Bon Jovi
April 30 2008
Philips Arena

On Wednesday, April 30th, I went down to see the ever-popular band from New Jersey - the great Bon Jovi. Yeah, I like Bon Jovi, so what? This was the second to last stop on their Lost Highway 2007-2008 World Tour, and the first of two nights in Atlanta. The regular guys, Jon, Richie, David, and Tico were there, joined by bassist Hugh McDonald (the "unofficial" replacement of Alec John Such), rhythm guitarist Bobby Bandiera, and violinist Lorenza Ponce.

After getting through the madness that is downtown Atlanta's streets, I gulped down some pineapple chicken and rice (props to Mt. Fuji Express) and walked into Philips Arena just in time to be unpleasantly greeted by Daughtry ruining "I Walk the Line". Thankfully, there were only about three more songs and one "Home Sweet Home" tease before the roadies started to break down their stage, and set up Bon Jovi's. Before long, the Bon Jovi logo showed up on the big screens, the lights were killed, and the crowd went nuts! A synth-like drone filled the arena, climaxing with a sudden departure into the title track of their newest album, Lost Highway, with Jon enthusiastically wailing in a leather jacket with "New Jersey" across the back. What else would it say? The 'country-ish' "Lost Highway" sounds like a weak opener, but it was done well, and just when you thought it would end and we'd be greeted by the band, Jon yelled out the familiar "2,3,4!" that precedes "Born To Be My Baby" - leaving no space between the two songs - probably pumping the crowd up more than if they had opened with that famous song off 1988's New Jersey. From the beginning of this song you could tell Jon was in top shape as he danced and ran across the stage, belting out the lyrics. His performance was complemented by moving graphics on the back half of the slightly raised stage, the first of many cool extras. However, the problem with this screen and the usual Philips Arena screens is that it had a short delay, but just long enough to be annoying, so I didn't look at the screens much. It helped that I was close to the stage, too (thanks, Mr. 97.1 The River).

"Born To Be My Baby" was immediately followed by the cries of "Shot through the heart, and you're to blame...", you know the rest, and without a gap, "You Give Love A Bad Name" filled the arena. Next was my favorite Slippery When Wet track, "Raise Your Hands", which the band really put their energy into, as well as the crowd, throwing their hands up in the air accordingly. It seemed that near the end, though, Jon messed up his lyrics and just kind of mumbled.

For the first time in the night there was a pause between songs, when Jon invited us to imagine that there was "no work, no school, or no waking up with the kids the next day." This speech was followed by the first slower number of the night, "Older". The energy returned with "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead", which featured both Jon and Richie on electric. The song was even more special when it faded into just the drums in the middle, as Jon urged the crowd to get pumped up. He said he had "a pocketful of quarters, and a head that was a jukebox full of hits." He asked bassist Hugh McDonald if he had any songs to play, and the band covered "Gimme Some Lovin'" but stopped after one verse and chorus, with Jon claiming it was because he was afraid he'd start to scare people - it was too early in the night. The drum beat continued while Jon asked Richie to contribute a song, resulting in a cover of The Rolling Stones's hit, "Start Me Up", complete with Jon "Jagger-dancing" around the stage. After this, they finished with the second half of "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead".

This barrage of music was followed by the inspiring "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night". The guitar solo and dramatic ending left the crowd in a frenzy, as the band started one of Jon's many songs about cowboys: "Blaze of Glory". Shortly they were joined by Chris Daughtry on stage, helping out with lead vocals, after which Richie pulled out a blazing guitar solo (I'm sorry, I had to make that pun). This song was the first that really made use of four amazing big screens that not only could come together into a huge rectangular straight screen, they could split apart into many different sections, making four huge vertical rectangular pillars. It was something you had to see to really understand, and another thing I'd never seen at a concert before.

Jon pulled out his acoustic and the band went into a slow country tune off Lost Highway, "Whole Lotta Leavin". The four screens came together, and then spread apart vertically, while a video depicting a street that looked as though you were driving it played on the screen. This spread made for a cool effect and eventually the driving video became a pillar behind the band that stretched from stage to ceiling. The song ended dramatically, pausing before the last chorus, allowing the crowd some scream time.

Next was the 1994 song, "Always", originally meant for the film Romeo Is Bleeding, but dropped by the band after they watched and didn't like the film. Bon Jovi went on to release it, later, and it became their best selling single. The funny thing is, it's another one of those 'love' songs taken for romantic, but Jon claims it is about a guy who's practically a stalker - a la "Every Breath You Take" by The Police. The song was performed almost completely without guitar, with David's piano being the main instrument.

After "Always", Jon rallied the crowd, claiming it was time they turned the volume up again. After explaining that they did their next song with their "country cousins", Big and Rich, it was pretty clear they would do another song off the new album: "We Got It Goin' On". The screens lit up with appropriately sporadic animation, while the whole back of the stage flashed with blue lights as Jon walked, sang, and jumped around. Although Jon was very energetic the whole show (which you sometimes don't get with aging rock stars) you could really tell he was 'into' this one. After a request for a scream, Richie pulled out a killer talk box solo, foreshadowing the talk-boxing to come in the next song.

