One of the world’s biggest and best live bands release an incredible document of their return to Madison Square Garden, New York City’s most iconic venue, 19 years to the day after the band first performed there, they returned to the same stage for the last date (15/07/2008) of their historic Lost Highway tour.

Officially the biggest tour on the planet in 2008, created by award winning Director, Anthony M. Bongiovi and shot with 23 High Definition cameras, ‘Live From Madison Square Garden’ features a career spanning set list including Have A Nice Day, Wanted Dead Or Alive, Livin’ On A Prayer and even a cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah that Cohen himself rates as his favourite version. Sambora's excellent rendition of I'll be there for you is impressive. Listening to Always would give you the creeps. This is a snapshot of a band 25 years into a record breaking career and still hitting their peak in the live arena.  

All together there are 25 songs which the band performed. You can feel the energy from the band and the audience. It has serious moments and some playful moments too, all of which are absolutely wonderful. It gives you a close-up chance to see just how fantastic a guitar player Richie Sambora is and a close-up chance to see Jon Bon Jovi at his best, in great vocal form, and how much he enjoys interacting with his audience.

The concert begins with Jon being filmed from behind as he walks out on stage just as the stage lights heat up, and he and the band break into Lost Highway. From there, Jon and the boys take you on a career-spanning trip down memory lane, as they travel far back as to their 1984 self-titled debut with Runaway, to songs like Wanted Dead Or Alive, Livin' On A Prayer, Keep The Faith, and It's My Life while also throwing in some lesser known fan favorites like a tour-de-force performance of Dry County. Halfway into the set Jon leaves the stage to take a break, handing the reins over to Richie Sambora who turns in a wonderfully soulful performance of I'll Be There For You. Jon returns for the second half of the set, mingling with his fans as he belts out Blood On Blood.

The evening ends with the classic Bed of Roses. Although Bad Medicine is mentioned in the playlist, it is only played over the ending credits, and is not a live performance. With all of its flaws aside, ‘Live At Madison Square Garden’ is probably still overall the best Bon Jovi concert DVD to date, and should satisfy most fans.

Directed by Anthony Bongiovi (Jon's brother) and Brian Lockwood, on this DVD you can witness a close up image of the New Jersey boys, with Bongiovi's excellent camera direction. He avoids the quick cuts and really let you breathe in the performance with plenty of long duration shots of the entire stage.

Don’t miss the booklet in the DVD case that has some great pics of the concert.

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira

Initial release: 2008

Director: Anthony Bongiovi

Running time: 3h 39m

Recorded: July 14 & July 15, 2008