Bon Jovi: Houston, Texas Review

Last Night: Bon Jovi At Toyota Center

By Pete Vonder Haar

published: Wed., May 18 2011 @ 10:00AM

Photos by Groovehouse

​Bon Jovi

Toyota Center

May 17, 2011

Keep the faith with Bon Jovi and their hordes of Houston fans in our slideshow.

It's no easy feat to emerge relatively unscathed from the ruins of the '80s metal boom. Bon Jovi's more glam-oriented contemporaries can no longer hope to fill the big arenas (though we understand you can catch Whitesnake and Warrant at Coushatta this weekend), and while Jon and the boys certainly exploited the spandex and Aqua Net trappings of that era to their full advantage, you could tell they craved something that eluded their peers: Legitimacy.

Because when you get down the nuts and bolts of it, Bon Jovi's appeal has always rested on their ability to match power chord to cliché. Look at some of those song titles: "The More Things Change?" "Have a Nice Day?" "Keep the Faith?" You wonder sometimes if JBJ eats a lot of fortune cookies.

But what can't be denied is the man's ability to work a crowd. There is a dearth of rock and roll showmen here in the new millennium, but even at 49 years of age, the formerly leonine lead singer pranced, cajoled, and posed his way into the audience's heart at Toyota Center last night.

Put another way, he saw 20,000 faces, and he rocked them all.

​The band came out to an animated opening sequence that looked like TRON as directed by Michael Bay, and they didn't open especially strong. "Lost Highway" is one of those songs that makes people think of the New Jersey band as "Sprinsgteen lite," with its talk of "dashboard Jesuses" and "half a tank of gas." But from there the band kicked into "You Give Love a Bad Name," and the crowd was Jon's from then on.

When we say JBJ is a poser, we mean it in the best possible - literal - way. He's honed his stage presence over three decades of performances into a well-oiled fist pumping, foot stomping machine, and the audience licked it up. To quote another, more flamboyant rock group.

"Born to Be My Baby" was next, followed by another relative clunker, "We Weren't Born to Follow" from their most recent release, the poorly received Circle. The quasi-motivational visuals on the otherwise impressive video system didn't help, as the color palette was obviously meant to remind us of those Obama "Hope" ads. It's cool, because we know JBJ's an Obama guy, Aftermath just wasn't sure Oprah Winfrey belongs in the same stratum as Winston Churchill.

For "Runaway," JBJ said he was taking us back in his time machine to the Summit ("I was there once!"), and we must admit, for those three minutes he could have led 20,000 people burning and looting their way through downtown Houston. Pray he never uses his powers for evil.

​Aftermath has to say, the dude - no, the whole band really - looked pretty great. Compare JBJ to Vince Neil or Jani Lane (not to keep picking on Warrant) or most other 1980s "survivors." Clean living pays off, we guess.

Now they tell us.

The only moment that smacked of fogey-ness was during "The More Things Change," when JBJ derided Jay-Z and Lady Gaga, reminding us all they'd been precede by the likes of Ice-T and Madonna. Surely a rock singer from New Jersey doesn't want to get into a pissing match about who's aping who, does he?

And that's because Aftermath is convinced that what Jon Bon Jovi desperately wants is to lead one of those legendary Springsteenian three-hour plus concert events like his Garden State bro, but it'll never happen because the band's material won't support it, and his audience probably wouldn't stand for it.

​Though we will say this: as accustomed as we've become to suburban Houston crowds bailing on shows at the 9:30 or 10 p.m. mark (See: Heart) to get back to Cinco Ranch or Fairfield or whatever, we only saw a handful of people drifting out before show's end. Give the guy credit for that.

And give the rest of the band credit for another kind of consistency, hair style. Jon cropped his tresses long ago, to be sure, but drummer Tico Torres is now the oldest living soul patch wearer (now that SRV is dead) and keyboardist David Bryan still has that fucking Bo Derek perm. It was all rather...comforting.

Though Aftermath misses spandex sometimes.

