Bon Jovi fits D.C.

Older and wiser aren't adjectives ordinarily associated with rock bands, but the Bon Jovi that will hit the stage at the Verizon Center on Monday has certainly changed and matured over the years.

Take the group's current album, "The Circle."
It's got songs such as "Work for the Working Man," which could almost be described as an economic policy anthem, "economic policy" also not words often associated with rock 'n' roll.
Still, guitarist and songwriter Richie Sambora said, "The Circle" isn't about "being on the road and girls and, you know, cars and things like that."
"We couldn't have written this album if the world wasn't in the state it was in," Sambora said in a conference call with reporters last month. "Jon and I were really conscious of what people were feeling around the world, you know, with the changes that were happening, especially in our world."

"The Circle," released in November, wasn't even supposed to be the next record for the band.
Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi started to write some new songs for a greatest hits album.
But then they were inspired by President Barack Obama's election, Sambora said, and rattled by the economic recession.

"And, I mean, I related to it particularly because my dad worked in a factory," he said, "and he got laid off periodically where he had to go find a job."

Paying attention to current events—and even just literally to the world around them—has helped Bon Jovi keep out of songwriting ruts, Sambora said.

He said the band's single, "Superman Tonight," is really the only song on the new album that could be called a "boy/girl" tune.

Bon Jovi show, staying power awes

About halfway through his band's near-capacity show at the Pepsi Center on Monday night, Jon Bon Jovi did something only he could do. He covered Leonard Cohen's iconic ballad "Hallelujah" in his own signature style — with an emotive growl, arms outstretched to the sky and a shell necklace topping off a graying pattern of chest hair, which was glistening above four unfastened snap buttons.
Some might consider the Cohen song a contemplative meditation. Bon Jovi sees the song as an arena rock ballad, not unlike his own jams "I'll Be There For You" and "When We Were Beautiful."
As over-the-top and ridiculous as Bon Jovi can be, his staying power is something to be admired. He and his band have been writing hit songs for decades, and their show at the Pepsi Center — celebrating their latest CD, "The Circle" — was an energetic showcase of their ever-growing catalog.
The band got started quickly with "We Weren't Born to Follow," an album-perfect take on "You Give Love a Bad Name" and a KYGO-friendly "Lost Highway." "Born to Be My Baby" is as predictable as late-'80s rock songs get, but it had the female-heavy audience singing along and dancing in the aisles as if it were a modern Top 40 hit.
Especially impressive about Bon Jovi's stage show: The video screens that soared above the stage were among the coolest — and most easily manipulated — in arena-rock history. They created their own spectacular light show and ensured that everybody, including those behind the stage, got a great show.
Most impressive about the crowd: Its amazing youth. Sure, there were some hilarious mullets and butt-rockers in attendance. But the floor also was littered with really young, beautiful men and women — people who could have easily been in the same, expensive position at a Lady Gaga concert.
In "Bad Medicine," Jon appeared to favor stage left, and sure enough, it seemed like he was singing to former Broncos quarterback John Elway, who was prominently positioned in the front rows of the arena's bowl. In the middle of the aging, if still vital, hit, Bon Jovi joked about being in a bar band with a few standard rock covers.
"I ain't in a bar band no more," Bon Jovi said with a hip twist. "I'm here on business — the business of pleasure."
Elway sang along as he finished "Bad Medicine," and so did everybody else. Highlights in the rest of the set included a heartfelt "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" and a righteous "Livin' on a Prayer."Read more:

Jon Bon Jovi to help Hillary Clinton fight campaign debt

Jon Bon Jovi is set to help Hillary Clinton alleviate her debt, after she unsuccessfully campaigned to become President of the United States.

The singer will perform at a fundraiser for Clinton at Town Hall in New York on January 15, which is touted as "a final evening in support of Hillary Clinton for President Debt Relief".
Clinton accumulated millions in debt over the course of her campaign, $13.1 million of which were personal loans. She still owed $6.3 million last month, according to Yahoo.

Tickets for the intimate show range from $75 to $1,000.

Bon Jovi's Fears Over Hair Loss

Bon Jovi rocker Jon Bon Jovi fears he may be starting to lose his hair, and is already devising treatments to help save his prized locks.

