Concert review: Jon Bon Jovi’s pained vocals were livin’ on a prayer at Xcel Energy Center concert
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At first glance, Bon Jovi’s concert Sunday night at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center looked a lot like the ’80s survivors’ other local shows in the time since guitarist Richie Sambora’s acrimonious departure from the band in the middle of a 2013 tour.
Sambora’s replacement Phil X brought heft to both the anthems and the ballads and showed true musical chemistry with touring guitarist John Shanks (the band’s producer since 2005). Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi, who turned 60 a month ago, exploded with impressive youthful energy. Musically speaking, the rest of the band — including the rhythm section of drummer Tico Torres and bassist Hugh McDonald — sounded tight on the second stop on their first tour since 2019.
The set list included a generous selection of songs from the group’s 15th album “2020” (“Limitless,” “Beautiful Drug,” “Let it Rain”), the smashes from their heyday (“Livin’ on a Prayer,” “Wanted Dead or Alive,” “You Give Love a Bad Name”) and more recent songs that have become concert staples (“This House Is Not for Sale,” “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” “Have a Nice Day”).
So far, so good, right? Sunday’s show delivered pretty much everything you’d want from a Bon Jovi concert with one major exception — some shockingly poor vocals from Jon Bon Jovi. He’s never been a particularly technical singer and his voice has lost some power over the past decade. But Bon Jovi didn’t just miss a note here or there, he struggled throughout the two-plus hour show. Nothing from his past suggested such a sudden decline was coming.
He wasn’t just butchering the older stuff, which the band now plays in a lower key, but the fresh material as well. And weirdly enough, at times it sounded like he was trying (and failing) to emulate Axl Rose in his prime. Quite frankly, it felt like he had forgotten how to sing.
Given the pandemic and the band’s time away from the road, it’s tempting to give them the benefit of the doubt. And JBJ himself caught COVID last fall, knocking out his voice for two weeks. Then again, in recent interviews, Bon Jovi has said the band spent three weeks in rehearsals, far longer than their typical warm-up time.
Not to put too fine of a point on it, but one can’t help but wonder why no one in the Bon Jovi organization sat the guy down for an honest chat. I guess it’s because he’s the boss and no one wants to cross him? He’s always been the face of the group and, in the time since Sambora left, he’s taken full control. He’s the only band member who writes songs (many with Shanks and other producers) and the cover of “2020” is a solo shot of Bon Jovi looking somber in shades.
Whatever the case, JBJ did warm up, slightly, for a run of acoustic songs midway through the show. He wrote one of the new songs, “American Reckoning,” after the murder of George Floyd and dedicated it to Floyd’s daughter Gianna. He also introduced the band’s 2000 single “It’s My Life” with a story about a viral clip showing residents of Odesa in Ukraine making sandbags while a drummer played along to the song.
“The magic of music sometimes baffles,” Bon Jovi said. Yes, and that wasn’t the only baffling thing about the night.
