By Kristina Dorsey
Publication: The Day
Music-industry pundits know this much is true: last year was a downright dismal one for concert tours.
Some famous names played to half-empty venues or canceled tours altogether.
And then there was Bon Jovi.
The rock band that's been around since 1983 was the #1 concert act of the year, selling $201.1-million worth of tickets at its 80 shows.
Yes, that means the Jersey boys even beat out Lady Gaga.
In late January, as the group was gearing up to head back on the road (they stop Friday at Mohegan Sun), two members of Bon Jovi - guitarist Richie Sambora and drummer Tico Torres - did a teleconference interview with reporters from around the country. Here are some excerpts from that session.
On how you get to be the #1 concert tour of the year:
Tico Torres: "We try to put on a great show every time we come out and change it up every time. You're talking two-and-a-half to three hours a night. And give people a bang for their buck because it does cost a lot of money to see a rock and roll show these days. Rich?"
Richie Sambora: "What we have learned to do over, God, 28 years now of being together, is give good stadium. That's the best way I could put it. I don't know how to say it any other way, and I'm trying to be humble about it, but this band, we know how to give good stadium. And I'm telling you, Tico, best drummer in the world as far as I'm concerned. There's nobody else better."
Tico Torres: "Richie, best guitar player. So we actually like each other. We like what we do."
What they'll do once this tour is over:
Tico Torres: "We're going all the way to August 1 this year. When we're done with the States, we're going to do, of course, the rest of Europe. And I think we need to take a break. I mean it's a long, expensive tour since last February, ... not only just the tour but putting it together, doing the records. It's a long process. It's important for us to just get away from the audience for a bit. We've toured the world quite a bit, and sometimes you've got to get away so people can appreciate you better. You also have to get away to live your life and create and recharge - not only your creative juices but you as a person and then you address it. So I mean the best thing I could tell you is we're going to need a couple of years off for sure."
Richie Sambora: "You know what? I think we're just going to work through this whole thing, and we're very, very proud of our achievements and what we've done. And I think T's right, we do need a little bit of a break, but not that much of a break because what's going to happen is there's going to be more songs to be written and, you know, guess what? We want to be the Rolling Stones. I know I do."
Bon Jovi became eligible last year to be chosen for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ... but weren't among those musicians voted in?
Richie Sambora: "Personally, I think it's a boys club over there. I don't know what they're doing. And, you know, they're looking for ratings or whatever they're doing, I have no idea. Is it legitimate? Let's ask that question. That's my question ... And it has nothing to do with our legitimacy because our legitimacy comes with the people and the fans. You sell 125 million records and have the two biggest tours in the last three years - I'll take that. If I would complain, nobody would listen."
Tico Torres: "You've got to look at the bands that still haven't made it that are amazing, and, really, it's hard to pick three or four bands or even five bands. The bands that were nominated this year and the ones that made it, well deserved. And it's just - well, it's nice to be nominated. We have a long life ahead of us.
Bon Jovi tends to play stadiums, but the group has regularly stopped at the 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena on its tours the past few years. What brings them back?
Tico Torres: "I think it's proximity of time when you try to line up a tour and the routing. It just happened to work out that way. I mean, when we played Patriot Stadium out there in the summer - of course, weather has something to do with it ..."
Richie Sambora: "It's always been a great venue for us. Obviously, we've been doing business with that place for a long, long time. And we enjoy it."
With so many songs in its arsenal, Bon Jovi does change the set list:
Richie Sambora: "When you do, like, 15 nights at the O2 in London or wherever the hell we did, you got to mix it up. ... This is a real band. This is not, like, a bunch of people dancing around, this, that and the other thing. We're just going up there and playing like human beings.
"That's what we do, and I think that's what people want to see. I really do. I think people want to see the unity, and even if you make a mistake, so what? You're actually really playing."
If you go
Who: Bon Jovi
Where: Mohegan Sun Arena
When: 8 p.m. Friday, March 4
Tickets: $135, $210
Visit: mohegansun.com
No comments:
Post a Comment