Eddie Trunk review of Bon Jovi Pru Night #1

i remember a fan reviewed a show from the start of the WAN tour and said it was the worst he'd been to as the album hadnt even been released but they played something like 8 songs off it.
He said the entire band looked bored playing the new stuff.

I have been looking because I remember it being very negative. I didn't save it and it doesn't seem to be on the websites of the usual suspects LOL.

NOW this is what i think..the musicians didnt add anything..they just to fill space on the stage....Finally, i thought i was the only one !

Web.archive rules!

Here you go:

10/28/07: Was invited to a special opening night event at the new Prudential Center Arena in Newark NJ this past Thursday. This is the new home of the NJ Devils and was opened by Bon Jovi who is playing 10 nights (contrary to some reports, many of the shows not sold out). The building is really nice, and as a lifelong NJ resident I am rooting for it to do well and bring back the city of Newark. Hopefully they can use this to revive the area. Since this is the first new arena in the NY area in over 25 years it is clearly the nicest and newest. State of the art all the way and a really cool street level practice rink for the Devils you can see from the street. The only issue I see for the place is the lack of an NBA team. It is just stupid that the Nets don't go to this building instead of trying to build yet another arena in Brooklyn! Even in the NY area there is now way all these places can survive, and Newark makes perfect sense for the Nets. Really hope a deal can be made and this whole Brookyln thing goes away. I admit as a Nets fan I am bias, but throwing that out, it really does make so much sense and gives the Pru Center 41 more games a year.

As for Bon Jovi, majorly dissapointed to say the least. I have followed this bands history since the beginning, from opening act to 38 Special, to one of the biggest bands on the planet. I always had a huge respect for the group, and as a Jersey guy myself, always liked how proud they were to be a NJ band. Obviously they were never a metal band, but they were a high energy semi hard rock group at one time, and Jon was one of the best frontmen out there. Lets not forget Jon is the guy that gave us Cinderella and Skid Row and spawned the entire pop metal 80's scene! Something he wants no part of now clearly. And that's fine because Bon Jovi is the only band from the era and scene that has a MAJOR career now, so I get it. But what I do not get is how Jon Bon Jovi has gone from being one of the great frontmen in rock, to a guy that looks like he's going through the motions on stage? This guy RULED the stage at one time, now he just struts, smiles and poses here and there. Steven Tyler has 15 years on him and works circles around him on stage. Bon Jovi these days barely resembles a rock act, and Jon is clearly trying to be the next Springsteen, but still doesn't work on stage as hard as Bruce does now. He's even building his own E Street band with extra backing musicians on stage. It's now an 8 member band live, with a female fiddle player who played on almost the entire set. She even put fiddle in some of the old school rocking stuff! Even that stuff was diluted and had no real energy or edge. This is sad beyond belief and even more shocking is that Jon never gets called on it! Look at the explosive rock act this was in the 80's compared to what they have become.

Look, Bon Jovi does not have to please me. There were plenty of screaming house wifes there just happy to shreik when he smiled, but if you saw this band during the Slippery/New Jersey era, and then saw them now, it is shocking. The stage set they played on resembled a road side bar, and that is exactly the approach the band took to how they now perform and play their songs, like a low key bar band. Hard to get away with when charging $300+ for some seats! This should have been one of NJs finest exports triumphantly opening a new arena and instead looked like a bunch of guys going through the motions. This all falls squarely on Jon's shoulders. He is the show, he is the frontman, he clearly calls the shots, and instead of working on stage and giving a real show, he looked like it was our priveledge to watch him. NOTHING like what this band once was! Richie played and sang well but also is real reserved now that he has had some high profile public issues. Tico (great drummer!) and David are great players and actually do work hard on stage, but they play instruments they must be anchored to, so there is only so much they can do. One can only hope that one day Jon will go back to being a performer again and rock. Take a look at the video for "Lay Your Hands On Me" VS what he is now, sad to say the least. And how cool would it be if he did throw a bone to a couple of the 80's bands he spawned as an opener for one of the 10 nights? My Chemical Romance opened the night I saw and had some good songs and at least came to the stage with some genuine fire and excitement and energy! Hope Jon watched them perform and remembered when he was that hungry.

Great, thanks!!

Eddie makes a lot of valid points. It's interesting if he saw the band during the Jon's renaissance period (2008-2011) if his opinion on those shows were different, cause they weren't as country-heavy as those in the Prudential center. Also, it's nice how he gave some credit to MCR, despite them, much like Jovi, being a band that is really cool to put down.

I usually think Eddie Trunk is a ***** but he is spot on with this. This sums up my feelings for the band since LH. Every word is true. Still valid to this day and it only got worse: JBJ is not even posing anymore the music got worse, Richie is gone. At least the fiddle player is gone too. That was really awful back then. WHat was he thinking.

Thanks so much for digging this up. I certainly remembered correctly that Eddie Trunk really creamed them. I was at all those Prudential shows and they were definitely sub-par, especially the first one.