Review: Bon Jovi at the new Prudential Center

Pop Music

 

It was a night of new beginnings: The opening of Newark's sparkling, $375 million Prudential Center, the first of Bon Jovi's 10-show run there, the announcement of the band's upcoming world tour.

Jon Bon Jovi, right, and Richie Sambora perform at the newly opened Prudential Center in Newark on the first of 10 nights at the arena. (Photo by Wayne Herrschaft / October 25, 2007)  

It was a night of new beginnings: The opening of Newark's sparkling, $375 million Prudential Center, the first of Bon Jovi's 10-show run there, the announcement of the band's upcoming world tour.

So why did the whole affair feel like old hat?

"This is a historic night in the state of New Jersey," Jon Bon Jovi told the crowd, but he played as though he were in the middle of a long tour, not at the beginning of one. For the most part, the band cruised in second gear, letting songs roll by rather than reaching out and grabbing them.

• Concert photos

The stage was designed to look like a dusty roadside bar with tables and a jukebox; one by one, the band members sauntered in as if searching for a beer (at one point, a "waitress" brought out a couple on a tray), then took their places. It was a nod to the band's latest album, "Lost Highway" (Island), which has established Bon Jovi as a nearly legitimate country act. (The group got a secure foothold in that market with last year's single, "Who Says You Can't Go Home," featuring Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles; Big & Rich will open for Bon Jovi tomorrow night and Tuesday.)

Bon Jovi is such a purposefully uneccentric band, so completely free of any idiosyncrasies that might get in the way of its broad-based music, that it's sometimes hard to tell whether the musicians are playing with anything like passion. Richie Sambora's guitar solos fit neatly into a well-defined "rock" sound, equal parts melody and noise; Jon Bon Jovi's voice never strayed from the high end of the middle range. Every song -- from hair-metal classics like "Bad Medicine" to the twangy new single "(You Want To) Make a Memory" -- filled the arena, but they often felt like empty calories.

Once or twice Jon Bon Jovi rose to the occasion: He delivered a heartfelt version of the doomed ballad "Blaze of Glory," crossing himself slowly for good measure; and the whole band perked up during the country-pop tune "I Love This Town." But the two-hour, 20-minute set felt overlong; even "Livin' on a Prayer" sounded like a throwaway.

Maybe there was something in the air: The opening band, My Chemical Romance, also from New Jersey, played a brief, 40-minute set that began with the energetic "Famous Last Words," but ran out of steam halfway through. Singer Gerard Way could barely be heard over his bandmates (a problem the band has had before), and by the time he reached the dramatic ballad "Cancer," the chatter of the crowd had grown noticeably louder.

There is such a thing as an off night. Surely the bands, and the Prudential Center, will see better shows in the future.

BON JOVI Inaugurating a new venue in New Jersey, the hometown band does its part for local pride. With My Chemical Romance. Thursday at Prudential Center, Newark.

Bon Jovi, performs at the newly opened Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on the first of 10 nights at the arena. (Photo by Wayne Herrschaft / October 25, 2007)

 



 

 

Comments

[Ch'tite K.]

C'est vrai que ces photos sont magnifiques ! Cela donne envie une fois de plus de revivre un concert des guys !!!Bon Jovi c'est aussi et surtout une musique qui se vit et qui se joue sur scène car c'est en live que l'on ressent l'énergie et l'émotion qui se dégage de ce groupe.Vivement l'annonce des dates européennes pour planifier tout ça ! Car c'est à chaque fois une sacrée organisation et surtout une grosse montée d'adrénaline ! Encore pleins de bons souvenirs en perspective !On patientra déjà en visualisant le prochain DVD live qui sort le 26 novembre 2007... Une mise en condition indispensable LOL.

[Nadinejovi]

Alors là, rien qu'en voyant les photos, cela donne envie de faire partie de la tournée 2008!!!! on va tout faire pour acheter des tickets et vous faire partager nos émotions, c'est rpomis.