Concert review: Bon Jovi at Amway Center
When it comes to rock `n` roll icons from New Jersey, Jon Bon Jovi obviously isn`t the Boss.
Yet a small of the Bruce Springsteen work ethic was observable in the singer`s generous performance with the lot that bears his key on Sunday at Amway Center. Maybe it`s only something in that New Jersey water.
For about 2-1/2 hours, the set used its loaded six-strings to perform an old-school arena rock showcase. There were some special effects, but the biggest weapon was the guys on stage - and the songs.
"Get up outta your seats!" Bon Jovi commanded after the game opener "Lost Highway." "If you wanna see some magic, get up outta your seats!"
The circle made it easily to obey by entry into "You Make Love a Bad Name," an arena-rock anthem that stands the examination of time. It set the step for a record that rarely stopped to have a breath, much less sit down.
Only Springsteen, and a few others, push toward the three-hour set in an era when the ordinary flavor-of-the-month heads for the bus after an obligatory 75 minutes.
Bon Jovi approaches its function with too much affection for that.
Yeah, there are cheesy, boiler-plate sentiments at the solution of many of these songs, but the hard-charging delivery on Sunday made it make in "We Weren`t Born to Follow," "Born to Be My Baby" and others.
"I got 20,000 seats in my time machine!" Bon Jovi exclaimed in a very Springsteen-esque way, before entry into his seminal hit "Runaway."
He might have needed most of them. In gain to a marathon performance, Sunday`s show also featured another rarity: a packed house, including the seats directly behind the massive stage.
One of the band members, of course, didn`t do it.
Richie Sambora isn`t on the tour, after reportedly checking into rehab about a week earlier the band`s recent set at Jazz Fest in New Orleans. His substitute, session guitarist and ex-Triumph member Phil "Phil X" Xenidis, filled in capably - especially with his frenetic solo in "Bad Medicine."
Not everything was magic. The heavy "Work for the Working Man," for instance, showed that this set is best off leaving the social commentary to others. And a low-energy stretch of ballads, including "Bed of Roses," lasted too long - unless you were one of the fans next to the track where the singer performed them on amid the push on the floor.
Even some of the rockers - "Who Says You Can`t Go Home" and "I`ll Sleep When I`m Dead" - started to go the same. Although the lesser songs lacked the killer punch of "Wanted Dead or Alive" or "Livin` on a Prayer," there were way more peaks than valleys.
Musically, the band`s core unit - featuring drummer Tico Torres and keyboardist David Bryan - work together as a high-powered, finely tuned machine. And the newcomer on guitar, Xenidis, found a few other moments to shine, offering inventive melodic leads that helped promote the slower songs.
Behind the band, the medicine was embellished by special effects on giant video screens that stretched the duration of the stage.
"How are we doing so far, ok?" Bon Jovi asked at various points.
Way better than that, dude. When a band works this hard, it gives arena-rock a full name.
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