review by Jennifer Lariviere

Just when I finally calmed my adrenaline level down from my “Bono Experience”… Bon Jovi strolls into town.

Montreal welcomed Bon Jovi with extreme enthusiasm and delight. There’s an incredible range of fans the band holds, from young teens, older women, and men of all ages; Bon Jovi fans are completely dedicated. I even met a 72-year-old fan, and saw a few young children in the crowd!

The Dec 15th show openers One Away are an old favorite of Montrealers and MMS for years now. It’s awesome that Bon Jovi decided to ‘Have A Nice Gig’ tour, allowing every city to showcase their own, plus it does keep the tour evolving throughout.

The show opened with explosive sound as Bon Jovi himself appeared on a smaller stage opposite end of main stage, thrilling fans in low red seats that never expected to be so close to him! After a security protected walk around the venue, he made it on stage saying, “Can you hear me now?!”

The crowd began singing, perhaps louder then him, “Shot to the heart…” As he started strutting his stuff on stage, knowing that no matter what strut or posture he popped up with, the fans adored him completely!

He welcomed our city, “Good evening Montreal, I’m a cat in a cage tonight. And I feel like getting lucky!” This set the crowd afire, as they led into their 25-song set with 3 encores. The band played 8 songs off their latest album, “Have A Nice Day” and also took us on a time warp back to 1981 for ‘Runaway’.

They even treated us to a rendition of Tom Petty’s ‘I Won’t Back Down’ after informing the crowd that, “Women rule the world” Can’t argue that and Bon Jovi reminded us not to “…shoot the messenger”. They also surprised us with John Haitt’s, ‘Have A Little Faith’, which the younger fans may know from the Mandy Moore version.

Bon Jovi had a revelation he shared with the crowd, “When Bono comes to town, everyone is just a peace. When I come to town, you want to take home pieces of me!” This is true, as the whole night was a fight for him to be close to the crowd without losing his hair or shirt! About 100 fans were granted access by Gillette Entertainment to be on stage throughout the night for a song, which blew their minds completely.

The stage backdrop was a huge screen reflecting the band onstage, the crowd, and some graphics; so no matter where you were sitting, you didn’t miss a beat. When the band played ‘Have A Nice Day’ and their album logo, with the red face came on screen, I couldn’t help but feel like drinking some Kool Aid and running away scared at the same time…. that’s what growing up in the 80’s did to my mind!

My heart stopped completely as the entire Bell Center went utterly dark…. a strange feeling came over me, as I was looking to find out where he would pop up next. The band appeared lit on stage, playing quietly…. I heard someone step next to me…turned my head, and there he was! A huge smile, giant baby blues, “Hey” he whispered as he shook my hand and made his way to the mini stage to play ‘Bed of Roses’ only a few feet from where I was! I think every woman out of the 15 000 fans died during that song!

With several quick clothing changes, the band was whipped out. The crowd encouraged them for 3 encores, Bon Jovi claiming, “You’re killing us!”

But still, they rocked on till they were drained.

The set list included many songs off the new album including, ‘Who Says You Can't Go Home, Story Of My Life, and Novocain’. Songs from Crush; ‘Just Older and One Wild Night’. A few songs from Bounce including ‘Bounce’ but the most exciting were the classics, ‘Living on A Prayer’ ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ ‘Bad Medicine’ ‘Blaze of Glory’ and ‘I’ll Be There For You’, to name a few. The balance of older songs and newer seemed to please every era of Bon Jovi fan, leaving the 15 000 fans satisfied, and no matter how many encores…still wanting more!

I couldn’t help but leave the show with a strong feeling that I can conquer the world, not let anyone ever push me around, and fall madly in love forever. I guess their down to earth lyrics can affect the fans that way!

The North American leg of the tour continues until Mid March, playing 4 sold out shows in Toronto at end of January, before heading off to Europe until mid June. Check out www.bonjovi.com, and Have A Nice Day!

 

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