Review: Bon Jovi at SPAC July 11, 2010...

Bon Jovi brings the house down at SPAC

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Bon Jovi’s performance Sunday night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center opened with their unreleased song “This is Our House” being played through the speakers. The crowd rose to its feet — the noise was deafening — and when the band took the stage they made the SPAC amphitheater their house for the next two hours.

Any concerns about the health of frontman Jon Bon Jovi were unfounded. Sure, he was clearly coping with the pain of a torn calf muscle suffered during the encore of Friday’s show at the New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey, but he still managed to generate enough energy, and more than a little heat, to keep the fans thoroughly entertained.

The band kicked off the concert with “Last Man Standing.” The first of four songs from their new album and tour namesake, “The Circle,” came next with “We Weren’t Born to Follow” before the band launched into the fan favorite “You Give Love a Bad Name.”

Fans remained on their feet and sang the chorus of the latter song for Bon Jovi at one point. The crowd’s excitement and knowledge of every last word appeared to bring great pleasure to the lead singer, who flashed his trademark grin and proceeded to offer the crowd multiple opportunities to sing along the rest of the night.

The band mixed up the hits from their various albums, playing “Whole Lot of Leavin’,” “Born to Be My Baby,” “Superman Tonight” and “Lost Highway” before Jon led a “Happy Birthday” sing-a-long to lead guitarist Richie Sambora.

Jon then took a few minutes to acknowledge his injury and display his good sense of humor when he told the crowd, “Now I know once and for all I’ll never make it to ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ ”

The jokes didn’t stop there. He made another one later in the evening, at Sambora’s expense, referring to the late 1980s, a time when Sambora was dating Cher, who Jon said “was only like 60 then.”

“It’s My Life” had the crowd singing along again, followed up with “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” and “We Got it Going On.”

Another fan favorite, “Bad Medicine,” had the crowd amped up and singing every lyric right along with the band. During the song, guitarist Bobby Bandiera changed the tune, leading the entire band in a cover of “Pretty Woman,” sharing the mic and center stage with Jon before finishing out the song’s final few bars.

Jon left the stage, turning singing duties over to Sambora for “Lay Your Hands On Me,” getting a favorable response from the crowd. He returned for “Make a Memory,” “I’ll Be There For You” and “When We Were Beautiful,” the third track from “The Circle.”

The group went way back to 1984’s debut album, “Bon Jovi,” to perform “Runaway,” the song that kick-started their career, before returning to the current album with “Work for the Working Man.” They closed their set with “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” and “Keep The Faith.”

Two hours after they started, the band said goodnight but returned to the stage for a two-song encore. Jon, who throughout the night allowed the crowd to sing by themselves whole sections of songs, gave the crowd one more shot with the first verse of “Wanted.” Sambora took over for the second verse with Jon finishing up the song.

The crowd couldn’t get enough and cheered loudly as the band launched into their most identifiable song, “Livin’ On A Prayer” from their album “Slippery When Wet” to close out the concert. No songs from the albums “7800° Fahrenheit,” “These Days,” or “Bounce” made it into this set list, something that changes with each concert. Also missing were the unique stage setup and numerous video screens fans have been seeing in their stadium and arena shows. Neither made a difference to the SPAC crowd, who enjoyed Bon Jovi performing the way they have always done best — up close and personal.

As the band took their final bow at 11:25 p.m., the screaming, clapping and whistling continued, and it lasted even after the band left the stage and the lights came up. The crowd wanted more. It was to no avail as the road crew began tearing down the stage, sending fans on their way while pondering something Jon said earlier in the night: “We gotta come back here more often.”

A truer statement has never been made. Live Nation, please make it happen.

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