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- Apr 3:
- Review: Wooing 'American Idol' crowd creates bland Bon Jovi, Daughtry rock show in San Jose
- Apr 1:
- Bon Jovi's making memories
It's called the "Lost Highway" tour, but Bon Jovi is one high-performance machine that sticks to the main roads.
The veteran New Jersey band, which returns to HP arena April 8, doesn't venture far from the tried and true. If you want to see Jon Bon Jovi break into a million-dollar grin as 19,000 faces belt out the chorus to "Livin' on a Prayer," you'll get what you came for.
Wednesday at the arena, Bon Jovi delivered two hours of singalong hits with movie-star charisma, first-rate musicianship and impeccable production values. If you want a little substance with all that, come back April 5 for Springsteen.
After a competent but unmemorable opening set by "American Idol" alum Chris Daughtry's band, Daughtry, the headliners took the stage shortly after 8:30. Founding members - singer Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan and drummer Tico Torres - were joined by bassist Hugh McDonald, an extra guitarist and, on a handful of tunes and female violinist Lorenza Ponce (she didn't have sufficient grit or drive in her playing to earn the title "fiddler").
The set kicked off with the "Lost Highway" title track from what's ostensibly the band's "Nashville" album, but none of the five new songs stood out from the more typical Bon Jovi fare. Whether a pop-metal anthem from 1983 ("Runaway") or a minor country hit from last year ("Make a Memory"), it all sounded like Bon Jovi.
Not that that's always a good thing. From the
The show was aided immensely by first-rate sound and a masterful video display that continues to spin out new wrinkles as the show progresses. Not only do the screens provide crystal-clear close-ups of the band members (excepting Torres, who apparently prefers to sneak his cigarettes off camera), but they also slice, dice and julienne into fresh configurations with practically every song. Best of all, they even do impressions. (Two words: Venetian blinds.)
Predictable images flashed across the screens during each song - a gritty street scene for "Runaway," western tableaux for "Blaze of Glory." During the new "I Love This Town," a collage of hometown images from across the country ended with stock ones of San Francisco, which failed to excite the crowd, and a San Jose Sharks logo, which did. (Suggestion: How about adding a real hometown image - say a shot of Hangar One or Falafel Drive-In - for Tuesday's show?)
Jon Bon Jovi's voice remained strong throughout, but he wasn't the only quality singer on stage. He stepped aside to let his right-hand man Sambora take the lead on "I'll Be There for You." That number, with keyboardist Bryan on backing vocals, a song that clearly revealed one of the band's underappreciated qualities: the depth of its vocal talent. And Bon Jovi graciously shared the spotlight with Chris Daughtry on a powerful duet on Jon's 1990 solo hit "Blaze of Glory" (on which Daughtry frankly outsang its writer). It was one of the show's high points.
Instrumentally, the band isn't flashy, but it replicates the records with evident skill, whether it's an acoustic ballad or a bluesy rocker. And a detour into the Isley Brothers' "Shout" during "Bad Medicine" revealed that there's still a razor-sharp Jersey bar band under all the arena glitz.
The band closed the set with its most beloved rocker, "Living on a Prayer," before returning for an encore that ended with "Wanted Dead or Alive." Would you have expected anything else?
Bon Jovi
Where HP Pavilion at San Jose, 525 W. Santa Clara St.
When 7:30 p.m.
Tickets $49.50-$129.50; (408) 287-6655, (408) 998-8497, www.ticketmaster.com.
Bon Jovi
mercurynews
Where HP Pavilion at San Jose, 525 W. Santa Clara St.
When 7:30 p.m.
Tickets $49.50-$129.50; (408) 287-6655, (408) 998-8497, www.ticketmaster.com.