Bon Jovi at Air Canada Centre, Toronto

Bon Jovi performed to a sold out crowd recently at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This show marked the 20th time they’ve performed at this particular venue, which has a capacity of nearly 20000 people. Jon boasted about having performed there so many times that the Air Canada officials unveiled a banner with their name sake posted in the corner of the venue. The first of it’s kind to feature musicians instead of sports figures. 

Fittingly they opened up their set with the song This House is Not For Sale. A house was depicted on the screen that was hanging behind the drum riser. I kind of felt bad for the folks that had seats behind the stage. I suppose those people had to realize what seats they where getting when they purchased their tickets. Thankfully the graphics only occurred for a few moments throughout the entire show. 

The show consisted of 21 songs, mostly the classic hits of days gone by, peppered with newer songs here and there. You could certainly tell the crowd favorites where the oldies though. 

The song Keep the Faith was extended to feature the talents of Toronto’s own Phil X on guitar. What people didn’t realize was as Phil was shredding it on stage, Jon was actually making his way through the crowd to a very small stage that was near the back of the venue. Eventually a spot light cast on him and the crowd went nuts. Once there he sang Amen. A sea of cell phone lights flickered throughout the venue. He remained there to also perform Bed of Roses, where he pulled up a lady from the crowd and slow danced with her cheek to cheek. I can just imagine her excitement of this unexpected moment. 

Jon prompted the crowd for a sing-a-long to Lay Your Hands On Me, which the crowd easily complied. 

One notable about the show was Jon’s vocals. I noticed last year he sang in lower octaves, and I kind of assumed it had to do with the case of Bronchitis that had cancelled the two prior shows. But this time around he sang in a sort of country style. Kind of slower then the recorded version and lower octaves. It wasn’t bad, just different then what we where accustomed to hearing. 

It’s always a pleasure to spend a couple of hours reliving my youth through a evening of Bon Jovi. It certainly doesn’t hurt to see Jon shake his money maker either!