Ever dreamed of being featured on a Bon Jovi tour? Dream no longer. Fame awaits those with a smidgen of tech savvy who can put together a personal video slide show set to the band’s hit “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Those videos will be featured throughout the band’s tour, which stops in D.C. this weekend.
| Onstage |
| Bon Jovi |
| Where: Verizon Center |
| When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Doors open 6:30 p.m. |
| Info: $19.50 to $149.50 at verizoncenter.com or ticketmaster.com |
| To submit a personal video, visit prayer.bonjovi.com. |
Huge venues like D.C.’s Verizon Center have cemented the fame and fortune of what is arguably one of America’s greatest rock bands. Since first cracking Billboard’s Top 40 way back in the 1980s, Bon Jovi has captured fans worldwide, cutting a swath around the globe with packed stadium shows.
Defying the odds, the 1983 lineup is still intact. Lead singer/guitarist Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, percussionist Tico Torres and David Bryan on keyboard welcomed bass guitarist Hugh McDonald to the fold when Alec Such left. Their camaraderie and the composing skills of Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi propelled them across three decades into 2010 and the honor of being the past year’s no. 1 worldwide tour.
Sambora and Torres explained the key to success the band has enjoyed since they were youngsters, playing in small clubs around their native New Jersey.
“The foundation of our business is about the writing of the music and the quality of the band,” Sambora said. “You’ve just got to write great songs that get to people. Jon and all of us try to put on a great show every time we come out. What we’ve learned over these years is to give good stadium. You can’t fill a stadium up with just one demographic. You have to have songs that transcend [generations]. It’s great to expose your kids to stuff that you like as well [and] you can both enjoy.”
“There’s a lot of new faces out there, two or three generations of people since we started,” Torres said. “From the beginning, we’ve toured as many continents as possible, and that gives you longevity and a lot of new fans. We have friends wherever we go.”
Both love the energy they pick up from the crowd filling each stadium. At the same time, Bon Jovi makes a stadium intimate with the use of giant screens that bring everyone in, even those in the rear. Torres described the half-circle that goes out into the audience so the huge place seems like a living room. The band steps into the area and plays acoustic music everyone knows. The goal is to make everyone happy as they sing along to a favorite number.
“The fans are the ones that count,” Torres said. “If they like it, they’ll clap. If they don’t, they’ll let you know about it.”
Sambora concurred, saying, “It’s a joy to play with this band because everybody respects each other. We get our energy from love of music, love of each other and the privilege of being one of the few bands in the world with this opportunity. When we walk onstage, we know what we have to do, [and] when people walk out of a Bon Jovi show, they’ve got a smile on their face. They got their money’s worth.”
