Jon Bon Jovi keeps the faith, 25 years on
Fresh from a 12-gig run at London's O2 Arena, the 48-year-old rocker talks social activism
By Sandra Sperounes, Edmonton Journal
Jon Bon Jovi sounds a bit bleary-eyed as he sits in a stranger's home, fielding phone calls about his band's upcoming tour across North America.
He's just come from a series of meetings with politicians and the opening ceremonies of the AT&T National, a golf tournament hosted by Tiger Woods. In a few hours, the New Jersey rocker will perform an acoustic set in the stranger's home, somewhere near Philadelphia. It's all part of a joint fundraiser for the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, which helps homeless people in Philadelphia, and the Tiger Woods Foundation.
"If I told you I didn't know (where I was), I wouldn't be lying," sighs the 48-year-old Bon Jovi. "It's exciting and crazy and sad, all at the same time. I'm actually hanging in there."
He's also discombobulated by jet lag. The night before, he flew in from London, England, ecstatic and exhausted after Bon Jovi's 12-gig, sold-out run at O2 Arena. Over the course of three weeks, the rockers went through more than 60 songs from their catalogue -- from 1984's Bon Jovi to 2009's The Circle -- and a few covers, including Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman.
"It was great," says Bon Jovi. "The idea of setting up a residency like that not only allowed us to have our friends and family come and visit and make it a month-long vacation in London, but it challenged the band and the crew and everyone involved in the show to perform 72 different songs. That, in and of itself, is the most we've ever done in any one location. It was exciting, it was exhilarating, you never got bored or stale or tired. It was cool. I really enjoyed it. And I left there drained."
Over the next three weeks, he'll continue to challenge himself as Bon Jovi performs 12 shows across the U.S. and Canada as part of The Circle tour, including Thursday's show at Commonwealth Stadium. Expect a "minimum of 2-1/2 hours" from the frontman, guitarist Richie Sambora, bassist Hugh McDonald, drummer Tico Torres and keyboardist David Bryan -- but don't bother to look for previous set lists to get an idea of their possible song selections. Jon Bon Jovi comes up with a new list for each show.
"Not before 7:30 that night," he says. "Oh yeah. There are grown men standing outside my door, waiting for the baker to open up and let out tonight's bread. The set comes after I warm up and figure it out."
With more than 140 crew members, he has a lot of mouths to feed -- and it's getting somewhat tougher as the concert industry falters.
Artists are cancelling dates left and right, with Christina Aguilera pulling the plug on her entire tour and Lilith axing as many as 10 shows. (Ticket sales are down by 17 per cent from last year, according to Pollstar magazine.)
Even Bon Jovi isn't safe. Tickets are still available for Thursday's show at Commonwealth Stadium. Prices are now as low as $10. Jon Bon Jovi isn't too worried. Their 12-show run in London netted $18.1 million US, according to Billboard magazine.
"We've been blessed, more than blessed," he says. "Our shows have been up there in the 99 percentile (of ticket sales). Four nights at Giants Stadium, two nights in Toronto, two nights in Chicago, 12 nights in London, it's just beyond our comprehension.
"People with disposable income ... there are so many choices for them to utilize it. I think the A-list entertainer is always going to be OK, but it's going to be harder for the struggling guy, unless he does a festival situation. I'm not quite sure how it's going to go."
Bon Jovi could be contributing to the concert industry's current woes. The band is one of dozens of performers who offer pricey VIP packages to their fans. Then again, you could say those VIP packages allow the band to offer $10 tickets to fans without a lot of disposable income. In a sense, Jon Bon Jovi is as much of a socialist as he is a capitalist.
"If people want to pay X for what they're promised, there's nothing wrong with it," he says. "It's up to the individual. Nobody's stealing anything, nobody's scalping anything. It's all really above board."
He might disagree with the socialist label --isn't it a bad word for most Americans? -- but Jon Bon Jovi is proud to be a social activist.
He's not quite as celebrated (or denigrated) as U2 frontman Bono, though he's just as passionate about trying to fix the world through his songs and his philanthropic work. He started his foundation in 2006, while he was a co-owner of an Arena Football team, the Philadelphia Soul.
"We were rather scattershot when we began it, but it was under the guise of sports ownership," he says. "What we knew would differentiate us from the Big Four (major leagues -- football, baseball, basketball and hockey) was to do something that would endear you to the community and make a difference in the community.
"It all came to me one night when I saw a homeless guy sleeping outside of City Hall. I said, 'I got it, this is the one thing that doesn't matter if you're black, white, young, old, Republican, Democrat, Eagles fan or Giants fan.' So we started to really focus our efforts on it five, almost six years ago, and today, we've built 260 homes and it's something I'm very excited about, proud about, and something I'm getting quite well known for. The team's gone but the foundation is thriving."
His foundation may be relatively new, but his concern for social and political issues was apparent early on in his career. Livin' On a Prayer, their 1986 smash, tells the story of two lovers struggling to pay the bills, while 1992's Keep the Faith could be classified as an antiwar anthem.
The Circle, released last fall, is the band's most socially and politically conscious album. Bullet, for example, was inspired by the energy crisis and actress/singer Jennifer Hudson's family tragedy. (Her brother-in-law killed her mother, brother and seven-year-old nephew.) We Weren't Born To Follow is a response to "what was going on with the election of our president, the economic downturn, and how people were going to stand up and be counted this time." Superman Tonight is an ode to a damaged little starlet, but could apply to anyone with self-esteem (or other) issues.
"I'd get a lot more tabloid news if I'd admit who it was, but I can't," he says. "I won't. It's the only boy-girl song on the record. I don't know why I care, but I cared about this girl. You say, 'Oh, I can fix this,' but I can't."
He also can't fathom the thought of running for political office, despite his close ties to President Barack Obama and his administration. (Chief adviser David Axelrod has the lyrics to Bon Jovi's Work For the Working Man framed on his office wall.)
"I think it's a pretty thankless job," he says. "I don't know if I'm ever going to be thick-skinned enough and I think there are those who are better serving the public with specifics in mind. So, for me, if I stay on an issue that I can impact, it's homeless. I don't have to be a scientist to create the cure and I don't have to be knowledgeable about roads and bridges when I care about houses. To run for governor or something, it just doesn't seem like the right idea."
After all, Jon Bon Jovi is a rock star, used to years of creature comforts. He's a capitalist as much as he is a socialist.
"I was once with president Clinton on an airplane, a very small private plane, there was five of us in total," he says.
"A guy asked a question, 'President Clinton, whose job is better -- yours or Jon's?' I said, 'Can I answer that question?' The guy said, 'Yeah, sure.' I said, 'Mine.' He said, 'Why do you say that?' I said, 'Because I get to keep the house and the airplane.' "
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