Any time a band has massive success, anything they do afterwards is going to have elements of nostalgia-bandness to it, Bon Jovi included. The bottom line is that as new records have come and gone (with some staying) the shows have been built around the SWW and NJ hits from the late 80's until right now. However, I don't think Bon Jovi is a nostalgia band, as much as they are a legacy band. I brought up my concept of a Legacy Band in a thread a few days ago, so I'm going to quote it instead of typing essentially the same thing again, then add more:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crushgen24/88
From a US (and I would venture to say worldwide, but I'll stick to the US so no one yells at me) perspective, Bon Jovi are now firmly in "Legacy Band" (not nostalgia band, ad their is a slight difference) territory, ala U2, Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, AC/DC, Macca, and etc. Basically, they'll release a new record, do some press/TV/etc, see their first single get some radio play, have a big first week, then drop off the charts, and have a huge tour playing most of the biggest venues possible to audiences that mainly want to hear the hits. Now before anyone starts throwing numbers at me, I'm not saying all these artists are the same, I'm not saying that they all do exactly the same sales or have the same drop-off, nor am I trying to say that all are on the same level musically or legacy-wise, but the pattern is the similar.
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Basically, the concept is similar to a Nostalgia Band, but there are some key differences. To me, a nostalgia band's appeal is based around a very specific period of time, with a specific target audience that only cares about said period of time, and only have hits from that period, (see Poison, etc.) Not that these bands don't have their die hards, but they get by solely on their original appeal, mostly on smaller touring circuits and package tours. The band's I mentioned as legacy bands tend to be viewed very differently. First off, while they might not have "hits" currently, and a majority of the audience isn't there to hear new tracks, they have hits and known songs that span a much longer period of time than the just the years they were at their peak. For example, Jovi's biggest songs are the 80's classics, but they're are at least 5-6 90's and 00's songs that casuals will know. Beyond that, these bands have tremendous live drawing power that transcends their chart-power.I'm hoping this concept is getting across, because I'm having a bit of a hard time putting it into words.