Bon Jovi Movie: Through a Child's Eyes

I took my son and some of his friends (9- and 10-year old boys) to the Bon Jovi movie last night. In short, it was a great movie (made moreso by the exclusion of Who Says You Can’t Go Home – so they DO listen to us after all!!) and a really good night out with my son. I’m not going to review the movie – enough people read my show reviews, and honestly, the movie wasn’t spectacular, but it was good.

The experience was spectacular because of the kids’ reactions. I swear, I’ve never been with a group of pre-pubescent boys and smiled so much and felt such genuine, heartwarming happiness as I did last night.

We went out for pizza beforehand, and drove through the rain to Patriot Place (at Gillette Stadium) for the showing. We were ½ hour early for the show, but were able to scope out our seats in the very back row, just in front of the Lux seats, dead center, for optimal viewing pleasure. When the boys took off their jackets, they all were sporting Bon Jovi t-shirts. More than one (Hathlet included) had the one that says “My mom went to Bon Jovi and never came back” on the back. That earned a few chuckles from the folks around us who were watching the boys trudge up to the back of the theater.

The theater was mostly empty – probably no more than 50 souls in the whole place. That’s a shame, because I know markets where the theater actually sold out. I guess Boston doesn’t have big love for Bon Jovi.

There was muted excited chattering in our row, in the otherwise dead-silent theater, because going to the movies on a SCHOOL night is virtually unheard of in our circle of friends. When the lights dimmed, the boys, as one, swiveled their heads toward the screen and closed their mouths. It’s the quietest I’ve EVER seen them, and I’ve chaperoned sleep-overs.

When the video for What Do You Got? played, Hathlet sang along. His friends were in awe that he knew all the words. “My mom put it on my iPod,” he announced proudly.

They slumped back in their seats for the “behind the scenes” video that showed -- they just wanted to get to the show.

When the screen finally announced that the concert was coming up, people in the theater clapped.

I know it’s not the same as being there, but seeing the intro graphics on the screen gave me that pre-show excitement feeling in my stomach. I knew what was coming, but it didn’t matter. I knew it wasn’t live, but it didn’t matter. Pathetic? Maybe. Honest emotion? Yep.

Blood on Blood started the show, and Hathlet’s eyes went wide. “Mama, what’s that song?” I told him and he immediately demanded it be loaded to his iPod. Same with Born to be My Baby, We Weren’t Born to Follow, and Raise Your Hands (the latter two, he and his friends now know the right arm motions too, by the way). Actually he wants the whole bootlegs for the first two NMS shows on his iPod. He and his friends sang through a LOT of the songs, and were more well behaved than some of the adults in the theater :)

They applauded between each song, and were butt-dancing in their seats the whole time. They had a fantastic time.

When the movie was over, and the house lights came up, the theater emptied to “This Is Our House”. In front of all his friends, Hathlet gave me a big hug, said “I love you, Mom. Thanks for taking me to the movie.” I had tears in my eyes until he said “When can we go to a concert?” at which time I burst out laughing.

I’m going to try my damnest to get tickets to the Boston show. I know, I could have joined the Fan Club and gotten them on Backstage, or could go through the TicketMaster presale, but I don’t want to join the FC, and the presale seats stink.

I’ll wait for general sales to open, or maybe for the week before the show when all the “we’re sold out, but look! we still have more tickets” tickets get dumped on the market. We’ll see.

Some additional commentary on the grown-up experience.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, got up off their butts. There was some singing along, and some hand waving, and this one girl who reached forward, shouting wooooooo! when the movie featured a close-up of Jon, but mostly a sedate crowd. One funny happenstance – all over the theater, we heard “Hey, that’s me!” during the crowd shots. Lots of Bostonians apparently followed the band to New Jersey.

Speaking of “Hey, that’s me!”, my son saw me in one of the crowd shots in I’ll Be There For You. He pulled on my arm, and pointed at the screen. “Mama! That’s YOU! You’re on the big screen!” He was so proud, and so happy, I nearly cried. I tweeted a thanks to @BonJovi during the show.

Some of The Circle songs ~ Beautiful, Working Man, Superman ~ had the same lukewarm reception among the adults as they did at the shows themselves. There was much chattering during these songs, though the boys all did the fist pump and shouted “Work! Hurt!” along with the guys during WFTWM.

There were a couple solo guys, and Kudos to them for coming out. Some guys came with their gals, but for the most part, just like at a live show, it was women.

Oh, there was also one heckler in the crowd. You’re asking, “Seriously?” Yep. Seriously. Dude, stay home next time.

We got home around 10pm, to find trees down in the front yard. Apparently we had quite a windy evening, and we lost two trees. I said I hated leaves, but didn’t mean I wanted trees falling down. These things are TALL and HEAVY and could BREAK MY HOUSE if they fell the wrong way. Sheesh. Talk about being careful what you wish for.

~ Hath