By Steve McElwee - For the CDT
Friday, Feb. 04, 2011
It’s pretty amazing that Bon Jovi has been together recording and performing since the first Reagan administration. What’s even more impressive is that they haven’t perished to the pratfalls that claimed a lot of their 1980s hard-rock contemporaries, nor have they been relegated to the often desperate and demeaning rotation of reality TV and county fairs. If anything, Bon Jovi is more popular now than they were during their initial glory years a quarter of a century ago.
“There is a lot of new faces out there, two or three generations of people since we started,” drummer Tico Torres said. “From the beginning, we’ve always toured as many continents as possible, and that gives you longevity because a lot of times when it’s not working in a certain area, you go away from that area and you build up. By touring so much, you get a lot of new fans.”
Bon Jovi will kick off a 2011 world tour with a stop at Penn State next week. In spite of performing together since 1983, the musicians say each tour stop becomes a unique concert experience.
Having solidly established themselves as American rock royalty, Bon Jovi is coming off the top grossing concert tour of 2010 (their second in three years) and they are kicking off their 2011 world tour, which runs through July, at the Bryce Jordan Center next week. Despite typically playing in larger cities, the band is looking forward to playing in a college town.
“Our production team is getting everything together and everybody gets a great show,” guitarist Richie Sambora said. “And you know what? Honestly it’s very, very spontaneous and fun and it’s a special thing.”
Even though they have played thousands of concerts over the years, the band is still able to infuse their energy and charisma into a set and they make sure that every single one of their shows tops whatever they did the previous evening.
“There’s not a moment that this band walks on stage together and doesn’t give 120 percent,” Sambora said. “You know, everybody’s out there really trying their hardest so it’s just going to be an interesting show.”
While usually categorized as an arena band, Bon Jovi has strived to make every single concerts as personal as possible. It’s as if they are playing their endless set of hits specifically for the fans.
“I love the energy and the fact that Bon Jovi makes a stadium intimate, big screens so people can actually see you sweat, see how hard you’re working,” Sambora said of the band’s giant high-definition video screens that will adorn the stage. “Even if you’re at the back seat of the stadium and you’re the 66,000th guy that’s back there, you’re seeing it.”
“And the personal antics that we do as musicians. Jon knows how to make a big crowd intimate and we have a half-circle that goes out into the audience where we do acoustic stuff together,” Torres added.
“The guy’s extraordinary,” said Sambora while discussing their dynamic front man, Jon Bon Jovi. “It’s like when I walk on stage with him, I’m going, ‘What’s next?’ All of us do the same thing and we don’t rehearse that much, so it’s very, very spontaneous and that makes it fun for us and keeps us fresh.”
For a band that has been performing together for such a long time, it only seems natural their creativity might go stale, but aside from Bon Jovi being able to entertain an audience, they also keep things interesting for themselves. “We play off each other and that’s what we have, that’s what a band is,” Torres said. “Unless you come see us 10 nights in a row or even three nights in a row, you won’t notice it. Because we play different every night, it’s something that you look forward to because you spend a lot of time in the hotel room away from home, and you’re looking forward to those three hours on stage where you could just do your craft and enjoy yourself.”
“And jam,” Sambora added.
“And jam. And that’s what makes it fun for us,” Torres said.
Bon Jovi will kick off its 2011 world tour at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 9 at the Bryce Jordan Center, University Park. Call 865-5555 or visit www.bjc.psu.edu for more information.
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