Bon Jovi
Ripley's Music Hall
(Philadelphia, PA)
MAR 3, 1984
TRACKLIST
1 Breakout
2 Come Back
3 Roulette
4 She Don't Know Me
5 Shot Through The Heart
6 Burning For Love
7 Love Lies
8 Get Ready
9 Walk Away Renee
10 Runaway
Jon Bon Jovi - vocals, guitar
David Bryan - keyboards, vocals
Richie Sambora - guitar, vocals
Alec Such - bass, vocals
Tico Torres - drums, vocals
Recorded just weeks
after the release
of their debut album,
presented here is the finest
early example of
Bon Jovi live on stage,
when they were a
young, hungry band
just starting out,
opening for other groups
in this case the
German heavy rock band Scorpions
At this initial stage
in what turned out to be
a career of
incredible longevity,
Bon Jovi's brand of
melodic, well-crafted rock
was undeveloped,
and their performance
is far grittier and immediate
than everything that followed.
The band was still
relatively unknown
outside of their
home stomping grounds
of New Jersey,
and this performance,
recorded by
the King Biscuit Flower Hour,
provides listeners
the ability to clearly hear
Bon Jovi winning over
Philadelphia.
With a stage repertoire
limited to their debut
album material
and nearly an hour
of stage-time to fill,
it's not surprising
that the set is essentially
a live performance
of that entire album
but re-sequenced
for the stage
and concluding
with their breakout single,
"Runaway."
Those who came on board
in 1985
with the band's
7800 Fahrenheit" album
or during the
following year's
multi-platinum breakthrough
Slippery When Wet
may find this
performance surprising,
as Bon Jovi
rarely rocked harder
than they did in 1984.
The musicianship,
melodicism,
and songwriting craft
is still undeveloped here,
but the band more
than makes up for it
with the raw energy
that at this point in time
was winning them
new fans
the old fashioned way
one audience at a time.
To win over this audience
of headbanging
Scorpions fans,
Bon Jovi
has no choice but to
come out swinging,
and they do this by
immediately delivering
a triple whammy
of the heaviest rockers
from their debut album.
They begin with the anthemic
"Break Out,"
written by Jon Bon Jovi
and keyboard player
David Bryan,
a song that
commands attention,
and with its
arena rock style,
hints at the
band's potential.
This immediately segues
into the high velocity of
"Come Back"
and then perhaps
the heaviest rocker
from the album,
"Roulette,"
both written by
Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.
The latter song
emphasizes Sambora's
guitar playing,
but the entire band
especially Bryan,
who plays both synth and piano
seems to be firing on all cylinders.
The melodic flare that would
soon become a trademark
of the band's own
songwriting is
more apparent on
the next song,
a cover of Fair Warning's
"She Don't Know Me."
Kicked off by drummer
Tico Torres,
and fueled by an
undeniably catchy
guitar riff,
this song was written
by Fair Warning's
Mark Avsec
and would have the
distinction of being one
of the only songs ever
featured on a
Bon Jovi album
that was written
outside the band.
Recorded at
Mercury Records' request,
with the intention of it
becoming a single,
this may not be an original,
but it clearly had
an impact on the band's
subsequent writing,
which would also begin
emphasizing
Bon Jovi's passionate vocals
and catchy choruses
with sing-a-long vocal harmonies.
most of this material
would be dropped from
the band's live repertoire forever.
Literally recorded at
the dawn of their career,
this captures
Bon Jovi
back where it all began.
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