Review: Bon Jovi @ Scottrade Center, St. Louis 5-22-11

From St. Louis Today...

Bon Jovi keeps it real at Scottrade show

Nearly 30 years into its career, Bon Jovi remains a force to be reckoned with.

The New Jersey band, led by singer/guitarist Jon Bon Jovi, recently ranked No. 8 on Forbes Magazine's Celebrity 100 list, thanks to earnings of $125 million in the past 12 months. Some of that jack came from the band's 2010 tour dates, which grossed more than any other rock and roll road show last year.

During a sold-out show at Scottrade Center on Sunday - the last stop of the band's American tour - Bon Jovi showed how it has continued to hold such a high place in the rock firmament - by working hard, giving the people what they want and above all, keeping it real.

The show's opening number, "Last Man Standing" said as much. Singing from a platform toward the back of the arena, Bon Jovi boasted how he doesn't lip synch and how the band can actually play.

For the next two-and-a-half hours, they did just that, mixing favorites "You Give Love a Bad Name," "Runaway" and "Livin' on a Prayer" with more recent fare such as "We Weren't Born to Follow," "When We Were Beautiful" and "Superman Tonight."

During a couple of numbers, Bon Jovi called for some "jukebox music," interpolating Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" and the Isley Brothers' "Shout" into "Bad Medicine" and Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Takin' Care of Business" into "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead." After the latter number, he laughed and exclaimed, "I get an A+ for remembering those words!"

Some of the singer's stage moves are reminiscent of that other guy from New Jersey - Bruce Springsteen - and so is some of his repertoire, notably the epic story song "Dry County." But Bon Jovi is a tireless performer, and he isn't afraid to play off his boyish good looks, which are still intact at age 49.  When a little bump 'n' grind routine got a reaction from the crowd, he said, "Hey, I just gotta loosen things up around here."

Bon Jovi had to work particularly hard to draw attention away from the absence of his primary onstage foil, guitarist Richie Sambora, who left the tour last month to enter rehab. Journeyman Phil "X" Xenidis filled in admirably, especially on "Wanted Dead or Alive" - usually a bit of a showcase for Sambora - and Bon Jovi himself offered a few lead guitar licks here and there. But Sambora's presence was definitely missed and was the evening's sole sour note.

Near the end of the show, Bon Jovi mentioned the success of the tour and noted "I like fighting with the Irish guys, making sure we're still on top." Memo to Jon: Those "Irish guys" - U2 - sold out Busch Stadium in July. Still, on Sunday at Scottrade, the Jersey boys were champs.