The lights went dim and red as Richie talk-boxed - which probably isn't a word, but I've already used it twice - the intro to the hit single from their 2000 album Crush, "It's My Life". The song was exciting, through and through, and left the crowd wanting more.

The absence of their classics for a bit was filled with one of the most famous tracks from New Jersey, "Bad Medicine". During the song, those sweet screens split in four, creating vertical pillars showing distracting scantily clad dancing girls. In the middle of the song, the back of the stage rose up and, a couple of Jon's sporadic movements later, the band went into another cover song, "Shout" by the Isley Brothers, which the crowd loved. They finished "Bad Medicine" with something cool during the chorus. Unfortunately I can't tell you what it was, because I can't read my notes. Maybe it was the dancing girls.

Jon then handed the mic to Richie for vocals after announcing they were doing "I'll Be There for You", their most famous ballad. Jon went backstage and left Richie, David, Tico, and the other supporting musicians to perform the song. Right before the song ended, Richie knocked down his mic stand. Instead of just standing there, it seemed like he pulled out an improvisational solo, and it was great. I'm not sure if that solo was always there and the mic stand thing was just coincidence, but it was cool nonetheless.

There was a pause as the lights dimmed and an acoustic guitar's sounds filled the speakers. The band played the intro to "You Want to Make a Memory", still without Jon on stage. Then his singing started and there was a cheer. Although I found this out later in the song after searching for Jon on stage, I'll go ahead and tell you that Jon was actually on the side of the arena on a separate, small stage with people going nuts over him. This slow song was followed by another, "Bed Of Roses", which was not as impressive as the studio version.

After this, Jon went back onto the main stage. Still clutching his acoustic guitar, he took the mic and asked the crowd to repeat after him. He sang, "It's alright" and the crowd did the same, cheering, as they knew "Who Says You Can't Go Home" would follow. Even though it was obvious, Jon still yelled out "Who Says You Can't Go Home" before Lorenza played the intro on her violin with Richie and Jon strumming along. Fun Fact: Jon Bon Jovi has pretty much the same Takamine acoustic guitar as me, but a lot nicer, as you'd expect.

The next song was the title track off 2005's Have a Nice Day. Richie played the opening chords on his double-necked Telecaster to an ecstatic audience, as the Have a Nice Day album cover/ logo flashed on the screen. (Side note: Richie changed guitars even more than Bon Jovi changed genres over the course of the night.) The song roared on, and "Have a Nice Day" came to pass as one of the best songs of the night, featuring an immense amount of energy from each member of the band. Jon got out some maracas and Hugh played a booming bass line before going into "Keep the Faith", another one of the best songs performed that night, although it didn't seem to have the same depth and energy the studio version had. Did I mention Jon was shaking maracas?

The lights dimmed once more, and a spot light came upon the Bon Jovi front man. He had us repeat, after him, lyrics even more familiar than "It's Alright". The lyrics were those to their most famous song, "Livin' On A Prayer", and after the sing-along, the band allowed time for an uproar in the audience before letting David start the drone on the synthesizers that leads into the song that Jon thought wasn't good enough to be included on Slippery When Wet. Boy, was he wrong. Throughout the song, the back of the stage glowed with a water-like, rippling blue video, and of course everyone sang along to the whole song. Jon let the crowd sing the "Whoa-OH! Livin'on a Prayer!" part alone, which is a lot cooler when it is sung and not spelled out.

The band went backstage after their roaring rendition of "Prayer", but the lights didn't come on, meaning there was an encore to come. Sure enough, the Bon Jovi heart logo appeared in white against a black background on the screen, flickering faster and faster, until the band returned to the stage. Instead of immediately going into another song, Jon talked about how much he remembered and loved about Atlanta. He talked about the old Omni and how Atlanta used to be relatively quiet; how much things had changed, but how much he still liked the city. He also talked about how his Arena Football Team, the Philadelphia Soul, was going to play here against the Georgia Force, and how his team was 9-0 right now. Then he said, "So where's that guy in the Georgia Force jersey, now?!" Appropriately, he played the last song from Lost Highway, "I Love This Town", which was complimented by a cool video montage. The video showed famous spots of the various towns on tour, including our own Varsity and Olympic Torch statue, among others. Logos of Atlanta's sports teams flashed on the screen as the band ended the song.

The final encore was obvious, due to the fact Richie came back on stage with a double neck acoustic guitar. Jon and Richie, on their acoustics, first did one verse and chorus of The Allman Brothers Band favorite, "Midnight Rider", before starting the Bon Jovi favorite, "Wanted Dead or Alive". The song became even more powerful as it went on, punctuated with enthusiastic yells from the audience, and Richie switched to electric before his final, wailing guitar solo. The band let the song fade out to end quietly, differently from how most rock bands end a concert, and Jon, Richie, David, and Tico, along with Lorenza and Hugh, all took a bow - a classic ending for an amazing concert.

- JJ