Bon Jovi Rocks the Garden

By Morgan Rousseau

Some music knows how to shine only momentarily in the rolling spotlight of pop-culture. But when Bon Jovi made pop meet metal in the early 1980s, his band’s classic style of hard rock learned to last as long as his good looks.

Bon Jovi’s music hooks the pop crowd with its clean, catchy tunes, but gives just enough grit to grab hold of those metal heads. Up-beat and badass sans swears, Mötely Crüe could never pull it off (good choice, Heather Locklear).

One year older than my mother, Jon Bon still manages to bring a blush to her cheeks and a flush to my own when he graces the stage in perfectly (painful-not-to-reach-up-and-grope) painted on denim. The Jersey-born front man stopped off at Boston’s TD BankNorth Garden (formerly known as the Fleet Center) Dec. 10 as part of his band’s “Have a Nice Day” world tour.

When you have the time of your life at a concert — with your parents — you know that the musician in question must be, eternally, an icon. I learned this first hand as my parents led my boyfriend and me through a packed arena dappled with fans of all ages, but mostly one gender: female.
When the lights dropped, the crowd went wild. Screaming women, hands on their husbands’ shoulders, jumped up-and-down in search of Jon Bongiovi Jr., whose band appeared on stage without the leading man

Within moments, the first tunes of “Last Man Standing” resonated, and Jon’s voice rose along with his image, which stood on a platform in the back of the audience. Jon bravely trekked through the crowd toward his band on the main stage, and rocked into a high-powered set of “You Give Love a Bad Name,” a song that set the energetic tone for the rest of the night.

The band rocked through hits like, “Complicated,” “Born to Be My Baby,” then a personal favorite, “Runaway.” Bon Jovi jammed out some Petty with a cover of “I Won’t Back Down.” The band varied from the classics and the new hits to keep the dynamic crowd pleased. We enjoyed the latest ones like “It’s My Life” and “Have a Nice Day,” though I must say the real madness came alive when the foursome rocked their old stuff. The tunes we all love, like “Bad Medicine” and “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Jon and Richie Sambora shared vocals in an acoustic set of “I’ll Be There for You.” J.B.J made many fans happy that night by venturing into the crowd again for an acoustic set of “Blaze of Glory.”

After about two hours of jumping, jamming and rocking the band took a bow and retreated backstage, only to reappear for an encore of eight songs that had just as much energy as the rest of their show. The band even rang in the holidays with a spirited version of “Run, Run Rudolph.” Finally, they wrapped it up with a soothing set of “Wanted Dead or Alive,” which ended with an exhausted Jon throwing his microphone to the ground with a satisfied grin. Then, Jon Bon Jovi and his band took a much deserved bow. For a quartet of middle-aged men, I’d say the band has maintained their rockin’ vigor with a bang. And my mother would agree.