For more than 10 years, Phil X has been a mainstay in the touring circuit as Jon Bon Jovi's lead guitarist.
Aside from his main gig, Phil also records and tours with his own outfit, Phil X & the Drills. However, as he details in a new interview with Guitar World, the prep for the two gigs is considerably different – and the Bon Jovi gig comes with its own unique pressures.
“I warm up differently before the shows. With the Drills, I’ll run through the solos on Sunny Days and I Wish My Beer Was as Cold as Your Heart just to make sure those crazy riffs are working,” he observes.
“For Bon Jovi, I run through the big, thematic solos. You really don’t want to mess those moments up. It’s the simple stuff that’ll kill you – especially when everyone’s recording it on their cell to put on YouTube. One bad moment will be there forever!”
Speaking of killer warm-ups, Steve Morse recently gave his two cents about why warming up before a show is so crucial.
“There's technical practice, there's stretching, there's left-hand strength, right-hand strength, and I've got this condition that has developed from 50 years of playing,” he notes on The No Cover Charge Podcast, referring to his struggles with arthritis.
And there’s one guitarist who Morse claims has his warm-up routine surgically nailed down: “We did some shows with Dream Theater. One thing I love seeing is how John Petrucci will just sit down and do a warm-up, no matter what, even if you're talking to him, he's going to keep on,” he relates.
As for Phil X, the Bon Jovi guitarist has been spotted sporting an unidentified gold SG – complete with chrome-covered P-90s – on social media, which seems to hint that his long-rumored signature Gibson is almost here.
