I Went to Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi at Pepsi Center 4/16/13

I'm 37 years old and just went to my first "rock concert" a couple of weeks ago - Bon Jovi. I don't really have anything against going to concerts, I've just never really had occasion to go. I grew up in a rural area where the nearest concerts going on would have been the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo, which we never ever went to. And then I've been married and poor for pretty much the last 15 years. So this was, as they say, a "special treat", actually a Christmas gift from my parents.

Bon Jovi has always kind of been my favorite band. I'm not sure exactly why - I just liked their music. I first started listening around '91 or '92, which admittedly was three to five years past their peak. The album that got me hooked was New Jersey. They released Keep the Faith when I was in high school, and it was certainly more mature music at that point, Jon had cut his hair, the signature song was "Bed of Roses", and I kind of sensed that Bon Jovi was sort of "uncool" at that point but I kept listening anyway probably because I too was uncool.

Wib came along to the concert and as usual is so nice to like most of the things I like. She did a retelling of the story of the girl from her school who went to a Bon Jovi concert back in the eighties and then came to school and gave an in-depth recap of everything that happened. She was also wondering as we people- watched before the concert started how many of the ladies had been flashers back in the 80's. We went in this crappy place called Brooklyn's across the street before they opened the arena and I'm pretty sure we saw several women in there who fit that bill.


There was a pretty good helping of the newer (which for me, is everything post-1995) stuff. I freely admit that I haven't really kept up with much of their new stuff and so a lot of it I was hearing for the first time.

Of course, there's no way they were leaving the Pepsi Center that night without treating us to the old classics: "Livin' on a Prayer", "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Wanted Dead or Alive", "Bad Medicine", and "I'll Be There for You".  And they didn't disappoint. They also included other well-known songs such as "Runaway", "Born to Be My Baby", "Keep the Faith", and "Bed of Roses".

There were a few notable omissions. They didn't do "Blaze of Glory", "Always", or "Lay Your Hands on Me". I was thinking during the concert that it must be nice to be an established band with a 30-year catalog of records to pull from. They can totally be like, 'yeah, that was a huge hit, but we don't need it tonight' and it's okay. If you're a newer band you probably don't have that luxury. Of course, this was my first concert so what do I know?

They pulled out a few lesser-known numbers from the earlier albums such as "Blood on Blood" and "Dry County" and it kind of made me feel like a true fan that I was familiar with them. Of course, if I knew that they were going to be pulling from the second tier on those early albums, I might have preferred to hear, "Wild is the Wind" or "Never Say Goodbye".

Bon Jovi was sufficiently loud, although maybe a bit much at some points. Not that it was too loud for me, but it seemed to be affecting the sound quality during a few songs. I guess you can buy earplugs at the concert, so maybe that helps soften it up a bit. I don't know.

The absence of Richie Sambora was noticed but not explained. I had to look up online afterwards to find out that he had left the tour for unexplained reasons a few months ago. Jon mentioned his replacement a time or two, and it sounded like he was saying "Felix" and I thought that was an interesting name for a lead guitarist. But I also found out by looking online that his actual name is "Phil X". Kind of the same thing, I guess.

Of course we bought concert t-shirts, for a cool $45 each. Because who knows when you'll ever be at another Bon Jovi concert? I passed on the $30 program, though.

The crowd, at least where we were sitting, definitely seemed to skew towards the middle-aged. This might be a little aggressive of an estimate, but I'd guess that 90% of the crowd was born between 1960 and 1979. A lady sitting in front of us was totally on her feet rocking for the first two songs. And then she was pretty much done for the remaining 2 1/2 hours, kicking back with nachos to enjoy the rest.

Like his fans, Jon Bon Jovi is definitely showing some age. He looked a little Mick Jagger-ish at times, but then he would flash the trademark smile and you'd know it was okay. He's not actually Mick Jagger. Although they did do a brief cover of "Start Me Up."

Jon was a good sport to come out for the second encore wearing a Broncos t-shirt. It must be exhausting to be a rock star - singing your heart out and dancing around for three hours, being congenial to the fans. I'd be tired after 40 minutes and I'm not sure I'd be able to put on a shirt of some team I hate and feel good about it. Of course, I guess Jon Bon Jovi and John Elway are buddies from their Arena League days, so maybe he doesn't do that everywhere.

Anyways, it was a good time. I kind of wish it had been a couple of weeks later. It fell the day after tax season ended, so I was a little low on energy. Oh, well, I guess they don't plan their tour around the needs of accountants.