Chicago 1st show review @ Chicago Tribune

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

Citation:

Bon Jovi plays to the crowd at United Center

By Bob Gendron | Special to the Tribune
February 25, 2008

"Oh, it's 1986 again!" screamed Jon Bon Jovi on Saturday as his namesake band performed the first show of a three-night stand at United Center. In some ways, the remark rang true. The singer's hair was feathered, keyboards drowned out guitars and everyone in the packed crowd seemed to know the words to the MTV smash "Livin' on a Prayer."

But much has changed since the pop-rock band's heyday. Frontman Bon Jovi is starting to get old. He now enters the stage by walking up steps rather than magically appearing from underneath the floor. His hair is dyed. He handed guitarist Richie Sambora lead-vocal duties on "I'll Be There for You" so he could take a breather. He couldn't reach the high notes of his youth and so bypassed falsetto parts in songs such as "Runaway." And Bon Jovi stacked the 140-minute set with ballads that provided plenty of opportunity for him to slow the pace and vogue for the cameras.

Whether dancing cheek-to-cheek with a female fan, emerging amid awe-struck admirers in Section 122 to croon love songs, or tenderly kissing a woman's hand, Bon Jovi proved more Las Vegas showman than rock star. Riddled with cliche sentiments and predictable moves, his band's act remains impossibly cheesy and hopelessly exaggerated. Yet the overreaching sincerity and good-guy demeanor are designed with the audience in mind and, accordingly, succeeded as PG-rated entertainment.

Bon Jovi unapologetically believes that the arena concert should be an uplifting communal experience. Every tune came across as an ode to underdogs or a motivational speech. While offering little in the form of substance (three support musicians weren't even acknowledged), the quartet's fist-pumping choruses and sugary refrains kept the crowd involved. So did the singer's jumping and arms-raising exercises, an aerobic regimen that would have made Richard Simmons proud. But there are limitations associated with such hokum. Any time the group crossed over to modern country ("We Got It Going On") or attempted serious covers ("Hallelujah"), the protective nostalgic veil lifted and exposed the band's flagrant mediocrity.

Chris Daughtry's quintet opened the concert with a formulaic set of radio-tailored rock. The former "American Idol" contestant's stiff presence and forced emotion were as devoid of personality as his songs.

_________________
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]