Jane Stevenson, from the torontosun.com writes:
No real surprise but even Bon Jovi had Valentine`s Day on the brain Mondaynight as the New Jersey rock veterans kicked off the beginning of two back-to-backshows at the Air Canada Centre.
"I`m looking for love tonight? Are you with me?
asked the band`s stillboyish frontman Jon Bon Jovi, 48, clad in tight black denim pants and a blackleather shirt just minutes into the two-and-a-half-hour show.
Judging from the act of screaming, excited females in the crowd, I`mguessing the result would be an overwhelming yes?
"Bon Jovi is like Viagra for women, you know," the singer correctly summed upwhile getting a "kiss-cam" trained on couples in the audience who were thentriggered into locking lips.
"I wish to see some smooching going on!" he demanded. "Happy Monday night toyou all on Valentine`s Day. _.For all you lovers, and soon-to-be-lovers, andsomebody-who-meets-somebody at a Bon Jovi concert and becomes lovers."
Bon Jovi, who had the No. 1 tour of 2010 and released a greatest hits packagelast year, have been recent visitors to Toronto having played two back-to-backshows at the Rogers Centre last July.
The major difference this sentence was a lots more intimate show - if you cancall a large, in-the-round stage, a circular catwalk, and an impressive LEDscreen and several mini screens as a backdrop intimate - with the energeticfrontman able to easily move about and cultivate the room.
Back in July, the singer had just torn his calf muscle at a New Jersey showtwo weeks before and was a trooper but a stationary one.
On Monday night, about 150 audience members were also lucky enough to be in asemi-circle of seats that was actually part of the present while the band -rounded out by guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer TicoTorres as good as current bassist Hugh McDonald and a touring guitarist - playedjust a few feet in face of them.
"Now brothers and sisters, you ask why I get second to Toronto time and timeagain," said Bon Jovi, on one of his jaunts to the backbone of the stage. "Well thetruth is I wish to see you scream!"
Oh, the scream came alright for such hits from the band`s 27-year backcatalogue as You Give Love A Bad Name, Born To Be My Baby, Lost Highway, It`s MyLife, Runaway, Who Says You Can`t Go Home, Keep The Faith (with Bon Jovi onmaracas), Wanted Dead Or Alive, Just Older and, the grandaddy of them all,Livin` On A Prayer.
Sambora got some mic time too, taking over on lead vocals on Lay Your HandsOn Me, but it was the frontman with the billion dollar smile who clearly had thearena in the handle of his hand.
Covers included Roy Orbison`s Pretty Woman - with Bon Jovi at his most flirty- Robert Palmer`s Bad Case of Loving You, which became start of the band`s ownBad Medicine, and the jazz standard, My Funny Valentine, which featured Bon Joviat the presence of the catwalk crooning away in a red T-shirt while getting redroses thrown at him for that call and the follow-up ballads, the band`s own BedOf Roses, Superman Tonight and I`ll Be There For You.
"Like a fine wine, we only keep getting better," said Bon Jovi of the bandearly in the evening.
He might simply be right.
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