Standing on stage smiling, with their white teeth, behind their aviator style glasses, against the bright camera flashes and wearing their trademark leather jackets and tight jeans, superstar group Bon Jovi are still at the top of their game.
And it’s no surprise. Their last world tour, The Circle Tour, was the highest grossing tour of 2010, earning $201,100,000, performing to over 1 million fans. In Australia, where they concluded their tour, every arena was sold out.
Their current BECAUSE WE CAN tour has already made $142.1 million from the first 60 shows.
Not bad for the rocker who started one of the world’s biggest bands when he was just 21.
It was an enlightening experience to be in the same room with the group at the Crown Casino in Melbourne during their press conference, ahead of their first Australian show in 3 years. Australia is the final destination of their huge tour.
The room kept laughing whenever Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan or Tico Torres made jokes about their age and the band’s longevity. All of the members are now in their fifties.
“Some days you feel beat up, other days you feel like the king of the world,” Jon told the crowd. “With every show it comes down to that desire to be the best. That’s how we approach every show, every tour. We do it because we love to do it. As long as we’re doing it at a level to which we’ve grown accustomed, we will keep doing it.”
Bon Jovi emphasised said that it was as a result of the group’s huge fanbase that the band were still able to tour, and the band were extremely grateful for this.
“It’s the ages of 6 to 60 that see our shows and come and sing along,” he said, “I’m saying thank you, it’s the biggest tour on the planet, This is a crazy business doing stadiums 30 years on. I think that it is the old generation telling the next generation, `You gotta see this band live’. It’s a blessing.”
The group spoke openly about the ups and downs that they have faced over the years, and especially during this last year. In April, just two months into the tour, co-founder Richie Sambora shocked many when he suddenly quit the group, stating that he wanted to spend more time with his family. He was replaced by Phil X who had previously filled in for Sambora when he was in rehab.
“Phil saved the day,” Bon Jovi said. “He’s been a consummate pro and we’re grateful to him.”
When asked about going in disguise to go out in public, the band reminisced the time during their first Australian tour in 1987.
“They (the fans) was screaming and yelling – we thought we were in ‘One Direction’, you know,” Jon Bon Jovi joked.
“You couldn’t go anywhere, you had to sneak out in laundry vans and any which way to get you in and out of the hotels.”
So to trick the fans, they bought moustaches, wigs and hats from a costume shop.
“We were amongst all those same screaming fans who were pointing in at our window.”
Jon also spoke about meeting Prince William and performing with him and Taylor Swift at a recent charity event in London. The royal heir joined in with Boni Jovi and Taylor Swift in singing ‘Livin on a Prayer’.
“He was in tune, he can sing, he knew the words and everything. He was excellent,” Jon Bon Jovi said at the press conference.
Two young and upcoming Australians artists will also be sharing the spotlight during their Melbourne shows.19-year-old Angie McMahon who will be performing on Saturday and 21-year-old Jesse Teinaki who will be performing on Sunday are the first opening act of the night before Kid Rock. They will have their own 15 minute set.
Both performers were winners from Telstra’s Road to Discovery competition earlier this year.
Angie McMahon will be performing her own songs and said how excited she to be the support act.
“Earlier this year I was busking on the streets of Melbourne to 30 people and now I’m playing to 50,000 people before Bon Jovi. God knows how nervous I’ll be, hopefully I can handle it,” she said at the conference.
Jesse Teinaki was also awestruck to be in such company.
“There’ll be double the amount of people in one room than there is in my home town back in Tassie,” Teinaki said. “Etihad was where I saw my first ever gig. Going from that to being the first gig to playing for Bon Jovi on that stage, it’s surreal. It hasn’t sunk in. I think everyone’s a Bon Jovi fan.”
While Angie and Jesse stood on stage with the group, the front man was happy to give them some advice.
“You have to be able to do it again and again – here’s an opportunity, see what you can do with it,” he told them, “Otherwise just get your mother to go along to take a picture of it!”
The roomed roared with laughter.
Bon Jovi will be performing the final leg of their Because We Can tour in Australia. They began at Etihad Stadium on Saturday and Sunday and then at AAMI Stadium in Adelaide on December 11, Perth Arena on December 12, Sydney’s ANZ Stadium on December 14, Sydney Entertainment Centre on December 15 and finally concluding the tour at the Brisbane’s Entertainment Centre on December 17.