Bon Jovi Brings the Hits to the Beach

From NJ.COM

As the sun went down in Asbury Park yesterday, six stages went silent.

But the seventh was the only one anybody was interested in.

The 10th annual Bamboozle festival — and the first to be presented in its original hometown of Asbury Park since 2005 — had come to its grand, restless finale, and the most famous band ever booked by its organizers was about to play the massive main stage on the north end of the boardwalk. And unlike the other artists who drew enormous crowds to the boardwalk and beach this weekend, Bon Jovi does not compete for attention.

With a squall of guitar from Richie Sambora and a drum tattoo by Tico Torres, the Sayreville rockers launched into a celebratory version of "Raise Your Hands." "You Give Love a Bad Name," a song first released when Bon Jovi still belonged more to Jersey than to the globe, became a mass singalong.

"We’ve got nothing here to prove," said Jon Bon Jovi, "so turn it up and watch this."

Bamboozle has, in the past, been a haven for young artists and their teenage fans. Bon Jovi’s headline appearance at the festival attracted an entirely new crowd to the event: men and women in their 40s and 50s, as enthusiastic about their heroes as the kids on the beach on Friday had been about Skrillex.

Jon Bon Jovi, of course, is a tried hand at massive festival performances. He knows when to pump his fist, when to solicit the crowd and when to hang back, and when to assume an iconic rock star pose. He has never been in the business of upending expectations: He promised all the hits, and delivered.

You can read the whole article here.

~ Hath