Don’t Worry Bon Jovi, I’ll Be There For You

Prior to Melissa, Nancy, and I seeing rock n’ roll legend’s Bon Jovi at the Enterprise Center in beautiful downtown St. Louis on the evening of Thursday, April 21, I found myself being flogged by concerns and warnings about the show we were to see.

One of my nearest and dearest friends sent me a video from a previous concert of the band performing Wanted Dead or Alive and she remarked how terrible Jon Bon Jovi’s vocals were. Then a co-worker of mine shared – several times over – how she had heard – several times over herself – that people were so disappointed in Jon’s vocals that they got up and left. Another friend responded to a Snapchat I sent earlier in the week about my excitement for seeing Bon Jovi how she had heard he sounded, “like shit.” Suffice it to say, everyone’s outlook on our evening was grim.

Despite all these warnings, I went into the show with lofty expectations. This was our third time seeing Bon Jovi live and the previous two gave us some of our most memorable concert memories, so I felt confident that this evening would prove to be no exception. Being several days removed from the show, I can confidently say that I believe I was correct, this was most definitely a concert we will reflect on for a long, long time to come.

Opening with Limitless, a track off their latest album, 2020, Bon Jovi had everyone in the Enterprise Center on their feet cheering and celebrating and those cheers and celebrations held strong through the next number, The Radio Saved My Life Tonight, but reached a newfound peak when You Give Love A Bad Name kicked in. Pretty sure everyone in that place was singing along for this one and I was most definitely no exception. While my familiarity with the first two isn’t as much, I knew every lyric to You Give Love A Bad Name, so you best believe I was singing, dancing, and rocking along with the best of them.

Fate smiled kindly on us that evening by putting us in the last row of our section with a giant wall behind us. This was a real blessing because I could stand and sing, dance, and rock all night without worrying about whether or not I was obstructing anyone’s view. I easily spent three quarters of the show on my feet and thank goodness too! The two ladies in front of me were doing the exact same, so had I of been a bump on a log and stayed seated, I wouldn’t have been able to see shit!

Next up was a personal favorite of mine, We Weren’t Born To Follow, the lyrics of this song resonate so deeply to me that I JUST LOVE IT! Then Bon Jovi paused for Jon to speak for a bit and he shared this truly beautiful story about the band’s support for Ukraine and about this viral video from the Ukraine where the song chosen for the clip was none other than their very own, It’s My Life. From there we got that pulsating anthem and EVERYONE was back up out of their seats! This was the first time I cried. The emotions felt from that truly moving story coupled with that of hearing one of my favorite songs ever being performed live just moved me straight to tears. It was a truly spiritual experience and I was loving every single second of it! Felt like Jon had taken me to church!

We next got Beautiful Drug, another song off their 2020 album, before they rip-roared into Born To Be My Baby. By this point I was living my best life and didn’t mind for a single second that Jon Bon Jovi’s vocals weren’t what they were in the past. Hell, he’s sixty years old now and apparently had throat surgery back in 2016, so no one should assume he’d sound the same. His voice didn’t bother me one bit. Look at shitty singers like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and nearly every male country artist to have ever recorded, they all have HUGE careers and were never able to carry a tune once in their entire lives, so let’s give this Garden State angel a break shall we?

From there we got another banger, This House Is Not For Sale, before slowing down a bit and giving us a lot of deep cuts and new tracks with an old hit sprinkled in including, Just Older, Let It Rain, Keep The Faith, American Reckoning, and Whole Lot Of Leavin’. With many of these tunes being more unfamiliar to the crowd PLENTY of people were getting up and utilizing the facilities and/or getting more foods and drinks. Nancy put it best when she said, “these people can’t sit still for nothin’!” This included my newly met friend seated to my right who shouted, “YEAH JONNY!” countless times throughout the night. He left to get more beer and nachos and returned from the other side of the section or “the back door” as he put it, causing Melissa and I to double over with laughter by the unbeknownst to him, Brüno reference he gave us.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s 2009 film, Brüno, is one of mine and Melissa’s favorite movies EVER! It’s probably the funniest movie of all time and when he used the term, “back door” Melissa and I just about died because the first thing Straight Dave did after buying his house was to brick up the back door. VERY few of you got this, but good Lord is it making me laugh typing this all out. ANYWAY…

Another absolute favorite of mine, Do What You Can, came next. This song is also off their 2020 album and it’s extremely timely and emotional. I had it on repeat for weeks when it first debuted and I cried during this performance because the song speaks of the pandemic and all of us doing what we can to help out during these turbulent times. It really is a must listen if you’re not familiar.

