Bon Jovi Articles from THE OTTAWA SUN and THE OTTAWA CITIZEN
Dr. Jon has '80s cure
Timeless hits real Bon Jovi crowd-pleasers
BON JOVI
Corel Centre, Ottawa
Thursday, May 17, 2001
By IAN NATHANSON
So this is what an honorary doctorate of humanities looks like in the flesh.
What, you were expecting denim-clad rock superstar Jon Bon Jovi to be stuck in some sort of stuffy suit, like the one he and the rest of his Bon Jovi bandmates adorn in the CD booklet of his latest studio effort Crush?
Hardly.
A day before last night's sold-out Corel Centre appearance, the 39-year-old donned a black cap and gown as keynote speaker at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J., where the honorary degree was bestowed upon him.
Last night, Bon Jovi went looking for attention of an entertaining sort.
"I'm lookin' for some faithful out there," the fist-pumping Bon Jovi yelled out before snuggling up to lead guitar pal Richie Sambora and unleashing an early-set monster You Give Love a Bad Name.
Poodle-hair heyday
Oh, you'd have been hard-pressed a to find one soul among the 12,000 faithful who wasn't up out of his or her seat making vocal contributions to it and Livin' on a Prayer, both from Slippery When Wet, Bon Jovi's hell-of-a-breakthrough 1986 album.
While the poodle-hair '80s heyday has given way to, well, better-cropped rock mops these days (though drummer Tico Torres and bassist Hugh MacDonald got the memo, it didn't make it to keyboardist David Bryan), it's hard not to think of Bon Jovi as the ultimate school rock band of the me decade.
If fellow New Jersey darling Bruce Springsteen is the musician for the working everyman, Bon Jovi represents the musician for the every high schooler, with tough guy Jon waving his fists as he revelled his wildest academic dreams with I Got the Girl and Someday It'll Be Saturday Night, with its video screens flashing images of cruising romantics.
The connection to his loyal fans went a step further when Bon Jovi found a lovely front-row blonde to dance divinely with him as he crooned the bring-out-the-Bics, could-last-all-night slow-dance fave, Bed of Roses.
But the rocker's not without his humanitarian championing. Accompanying Keep the Faith was a mix of quick-hit video vignettes of heroes in sports (tennis star Martina Navratilova, boxer Muhammad Ali), humanities (Mother Teresa) and important cultural events (the 1989 standoff at Tiananmen Square).
And Blaze of Glory was slipped in as a nod to Bon Jovi as actor (didn't he play a corpse in Young Guns II, where that song first appeared?)
Hey, we didn't say he was perfect. Just entertaining.
So now that Bon Jovi has this honorary doctorate of humanities degree from Monmouth University, what do his bandmates now call him? Dr. Jon?
"Man, there is only ONE Dr. John," Torres laughed backstage before last night's show, referring to the legendary Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack. "Nah, he's still J.B. to us."
Honoured as humanitarian
Along with his talent as a superstar musician and film actor, Monmouth honoured the rock superstar for his humanitarian work. He organized a 1998 concert to raise funds for the family of a slain police sergeant, opened his home in 1999 to benefit the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism, and this year was named Humanitarian of the Year by the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties.
"We had a chance to read his speech and it came across as very energetic, very optimistic," Torres said.
In his keynote address, Bon Jovi told the graduating class his band wasn't supposed to be successful.
"Ask any critic. We weren't from New York. We weren't from L.A. I didn't live the cliche rock 'n' roll lifestyles that legends were made of," he said.
He also advised graduates to make a fuss and get noticed.
"I've been to the top and I've been written off more than once, but I'm still here," he said. "Nothing is more important than passion. No matter what you do in life, be passionate."
One Wild Night
Bruce Deachman
The Ottawa Citizen
May 18th 2001
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/010518/5012276.html
Jon Bon Jovi, now 'Dr. Jon,' heats up Corel Centre
Singer Jon Bon Jovi and guitarist Richie Sambora rocked the Corel Centre last night, two days after Bon Jovi was given an honourary degree from Monmouth University in New Jersey.
Jon Bon Jovi's 'trademark good looks' proved a fan favourite.
Fans of Bon Jovi, even the geographically challenged whose sign showed they thought they were in Toronto, spent little time in their seats during last night's concert at the Corel Centre.
Twenty-one year old student Tan Nghiem has been a Jon Bon Jovi fan for seven years. Asked why she's a fan of the 39-year old New Jersey rocker, her answer required no heavy interpretation.
"He's hot!" she shouted, on her way into the Corel Centre for last night's concert, adding "and I've heard he's a nice guy."
Shane and Christiane Howe, both 33, have been fans for a dozen years, own all the CDs, while their nine- and six-year old sons -- not at last night's concert -- have started collecting the posters.
"I can relate to his music a lot," said Shane. "I like the lyrics. The experiences he's gone through, I can see myself going through the same things. Life experiences, love experiences, the whole bit."
"And he's hot," added Christiane.
People went to last night's show for any number of reasons.
"It's a good rock beat, which is what I grew up with," said Yvonne Snyder, 37, "and it's also bluesey. They run the gamut; they've got nice ballads.
"And Jon Bon Jovi's nice to look at, too," she added.
"It's a good rockin' sound," says 29-year old Steve Winsor. "It's got the '80's sound, and I'm a big '80s fan."
Winsor doesn't look for any message from Bon Jovi.
"Music to me is something that I just open my mind up and let it flow right through. That's it."
Everyone in the 14,000-strong crowd seemed to get what they wanted last night, as Bon Jovi (make that Dr. Jon, as he was at New Jersey's Monmouth University on Wednesday, trading a commencement address full of hope and promise for an honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree.) served up his high-energy rock, complete with the upbeat anthem lyrics and his trademark good looks.
Or was that trademark anthem lyrics and upbeat good looks?
Whatever. With Richie Samboro (guitar), Dave Bryan (keyboards), Tico Torres (drums) and Hugh McDonald (bass) in tow, Bon Jovi basked momentarily in the thunderous applause that the first glimpse of him incited, before launching into a version of One Wild Night that pulled most of the fans out of their seats.
Very few of the Corel Centre's seats, in fact, suffered much in the way of wear for the rest of the evening, as the next number, Bad Name, got just about everyone up and clapping and singing along.
With a large-screen monitor providing closeups, as well as some theatrical video-clip accompaniment, Bon Jovi then slid into his latest football-stadium libertarian anthem hit, It's My Life, and the frenzy was officially running at full-throttle.
He followed full-tilt rock with more of the same, his Faith rolling into the Rolling Stones' Sympathy For the Devil, Prayer and Born To Be My Baby, before relenting long enough for the ballad, Bed of Roses.
But then it was back to what would have done nicely as the longest ad for Chevy trucks, with a version of Blaze of Glory that stood out both for its alteration from the original and Sambora's guitar-playing.
The duet, between Bon Jovi and Sambora, of I Can't Help Falling In Love With You, was also a highlight of the evening.
Bon Jovi played non-stop for two hours, and answered a pair of encore calls from the-crowd-that-would-not-soon-go-home with four more songs: Say It Isn't So, Wanted Dead Or Alive, Tequila and Twist And Shout.
Eighties rock. And like Frankie said, he did it his way.
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