The intimate acoustic portion of the show found Jon alone on a walkway that separated his VIP ticketholders from the floor seats. "What Do You Got?," "(You Want To) Make a Memory" and "I'll Be There For You" were all well-received. Especially by the fiftysomething woman who honest-to-god started crying when Jon acknowledged her handmade sign. Wow.

Of course, there was one notable absence. Longtime guitarist Richie Sambora left the tour to enter rehab late last month, though his slack was picked up capably by guitarist Phil X. There was only one mention of the missing Sambora, when JBJ encouraged a singalong during "Wanted: Dead or Alive" that could be "heard in California."

We assumed that's where he's rehabbing, and not because Bon Jovi was making a statement about the Schwarzenegger thing.

​"Livin' on a Prayer" closed out the show, to much delight. Admittedly, Aftermath were never really fans of the band (we may have actually pointed and laughed at a dude wearing a Slippery When Wet T-shirt in high school), but we can't deny his ability to work a crowd or his showmanship. Last night's show was one of those concerts where the crowd was often louder than the band. And in a good way, not that usual Verizon Theater "where are we going after the show?" Houston rudeness.

As for us,...work in some Bruce covers next time and we'll see.

Personal Bias: Our "ironic" appreciation for '80s hair bands never extended to Bon Jovi, sorry to say. It didn't help that our college freshman year roommate stayed up all night one Friday practicing the opening riff to "Wanted: Dead or Alive."

The Crowd: Mostly fortysomethings and above, doing their damndest to stand up for the whole show. Bunions, though.

Overheard In The Crowd: "I love you Jon Bon Jovi!"

Random Notebook Dump: "I'm glad I brought an extra pair of panties to throw on stage during 'Runaway.' Yes...my panties."

​SET LIST

Lost Highway

You Give Love a Bad Name

Born to Be My Baby

We Weren't Born to Follow

Runaway

It's My Life

The More Things Change

We Got It Going On

Bad Medicine/Roadhouse Blues/Shout/Old Time Rock & Roll

Lay Your Hands On Me

What Do You Got?

(You Want To) Make a Memory

I'll Be There For You

Who Says You Can't Go Home

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

In These Arms

Have a Nice Day

Keep the Faith

ENCORE

Someday I'll Be Saturday Night

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Livin' on a Prayer

Bon Jovi: The Forbes Article

I know Forbes readers may not have heard the whole rock band story but I know I have several times, I just wish sometimes Jon wasn't so scripted in his interview responses. Like when he did Larry King I felt like I could have done the interview.  It wasn't anything I hadn't heard before.

Jon Bon Jovi: Still Rockin, and Making A Killing

Zack O'Malley Greenburg, 05.18.11, 10:00 AM ET

The next time you play Rock Band don't invite Jon Bon Jovi. The 49- year-old singer's wife and kids recently convinced him to give the popular videogame a try. So he picked up the microphone and launched into a rendition of his classic "Wanted Dead or Alive," backed by family on virtual guitars and drums. He never made it through the song.

"I failed--it buzzed me down," Bon Jovi admits over lunch in Manhattan. "So I stood up off the couch and I said, 'All right, goddamn it, press play.' They did it again, I failed again, and I said, 'Everybody's going to bed. That's the end of this. Turn that shit off.'"

Fortunately for Bon Jovi, audiences in real arenas around the world are kinder. His eponymous band took home $125 million over the past 12 months by FORBES' estimates, more than any other music act besides U2--and more than relative whippersnappers Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Kanye West combined. In the past year the band has played 74 gigs in 15 nations, grossing $203 million in ticket sales and $20 million in merchandise; Bon Jovi ranks No. 8 on this year's Celebrity 100.

Surprised? Bon Jovi out-earns younger, glitzier acts thanks to a relatively affluent, aging fan base who turn out to hear the ballads of their youth and see a tightly run touring machine built on decades of experience.

"They're one of the highest-grossing bands every year," says veteran concert promoter Ron Delsener. "Jon is a workaholic, constantly touring, constantly making loads of money."

