Toronto Sun article:

Friday, February 21, 2003

Patriotic Jon

Bounce tour is part memory of 9/11, and part reason to rock



By MARY DICKIE



Bon Jovi have survived and thrived through two decades of metal, pop, grunge and assorted other musical trends -- not to mention Jon with Ally McBeal and other ill-advised acting projects.

The fact that they can fill the Air Canada Centre with excited young fans in 2003 has got to be testament to the enduring appeal of their no-frills, regular-guy American rock.

Three huge satellite dish-like screens displayed closeups of the band members and video images during some songs. The only problem was that, with the round screens, they sometimes made singer Jon Bon Jovi and guitarist Richie Sambora -- whose lead singing turn on I'll Be There For You got an enthusiastic a response as anything else -- look like images from souvenir commemorative plates.

Jon Bon Jovi, still flaunting the sex appeal with a killer smile and open-necked shirt, led the boys from Jersey in a surprisingly spirited run-through of tunes from their latest album, Bounce, plus plenty of older hits and a couple of closing covers, including a big, soppy version of David Bowie's Heroes -- complete with images from 9/11.

The band has been too smart to mess much with its tried-and-true hit-making formula over the years. However, Bounce does address weightier matters than the usual getting out of hicksville and cheatin' on good or bad girls.

As it turns out, this Bounce is not about gettin' jiggy; it's about bouncing back from something like September 11 and still being able to pump your fist in the air. New songs like the title track, Everyday and especially Undivided, accompanied by a little video with more flags, NYPD officers and New Yorkers remembering lost friends, address it directly, if heavy-handedly. Perhaps if Bon Jovi himself hadn't referred to being in the "State of Ontario," the rest of the stuff would have gone over better.

The audience tolerated the bummer subject matter, however, knowing that they'd soon get a chance to shout along with Jon on past glories like Wanted Dead Or Alive, You Give Love A Bad Name, Bad Medicine, Someday I'll Be Saturday Night and, of course, Livin' On A Prayer, a song from the '80s that doesn't seem to have lost any of its firepower.

Ever the crowd pleasers, the band played all the faves for the fans. And when they were asked to Raise Your Hands, they knew what to do.