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Toned down: Jon Bon Jovi’s voice isn’t the air raid siren of old
Bon Jovi hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons this week when it was revealed that fans of the New Jersey group could pay up to £1,300 for a ticket to see them at the O2 Arena next June.
Before their lucrative 10-night residency begins next year, the group, who have sold more than 120 million records worldwide, came to the BBC Radio Theatre to play an intimate gig for Radio 2.
The evening’s compère, Chris Evans, asked the 350-strong audience to turn off their mobile phones beforehand, although there was little chance of a ringtone drowning out a band used to filling stadiums with their turbo-charged rock.
Bon Jovi started their set with the new single We Weren’t Born To Follow. Its catchy chorus and meaty guitars make it one of the band’s better efforts of recent years.
Yet it is unlikely to prevent them remaining one of the biggest acts in history never to have a number one.
In truth, none of the tracks from their new album, The Circle, sounded like future
classics. Instead, it was the hits from their hair-metal heyday that provided the highlights.
You Give Love A Bad Name, from the band’s seminal 1986 album Slippery When Wet, still sounded like a hit 23 years on. “That song’s older than you are,” said Jon Bon Jovi to a young audience member, who had clearly been raiding her mother’s CD collection to learn the lyrics. At 47, Bon Jovi still looks like a rock star, but his voice isn’t quite the air raid siren of old.
Livin’ On A Prayer was given an acoustic makeover, in which he sang the melody an octave lower. How such a sombre rendition will fare in the cavernous O2 Arena remains to be seen.
Criminally, when the group returned for an “unplanned” encore, instead of belting out the classics, they decided to repeat two of the new numbers — When We Were Beautiful and Superman Tonight — neither of which was particularly impressive the first time around.
Even when Wanted Dead or Alive was thrown in to finish, it was hard not to feel slightly short-changed.
For the kind of ticket prices that Bon Jovi are asking for in June, nothing but non-stop hits will suffice.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Bon Jovi often play an acoustic Livin' On A Prayer for their smaller gigs - they've done that for years. And of course he'll sing it differently. Jon's voice is still as strong as ever in my opinion.
- Tony Giro, London, UK
Agree with Aunt Fanny up there, this dude clearly doesn't know what he's talking about. The new album, "The Circle", is a clear example that this band can still rock (the album is the best they've had in years) and yes, "We weren't born to follow" is Jovi's greatest effort in recent years? Pff, come on, the song is a fraction of an example of how good the rest of the album is. "When we were beautiful" and "Superman Tonight" are EPIC songs. Buy the album, you won't be dissapointed.
- Alice, Gauteng, South Africa
"How such a sombre rendition will fare in the cavernous O2 Arena remains to be seen."
Yeah, because they'll really play the acoustic version at one of their own tour dates in the 02 Arena.
Mind you, when someone says "We Weren't Born To Follow" is Jovi's greatest effort in recent years it's kind of hard to take the rest of the review seriously...
(by the way, the new album rocks - everyone buy it.)
- Aunt Fanny, New Jersey, Africa
