ew.com-07.06.2007
On the Scene: Bon Jovi's 'Unplugged' taping
There are two reasons why it's fitting that Bon Jovi is the first act
resurrecting MTV's Unplugged. First, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora's acoustic
"Livin' on a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive" medley at the 1989 Video Music
Awards helped inspire the original concert series. (Relive the VMA performance
here, while it lasts.) Second, at a time when the band is looking to cross
genres — their country album Lost Highway drops June 19 — so too is the show:
Three different versions of their Unplugged will air on MTV (a half-hour,
premiering June 22), VH1 (a full hour, June 23) and CMT (90 minutes, June 24).
Because you can't really "spoiler" music in print — and because I'd never seen
Bon Jovi live, which was just wrong — I hauled my butt (and the butt of my
plus-1, Sheila) to Brooklyn's Steiner Studios Tuesday night to join a couple
hundred others for the show.
Below the jump is a list of all the things I learned at the taping. That Sambora
would need to enter rehab, as People reports he did today, wasn't one of them.
The only signs I saw of possible impairment were a few screwups on the guitar
during "Wanted." And I just assumed he was as exhausted at the end of the
three-and-a-half-hour event as I was.
• Regardless of how Nashville their new sound actually is, Bon Jovi's current
single "(You Want to) Make a Memory," won't be the only song from Lost Highway
to hit the country charts. Both "Whole Lot of Leavin' Goin' On" and the album's
title track are good road anthems. Jon said "Lost Highway" is his favorite track
he and Richie have ever written. It's about being able to finally look at your
past with clarity and know exactly where you're headed. He said that, in the
last year, he's been able to see friends through difficult times. (Sheila and I
then shared the memory of how sad we were when Richie and Heather Locklear
separated. In light of today's disclosure, perhaps Jon was referring to
something else.)
• Even 45-year-old rock stars get the jitters... Jon and Richie wanted to get a
few songs under their belts with the band before they tackled what will actually
open the show: A slow, ominous version of "Livin' on a Prayer." As the two of
them stood backlit on a dark stage, accompanied by an angry-sounding eight-piece
string section, I thought this arrangement is definitely better than "Prayer
'94," but that I, personally, am never happy unless this song is rocked
balls-to-the-wall. That realization was particularly unfortunate considering
"Prayer" was one of several tunes on the 20-song set list they would elect to do
more than one take of. We actually heard the closer "Wanted" three times — once
with the full band and twice with just Jon and Richie (who apologized to the
audience for blowing out his voice in rehearsal). Richie kept enunciating the
"t" in wanted, which actually disturbed us more.
• I need to buy a LeAnn Rimes album. Rimes (pictured with Jon) flew in to do the
steamy Lost Highway duet "'Til We're Not Strangers Anymore" and sounded amazing.
I'd love to ask her to describe, in great detail, what it feels like to sing
about making love while Jon Bon Jovi stands a foot away, staring and smiling at
you. Perhaps she'd say what someone sitting in front of me did: "I just had a
stroke." Too bad Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles didn't pop up when it was time for
"Who Says You Can't Go Home." I'm sure I wasn't the only one hearing her
harmonies in my head though.
• All-American Rejects frontman Tyson Ritter respects his elders. Ritter and
bandmate Nick Wheeler joined Bon Jovi for a stripped version of "It's My Life."
Assuming I heard Ritter correctly when he took the stage ("I'm s----in'
razorblades"), it's safe to say he also was dealing with nerves. After the song
ended, he dropped to his knees and gave Jon the universal sign for "I'm not
worthy." He must be a fan: he stuck around for the rest of the show, and I saw
him tapping his foot to the rousing performance of the Arena Football League
anthem, "We Got It Going On". Busted!
• Jon Bon Jovi is one of those people who thinks the late Jeff Buckley wrote
"Hallelujah". Or, at least he said he was when he first saw Buckley perform it
in Asbury Park in the early '90s. (Jon turned to a friend and went, "That's the
hit," not knowing it had already been one for Leonard Cohen.) It's a song he
wishes he'd written, and you could tell it from the passion in his performance.
No one does the power jazz hand — punching the heavens with an open palm for
emphasis — like Jon Bon Jovi. (And no one does "Hallelujah" like Buckley.)
• You haven't seen Jon Bon Jovi animated, until you've seen him do a swing
version of "You Give Love a Bad Name." The man worked more than his hands during
the band's first No. 1 hit — set to a "Stray Cat Strut" beat. His Elvis twists
received a warm reception, though I genuinely believe his emotive, bicep-flexing
grip on the mike stand during "Born to be My Baby" made that his sexiest number.
I'll be curious to see which network(s) airs "Bad Name," as well as the
so-called "Beatles-esque" version of another No. 1, "I'll Be There For You."
• There are old Bon Jovi songs that I don't remember. Apparently, they're called
"Joey" and "Keep the Faith."