The 46-year-old singer has long been known for his long, flowing tresses but has opted for a shorter style in recent years.

And he puts the change down to his receding hairline, which is starting to make him paranoid about ending up bald.

Bon Jovi says, "Oh, let me tell you, I am so worried (about my hair). I look at guys like Sting and think, 'Well, he's cool about it,' but I'm already losing it a bit and I'm so aware of it.
"Someone told me that you have to regularly massage your scalp, so I do that all the time. You look like a jerk, but it's got to be worth a shot, right?

Rocks again to Bon Jovi

11th studio album to Boni Jovi's , The Circle, this week hit stories. Here's what music critics are saying about it:
Darryl Sterdan, Sun Media: Who says you can't go home? After shamelessly mounting the country bandwagon for 2007's Lost Highway, the soccer-mom heartthrobs circle back to their arena rock wheelhouse for CD 11. The everyman lyrics about living for today, the U2ish anthems about love, the huge singalong choruses, the lush strings; everything your gal wants is right here. You have my sympathies.
Download: Work for the Working Man, Bullet
Wayne Parry, AP: Bon Jovi is back! The Circle is the followup to 2007's wildly successful but country fried Lost Highway, which was a jarring sonic detour for the heroes of the New Jersey Turnpike. Thankfully, Jon Bon Jovi & Co. are keeping the faith with the still developing but oh-so-recognizable sound that has been the band's trademark . . . A rejuvenated Richie Sambora makes his presence known here more strongly than on his last few albums, with more intricate and longer solos. Throughout it all, "Hell yeah!" has replaced "Hee Haw." And as they say in New Jersey, that's a good thing, capece?
Billboard magazine: The band hits a classic Bon Jovi stride out of the gate with the first single, We Weren't Born to Follow, a common-man anthem that draws its buoyant chorus straight out of the group's 1988 song Born to Be My Baby . . . The country friendly elements are still there -- the fiddle and steel on Live Before You Die, for example -- but The Circle rides closer to the New Jersey turnpike than the band's Highway run.

Tickets for rock band Bon Jovi sale on Nov 16

Bon Jovi’s tickets for rock band March 10 performance at Intrust Bank Arena will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Nov. 16.
Tickets can be purchased at the arena box office, all Select-A-Seat outlets or by calling (316) 755-SEAT.
The New Jersey born rockers are releasing their latest studio albumn, “The Circle,” on Nov. 10.
The band will be following the success of its 2008 “Lost Highway Tour,” which was listed as Billboard’s top grossing tour last year, with an ambitious worldwide tour that will include more than 130 shows in 30 countries.

Bon Jovi: Heads To Germany

There is not much that Bon Jovi hasn't accomplished in its career, but Jon Bon Jovi is pretty excited about being in Germany for the celebration marking the fall of the Berlin Wall. The pair is recently slated to be the only entertainment act at the ceremony on November 9, performing the new single "We Weren't Born to Follow" from the album The Circle. Jon Bon Jovi told Billboard.com that he "wrote a fan letter, 'to whom it may concern,' stating about how we've had such a relationship with Germany for all these years and how relevant the song is to the situation and how I was there chipping away a piece of the wall 20 years ago when it came down." The German government responded by inviting the band to play at the ceremony. "It's a pretty big deal," Bon Jovi stated.The Circle comes out on November 10 and Bon Jovi is so gearing up for its "Artists in Residence" partnership with NBC, which will kick off with a November 4 Today show interview from London. The group also will appear on the show via outdoor plaza performances on November 11 and 25, and an in-studio interview on November 18. They also will be on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, an episode of Bravo's Inside the Actor's Studio, and they'll be part of NBC's The More You Know public service campaign.Meanwhile, the first ever Bon Jovi book, When We Were Beautiful, hits stores today. The book offers unprecedented insights into the members’ lives on stage, on the road, and at home, as well as intimate reflections on the highs and lows of their 25 years together. The book also houses exclusive photographs and text from Jon, Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres themselves. Last but not least, keep an ear out for FMQB Productions' Bon Jovi radio particular, Inside Bon Jovi: The Circle, hosted by Scott Shannon. The one hour radio particular will explore the making of The Circle and will world premiere songs from the album. It will air on radio stations nationwide starting November 6.