Review: Bon Jovi State College, PA - Bryce Jordan Center !9-11

Crowd roars approval as Bon Jovi kicks off tour But as the sellout crowd became engulfed in Bon Jovi`s 80s-rich anthems, lead vocalist Jon Bon Jovi brought them cover to reality for a second. He told the crew that his 4 children back home had strep throat, and he tested his best not to get it - so often for rock star cowboys.

A buzz tremored around State College all week.

Eighties giants Bon Jovi were kicking off a 33-show North American tour, and it all started at University Park. The more than 15,000 that filled the Bryce Jordan Center Wednesday night took a respite from the 11-degree frigidness outside and experienced the pageant of a classic arena rock carnival. The BJC opened up extra seats behind the present due to high demand and every fan from the expensive seats circling the point to those affecting the ceiling sang along. Large, moveable high definition screens formed shapes and displayed a broad diversity of scenes, sequences and song lyrics on and about the stage. Bon Jovi glinted his pearly whites between tunes and the fans screamed just as they have been over the past two decades. "Not a day goes by that I`m not grateful," he said. "To be doing this for 26 years." Not every song received the like treatment from the crowd, but the principal singer twisted, waved his hands and danced with the same energy nonetheless. With radio staples mixed seamlessly with relatively less-known tracks, the audience didn`t know whether to support up or sit down, awkwardly rising and falling between songs. Bon Jovi chatted with the roaring crowd after every third or fourth song. "This is one big frat party and we`re all in the same fraternity," he said. After that, the band dropped into a large version Roy Orbison`s "Pretty Woman." The inaugural big crowd reaction came ironically during "Lay Your Hands on Me," a song guitarist Richie Sambora sings. With a retrospective of songs, it`s difficult not to observe that a lot of the band`s tunes sound strikingly similar, from Sambora`s talk box to Bon Jovi`s prevailing vocals. But another thing each song has in green is that they are all crowd pleasers. The loudest roar came during a crack in songs when Bon Jovi stood stoically and smiled at the crowd. He thanked the adoring fans profusely and talked about the challenges of life in the United States. He moved on the economy, the housing market and the divorce rate, among others. With his speech the subject of the show - perhaps the whole tour - came into fruition. The majority of the band`s setlist showcased songs about overcoming obstacles and keep life to the fullest, including "We Weren`t Born to Follow," "Whole Lot of Leavin` " and "It`s My Life." The evening ended with super hits "Living on a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Active" during the band`s encore. After the show, the energetic crowd filed back out into the cold reality after nearly two hours of sweating to one of the most popular acts in the past 25 years.

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