Only the band’s second live album, ‘Inside Out’, was released on November 27, 2012. It was not one show though, it was spread across 3 epic venues as the back of the box states. The songs are from the 25th Anniversary show at Madison Square Garden, the Hometown opening night at New Meadowlands Stadium and then from the Historic 12 night run at London’s O2 Arena. 12 nights…damn!! Usually, I would hate something that wasn’t all one show, but this works. If I’m not mistaken, this is only available on iTunes. Well, that is unless you are able to find the Australian promo of the actual video…which I do. And that is what we are reviewing here, the DVD and not the iTunes version.

The DVD is a promo as it says on the back of the box and on the disc itself, “not for sale”. The video is the actual screening from the theatrical release and it does something cool. We get 14 tracks from the 3 venues and what they do at times during the songs is switch to split screen and show shots of them performing the song from the other arena or arenas in some cases. An interesting way of doing things and it makes it fun to watch. It is 75 minutes of pure Bon Jovi live energy.

The show kicks off with one of my favorite tracks, “Blood on Blood”, from ‘New Jersey’. It feels untouched as you can here the little wobbles and cracks in Jon’s voice like a good live show should have. The song might not have the same grit live as it does on the studio version, but they do put their all in to it. “Lost Highway” sees Jon dripping wet with sweat and when they show the split screens, he is perfectly dry in those which tells me one song was played early in the set and the other later.

“Born to Be My Baby” comes in perfectly from “Lost Highway” and sees Jon bouncing up and down. His voice cracks a little at the beginning but perfect the rest of the time. He is tired and out of breath at times because it looks like he did a marathon on that stage. Richie steps up front and nails a great solo…in both screens shown. At the end when Jon does all these arm movements, the split screen shows him doing the EXACT same thing at one of the other shows…cool. “You Give Love a Bad Name” is classic Bon Jovi and they kill it as they could play it in their sleep, but they definitely weren’t phoning it in. The split screen also shows the band performance is more staged then you think. Unlike sometimes, where they aren’t doing the same thing, a lot of the time it is exactly the same down to every little mic stand grab, arm movement, etc… I had no idea.

Next up is “Whole Lot of Leavin'” and it slows things down a little. Jon grabs his acoustic guitar and the energy drops a little. The chorus on the song is great, but for me is a bathroom song. On the solo, it is a blast watching make Richie make all those funny looking faces…same scrunched up faces in the split screen as well. “Raise Your Hands” is a high energy song that picks the pace back up as the energy jumps to 10. This one jumps between shows more then the other shave so far as everyone is in different clothes at different parts, but it all looks and sounds great. The audio is from only one of them. Jon has the crowd eating out of his hands on this one.

“We Got It Going On” was only an okay song from ‘Lost Highway’, but live…damn…what a great live show. The band is really giving 100% and the crowd is loving it. The heavy bass line, the gritty guitar, Tico pounding the ass out of those drums and Jon turning it in to a church revival really makes this one an outstanding live song. Plus, at the end, Richie brings out the talk box…hell yeah!! Top it off, they go right in to “Have a Nice Day” and if you thought the place was hot before, they go and turn it up a notch. Another great rock anthem from the band. And Jon’s voice is strong and he could still hit some of those high notes. A stellar performance.

Then they go in to another anthem with “It’s My Life” with Richie back on the talk box. The energy for this one seemed to drop a little which is surprising to me. It felt slowed down and was missing the punch of the previous two songs. I was not expecting that when I read the setlist. I thought it would get even more crazy, but it didn’t. Then the purposely slow things down with “I’ll Be There For You”. The rock and roll cowboys take it down a notch but they deliver another fantastic performance. The duo of Richie and Jon on vocals is like nothing they can do now. It is classic Bon Jovi that we all miss so much now with Richie gone. This was one of those performances that show why the two of them are so great together. The sum is better than its parts.

“We Weren’t Born to Follow” is up next and the song isn’t bad, but it falls flat for me here. The crowd isn’t in to it and that makes me not in to it either. It feels they are going through the motions on it. Then it is time to rise as Bon Jovi plays their National Anthem…that is right…“Wanted Dead or Alive”. Again, another song that shows why the duo of Richie & Jon can’t be replaced. They had a chemistry and their voices worked so well together. I don’t ever tire of this song when played live!!

With only two more to go, you know they got to be good and you won’t be wrong. “Livin’ On A Prayer” hits us first. Jon does an a cappella opening with the crowd screaming right a long. It is awesome. How cool to have 1,000’s of people singing your song back to you. Then they play the song in earnest and we get another one I never tire of hearing live. More talk box fun from Richie and Tico’s pounding really sets the tone and perfection sets in. During the song, they show a on of home made videos around the screen of fans singing the song from the comfort of their own home. The final song is even better…“Keep the Faith”. The wicked bass line from Hugh McDonald lets you know what is in store. Jon pulls out his maracas and steps up to the mic and they go all out with all their heart and soul. Richie’s playing is sensational as well on this one as that solo really rips. Another classic Bon Jovi song (and album) and a great way to end the show. Well, it ain’t completely over as the credits roll, you see them off to the left playing “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” with fan pictures from the shows above them.

As much as I don’t like shows from multiple shows, this one was done in a way that made it feel like a show. Now, listening to it on iTunes is okay, but it lacks the energy. When you watch the DVD, you see the crowd going nuts and you see the amount energy the band is giving and the crowd giving it right back. It really changes the dynamics of the album. So much better watching it. A band that knows how to put on a show as they’ve done it a million times as their tours were extensive. You know what you are going to get with a Bon Jovi show and they deliver it here. My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars as it wasn’t a perfect show but the good so outweighed any negative points I had. If

NEXT UP: RICHIE SAMBORA – ‘AFTERMATH OF THE LOWDOWN’ (2012)

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