Bon Jovi, Manic Street Preachers, Wembley Stadium, June 21 2019

Lucky enough to be guests of Universal in the Royal Box I was thrilled to see Bon Jovi sell out Wembley Stadium and to see that classic rock can have such a broad appeal in 2019 even if mainstream media continues to pretty much ignore that fact.

 

First up are the Manic Street Preachers and I have to admit they are a little bit off my radar. Tonight I am definitely here for the main attraction. Aware of the nature of the crowd the Manics open with a rockin number with plenty of shredding and I begin to wonder if my judgement has been off in not exploring them more before. However, apart from a cover of ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ which was a pretty faithful reproduction guitar wise of the GNR classic, albeit that the vocal delivery was somewhat different without Axl’s screams, most of the set was a bit poppy and mainstream to me, although I did, of course, recognise the biggest hits.

 

With a mammoth 22 tracks in the setlist and a two and a half hour show no one can say Bon Jovi don’t work hard for the money. It’s a big production with cutting edge digital screens and graphics and there’s no doubt it’s a great show. Coming on to sounds of thunder they open with ‘This House is Not For Sale’ from the most recent album. It’s testament to the size of the Bon Jovi machine that the album is now two and a half years old before they are able to bring the tour to the UK but it was worth the wait!

 

Jon Bon Jovi himself does everything he can to engage the whole crowd difficult as this is in a stadium, smiling and charismatic he seems nimble and fit and runs around the stage like a twenty year old even doing a jump and splits in the air before his final exit. It’s a trade off as such heavy physical activity inevitably has an effect on the vocals, but on balance it was much more fun than the Hyde Park show for me where he concentrated everything on vocal quality at the expense of a less visual show. Other original members also look very fit and well. Drummer Tico Torres is still a powerhouse and still has something of the Italian Stallion about him. Virtuoso David Bryan while still exceptional on the keyboards looks exactly the same with long tumbling blonde curls. There are two new guitarists and while it’s fair to say neither brings the bluesy emotional feeling of Richie Sambora bringing more of a Deep Purple vibe when they jam the band seems happier as a result overall, so once again a trade off. If it means we can still see Bon Jovi in 2019 it is a price worth paying. We live in the real world after all.

 

That said the crowd are ecstatic to see their hero and while there seem to be problems in the mix making it difficult to even hear the guitars and at times Jon seems unable to hear himself and stay in tune, it’s fair to say his fans are having a blast and enjoying it all immensely. Additionally, it is clear when he gets a chance to sing focussed on only his lyrics without the immense noise of the band he delivers perfectly even the highest of notes. Whilst it’s also fair to say his voice appears better suited now to ballads like ‘Always’ than the more metal numbers such as ‘Bad Medicine’ the early heavier songs are such monster hits that when they’re on it’s hard to hear him for all the crowd singing in any event. Personally for me ‘Runaway’ was not the same without the falsetto and I would have employed a backing singer to do the falsetto if it were me to get closer to the album version, but once again I’d rather be seeing that song live than not 36 years later and so it still gets my vote.

 

There a bit of schmaltziness about the show biz delivery at times and personally I would have varied the ending of the presentation of the songs if I was Jon which posed to a camera at the back of the stage looked a bit like him at home in his bedroom mirror before stardom hit, however he is still a consummate professional and undoubtedly so much on a pedestal for fans that I expect they barely noticed. What is beyond doubt is that when on the home strait with the big hits like ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’, ‘Lay Your Hands on Me’ and finale ‘Living on a Prayer’ the spectacle of superstar, spectacular lights, big sound and ecstatic fans hits real highs and any technical flaws or presentation which might not be English taste pales into total insignificance. It was a memorable and super show and I did not hear a single complaint as I left the 60,000 capacity audience with smiles all around.

 

Dawn Osborne