Bon Jovi keeps the faith, minus guitarist Sambora
Reuters
Jon Bon Jovi performs in Boston, at an earlier stop on his tour. Bon Jovi played the Bradley Center Saturday night.
In the middle of Bon Jovi's sold-out show Saturday night at the Bradley Center, frontman Jon Bon Jovi paused to answer one question that might have crossed the minds of a few fans.
"I don't know how to say this, but the world is still here tonight," the singer said, remarking about the day's widely reported speculation of an apocalypse.
Dedicating a song to Harold Camping (the man behind the purported rapture), Bon Jovi offered up a fitting cover of R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." It was a moment of levity in the midst of a brightly produced 2 ½ set of hits from the New Jersey band.
Another question that many fans were probably asking themselves wasn't so directly answered: How would Bon Jovi fare without original guitarist Richie Sambora?
Jon Bon Jovi barely mentioned his longtime sidekick, who bowed out of this tour after checking into rehab. He name-dropped him ("Richie is doing the best he can") in the lyrics of "Blood on Blood" and thanked fans for their loyalty even when the band was "a man down."
The group coped musically thanks to the more-than-competent fretwork of newly added Triumph guitarist Phil Xenidis and some solo work from their regular touring guitarist Bobby Bandiera.
While Sambora's charisma was obviously missing from the show, his absence seemed to ignite the band's energetic lead singer.
Dressed in black jeans and a vest, Bon Jovi already had his fist pumping as he climbed onto the large stage for the opening "Lost Highway." Backed by drummer Tico Torres, keyboardist David Bryan and bassist Hugh McDonald, the still-boyish 49-year-old lead singer was greeted by an audience that was ready to sing along with every word.
The band sampled widely from its repertoire, at one point pairing its 1983 breakout single, "Runaway," with "The More Things Change," a new track from last year's "Greatest Hits" album.
The show was rife with rock anthems, bright lights and stage effects. Bon Jovi climbed a transforming staircase of video screens to sing "We Got it Going On" to the fans behind the stage. He shook his head and swiveled his hips while adding a verse of Rod Stewart's "Hot Legs" to an extended "Bad Medicine." He ventured through the crowd to a satellite stage for a set of slower songs that included the 1992 power ballad "Bed of Roses."
Encore performances of "Wanted Dead or Alive" and "Livin' on a Prayer" incited the loudest audience response, but it was the main set closer, "Keep the Faith," that brought the band and its front man to their peak.
Shaking a pair of maracas and reaching out over the crowd as sweat pored from his brow, Bon Jovi crouched like a prize fighter and led the band into an arena rock frenzy of swirling lights and wailing guitars.
"I don't know how to say this, but the world is still here tonight," the singer said, remarking about the day's widely reported speculation of an apocalypse.
Dedicating a song to Harold Camping (the man behind the purported rapture), Bon Jovi offered up a fitting cover of R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." It was a moment of levity in the midst of a brightly produced 2 ½ set of hits from the New Jersey band.
Another question that many fans were probably asking themselves wasn't so directly answered: How would Bon Jovi fare without original guitarist Richie Sambora?
Jon Bon Jovi barely mentioned his longtime sidekick, who bowed out of this tour after checking into rehab. He name-dropped him ("Richie is doing the best he can") in the lyrics of "Blood on Blood" and thanked fans for their loyalty even when the band was "a man down."
The group coped musically thanks to the more-than-competent fretwork of newly added Triumph guitarist Phil Xenidis and some solo work from their regular touring guitarist Bobby Bandiera.
While Sambora's charisma was obviously missing from the show, his absence seemed to ignite the band's energetic lead singer.
Dressed in black jeans and a vest, Bon Jovi already had his fist pumping as he climbed onto the large stage for the opening "Lost Highway." Backed by drummer Tico Torres, keyboardist David Bryan and bassist Hugh McDonald, the still-boyish 49-year-old lead singer was greeted by an audience that was ready to sing along with every word.
The band sampled widely from its repertoire, at one point pairing its 1983 breakout single, "Runaway," with "The More Things Change," a new track from last year's "Greatest Hits" album.
The show was rife with rock anthems, bright lights and stage effects. Bon Jovi climbed a transforming staircase of video screens to sing "We Got it Going On" to the fans behind the stage. He shook his head and swiveled his hips while adding a verse of Rod Stewart's "Hot Legs" to an extended "Bad Medicine." He ventured through the crowd to a satellite stage for a set of slower songs that included the 1992 power ballad "Bed of Roses."
Encore performances of "Wanted Dead or Alive" and "Livin' on a Prayer" incited the loudest audience response, but it was the main set closer, "Keep the Faith," that brought the band and its front man to their peak.
Shaking a pair of maracas and reaching out over the crowd as sweat pored from his brow, Bon Jovi crouched like a prize fighter and led the band into an arena rock frenzy of swirling lights and wailing guitars.
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