Source: Washington Post

on Bon Jovi, who turned 48 this month, brought the act that for about three decades has borne his name and relied on his charms to a packed Verizon Center on Monday.

Nearly 20,000 folks stood and roared as the New Jersey hair-band overlords took the stage to "Happy Now," a tune from their latest album, "The Circle." Big screens in the arena flashed positivity buzzwords ("OPTIMISM," "LOVE," "HOPE," etc.) alongside images of positivity people (Oprah, the Dalai Lama, et al.). That song, like most of the recent material on the set list -- "We Weren't Born to Follow," "Work for the Working Man" and "Superman Tonight" -- featured the same mix of anthemic choruses and you-can-do-it! boosts for the downtrodden that Bon Jovi's been cooking up since the early 1980s.

The Democratically connected bandleader pledged not to get politically preachy and said he'd come to Washington this time just so he could hear "a nonpartisan scream." He dug deepest while introducing "Love's the Only Rule," another new tune, as he asked fans not to let fear guide their life choices, and then quoted another of rock's bon Johns (Lennon): "Maybe I'm a dreamer. I dunno," he said.

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