Salt Lake City Reviews

Some of the reviews I've found so far were lukewarm at best for last night's SLC show.  The reviewer for the Salt Lake City Tribune thought the night was lacking oomph, and that the band's lyrics were trite:

The core of the band — the eternally youthful Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, drummer Tico Torres and keyboardist David Bryan — was enthusiastic enough, though, for the most part, the members appeared as if they weren’t about to leave everything on the stage. And despite a sludgy mix that negatively affected Jon’s vocals, his gravelly tenor was in fine form. Sambora’s guitar playing was predictably superb, and the rhythm section was as tight as could be hoped for.

The band was best when it moved beyond the confines of the stage and its own music, especially at a point an hour into the show, when Bon Jovi finally threw off his jacket. He led the band through an epic rendition of “Bad Medicine” that included Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” in the middle. Another nice moment was when Jon moved to a catwalk that separated the VIP seat-holders from the proletariats to croon a convincing version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

But I soon realized that the reason I liked the Cohen cover so much was because it gave my mind something to chew on. Most Bon Jovi songs are uninteresting lyrically and musically similar in their verse-chorus-verse repetitions. Frankly, for a rock show, I wanted more edgy, heart-palpitating guitar.

Ouch.

But, some of the concertgoers had a more favorable view of the experience (though Richie 'leathery'?  Mmmm, bad hair YES.  Bad skin?  I don't think so)  In any event, InThisWeek gave a more favorable review:

The years have been kind to Jon Bon Jovi, who hasn’t lost a single step--likely thanks to his aerobics-style onstage dancing (complete with “jazz hands”). Throughout the three-hour set, the band evoked crowd fist-pumping (“Bad Medicine”), heart-throbbing (“I’ll Be There for You”), and, behind the lead vocals of Richie Sambora, gospel revival-ing (“Lay Your Hands on Me”).

And therein lies the secret to the band’s continued success. Under the umbrella of hard rock, Bon Jovi manages to appeal to an incredibly wide audience, as they push into to pop (“It’s My Life”), country (“Blaze of Glory”), and Shrek soundtracks (“Hallelujah”).

Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that at age 49, Jon Bon Jovi still gets the ladies worked up when he sheds his suede jacket and rocks a sweaty tanktop. Richie Sambora, on the other hand, has grown more leathery, but he can still rock the superfluous double-neck guitar and the always-awesome vocoder tube.

After the pumping out too many hits to count, Bon Jovi finished its set with its best tune of the night, the word-for-word singalong “Livin on a Prayer.” At that point, there was nothing left for them to give, other than a well-deserved, collective bow before the house lights came back up.

Were you there?  How was the show?  Did the guys have high energy or were they just calling it in?

~ Hath