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, Lost Highway, Roller Coaster all preceded arena rocker Have A Nice Day, which had everyone back up out of their seats. Jon then did an acapella verse from what he called, “our national anthem,” Livin’ On A Prayer. The thunderous sing-a-long from the crowd gave me goosebumps. The band then started up the song and we got what I will firmly argue is the GREATEST ROCK N’ ROLL SONG OF ALL TIME in its entirety. EVERYONE in the place was singing, dancing, and rocking along. No one there cared that Jon’s vocals weren’t what they used to be because everyone was singing right alongside him giving the night its most spiritual moment yet!

The band all left the stage at this point after saying a faux, “goodnight.” The house lights never came on and nearly everyone does an encore, so most everyone remained in their seats for the next set and what a set it was! I guarantee anyone who had left came rushing back in when the band started back up because they churned out the jams in the end!

Bon Jovi came back out with Wanted Dead Or Alive and everyone was living their best life all over again. We then got country rock anthem, Who Says You Can’t Go Home before what we were told would be the last song of the night, Bad Medicine. Had it of all stopped there I would’ve had the best night ever, BUT Jon said he wasn’t ready to go home yet, and they performed the one song of theirs I was most upset to not be hearing that night as it hadn’t been performed in any other city before St. Louis: I’ll Be There For You.

I literally wept where I stood as soon as the band broke into this jam. I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH! It isn’t just one of my favorite Bon Jovi songs, it’s one of my all-time favorite songs! So, when I looked at the setlists for all the other shows and saw it wasn’t on there, I was very sad, but given how many hits they have, it isn’t a surprise something would be cut, but for it to be performed on this night was another wholly spiritual experience. I was so fucking happy that I cannot even handle it. I could cry again right now just thinking about how amazing that moment was. THANK YOU JON (“YEAH JONNY!”) FOR NOT BEING READY TO GO HOME THAT NIGHT! Don’t worry Bon Jovi, I’ll Be There For You, these five words I swear to you, so ANYTIME you come back to St. Louis, you can always count me in the crowd.

I wanted to share with you all my Five Favorite Bon Jovi songs, but WHOA! It was difficult for me! Not because I wasn’t sure which five they were, but because I wasn’t sure which order they’d fall in! Took me an entire week to decide, but after much consideration, I’ve made my list:

5. (You Want To) Make A Memory – From the band’s 2007 Lost Highway album, this tender love ballad is every bit as amazing and awe-inspiring as their 80’s heyday hits. It starts off fairly slow, but by the end the song really soars and I honestly couldn’t love it more.

4. It’s My Life – Not only is this song perfect in every way, but I believe the music video is too. I just love it and would strongly recommend viewing it if you aren’t familiar with how terrific it is. I find the video to be every bit as inspiring as the song. This song sits in the top three of my Benspiration playlist (songs that keep me inspired) and listening to these lyrics it’s easy to understand why.

3. Born To Be My Baby – I always want to think that this is my favorite Bon Jovi song because it is just so damn good, but then I hear the next two and realize that while it does remain a #1 in my heart, it just doesn’t spend as much time there as the others, BUT that isn’t to take away from how perfect this banger is. It’s just such a jam!

2. I’ll Be There For You – Best rock love ballad of all time, easily. I still cannot believe they played this one the other night when they hadn’t played it in ANY other city on this tour prior to St. Louis. This was some divine intervention because THIS song EASILY ranks in my Top Fifty songs of ALL time! I love it so, so much and it makes me think of the Cutesville pool since I wrote about it in last summer’s blog post, The Ballad(s) of the Adult Swim.

1. Livin’ On A Prayer – “You live for the fight when that’s all that you got!” Bon Jovi has some of the most inspiring songs of all time, quite literally they rival Disney when it comes to inspirational hymns and that’s truly saying something given how nearly every Disney soundtrack features at least one song about overcoming life’s odds and forging one’s own path. Of all their inspirational jams though, this one is simply the best. Bon Jovi wasn’t lying when he called this song our, “national anthem” because few other songs personify the American spirit better it does.

As always, THANK YOU so much for your continued support and viewership! You really are simply the best! Please feel free to leave me a comment below! You know I love reading and responding to them all! I’ll return next week with a post celebrating my brother’s birthday (May 2!) and don’t forget, mine’s on May 1, so until then, I wish you all, all the best!