Salt Lake City Reviews

Some of the reviews I've found so far were lukewarm at best for last night's SLC show. The reader for the Salt Lake City Tribune thought the dark was lacking oomph, and that the band's lyrics were trite:

The nucleus of the band - the eternally youthful Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, drummer Tico Torres and keyboardist David Bryan - was enthusiastic enough, though, for the about part, the members appeared as if they weren`t around to forget everything on the stage.

And despite a sludgy mix that negatively affected Jon`s vocals, his gravelly tenor was in fine form. Sambora`s guitar playing was predictably superb, and the rhythm section was as fast as could be hoped for.

The ring was better when it moved beyond the confines of the level and its own music, especially at a point an hour into the show, when Bon Jovi finally threw off his jacket. He led the band through an epic rendering of "Bad Medicine" that included Roy Orbison`s "Pretty Woman" in the middle. Another nice moment was when Jon moved to a catwalk that isolated the VIP seat-holders from the proletariats to croon a convincing rendering of Leonard Cohen`s "Hallelujah."

But I soon realised that the cause I liked the Cohen cover so often was because it gave my mind something to chew on. Most Bon Jovi songs are uninteresting lyrically and musically similar in their verse-chorus-verse repetitions. Frankly, for a rock show, I wanted more edgy, heart-palpitating guitar.Ouch.

But, some of the concertgoers had a more favourable opinion of the experience (though Richie 'leathery'? Mmmm, bad hair YES. Bad skin? I don't believe so) In any event, InThisWeek gave a more favorable review:

The days have been kind to Jon Bon Jovi, who hasn`t lost a one step-likely thanks to his aerobics-style onstage dancing (complete with "jazz hands"). Throughout the three-hour set, the band evoked crowd fist-pumping ("Bad Medicine"), heart-throbbing ("I`ll Be There for You"), and, behind the guide vocals of Richie Sambora, gospel revival-ing ("Lay Your Hands on Me").

And therein lies the occult to the band`s continued success. Under the umbrella of heavy rock, Bon Jovi manages to attract to an incredibly wide audience, as they press into to pop ("It`s My Life"), country ("Blaze of Glory"), and Shrek soundtracks ("Hallelujah").

Oh, and it doesn`t hurt that at age 49, Jon Bon Jovi still gets the ladies worked up when he sheds his suede jacket and rocks a sweaty tanktop. Richie Sambora, on the other hand, has grown more leathery, but he can still rock the superfluous double-neck guitar and the always-awesome vocoder tube.

After the pumping out too many hits to count, Bon Jovi finished its set with its best line of the night, the word-for-word singalong "Livin on a Prayer." At that point, there was nothing left for them to give, other than a well-deserved, collective bow before the home lights came back up. Were you there? How was the appearance? Did the guys have high energy or were they just calling it in?

~ Hath