MUSIC REVIEW

Bon Jovi makes splash at soggy Gillette show


By Steve Morse, Globe Staff, 7/24/2003

OXBOROUGH -- Luck almost held out, but then the rains came and came hard during Bon Jovi's nearly three-hour show Tuesday at Gillette Stadium. During the downpour, lightning hit a water main outside the stadium, with ensuing flooding that caused some fans to evacuate their seats and resulted in six inches of water backstage.



A fun night? If you're a Bon Jovi fan, the answer would still probably be yes.

The fans were drenched, but spirits were not dampened. ''Why, after 20 years, do you guys still like this band?'' lead singer Jon Bon Jovi asked, seemingly puzzled himself. But the crowd's roar told him everything he needed to know, as the roughly 75 percent female audience (out of 47,000 fans) screamed as though it were a Justin Timberlake concert.

This was mainstream rock at its best or worst, depending on how you look at it. The band offered broad-brush guitar hooks and one anthemic chorus after another, tied together by Jon's still-apparent sexual charisma, as when he kissed one female fan onstage and her knees nearly buckled. And when he finally took off his shirt at the end, the swooning must have been evident miles away.

Yet, while some songs started to sound alike, and the show was split between a very hot first half and a sometimes momentum-draining second half, there was no question that these Jersey rockers worked hard for their money. Many of the hits came too early (''You Give Love a Bad Name,'' ''Livin' on a Prayer,'' and ''Wanted Dead or Alive'' were reeled off in the first half), but the band also treated the crowd to party-hearty covers of ''Fever'' (the first time the group has played that song in 10 years, keyboardist David Bryan said afterward) and ''Shout.'' Newer songs such as ''Bounce'' and ''Everyday'' struck home, as did encores of ''Raise Your Hands'' and ''Bad Medicine'' that had the crowd forgetting all about the rain. And the hero worship was complete when a soaked Jon said, ''The most valuable player on our team, and the reason we win the Super Bowl every year, is you!''

The bond was aided by a towering stage lit by LED screens and multiple video screens that projected Jon's sweaty physique to the upper bleachers. Green lasers fueled the excitement, as did Jon's jump into the crowd and his high-fiving of clusters of fans brought to both sides of the stage. His shout-outs to the New England Patriots (dedicating ''It's My Life'' to them) also curried favor with the faithful. So what if he ran offstage to have his hair blow-dried to combat the rain's effects at the end? He had earned it, as did tireless band members Bryan, guitarist Richie Sambora, and drummer Tico Torres.

Opener Sheryl Crow was a perfect summer choice, reprising her hits and soaring with a fine cover of the Rod Stewart hit (written by Cat Stevens), ''The First Cut is the Deepest.'' She has what it takes to headline stadiums if future success allows it. As for the other opener, the Goo Goo Dolls, I missed them because a torrential downpour on the way down from Boston caused delays.

Bon Jovi

With: Sheryl Crow and Goo Goo Dolls

At: Gillette Stadium on Tuesday

This story ran on page D3 of the Boston Globe on 7/24/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.