Bon Jovi's "What About Now" or "Why I'm Better Off as a Fandom of One"

Bon Jovi's new record, What About Now, came out on Tuesday and I, of course, sprinted off at lunch time to buy it.  Alas, the only places I've seen it in town - since record stores don't really seem to exist anymore - only  had the regular edition (12 songs) and not the deluxe (15 songs) edition which is why I do more business with Amazon.com than I ever do with local retailers since I seldom find music or books locally that I want, but can always find them on-line.  Of course, my deluxe CD doesn't arrive until Tuesday, so I have a copy of the 12-song CD in my possession as well.  Um...anyone want a free CD next week? I'll have one up for grabs. :o)

So, the new CD...where to begin. I'd heard the tracks What About Now, That's What the Water Made Me, Because We Can, Army of One, Amen and What's Left of Me prior to the concert a couple of weeks ago and prior to my purchase of the disc.  I listened to the BBC Radio One concert that they did earlier this year several times in preparation for the Charlotte show because I wanted to know the new songs.  *shrugs* It's one of the many quirks of being a fangirl.  I liked the songs, but after just coming away with an ambivalent feeling after the concert, I think that tainted my first listenings of the CD.  I listened to it twice the first day and was calling it "average" and "mediocre".  I'm not sure that the "average" label doesn't still apply, but mostly in terms of it's the typical record that the band has been producing in recent years. I was reading a tweet from Eddie Trunk saying that they band hasn't done anything hard rock since 1991's Keep the Faith and that's pretty accurate. I never thought of them has a hard rock band anyway, but my perception of what defines hard rock might be skewed.  The Jovi of recent years is more pop rock and that's ok by me. I'm not sure what I expect when a new record rolls out, but I'm trying to let go of any expectations I might have so they aren't easily dashed.

That's why I think I'm better off as a fandom of one.  It's so easy out here on the internet to find other fans and get into discussions, read reviews and blogs, and find out what people think of the music, but all that seems to do is frustrate me. Sometimes it sways my opinions before I even have the chance to form a true opinion of new music and I have to let that go.  I read some reviews of WAN and a lot of them were bad, saying things like "why can't they  make another record like Slippery When Wet?" (that one has been going around for years) and generally giving the band crap for not making a really guitar-laden, rocking record.  But now that I've listened to the CD several more times, I have to admit that I really like it.  Maybe not every single song (I'm not super into Beautiful World or Room at the End of the World), but it's a pretty solid record, if typical in terms of what they've released since Lost Highway and The Circle.  And labeling it "typical" doesn't make it bad.  It just...is.  *shrugs again*

I found it odd that they were starting a tour so much sooner than the record was coming out, but that is indicative to me that something is wrong within the band. I can't put my finger on it and they all still seem to be smiling and happy, but I think something's not right with the band and that is a sentiment I've seen expressed by others on-line as well and one that I had rolling around in my head before I realized other people thought the same thing too. Maybe it's because Jon wrote most of the songs on his own or with someone other than Richie.  Maybe it's because I have wondered after listening if this didn't start out as a solo project for Jon and then somehow morphed into a band record (in theory, if not in writing).  Something just feels wrong about the whole situation. I will not be shocked if this is the last new Jovi record we get for many years.  Dave has his theater career going writing music for Broadway shows. Richie proved with his recent CD that he can go out and rock all on his own. Tico is an artist and I assume still has his baby clothing line.  They have other things they can do and it's not like they don't all have plenty of money.  Perhpas it just is finally burning a bit that Jon gets all the attention and is the only one that actually has the recording contract and now the rest of the band are salaried players.  I've never cared about Jon Bon Jovi as a solo artist at all, so I would hate to see anything split up the band completely, but I expect this to be their last record and tour for a while. I'm be truly surprised if it's not.

And that may not be a bad thing.  Take a nice, long break.  Regroup.  Do all your solo projects and enjoy life.  Then get together again and write as a band.  Jon and Richie tunes are always the best in my opinion. 

I think I'll just continue to mosey along as a fandom of one now though.  I hate being swayed by the opinions of others that make me question whether I really like songs that I have always enjoyed or make me dislike something before I even give it a chance.  And I hate more hearing the complaints about this, that or the other which only add fuel to my fire of wanting to complain about things related to the band.  Social media and the internet can be great, but they can also be frustrating.  I want to kick back and simply enjoy  my favorite band and the great music they have made over the years.  I think if I can keep that idea in my head and allow myself to back away from a lot of the rest of it, I really will find my joy and enjoyment once again in Bon Jovi. I've loved them since I was 12. I know that's not going away.  But now I want to start to really appreciate them again.  I think I deserve that.  And maybe they kinda do too.

I think I've gone to my last Bon Jovi show

A friend of mine recently said she was going over to my Facebook wall to find my review of the Bon Jovi concert I went to a couple of weeks ago. I even had an email from my father saying he’d been expecting to see something about it.  People at work, who know me well, have asked me “How was the show?”  And I feel like I’ve let them down when I say, “It was just…meh…” and their faces fall, with a little bit of shock thrown in there too.

