Review: Bon Jovi, Daughtry deliver bland rock show in San Jose

Review: Bon Jovi, Daughtry deliver bland rock show in San Jose
By Jim Harrington

STAFF WRITER
Article Launched: 04/03/2008 06:46:40 AM PDT

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Bon Jovi has, maybe, a half dozen terrific songs. The rest of its songbook -- to a greater extent than that belonging to any other longtime arena act -- ranges from bland to boring.

The band's saving grace, and the No. 1 reason why it has managed to remain so popular for 20-plus years, is that it's usually able to rise above its material on the live stage. Credit for that goes mainly to front man Jon Bon Jovi, a consummate showman who is willing to shake his butt, play the clown or do whatever it takes to sell a song.

The enthusiastic near-capacity crowd that greeted the band on Wednesday night at the HP Pavilion in San Jose was definitely buying what the band had to offer. On a purely artistic level, however, Bon Jovi's show left plenty to be desired and didn't live up to the band's past Bay Area outings. (The group will return, again with popular rock act Daughtry in tow, to perform Tuesday at HP.)

Bon Jovi currently finds itself in the very awkward position of trying to be too many things to too many people. It's definitely trying to woo the "American Idol" crowd and charm the "new country" cats. The group wants to keep its classic-rock fan base happy, but at times Jon Bon Jovi seems to be auditioning for a Broadway play. The result in San Jose was a jumbled mess of material that the group really had no chance in rising above.

The opening act on the bill was Daughtry. Now for the eight of you who don't know, Daughtry is a man and it's a band. The lead singer
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is Chris Daughtry, the former "American Idol" contestant, and the ability to name any other band member will someday win a person a lot of Trivial Pursuit games.

Daughtry, the band, did a passable job revisiting the tunes on its eponymous debut CD, which was one of the top-selling discs of last year. Yet, there was still something very contrived and oh-so very "American Idol" about the whole package, as if the band had been created by a team of scientists working in a Top 40 pop-rock lab. In all, Daughtry, the singer, didn't give us any reason to believe that he won't soon follow "American Idol" pal Taylor Hicks onto the pages of yesterday's news.

Things didn't improve once Bon Jovi took the stage and opened with "Lost Highway," the first of several country-light offerings that all sounded like bad John Mellencamp. The group then changed directions and delivered an enjoyable pair of classic rockers, "Born to be My Baby" (from 1988's "New Jersey") and "You Give Love a Bad Name" (1986's "Slippery When Wet"), before heading off to the land of pop mediocrity with such tunes as "Complicated" and "Last Man Standing" (both from 2005's "Have a Nice Day").

For every highlight, like the fine version of "Blaze of Glory" performed with Daughtry, there were three or four songs that should really be locked up in a closet and never again see the light of day. The country-tinged numbers, which hail from the Nashville-meets-Jersey mistake "Lost Highway," continually brought the whole show down. The absolute worst moment was "We Got It Going On," a disco-Western hybrid that has no place in either genre.

The oddest move the band made, however, was in skipping its best song, "Lay Your Hands On Me." One would think the band could've found room for that anthem during the 2-hour-plus concert. Then again, things do tend to get lost in such a jumbled mess.

Reach Jim Harrington at jharrington@bayareanewsgroup.com. Read his Concert Blog at http://www.ibabuzz.com/concerts.


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Aloha !

That's basicly what a lot of us have saying too. Jon's not going to like this review though, I wonder if they'll bring back Lay Your Hands On Me because of this since we all know how much he doesn't care about reviews.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

What a strange review. I'm never going to agree with someone who states that Bon Jovi only have 6 good songs, but it's a shame that the reviewer had such a negative attitude heading into the concert. I do agree for the most part about his Lost Highway sentiments though.

The author is spot on in my opinion. Very good article.

I agree with the statement about the band (Jon?) wanting to be too many things to too many people. When you do that you dilute the message. You can't please all of the people all of the time - and he should know that.

As for being bland - I get the fact that writing the same stuff over and over is boring - you will stagnate. But couldn't they write some new stuff with some punch - and leave the mid-tempo shit off.

One thing I disagree with is the assessment of Last Man Standing. I don't see it as pop mediocrity. I like both versions of the song and I think it shows some of Jon's good recent writing.

ouch, I get a feeling he is not a jovi fan !

Dawn

What an ass.

Yeah - They've sold 125 million albums on 6 good songs.

Moron.

He makes some valid points, but it's hard to take them seriously from someone who has such an obvious dislike for the band.
I mean 6 good songs?

I sent this guy the following email:

Six great songs??? Maybe that is the case for you personally Mr. Harrington, but ask the fans in that arena and they will give you a list much longer than that. Five minutes on billboard.com would have given you factual numbers that dispute this statement.

As for your comment that the number one reason BJ is still so successful is because JBJ is willing to shake his booty, play the clown etc.... here is what I have to say:

Yes BJ's fanbase is predominately female, yes most of us enjoy looking at the frontman, yes it's a bonus that he is goodlooking, has a fine body and a million dollar smile, and that his "bad" dancing rocks, but the reality is that isf it weren't for the songs that we connect with, that make us laugh, cry, smile,dance, sing along with and mark the times in our lives by, no amount of booty shaking, clowning, bad dancing, and flashing million dollar grins would have kept most of us on this train ride for the last 25 years.

Give the fans some credit Mr. Harrington, while you personally may not enjoy BJ's songs don't assume those of us that do are all just shallow, all about appearances, if the performer is hot we will go watch no matter what "drivel" he's performing types. Maybe you've spent too much time in the "Appearances are everything " world of California, might I suggest you come and join us in the real world, whether you get it or not most of us are filling the arenas of America because we love the music and the band that plays it.

haha good for you