The wait is finally over for Bon Jovi to get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the band is really making the most of the belated honor. For starters, the arena rockers just released the deluxe edition of “This House Is Not For Sale,” are currently prepping another cross-country tour and also promise members past and present will perform at the black tie affair in Cleveland on April 14. Chicago Concert Reviews connected with fellow co-founders David Bryan (keyboards) and Tico Torres (drums) for a teleconference conversation relating to the ceremony, their longstanding relationship with the city and a revamped show that comes to the United Center on April 26.

One of the big stories is you guys are going into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What do you want to say about finally getting in? It seems like it’s been an overdue honor.

David Bryan: Yeah, it’s nine years a little late, but we’re in the club and it’s a wonderful club to be in. From Elvis to the Beatles and the Stones, you feel like it’s definitely a club to be in. It’s a great honor.

Tico Torres: Like David said, you can’t ask for better company. Obviously it’s going to be going on for years and there are a lot of people that deserve to be in there as well. I think the beauty of it is it also brings to light a lot of music from the past to generations today that have never really experienced that. I think it’s good to keep it alive and show that this music is relevant from years past.

Do you guys talk about what you’re going to do as far as the performance goes?

David Bryan: We’re going to play a couple songs and [former bassist] Alec [John Such] and [former guitarist/co-songwriter] Richie [Sambora] are going to join us and it’s going to be pretty cool. We’re looking forward to it.

What’s it going to be like getting back together with Richie and Alec? What do you think the emotion of that night is going to be like getting to play again with those guys?

Tico Torres: It’s harder to pick what you’re going to go through emotionally, but speaking to Alec on the phone, it was wonderful. In reality, we took that journey together at certain times as a group. I think it’s wonderful that we can reenact that not only for us, but for the fans. I think when you get together with old friends, there’s always going to be some deep emotions within that.

Can you talk about both of the new songs? Is this Bon Jovi kind of entering the new world order and maybe becoming a band that puts out songs as they’re ready rather than spending ten years preparing a new album?

David Bryan: I think it’s re-releasing “This House Is Not for Sale” to support these next 30 shows with two new songs. “When We Were Us” is a song that’s brought on by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s talking about where we were, where we are and where we’re going in our career. The other song, “Walls,” is about unification, not separation…Who knows what the future is, but we usually make records and this is just adding to it because it’s a continuation of the tour really, it’s the second leg. But I liked the way you called it “new world.” In today’s day and age, you can do that. We can add two songs off the cuff, but it’s kind of cool to be able to do that.

I wanted to talk with you guys a little bit about “This House Is Not for Sale,” both the album that came out last year and the new edition. These projects have some sounds that are new to Bon Jovi. What inspired the musical direction in general for the project?

Dave Bryan: On this one it was really we got in a room together, looked at each other and really bashed it out in the studio. We hadn’t been doing that for a while on the other records, just a different method, and this one was like “let’s just get live, get in the room all together and bash it out and really create something.” We really did and are very proud of that record…We added a couple more songs to just bring some new material to it for these bunch of shows coming up.

What updates are you bringing to this year’s version of the show?

Tico Torres: Ha-ha-ha, you shall see. You shall see as we shall see.

David Bryan: You know the good thing is we have a big catalog and we’re going to mix up a lot of songs, as well as some new ones. It’s kind of fun. We try to change the set every night. It’s going to be fun, plus we’re playing places we haven’t played in a long time…Some places will be repeated, but we change it. We do multiples and we change it up every night.

I know you guys have played with Buddy Guy before. What are some favorite memories of playing in Chicago? Was it playing with him or can you talk a little bit about coming to town?

Tico Torres: Chicago is a great town. It’s been known for its blues. As a matter of fact, the last time we were there, I went to see him. I forgot the name of the theater, but it was a blues revue of who’s who playing. It was awesome to see him there and catch up. It was beautiful. Any time you can play with an icon, it’s a gem in your life, one of those things you remember and enjoy. Of course, there’s a lot of great musicians that have passed on that we’ve had the opportunity to play with. I mean, growing up you go, “wow.” Going and listening to them is one thing. Another thing is to play with them. You stand in their shadows.

So many bands are performing complete albums on special anniversary tours. Has that idea ever come up within the Bon Jovi camp? What would be a few that you feel would qualify for a milestone of that magnitude?

Tico Torres: “This House Is Not for Sale” was done in its entirety. We only did four shows around the world to very limited audiences, but it was the best way we figured for a listening party to actually have people there and play it in its entirety. It’s kind of cool and that’s one record that really works doing the whole thing live. As far as energy level, you have 20, 30, maybe 50,000 people and there’s a certain energy every time that you want to get to that sometimes doing the whole record in its entirely is a little difficult. David?

David Bryan: That would be a hard one because we have so many records and so many songs. I don’t think we’ve ever sat there and said, “okay, we’ll just do “Slippery When Wet,” or we’ll just do “New Jersey.” We haven’t really talked about that. We just love to play all the songs to tell you the truth.

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Bon Jovi performs at the United Center on Thursday, April 26. For additional details, visit LiveNation.com and BonJovi.com.