CATCH BON JOVI ON 4-DAY PARTY CRUISE
IT’S the boat that rocks! New Jersey rock legend Jon Bon Jovi is throwing a party for 2,000 fans – in the middle of the Med.
In August he’ll be heading a four-day celebration of rock and roll onboard NCL cruise ship Norwegian Pearl.
As well as JBJ, there will be Johnny Rzeznik of The Goo Goo Dolls, Grace Potter, Betsie Gold and Antonio Rivas.
There’s Collateral, the Kris Barras Band, Hannah Wicklund & The Stepping Stones, and singer-songwriter Stewart Mac.
And, if you just can’t get enough of your Bon Jovi fix, there’s Slippery When Wet, widely regarded as the best tribute act.
Throw in DJ Dave, the Shut Up and Dance silent disco, a mountain of memorabilia and a pop-up shop, and everything seems shipshape.
Sailing from Barcelona, Pearl sails to Majorca’s Palma and back, but it’s on the ship that the party really gets started.
There will be live rock gigs every day, theme nights, Q&A sessions, presentations – even the chance to sing with JBJ’s backing band.
Heading the venture is Matt Bongiovi, Jon’s brother, head of security, tour organiser, and right-hand man.
It wasn’t, admits Matt, all plain sailing. He and Jon had put together Runaway Tours breaks for fans on land – but never at sea.
“Last year, I joined forces with a new company,” he recalls. “I got a call from the CEO, asking if we’d ever looked at the cruise business.
“And, by the way, what chance of Jon Bon Jovi doing a cruise? No pressure there then.
“I told him straight off ‘There’s not a chance. He won’t even consider it.’ But, hey, I had to make the call, didn’t I?
“‘Look,’ I said to Jon, ‘I already know your answer – but you’re my brother!’ and we kind of carried on from there.
“It was far from easy to get him to agree, but we know each other. We know how to make things work out.
“We agreed: ‘If we’re going to do it, then let’s do it right, and make it special for the family of Bon Jovi fans.
“D’you know, Jon had never set foot on a cruise ship in his life before we did “Runaway” in the Caribbean this year.
“So we did the first show on board, Jon came off stage and said ‘Wow! I didn’t expect that!’ He loved it!”
The rock superstar will play two shows during the cruise, the first an acoustic set featuring some of his best-loved songs.
“It’ll be more of a conversation with the fans,” says Matt. “Jon and a small group of musicians will not just perform, but tell the stories behind the hits.
“And he’ll be taking questions from the audience. It’ll all be very honest – there’ll be no screening of questions, and nothing is off lim