by Michael McCarthy
On Sunday, July 26th, 2026, I finally saw Bon Jovi live again for the first time since Richie Sambora parted ways with the band in 2013.
Honestly, when Richie left the band, I just found it so frustrating and depressing that I just needed a break from Bon Jovi. For one thing, I actually didn’t want to take sides. I wasn’t going to declare myself #teamrichie or #teamjon because I didn’t know who was truly at fault when they parted ways. I’d read both of their perspectives and they kind of contradicted each other and I’m not in the business of trying to dissect every word that comes out of my heroes’ mouths so not long after Richie was out of the band, I kind of stopped reading interviews with either of them because I had admired them both equally and wanted to continue to do that.
More importantly, I had hoped that Jon and Richie would reconcile within a couple of years and then Richie would rejoin the band and I would start going to their concerts again. However, now that it’s been over a dozen years since Richie allegedly walked away, I suppose I finally had to come to terms with the fact that he isn’t likely to rejoin the band. At least not anytime soon. Which meant that I finally had to ask myself if I wanted to see Bon Jovi again badly enough that I would go see them without Richie.
Well, it had been years since I’d last seen Bon Jovi and I was really itching to see them again, especially knowing everything that Jon has gone through with vocal surgery, therapies, etc. And they’re not getting any younger. And I suppose I feared that Jon’s vocal surgery would only provide temporary relief and soon he might not be able to sing again at all. So part of me figured I should go see them this time because it felt like a “now or never” type of situation. Of course, I knew that seeing them in New York at Madison Square Garden this summer could be risky because nobody knew just how much singing Jon could handle. As it turns out, three songs were cut from the encore at a few of the shows then the show a few days before the one I went to was cut short after 14 songs because Jon was reportedly dealing with a sinus infection. Thus, there was plenty of reason to wonder if the show we had tickets for on the 26th would even end up happening.
Heading into the concert Sunday night, I had a feeling we weren’t going to get the full 23 song set they’d done a few times at these Madison Square Garden shows. Especially since the previous show had to end after just 14 songs. But I decided that I would be satisfied as long as they did 16 songs. I don’t know why I settled on that number but that’s what I had decided: if they at least did 16 songs I would consider it a success and walk away happy.
As it turned out, they did 19 songs Sunday night. The songs they did not do were “Bed of Roses,” “Always,” “Red, White & Jersey,” and “Wanted Dead or Alive.” They also did not do The Beatles cover they had opened all of the previous Madison Square Garden shows with, which was “With A Little Help From My Friends.” On a positive note, we did get to hear “Raise Your Hands” and “In These Arms,” which were not done at every Madison Square Garden show.
I have seen photos of what was supposed to have been the set list for the show I was at and the only song written on that set list that they did not do was “Wanted Dead or Alive.” Honestly, I didn’t really miss “Wanted Dead or Alive” much but I had really been looking forward to “Bed of Roses” and “Always,” my two favorite Bon Jovi ballads. And most of my favorite Bon Jovi songs are the ballads so it was a bit disappointing that the only ballad they did at our show was “I’ll Be There For You.” And I’m sorry but for 20 years or more, Richie Sambora sang lead vocals on that song at their concerts. And I always looked forward to that. So if there was one ballad I did not want to hear Jon sing Sunday night, it was “I’ll Be There For You.” I would have been much happier with any other ballad and it’s not like there aren’t a lot to pick from – I have a playlist of Bon Jovi ballads and there are over 60 of them if you include b-sides, bonus tracks, etc. I just wish Jon would have done one of these other ballads because the whole time they were doing “I’ll Be There For You,” I just kept thinking about Richie and feeling frustrated about him not being there.
You could tell that Jon was struggling with his voice at times during Sunday night’s show. He sounded like himself but he did sound a bit hoarse. Which could’ve been because of a sinus infection or maybe that’s just the state of his voice following the surgery and everything. Energy wise, though, Jon was great, running all over the stage, always with a smile on his face. And he was definitely thrilled to see the fans and excited to perform. But during some of the quieter moments when all you could hear was Jon’s voice without the loud music behind him, you could tell that his voice was being somewhat strained. He didn’t sound bad, mind you. But he didn’t try to hit the high notes and it seemed obvious that his voice would have cracked if he’d tried to. I suppose that’s probably why they didn’t do “Bed of Roses” or “Always” Sunday night; both songs have some pretty high notes. And they’re both something like six minutes long, too.