Whereas Lady Gaga schleps dozens of dancers from town to town and needs 28 trucks to cart her equipment, Bon Jovi typically plays with six people. A dozen trucks carry the gear, including a circular stage and 192 double-sided LED video screens connected with a specially designed motion control system, which allows them to come together to form a screen 13 feet high and 40 feet wide. At arenas like Montreal's 21,500-capacity Bell Center, the in-theround setup lets the band sell up to 5,500 more tickets than a traditional arena stage would. Wherever possible Bon Jovi plays consecutive nights at the same venue to cut back on setup and strike costs. By playing 12 shows in 19 days at London's O2 arena the band saved $300,000.

"It wasn't some conscious decision to be penny-pinching. I think it's just wise to be efficient," says Bon Jovi. "I know big bands where each of them has personal assistants on the road, each of them has a security guard. We don't have a security guard. Take your own friggin' bags!"

On the revenue side the band's U.S. fans sport an average household income of $78,989, slightly higher than the mean for the 350 music groups tracked by research firm NPD's Brand Link database. The economic difference between Bon Jovi's fans and those of, say, Justin Bieber ($71,389) or Metallica ($71,089) is more than enough to cover a pricey special like the Crush Package, which comes with a grab bag of perks and tchotchkes, including souvenir lanyards, autographed lithographs and two front-row seats that you can fold up and take home after the show. The average cost for this VIP treatment is $2,550 per couple; lowend alternatives set you back $450. Bon Jovi sells an average of 600 individual special package tickets per arena show.

Though regular tickets start at $20, these packages push Bon Jovi's average price to $95, about 50% higher than acts like the Dave Matthews Band ($59) and the Black Eyed Peas ($63). Bon Jovi shows have up to 20 different price points, including special packages; on a recent tour AC/DC offered only one.

"Jon is a businessman," says co-manager David Munns. "He knows what it takes to have a great-quality show, but he also knows how to be efficient with money."

Born in 1962 in Perth Amboy, N.J., a rough port town just south of New York City, Bon Jovi decided to be a rock star at age 13 after seeing the Doobie Brothers in Erie, Pa. His break came when he wrote and recorded the song "Runaway." He sent his tape out to record labels but didn't receive any responses. So in 1983 he took his cassette to Long Island's WAPP, a station so new it didn't yet have a receptionist. He banged on the window of the DJ's booth and convinced him to play the song. Within months it hit number 39 on the Billboard charts. "That same cassette that was sitting on every record guy's desk was suddenly getting me phone calls," he says.

Mercury Records signed Bon Jovi that year. He clipped his name from John Francis Bongiovi Jr. and recruited guitarist Richie Sambora, drummer Tico Torres, keyboardist David Bryan and bassist Alec John Such to form his band. They're still together (minus Such, who left the band in 1994), but it isn't an equal partnership: Bon Jovi keeps the bulk of the earnings, whereas bands like U2 split proceeds evenly.

Slippery When Wet, released in 1986, secured his career. Anthems "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive" helped sell 28 million copies of the album worldwide and still get standing ovations. In the two years that followed Bon Jovi played 480 shows around the world and released another album. In 1992 an increasingly ambitious Bon Jovi took the group's business into his own hands, forming Bon Jovi Management with longtime tour manager Paul Korzilius-- and dismissed manager Doc McGhee. "It just got to a point where I said, 'I can't pay you 20% of the gross, and I can't see this vision,'" Bon Jovi says. "My peers wanted to be on the cover of Circus. I wanted to be on the cover of Time."

Since then the band has produced hits like "It's My Life" in 2000 and the country-leaning "Who Says You Can't Go Home" in 2006. Last year the band released Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Collection, which reached number one on Billboard's rock charts. It hasn't been all smooth sailing: In April Bon Jovi confirmed Sambora would be "absent from upcoming shows" after the guitarist reportedly checked himself into a rehab center.

