The venerable rock band Bon Jovi is on the road again. The GRAMMY-winning group announced a series of shows in cities around the country in early January, including April dates at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. Tickets go on sale at Ticketmaster Friday, Jan. 11, and are already selling fast for most of the dates.
In the aftermath of September 11 Bon Jovi stepped up to help out in New York and all over the country. The band filmed Public Service Announcements for the Red Cross, swung by a couple of Monmouth County Alliance of Neighbors concerts and recorded two songs for the America: A Tribute to Heroes live telethon. The band also played at a few benefit shows in their home state of New Jersey to raise funds for families affected by the attacks.
It wasn’t long before the band started recording its own versions of live music for release as MTV Unplugged-type events. The result was Keep the Faith, an album that was released in 1993 and was a double platinum success for the band. In addition to a handful of Bon Jovi hits, Keep the Faith also included an acoustic version of the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”.
In 2008 the band released its tenth studio album Lost Highway, which like many of their earlier albums debuted at number one on the charts and sold millions of copies worldwide. In June that year the band took to the Madison Square Garden stage for a show that was later released as a concert video titled Bon Jovi: Live in New York City.
Bon Jovi’s family-friendly approach to heavy metal resulted in a batch of songs that sound just as at home blasting out of arenas as they do from football stadiums, mall food courts and high school gyms. The songs that have become concert staples are a generous mix of the latest material from 2020 (“Beautiful Drug,” “Limitless”), the smashes from their heyday (“Livin’ on a Prayer,” “Wanted Dead or Alive,” “You Give Love a Bad Name”) and older tracks that have become part of their legacy (“This House Is Not for Sale,” “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”).
Musically, Bon Jovi still has the chops to deliver the kind of arena-rock juggernaut the band has come to be known for over three decades. Lead guitarist Phil X is doing an excellent job of filling in for Richie Sambora since his departure in 2013 and he and drummer Everett Bradley have the sort of groove that makes it easy to see why fans love their work.