It makes me kind of sad to post that title, but I do think that the concert I went to a couple of weeks ago really was my last Bon Jovi show. Oh, when they tour again I may look for tickets, but I know I won't ever "settle" for just any old seats and prices continue to go up, so I think my days are done. I just counted 4 concert DVDs of theirs that I have, so I should be all set really.  Actually, when I start going through my Cds, I find more DVDs because I keep forgetting that some came with both. I think I even have one I've never watched which is so unlike me.

The show I went to was with my college roommate, using tickets her husband won from a local radio station. It was very gracious of them to include me and I appreciate it for sure.  As freebie, we knew they were going to be way up in nosebleed territory and they were.  All the way at the opposite end of the arena from the stage, but we could see straight out to them, so while the band was tiny, it wasn't that bad at all.  And they were FREE, so you can't complain.  Well, you could, but hopefully I didn't. Kelli apologized for them a couple of times but I told her not to. No need.  FREE you know.

The show was the standard rockin' Jovi show, but that's the problem. They play the same old stuff. They surprised me by pulling out "Always" for the final song of the THIRD ENCORE (nearly 3 hours of music! Woohoo!) and that was great, but otherwise it was standard fare. Which I know is good for the folks who have never gotten to go to a show before. They need, want, and expect that.  I get it.

What I don't get is that about halfway in, the guy behind me asks me to sit down.  I have to set this up for you though and I know I am venting a bit here and that I have fault in the matter as well. Just know that going in.

We were up really, really high - like only 5 rows behind us to the top probably - and had a straight-on view. I did not have to stand up and do my version of "dancing" which is really just standing there with little movement and in my mind I'm probably dancing. LOL  I did not need to stand up to see.  But I am not accustomed to going to a rock concert and sitting down.  We were, however, in what seemed to be the geriatric section with a lot of folks older than me up there. Not sure about the family behind me as I realized later they had a kid with them (around 10-ish), but still...older feel to our section. I stood at the first song and gave a passing thought now and then to the fact that maybe people could not see behind me, but it was only passing. I didn't look to see if they were sitting or standing or if they could see. I also expected they'd tell me if they could not.  That would make sense to me, but I own up to not paying attention to what they were doing and not caring that maybe 10 people - if that - in the entire section were standing up.

So halfway into the show I did sit for a song because my friend was talking to me. I should have sat for all the ballads, but again, I'm not a sitter at concerts.  When I decided to stand up again after the ballads, that's when the man behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Ma'am, I've spent the last 2 hours watching you scratch your hair (I totally do that a little when I get hot) and scratch your butt (I did NOT do that -
I put my hands on my lower back a couple of times and rubbed a spot ON MY BACK) and I paid as much as you did and would like to enjoy this concert so I'm asking you to please sit down."   I did try saying something about how this was a concert and that's what you did, but I think he said something about not caring about that and then said if I did not sit he was going to go get an attendant.

So I sat because I did not want to cause a scene and his wife looked like she didn't want him to say anything to me, but what I don't get is why did he wait nearly 2 hours and get all riled up and THEN say something to me?  I wouldn't have lasted through more than 2 or 3 songs if someone was in MY way.  And I would have stood up when it became clear that they were not sitting down.  Or said, "My little girl can't see. Would you  mind sitting down?"  Because while him asking me at that point irked me, I would have done it and I think done it with a pretty good attitude in the beginning if he'd only said something to me.

I got a little internal giggle 2 songs later though when Jon Bon Jovi goes "Ok, if there's anyone out there still sitting on your asses, stand up for the Bon Jovi national anthem". (That being "Wanted Dead or Alive".)  Heh. Hee. Ha.  Yeah, he stood up.  But sat down again after that song.  *sigh*

I let the "guilt" fester for a couple of days and turn into righteous indignation (fueled by everyone I told about the incident going, "But you were at a rock concert!!") and then I got over it.  I figure there must have been other people behind me not interested in looking at my wide behind, but I'm honestly baffled by no one saying anything.  It's like how I always worry that I make too much noise for my downstairs neighbors and hope they would actually tell me if it was disturbing them rather than letting the anger and frustration build up.

All of that is not why I don't plan to go to more Jovi shows though. That put a damper on my evening, sure, but it's not why I think I'm done. I just think I'm over it. Not the band, of course, but the shows. As I said, they are pretty much all the same. No new tricks, even if they do new songs.  I won't keep paying for the same dog-and-pony show unless I'm right up near David Bryan, with the fans standing and singing and dancing.  But when you add in the ridiculously high cost of tickets these days, I find it hard to believe that I'll be willing and able to shell out the cash to keep doing the same old thing again.  And that makes me sad. It's the ending of something for me. Something I always really enjoyed.  And I think it's put a damper on my enjoyment of the new CD that came out this week, but hey, that's a blog post for another day.