It’s his life: Bon Jovi letting it rip
Singer still knows how to rock a timeless anthem
Nobody writes rock NEW YORK anthems like Jon Bon Jovi. It’s his superpower.
It says something about his skill set, 30-plus years into his career, that he was able to play a concert consisting of new songs — 15 in a row — at New York’s Barrymore Theatre on Thursday night and have audiences pumping their fists, clapping and hopping up and down as if he was doing a “greatest hits” show. Songs like Knockout, God Bless This Mess and Roller Coaster from his new album, This House Is Not For Sale (dropping Nov. 4 from Island/UMG), have a sort of instant familiarity. As if we had been hearing them on the radio for 30 years.
Not because these songs, some co-written with John Shanks, Billy Falcon and others, are derivative (though Roller Coaster may, in fact, remind you faintly of David Bowie’s Modern Love.)
If they feel familiar, it’s probably because they’re timeless models of what a Big Rock Song should be. They’re tough. They’re defiant. They’re loud and proud.
“I’m giving you the finger and sticking out my chin” ( Knockout). “I wouldn’t live my life any other way” ( Born Again Tomorrow). “Hold your head high, like Harry give ’ em hell” ( Reunion). Those are just some of the ways that Bon Jovi lets us know that his head is bloodied, but unbowed.
The new songs sounded right at home with a couple of older favorites that the band threw in for a nightcap: Who Says You Can’t Go Home and Bad Medicine. The event, live-streamed on Tidal, was the last of several “live listening parties” Bon Jovi has played in advance of the new album (his 14th). It also was a career milestone for the Middlesex County, N.J., rocker: Thursday’s show marked Bon Jovi’s Broadway debut. “So here we are on Broadway — we finally made it to the big time!” he said.
Bon Jovi knew enough about New York fashion to dress in black for his big Broadway moment. So did his boys: longtime band members David Bryan on keyboards and Tico Torres on drums, newer members Hugh McDonald on bass and Phil X on lead guitar, augmented by Shanks on guitar and Everett Bradley on percussion.
They played to impress. Bon Jovi pranced, pirouetted and did windmills. Phil X — taking on the mantle of Richie Sambora — ripped and shredded. “Turn it on, turn it up!” Bon Jovi commanded at the start. They did.
In a way, it’s surprising this album appears to be such a crowdpleaser. The subject matter isn’t universal. Judging from some of Bon Jovi’s commentary, it seems to be largely about the rocker’s own career as he approaches middle age (he’s a young 54).
It’s not news that Bon Jovi has had a rough couple of years. His longtime lead guitarist, Sambora, left after a public, prolonged spat. There have been failed attempts, or at least reported attempts, to buy major sports franchises: The Buffalo Bills in 2014, The Tennessee Titans this year. And he’s had problems, since resolved, with his label Mercury. More recently — last week — he was again denied a nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Much of the new album has the feeling of inside baseball — with an emphasis on scores to be settled. The finger that Bon Jovi talks about in Knockout would appear to be raised at some very specific people.
“We were fire and gasoline, I ain’t living with the ghost.” Who, recently departed, could that be about? “Look what they’ve done to this house of love.” Who is the
Devil in the Temple that the song refers to? (The record label? Just a guess.) As for “coming home” to the place “where memories live and the dream don’t fail” ( This House Is Not For Sale), we’ll just note that this album marks Bon Jovi’s return to The Power Station — now Avatar Studio — the New York recording facility cofounded by Jon’s cousin, producer Tony Bongiovi, where Bon Jovi got its start.
If all this sounds very self-involved, let’s point out that there is a pop music tradition of rockers writing self-referential epics about the trials of being a big rock star. Fans have no problem iden- tifying with The Wall and Tommy, though few of us have ever had the sad, alienating experience of being an idol beloved by millions.
Do the problems of a rocker and his label amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world? Maybe not. But Bon Jovi fans will be happy to know that their hero is a fighter who will never sell out.
They’ll be happier to know he still rocks.
“So here we are on Broadway — we finally made it to the big time!” Jon Bon Jovi