Bon Jovi: Unplugged and Unwatchable
I watched the grand return of MTV's "Unplugged" series this weekend, with Bon Jovi returning to the format they started twenty years ago. Not so good. Jon has really aged well. Richie has aged like Hell. Jon looks like a movie star, and Richie looks like the fat cro-magnon Baldwin brother.
This wasn't just unplugged, it was unconscious. From the first notes of "Living On A Prayer" slowed down and arranged for a string section, you knew something was wrong here. Things just got worse after that, with the new country-songs getting a half-hearted unplugged performance, and the older stuff done night-club-style. Hearing "You Give Love A Bad Name" with a bad Vegas lounge beat behind it just makes it sound like an awful cover of "Stray Cat Strut".
The entire appeal of the unplugged setting is the stripped down, true musicianship of it. That kind of loses its appeal when your four-piece band becomes a dozen people on stage.
And hearing Jon introducing the guys from the All-American Rejects was just sad. "We really dig these young guys, they're kicking some big major bootie right now..." Does Jon know he sounds like Phil Hartman's Frank Sinatra character?
When you hear songs of your youth, you should feel nostalgic, not just old. I was hoping Bon Jovi would give me cause to remember, but instead they just made me want to take a nap and watch Matlock.
5 Comments:
See? That's what happens when you consider Bon Jovi to be "the music of your youth". I know all that crap was on the radio, but that don't mean it was the music of my youth. You go see U2. That won't make you feel old. That'll make you go "damn".
I did go see U2, and I did say "damn." However, I also saw Haircut 100 and ABC on VH1's Bands Reunited, and said "damn" again for different reasons.
Everyone has a right to their own opinion and I respect anyone who wants to voice it. With that said, I think maybe you should attend one of Bon Jovi's sold-out shows at Giants Stadium or any other stadium for that matter. I have no doubt, you'll say "damn"!
When you are there, you can plainly see that these Jersey boys still "have it". You leave 2 1/2 hours later with that feeling of nostalgia and the young and free attitude of your youth.
I will admit, the Unplugged show was a little different for those people who just remember songs like Bad Medicine and Prayer and Wanted. However, Bon Jovi has grown up (as did we, hopefully) and over 25 years their tastes in music have changed and expanded. They've opened up thier minds to doing new and different things.
Maybe others should open up their minds too.
Star, I have seen Bon Jovi live, and that's part of what made this show so depressing.
And my mind is open. However, I prefer to open it on occasions when I can tap my feet, also.
Well, I can see where it was a little slow in the beginning. But it picked up. There were 3 different versions aired and the longest one (1 1/2) was on CMT.
They played some of their new songs and like I said, it picked up.
And to be honest we're really not comparing apples to apples. Unplugged is very different than a live show. Just out of curiosity, what was it that you were expecting? It was called Unplugged...basically an acoustic show.
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