But the tour rolls on, at least for now. "I don't know if I want to be 68 and doing 140 shows in a year," Bon Jovi admits. Even if the crowds--and the profits-- are still there.

Bon Jovi: More on Jon in Houston

Another article on Jon's work yesterday in Houston.

Bon Jovi Rides His Steel Horse To Meet Annise Parker

By Allison Wagoner

Houston Mayor Annise Parker and Jon Bon Jovi stand with their autographed plates that will be featured on SEARCH's "Wall of China."

​Even though there's a famous APB on him, Jon Bon Jovi met with Mayor Annise Parker yesterday and was not arrested.

Bon Jovi has a concert at Toyota Center tonight, but he came to Houston a day early to do some voluntary community-service work for the President. It was not the type of community service that required shirtless physical labor -- unfortunately -- but more along the lines of clothed community conversations.

President Obama asked the New Jersey rocker to participate in The White House Council for Community Solutions in December of 2010 and since then, he has visited New Orleans, Atlanta, and now Houston. The council is focused on education, youth development and employment on local levels.

Bon Jovi, along with 24 other members, visits neighborhood organizations in order to examine the ways that communities implement change through their youth. The council has been instructed to gather up information from their discussions in each community and meet back in Washington, D.C., to evaluate the information.

"I was the only person from the entertainment business that the President asked to take part in this Council for Community Solutions. The President's directive was simple: Show me organizations that are working and bring back results," Bon Jovi said. "They're very aware that this demographic is going to be in need of jobs and education."

Bon Jovi and Mayor Annise Parker held the youth round table meeting at SEARCH Homeless Services in Midtown. The two sat down with the young adults that SEARCH serves, as well as kids from Goodwill Houston, Community in Schools and Gulf Coast Trades Center.

​Parker reflected on the importance of holding a forum with the young adults helped by SEARCH, and giving them a chance to talk about their situations together as a group.

"As many of you know, I have three kids who came from foster care and tough situations. They don't want to listen to their parents, but they will listen to their peers," Parker half-laughed. "We really need a network of peer-to-peer communication."

Bon Jovi added that he could remember a time earlier in his career when he thought that the youth of America seemed relatively optimistic; but since personally meeting and speaking with a new generation of kids, he has noticed a shift in formative hopefulness.

"I think I've made my own reputation over the last three decades of optimism and the belief in oneself. I'm starting to see now that kids are believing in themselves again and are more inter-dependant on each other than on what their parents did before them," he said.

It seemed like all eyes were on the bronzed, radiant musician as he took time to sign autographs for the kids, as well as some mesmerized adult women, but he remained almost demure about his role in solving the pressing issues that at-risk youth face in the current economic environment.

"Part of who I am is giving back," Bon Jovi said. "We don't need a scientist to create a cure - we can fact-find, we can make a difference, we can implement change."

Bon Jovi: More Jon in Houston (w/Video)

Jon allegedly was not feeling well Sunday night in Orlando and it looks like he's kind of stuffy in this video. His allergies seemed to be bothering him in Atlanta.  And BTW his name is Jon Bon Jovi not Bon Jovi, Bon Jovi is a band (pet peeve).

Jon Bon Jovi Listens to Houston's Youth

HOUSTON - Rock superstar Jon Bon Jovi spent the day finding out what Houston's young people hope for their future.

He visited 'SEARCH' which helps homeless youth with a place to stay...

Bon Jovi is part of the President Barack Obama’s Council for Community Solutions.

He's taking part in a "listening tour" in major cities to find out what kids are concerned about.

"The one underlying premise that keeps coming back is information,” Bon Jovi said. They need to know how and who to get help from and then they embrace it.”

Bon Jovi will take the information he's gathered from kids and report back to the White House.

He'll play at Houston’s Toyota Center Tuesday night.

Bon Jovi: 12,000,000 Facebook fans can't be wrong

Bon Jovi just reached 12,000,000 fans on facebook and Jon posted a message.

If you don't have Facebook here it is: