Jon promises special show for Regina
BY JEFF DEDEKKER, THE LEADER-POSTJULY 27, 2010 2:04 AM
BON JOVI
(with Kid Rock and Enjoy Your Pumas)
6 p.m. Wednesday
Mosaic Stadium
Life as a rock star has many perks, with fame and fortune providing a life that most people can only dream about.
While some artists may take the adulation and money for granted, Jon Bon Jovi understands that with success comes expectations and responsibilities. During a recent telephone interview, Bon Jovi talked about the fan base the band has cultivated over the past 25 years and the impact the support has had on the band.
A prime example are Blaine and Chera Miller of Regina. The couple has seen Bon Jovi perform nine times and consider themselves lifelong fans of the band. When they were married, their first dance was to "Thank You For Loving Me," and when their second child was born last year, they named the youngster Jovi.
When asked how such dedication made him feel, Bon Jovi sounded genuinely touched by the gesture.
Jovi??? You named your kid Jovi? My vet says they have a dog named Jovi (and it's owner claims to be Jon's aunt, go figure) but you named your kid Jovi?
While I mock it I'm also having a sense of why didn't I think of that moment as well.
"It's humbling. It's very humbling to think that you've touched somebody's life for them to make such a kind of an important decision in their lives," said Bon Jovi.
"It's humbling."
Although the Millers will be seeing Bon Jovi for the 10th time when the band brings The Circle Tour to Mosaic Stadium on Wednesday, they will be viewing a show unique to Regina. Bon Jovi plans on playing a number of the band's hits like "Wanted Dead Or Alive," "You Give Love A Bad Name," "Livin' On A Prayer" and "It's My Life" but the set list has been changing from night to night on the current tour.
Bon Jovi, along with bandmates Richie Sambora (guitar), Tico Torres (drums) and David Bryan (keyboards), decided the only way to keep the tour fresh was to tinker with the set list each night. The everchanging set list not only challenged the band members but the video crew as well.
"They're pretty good, I have to say. I challenged the bastards," Bon Jovi said with a laugh. "We just concluded 12 nights in London at the O2 (Arena) and the number of songs started to add up because I couldn't bear to go out there and ever perform the same set twice.
"I said the goal was to play 70 different songs over the course of the 12 nights. I was calling some of them on the fly and I'll be damned that by the first chorus, that video didn't make a liar out of me. They were right there. They kept up pretty good."
*cough* Rarely do they fly by the seat of their pants. Songs are done at least once during sound check. Audibles are planned. The excepting will be at the end of the article, I promise its a good one.
The challenge of expanding the set list has been enjoyable for the band.
"During the course of the late afternoon, we come in every day, even 60 shows in, and do a power sound check. I'd have a list of songs in my head -- 'I was thinking about this one from that album. Why don't we play this one and tomorrow we'll do it.' I always kept them going," explained Bon Jovi. "It became a bit of a game for us so that by the end even Tico was bringing me a list of songs saying, 'We didn't do this one and we didn't do that one.' It became fun, because for whatever it's worth, not that many bands go out there and do 70 different songs in one location."
Another aspect that separates Bon Jovi the band from other groups is how its music has changed over the years. Many bands find a formula that works and then spends the rest of its career trying to duplicate that sound with every passing album.
Bon Jovi had no interest in following that blueprint for success.
"On our first record I was 21 years old and now I'm 48. If I didn't change it would be sad. It would be too bad," said Bon Jovi. "No matter who the artist is, if you've been around that long, your sound has gone through ebb and flow periods, introspective and experimental periods. It would have to in order to have a long body of work. I'm thinking of guys that I should never compare myself to but nonetheless have had long careers -- Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, (Bruce) Springsteen, (Elvis) Costello, guys that I admired. They all experimented."
Bands such as AC/DC and Nickelback have fashioned wildly successful careers by sticking to the tried and true method. Bon Jovi applauded their success but reiterated that style was not for him.
"To each his own. That's not for me."
I've seen Bruce Springsteen several times and at every show someone from the audience will have a sign, the last show I went to the guy had a sign that said, "ROSIE COME OUT TONIGHT!!!" and he ran down the steps towards the stage and I'll be Damned Bruce screams out, "ROSIE COME OUT TONIGHT!" and the E Street Band broke out into the intro of Rosalita (Come Out Tonight).
But here's the Bon Jovi special one, from Amsterdam on the Lost Highway tour (you notice rarities only come out in Europe), Stick to Your Guns, and this song shows us once again the awesome-tastic-ness of one Richie Sambora who's telling Jon the chords at the beginning of the song.
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