A review by Kingswinger69

Bon Jovi's live show kicks ass.

Way back in the day, it was all Jon Bon Jovi, in fact there was not much reason for the average fan to deny his great looks and to be quite honest the following was largely female and he was and still is a great front man, vocalist, songwriter and showman.

But today, things are different.

In the words of comic Jon Stewart and the Daily Show, "I don't consider that band "Bon Jovi" anymore, I think they should call that band "Sambora", and I will tell ya why, Bon Jovi?....Sambora is carrying you...next item"

Now sure, those words were said in jest, he is a comic right? A small joke, just messing around..right? Truth is, things are a lot different these days, maybe not too different but at least a 70%-30% Jon/Richie split in fan appreciation at least in my neck of the woods.

Today, Jon and Richie have come to a comfortable place in their friendship, their partnership, the direction and promotion of the band and their respect and appreciation of one another in that of the creation of anything on a on Jovi CD. Their teamwork and chemistry make this band a great band.

"I can tell you that Richie Sambora is probably the most under-rated lead guitarist and songwriter of the past 15-20 years", as admitted and agreed upon by Mr. Jon Bon Jovi himself on the Howard Stern Show.

A variety of so called musical experts claimed that "Sambora's guitar carried much of the Bounce CD".

And I can tell you that much of that carried into Friday nights performance in Montreal.

To start, scalpers on the night of the show had some tickets, curiously on the right side of the stage, facing it. Simply because, everyone wanted Richie side tickets, this being the left and they were pretty much accounted for. It took a while and plenty of cash to get em but I did, in the penalty box, left side. Great seats.

The Place; Montreal Bell Centre
The Date: February 21st 2003.

Saku Koivu was there, sitting right next to me, you know Saku, Montreal Canadians Hockey Team Captain. Saku is a new fan.

The show was as usual, a great party show with great fan appreciation and participation. I mean most of us are locked up in a hibernation for the better part of the winter, so when a Bon Jovi date was scheduled, it became somewhat of a national holiday a most certainly, a party.

The babes were out, all of em, wearing something special for Jon and Richie

Jon managed for the first time in a long time to keep from sweating until hours number 2 of the show, truth is there was a limited amount of fist pumping and the usual jumping around. Either that or an extremely talented hairstylist, maybe a bit of both. The show ended with a great deal of energy and electricity.

As for Richie, he came ready to kick ass. His solos were perfect, his enthusiasm for the newer songs as well as the older ones were impressive. Jon even gave Richie a chance to sing lead vocals on "I'll be there for you",(in its entirety their number one song from New Jersey, a tribute to their relationship and Jon's appreciation of Richie.

Some surprises included, Runaway, In these Arms, Blood on Blood, Damned and the absence of Keep the Faith. Other notable absences included anything labeled a ballad, such as Thank You, Always, Bed of Roses, All About Loving You. This was a "Rock Show", no sappy ballads here.

The boys from Jersey, also managed to promote their current CD Bounce with 7 songs sung that night, which kind of dragged things down a bit given that other than, Everyday the Montreal fans were kind of clueless of the latest CD.

On a positive note, Bon Jovi did a much better job on the Bounce songs, especially on Undivided, which is my personal favorite song on the CD.

The show was different, lasers and three large satellites on stage all of them being used as giant screens. But the same in the true and impressive sense that these guys love playing together and offer fans one of the best live shows, you'll ever be lucky enough to witness from the left side facing the stage.

House of Blues, get to work, iron out a July date in Montreal, they'll be back to kick our ass again it seems.

Cya in July boys.

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