Richie Sambora

Bon Jovi is After Me!

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***This is actually something a wrote a while ago, but I thought it might like to live here. ***

It all started a couple of years ago when they released Lost Highway. I first noticed it in the car on the way home from work. I would hear a Bon Jovi song every night, no matter what time I left the office. It made no difference if I worked late or left early, I would hear one of the band’s songs come on usually along a two miles stretch of highway.

Pretty soon every time I got in the car a Bon Jovi song was coming on or going off. If I changed the channel – there they would be again. I started to make jokes about it to my husband and my friends. My husband thought I was nuts…until that fateful weekend when we were running errands. You guessed it, every time we turned on the car there they were…change channels and the next song on…Bon Jovi. My husband started to admit that it was a little strange.

Photo of Jon Bon Jovi from the big screen at recent concert

Jon Bon Jovi from the big screen at a recent concert

Then it moved inside. I would flip through the TV channel and there they were on Behind the Music, or on some special. There were biographies, and network news magazines interviewing Jon. Richie was going through some personal issues and it was on every channel. Even obscure movies Jon acted in were playing regularly.

It was crazy. Bon Jovi was everywhere. Even my preschooler was walking around singing “Shot Through the Heart”!

I will admit, I became slightly obsessed with them…but only because I couldn’t get away from them! I adopted a philosophy of if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em (not that I would actually join them, unless they need a former flute player). I watched the shows, my husband bought me the album. I went to YouTube and watched the videos. Jon, Richie, David and Tico began to feel like an old friends. Always there (get it….always…get it?) when I got in the car at the end of a long day.

Slowly they began to pull back. I began to think they found me less interesting. Or they were making a new album. Either way the boys from Jersey weren’t there for me (they swore those 5 words to me, didn’t they?). I faced the realization with a mixture of relief and sadness. I finally wouldn’t be hearing and seeing them 20 times a day, but they weren’t there singing to me every time I turned on the radio.

Now they are on tour with the new album, with their greatest hits and they sneaked up on me again. They’re on the radio in the morning. Jon and Richie keep popping up in a local news promo. I’m glad to see them back, but I wonder how far they will take it this time?

Where will they sneak up on me next? In the car, on TV, on Facebook or Twitter….be careful people. Runaway (get it?) Bon Jovi could be coming for you next!

***Please note, this is just meant as fun. I mean no harm to any members of Bon Jovi, their families, or anyone associated with them. ***

I Saw Bon Jovi and Fell in Love with His Monitors!

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That isn’t some sort of euphemism, it’s a statement of fact. I recently saw a guilty pleasure in concert – Bon Jovi (no comments about musical taste please). We had tickets that were basically stage right which was the perfect angle to see what was happening behind the stage and check out the video monitors.

Now, I realize that most people go to a concert with the sole purpose to listen to music and see a show. I want to do that but I have a habit of getting distracted by the technology. I’ve been known to watch spotlight operators, keep tabs on the folks running show production from the floor, and scrutinize how the stage lighting/sound/monitors all work together. I have to say that while the stage and lighting were nice, these monitors were amazing! I was so enthralled with them my husband had to keep reminding me to watch the band.

Jon Bon Jovi standing on a video monitor

Jon Bon Jovi gets a lift from robotic monitors.

I am not the first person impressed. I actually saw a few articles, including this one, about these monitors. They were highlighted by the lighting and sound industries. The folks who developed the stage used the Venetian monitors developed for the previous  tour and teamed them with five new monitors sitting on robotic arms that move and groove throughout the show. At one point the monitors turn into steps and stage as Jon Bon Jovi uses them to share the love with those behind the stage. The monitors light up and project as he walks across them. Combined with the larger monitors behind the stage, and the high def Venetian monitors, it’s an unbelievable sight.

If you saw my earlier post, I admit that I don’t get out much. I don’t go to every concert out there, but I’ve been to some pretty good one…Van Halen, Sir Paul McCarteny, The Police, Meatloaf, Weird Al…and others. My first concert was the Beach Boys (I was a kid, and they most definitely were not). I may not be a concert regular, but I’ve got a few reference points to use for analysis.

I think about the other concerts I’ve been to and I’m amazed at how far the technology has come. I remember back to hand-held cameras showing grainy images on much smaller screens. They were far from the clear crisp huge monitors all over the stage. Back then the screens were to help people see the stage better, they weren’t an important part of the show. That’s not to say flying monitors that doubled as a curtain and video stairs overpowered the show. They did exactly what they should do, enhance the show and increase the production values.

I’m sure that there were few people at the show as fascinated by the monitors as I was. I’m just a geek that way. To paraphrase one of my favorite geeks. It’s pretty cool living in the future.