Bon Jovi hire guitarist O’Ree

By Scott Munro
( Classic Rock )
published

New Jersey man Matt joins live lineup for Far East tour - but Chinese authorities cancel planned September shows

Bon Jovi have added New Jersey native Matt O’Ree to their live lineup.

Radio station WRAT FM confirmed the news that he’d been brought in to replace Bobby Bandiera for the band’s upcoming shows in the Far East – but Phil X, who plays on Bon Jovi’s “fan” album Burning Bridges, will remain the group’s main axeman.

The blues-based guitarist formed the Matt O’Ree Band in 1994 and last month joined Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan on stage at the Rock The Farm benefit gig in the US.

And while the majority of Bon Jovi’s gigs will take place over the coming weeks, their two scheduled shows at Macao’s Cotai Arena in China later this month have been cancelled by authorities.

Chinese officials have given no reason, but the BBC suggest it could be because the band used an image of the Dalai Lama as a stage backdrop in 2010.

China has previously banned Bjork, Maroon 5, academics and politicians who have supported the campaign for Tibetan independence.

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.