was a perfect touch. Nicely done.

Jon then talks about how 25 years earlier almost to the day, the played MSG the first time as an opening act for ZZ Top. He and Richie go in to “Wanted Dead or Alive”. What can you really say about this one…Damn! They play it well. And one of the best songs they’ve ever done…period. Jon then starts singing “Livin’ on a Prayer a cappella and the crowd finishes it. The full band join in and we are to the end of the show with “Bad Medicine” being played over the end credits. And a great show it was. Around 2 hours of Bon Jovi hits. Now, technically that isn’t everything as there are three Bonus tracks that were recorded over those two nights that didn’t make the final cut. They were “You Give Love a Bad Name”, “Runaway” and “Bed of Roses”. Three songs that should’ve made the cut over the new songs…at least for me.

And there you have it. Another great show from the boys from New Jersey. This is 2009, the band is still playing and sounding great. Their catalog is so vast and deep that they can’t help play a fantastic set of songs and they did do just that. Yes, I get they have to play some of the new songs and some of those are welcome, but some are not and that is okay. I thought the editing of the film was fantastic, the lighting was great, the simple stage setup was also nice as their were people all around them. That place was packed. I think there were a couple moments that bored me, one bad song vocally for me and that was it. Otherwise, a really fantastic show. My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars. I think this one is worth grabbing.

NEXT UP: BON JOVI – ‘GREATEST HITS: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION’ (2010)

THE BON JOVI COLLECTION SERIES:

1. Bon Jovi – The Albums Box Set (2017)
2. Jon Bongiovi – The Power Station Sessions (1980-1983) (2001)
3. Bon Jovi – Bon Jovi (1984)
4. Bon Jovi – Shot Through the Heart: Live in Cleveland, OH March 17, 1984 FM Broadcast (Bootleg)
5. Bon Jovi – “Burning For Love” – 12″ Single – Japanese Edition (1984)
6. Bon Jovi – 7800° Fahrenheit (1985)
7. Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet (1986)
8. Bon Jovi – “Borderline” – 12″ Single – Japanese Edition (1986)
9. Bon Jovi – New Jersey (1988)
10. Bon Jovi – New Jersey: Super Deluxe Edition – Disc 2/DVD (1988)
11. Bon Jovi – “I’ll Be There For You” – Cassette Single (1988)
12. Jon Bon Jovi – Blaze of Glory (1990)
13. Jon Bon Jovi – “Blaze of Glory” – Cassette Single (1990)
14. Richie Sambora – Stranger in this Town (1991)
15. Bon Jovi – Keep the Faith (1992)
16. Bon Jovi – “Keep the Faith” – CD Maxi Single (1992)
17. Bon Jovi – “I Believe” – 7″ Single (1992)
18. Bon Jovi – Cross Road (1994)
19. Bon Jovi – “Please Come Home for Christmas” – CD Single (1994)
20. Bon Jovi – These Days (1995)
21. Bon Jovi – Live From London – DVD (1995)
22. Jon Bon Jovi – Destination Anywhere (1997)
23. Richie Sambora – Undiscovered Soul (1998)
24. Bon Jovi – Crush (2000)
25. Bon Jovi – Live From Osaka E.P. (2000)
26. Bon Jovi – “Thank You For Loving Me” – CD Single (2000)
27. Bon Jovi – The Crush Tour – DVD (2000)
28. Bon Jovi – The Love Songs E.P. (Promo) (2001)
29. Bon Jovi – Tokyo Road: Best of Bon Jovi (2001)
30. Bon Jovi – One Wild Night Live: 1985-2001 (2001)
31. Bon Jovi – Bounce (2002)
32. Bon Jovi – Unauthorized: Rock ‘n Roll Legends – Bootleg DVD (2002)
33. Bon Jovi – Target E.P. (2003)
34. Bon Jovi – This Left Feels Right (2003)
35. Bon Jovi – Wild in the Streets: Unauthorized – Bootleg DVD (2003)
36. Bon Jovi – This Left Feels Right – DVD (2004)
37. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Part 1) – (2004)
38. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 1, Part 2) – (2004)
39. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 2, Part 3) – (2004)
40. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 3, Part 4) – (2004)
41. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 4, Part 5) – (2004)
42. Bon Jovi – 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong (Disc 5 & 6, Part 6) – (2004)
43. Bon Jovi – Have a Nice Day (2005)
44. Bon Jovi – Live from the Have a Nice Day Tour (Walmart Exclusive) (2006)
45. Bon Jovi – Lost Highway (2007)
46. Bon Jovi – Lost Highway: The Concert (2007)
47. Bon Jovi – The Circle (2009)
48. Bon Jovi – When We Were Beautiful Documentary DVD (2009)
49. Bon Jovi – Live at Madison Square Garden – DVD (2009)
50. Bon Jovi – Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection (2009)
51. Bon Jovi – Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Video Collection – DVD (2010)
52. Bon Jovi – Inside Out – DVD (2012)
53. Richie Sambora – Aftermath of the Lowdown (2012)
54. Bon Jovi – What About Now (2013)
55. Bon Jovi – Live E.P. (RSD – 2013)
56. Bon Jovi – Live 2 E.P. (RSD – 2014)
57. Bon Jovi – Burning Bridges (2015)
58. Bon Jovi – This House is Not For Sale (2016)
59. Bon Jovi – This House is Not For Sale – Live From the London Palladium (2016)
60. Bon Jovi – The Albums Box Set – The Extra LP (2017)
61. RSO – Radio Free America (2018)
62. Bon Jovi – 2020 (2020)
63. Bon Jovi – 40th Anniversary Box Set (TBA – I Hope it is out by the time we get here)

We’ve reviewed a bunch of pieces already over the years and won’t review again. They are as follows:

1. Bon Jovi – The Brotherhood Tour Book (1988-1990)
2. Bon Jovi – Bon Jovi Tour 2011 – Tourbook
3. Bon Jovi – The Rock History – Bootleg CD
4. Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name” – 12″ Single
5. Bon Jovi – “You Give Love a Bad Name” – 7″ Single
6. Bon Jovi – Red Hot & 2 Parts Live E.P. – 12″ Single
7. Bon Jovi – “Wanted Dead or Alive” – 7″ Single
8. Bon Jovi – “Bad Medicine” – 7″ Single
9. Bon Jovi – “Born to Be My Baby” – 7″ Single
10. Bon Jovi – “I’ll Be There For You” – 7″ Single
11. Bon Jovi – “Lay Your Hands on Me” – 7″ Single
12. Bon Jovi – “Living in Sin” – 7″ Single