Sunday night’s show had two special guests. The War & The Treaty joined the band for a performance of “The People’s House,” a song they did duet style with Jon on the Legendary edition of the Forever album where they re-released Forever with all of the songs done as duets. The War & The Treaty have great energy and really elevated that song into something even more powerful than the original version that just had Jon singing all the vocals. Going into the show, I had hoped that Jon would have them join him as special guests on “The People’s House” so I was delighted that this wish came true.
I’m sure by now you’ve heard that Bon Jovi was also joined by none other than someone Jon called “the king of New Jersey,” Bruce Springsteen, for the final two songs of the encore. First they did the Bon Jovi classic “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” which they did with lots of energy and passion and it was terrific. Then they did Springsteen’s song “The Promised Land,” a song that I wasn’t very familiar with but I enjoyed their duet style rendition very much. Interestingly, Springsteen appears on the Legendary Edition of the Forever album, singing half the lead vocals of the slow song “Hollow Man.” I don’t think that one would have required any challenging vocal acrobatics so I was surprised that they didn’t perform that one as well. Especially since the only slow song they’d done was “I’ll Be There For You.” That said, I wouldn’t quite call “Hollow Man” a ballad because it’s not a romantic song but it still would have been a nice edition to the set.
All in all, I am very happy that I went to Sunday night’s concert. It felt like part of my life had finally come full circle, finally seeing Bon Jovi again after boycotting their shows for over a decade because I was too fixated on someone who was no longer there and I allowed that frustration to prevent me from appreciating and celebrating those who were still in the band. Honestly, I suppose I do regret not seeing them for over a decade but I had myself convinced that Jon would have to mend bridges with Richie if fans stopped going to the shows. I couldn’t stop other people from attending their concerts, obviously, but I could at least refrain from going to them myself. I suppose my not going to those shows was my way of voting against Bon Jovi existing without Richie. When Motley Crue replaced Vince Neil with John Corabi and tried to tour with that line up, tickets didn’t sell and they had to cancel an entire summer tour. So I had hoped that Bon Jovi’s ticket sales would be hurt by Richie not being in the band and that it would lead to Richie returning. I hadn’t realized that many Bon Jovi fans are just fans of Jon Bon Jovi. You could probably replace every member of the band and millions of people would continue going to their shows because to them Bon Jovi isn’t a band – it’s a singer, a solo artist. And so the fans proved far more loyal to Jon Bon Jovi than I ever would have imagined. Which I did and do find somewhat disappointing. If Bon Jovi was The Beatles then Jon would be Paul McCartney and Richie Sambora would be John Lennon. And when Richie parted ways with Bon Jovi, I felt like The Beatles were losing Lennon. And I would have thought that most Bon Jovi fans would have felt like that. After all, Richie was the second most famous member of the band and he was always seen as Jon’s right hand man. In fact, the two wrote the majority of Bon Jovi’s hit songs together. But even if some fans did view Richie like the Lennon of Bon Jovi, they obviously didn’t let it stop them from going to see them live. I’m apparently the only idiot who did that.
Someone asked me if I would go see Bon Jovi again if Jon’s voice continues to sound the way it did Sunday night. And the answer is actually yes, I would. In some ways, seeing Jon get up there and struggle and really have to work to get through the songs Sunday night was touching. I don’t know if he has a sinus infection or if he’s just finding out that his vocal surgery wasn’t as successful as he’d hoped, but seeing him up there, giving it his all, was kind of inspiring. I had to admire his work ethic as I watched the show. And it also takes guts to go out there and sing when you know your voice is not one hundred percent. You know you’re going to disappoint a few people but you give it your all for those who will appreciate it. And I think most of the people at the show Sunday night did appreciate it.
Very much so, in fact.
Sunday night’s full setlist:
1 – Beautiful Drug
2 – We Weren’t Born to Follow
3 – Lost Highway
4 – You Give Love a Bad Name
5 – Born to Be My Baby
6 – Legendary
7 – Whole Lot of Leavin’
8 – In These Arms
9 – The People’s House (with The War and Treaty) (Live debut)
10 – It’s My Life
11 – Livin’ on a Prayer
(With reprise)
12 – Raise Your Hands
13 – This House Is Not for Sale
14 – I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead
15 – Keep the Faith
Encore:
16 – I’ll Be There for You
17 – Bad Medicine
(Everette Bradley vox on 2nd verse)
18 – Who Says You Can’t Go Home
(with Bruce Springsteen)
19 – The Promised Land
(Bruce Springsteen cover) (with Bruce Springsteen) (Live debut)
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