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Name.” I enjoy the exuberance of “It’s My Life.” I enjoy the cowboy imagery of “Wanted.” I like all that. If I didn’t enjoy a song, I wouldn’t include it in the set list; I wouldn’t sing it.
    TICO: I could never go on idle—on cruise control—and play the show. It’s impossible for me. You really have to give it your all. Plus, there are some audiences that react better and some that you really have to work at because of language or cultural differences.

     
Lost Highway tour, XCEL Energy Center, St. Paul, MN, March 2008.
Phil Griffin
     
    I want to live in the moment onstage every night.
—Richie
     

     
Lost Highway tour, Zentralstadion, Leipzig, Germany, May 25, 2008.
Phil Griffin
     
    JON: Sometimes you have a night like Dublin, where it’s pure magic. I love Ireland. I wish I was Irish. Somewhere in my past life, I was Irish. I know I was. I feel a connection. It isn’t the architecture. It isn’t the food. It’s the people. I told my wife I’m jealous all the time because she and my kids are part Irish. I want to be adopted. I think every time I go to Ireland, the Irish fans know that.
    I started flipping songs around in the Dublin set list midshow. I could add “Hallelujah.” During “Hallelujah” I was in my own world entirely. Every audience is different. The Irish crowd wants lyrical content. Maybe it has to do with being able to speak in a common language. It’s more about the lyrical connection than getting the whole audience to sway together or jump around.
    Dublin expects greatness. They don’t accept any nonsense. It’s always a great crowd. They love us as much as we love them.
    TICO: You can’t take it for granted. It’s special to be out here doing this. Once you take that for granted, you should just go home and do something else.
    RICHIE: Who doesn’t want my job? It’s so fulfilling to walk out onstage and be confident in my performance, knowing I am going to deliver my soul to those people. I am completely at home and at peace up there.
    I always try to get out of my body, spiritually, when I’m playing. I used to smoke to get high to help me get ‘out there’, but I realized that playing a guitar solo took me to that same place.
    I’m striving for technical virtuosity and a spiritual virtuosity when I play because that’s the way I grew up. When Hendrix was playing or B.B. King would play, Stevie Ray, Johnny Winter, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Duane Allman, all those guys … it was spiritual.
    The heart of this band is that we’re good musicians. We ain’t here by accident. We’re proud to be a bunch of guys who pour their heart out every night. It’s not inconsistent. This is every night. There’s not a bad fucking show, ever.
    The vocal game is so daunting from a physical standpoint: remaining healthy, keeping your voice in shape so you can get out there and sing and entertain a crowd and actually enjoy yourself without the nagging worry of wanting to hit a note and not being able to nail it. Physically, you’re tired. If you haven’t been taking care of your throat, you’re a dead man.
    Jon hasn’t really had those problems since the Jersey era. He’s been a tough, strong man and he’s learned how to take care of himself and manage his voice, his instrument.
    What’s interesting for me has been watching Jon perform, especially over the last two tours. He’s reached a place as a vocalist where he’s unbelievable. Honest to God, Jon blows me away every night. He’ll do something that he’s never done in the twenty-five years we’ve been playing together and blow my mind.

     
Lost Highway tour, City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, England, June 22, 2008.
Phil Griffin
     

     
Lost Highway tour, XCEL Energy Center, St. Paul, MN, March 2008.
Phil Griffin
     
    TICO: We play our asses off but it really comes down to the front man. Jon is a great front man. He will get an audience up on their feet. He’ll demand it of them. Jon’s determined to