Friedman: Richie Sambora Scores In Central Park

13 July 2008
Richie Sambora Scores In Central Park

By Roger Friedman

It’s not taking away anything from Jon Bon Jovi’s amazing performance in Central Park last night to say that Richie Sambora almost stole the whole show with one song.

The occasion of course was Bon Jovi’s ebullient free concert in the park put together by Randy Phillips and AEG Live, and sponsored by a bunch of people like Bank of America. (They had huge white balloons with their logo emblazoned on them bouncing around.)

My old pal Mark Shimmel from Arista Records was there as part of the team to film the show for TNT.

There weren’t many celebs in the crowd as most were spending another summer Saturday in the Hamptons or Europe. But director Penny Marshall was rocking out (and crabbing too, ‘natch), and designer Kenneth Cole was spotted in the crowd.

And the crowd could not have loved the show more, except for Jon Bon Jovi. The movie star good looking rocker had a gigantic smile plastered across his face for the full two hours of his unyieldingly athletic, knockout show. If you want to lose weight, just reproduce Bon Jovi’s work out from one of his shows. He must lose ten pounds a night!

He also sings and sings and sings. Bon Jovi’s songs may not be particularly topical—they’re love songs—but they are wordy, old fashioned constructed numbers with real choruses and verses. And he sings almost all of it—from the declarations of “It’s My Life” to the cha cha of “Keep the Faith.” And in between he throws in snippets of “Shout” and “Twist and Shout.”

But then there’s Richie, sporting a fedora, looking and sounding healthier than ever. And maybe it will come out in the filmed version of the show, but his lead vocal on “I’ll Be There for You” (not the Friends theme!), was the surprise highlight of the night. Richie has a beautiful rich R&B-like voice, very different from Bon Jovi’s. When it’s showcased, the fans go wild. And that was the case last night.

One interesting thing about Jon Bon Jovi: his songs and his performance just keep getting better with every year. You can’t say that about most rockers. But songs like “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” “Keep the Faith,” and “Have a Nice Day” are two decades older than his original material and better built to last.

Bon Jovi is a scrapper, too. Cast a little in Bruce Springsteen’s long shadow, he’s like the New Jersey Tony Bennett to the Boss’s Frank Sinatra. Unlike Bennett, though, Bon Jovi hasn’t had to wait — thank goodness — until his predecessor kicks the bucket to reap his deserved rewards.

Source: FOX News

Keep The Faith is from this decade, huh? XD Thanks Fox News.

Nevertheless, good review.

Good review.
Sambo was amazing last night.

Did no one notice the phrase "filmed for TNT"? FILMED !!!!!! As in video?

Oh boy oh boy

Great review. Thanks for this

And I speak on behalf of Jade when I say that.

I noticed! I definitely noticed! Wooo hoooooo! And I thought both Jon and Richie sounded terrific. Their voices are in amazing shape at the end of this tour.

Yes, I was deleted. But I did say thanks for posting this, Mo. It was a really nice read. One of the nicest reviews on BJ I've personally read, anyway!

I aso said: Yes, Kathleen I read that. Does this mean there will be a DVD?!

I don't know if you were asking Kathleen directly but TNT is a TV station in the U.S. so it might appear on TV but probably won't be released as a DVD if they are going to do the MSG shows as a DVD.

Yeah, I read that.

Why was it removed?

Aloha !

Who cares if it won't be released as a DVD. That's what Thierry and Kathleen are for.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan