Summary
Tourname: Because We Can Tour
Legs: 9
Shows: 102
Canceled: 3 (Cleveland, USA. July 14,2013 / Asunció, Paraguay, September 18, 2013 / Córdoba, Argentina, September 18, 2013)
A tour that's been ill-fated right from the beginning:
The very first show had to be postponed due to a snowstorm, Richie Sambora left the band after the first leg, Tico Torres had to undergo two surgeries and missed a couple of shows and Jon's vocal abilities became worse.
Although it had some bright spots as well, just like the band playing the first time in Bulgaria and Poland and being the highest grossing tour of 2013 this tour will stay in mind as being the one were it all went downhill for the band.
After the very successfull The Circle/Greatest Hits run in 2010/2011 the band had planned to take a longer break. Richie Sambora released his third solo record Aftermath Of The Lowdown and wanted to tour with it around. But Jon's plans changed fast an he decided to release a new band album in early 2013 and start to tour even before its release. This led to Richie being forced to cut his solo tour short, the realease of an uninspired band album where Richie's input is missing and a band going on the road without seeming to be ready for it.
During the first shows Jon's movement already came close to 0, the interaction with the band and especially with Richie wasn't there like it used to be and there were shows where the band played like it was the first time they're doing this. They stabilized during the first leg but they couldn't restore the magic.
Richie's departure made it even worse but also carried the band to a new energy level to unwind the missing band member. Especially the first part of the European tour saw a band which was really on fire and that played great shows with great setlist - even though their guitarist was "just" a hired-gun.
But the longer the tour went it became obvious that they couldn't keep that kind of energy. Jon's vocal performance became worse and he started to struggle even in less demanding songs.
The tour started to feel like a tour without an end as more shows were added to the schedule mid-year until the end of December. The audience attending the shows probably had a good time but the fan interest in the rest of the world started to fade. This wasn't the music loving rock band, we all fell for at some point, anymore but a money making machine.
As the tour finally came to an end not only the band seemed exhausted and happy to be done but the fans, too. The band needed a break more than ever and time to solve the situation with Richie.
They already missed the chance to enjoy their success after the end of their 2011-tour, so it was time to do it now.
And after it first seemed like they were doing right this, they returned with a surprising album (Burning Bridges) and a short tour in 2015, where Jon's vocals were even worse and finally released another new studio record in 2016 and went on the road again the following year.
Song statistic
The shows had songs from 15 different albums.
The following albums were ignored:
- 7800° Fahrenheit
- This Left Feels Right
(Click on the images to enlarge them)
