Friedman: Bon Jovi's 10th Commandment

12 November 2007
Bon Jovi's 10th Commandment

By Roger Friedman

Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Tico Torres and David Bryan rocked the new Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday for the tenth time in two weeks and wrapped up a landmark series.

You ain’t seen nothin’ ‘til you’ve been among 15,000 Devils fans singing “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Sambora is back in shape after a tough year in the supermarket tabloids, not only singing lead on “These Days” with a bluesy R&B voice that should be heard more, but wailing away with some beautiful solos on guitar.

His new wardrobe of wild hats and long leather coats comes from new girlfriend, Jennifer, a stunning young blonde described by friends in the band as the best thing that ever happened to him.

And what of Jon Bon Jovi? He fills arenas with more women of different shapes and sizes than Elvis could have dreamt of. The guy works like a do, too, since the show requires him to do a tremendous amount of power singing, audience leading, cheerleading and emceeing.

Bon Jovi is up to the task, and he spends a lot of time in the audience winning even more fans. His enthusiasm is infectious. No one leaves a Bon Jovi show without a smile.

Best number of the night: “Keep the Faith,” a bluesy rocker on which Bon Jovi plays percussion and gets to show off some different vocal colors.

We also really loved the title track, “Lost Highway,” from the group’s latest album. And it wasn’t bad meeting former New York Yankee great Paul O'Neill after the show. Who knew he was such a Bon Jovi fan?

The Bon Jovi series was designed to give the new Prudential Center some visibility. If only Newark could get someone to run the place. The security team was overzealous, unhelpful and downright rude to the point of manhandling VIP guests. All the guests complained about the constant quizzing by security of where they were going and why.

Meantime, the person who identified himself by saying “This is my facility” was even less helpful. What a difference from the nice folks at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. If Prudential wants anyone to return, they should train their people a little better…

Source: FOX News

Hmm, gives a little perspective in a way.
A show I went to, and derided, still is gets a good review.

15,000 people? Is that all? Sheffield arena holds more..

Might be an estimate.
I tried to actually get better seats for Saturday night, because Teresa has a big fear of heights. And the customer service guys told me it was a totally legit sellout. I think a sellout for Pru is like 17,000 or 18,000.

That review was pretty decent. Hmm.... all I really learned from that is that Richie has a new girlfriend and that Paul O'Neill was there....

THAT IN AND OF ITSELF MAKES THE NIGHT BETTER.

10.000 for BJ, 1k for lorenza, 1k for bobby and 3k didn't had a clue who they were looking at

Ha ha... I met him in the pit at the last Giants show. I had a feeling he would be there since he was in town for Joe Torre's Safe At Home Charity Event on Friday.