Blame It On The Love (unofficial Bon Jovi blog): Wellington review .

Wellington review Gearing up for Perth

Short, positive review of Bon Jovi's December 4 Wellington show from Karen Hurley for the New Zealand Herald:It was an all-singing, all-dancing cowboy and cougar convention as Bon Jovi fans "whoa whoaed" along to the pop rock band's greatest hits at Wellington's Westpac Stadium last night. "Is this New Zealand or New Jersey?

said the band's frontman: Jon Bon Jovi felt so at home for his first North Island concert in 15 years that he could scarcely distinguish the difference.Read the entire article here. She mentioned something about Richie Sambora's guitars being the fifth member of the band, which is nice praise for Richie, but a bit insulting to my boy Hugh McDonald if I do say so myself. In news closer to home, literally, Bon Jovi's next point is in Perth on December 8. I'm not expecting anything crazily rare, but hopefully it won't be completely vanilla either. I'm not certainly what the Subiaco Oval - I mean, Patersons Stadium - security will be like on Wednesday, but I'll do my best to get videos especially if anything a bit out of the ordinary occurs. Here are my requests, in case anyone from the Bon Jovi camp reads this:

• "Bed of Roses" and "Always" (or at least one of the two). We didn't get either in 2008 and anterior to that Bon Jovi hadn't played in Perth since 1992. The one recurring complaint I heard after the '08 show was the want of "Bed of Roses" and "Always". And both are on the Greatest Hits, so it makes sense.
• ANYTHING from These Days. And while I give my preferences, I actually do mean anything.
• Anything from The Rope that isn't played at every show. "Love's the Sole Rule" would be a serious call to do. This IS still technically The Band tour. And Lost Highway re-entered the ARIA charts after the last Australian tour, peaking at #2. It can't hurt to pass The Band a chance, even if it's now competing with a Greatest Hits compilation.
• A new call from the Greatest Hits and Ultimate Collection other than "What Do You Got?". As of the December 5 Auckland show, "No Apologies" looks a real possibility. I'm keen to hear "This Is Love, This Is Life" or "The More Things Change" though.
• No "I Know This Town". Jon, even if we help you up some heavy weather and a large crowd and you start feeling around 10pm that you really do love Perth, please do not sing this song. And yet if we deliver crappy weather and a boring crowd, please do not punish us with this song. :P

Anyway, three sleeps to go. For all my cynicism online, I can't wait! Meanwhile, here's "Summertime Blues" from the Lost Highway tour in Perth. January 25, 2008: