Bon Jovi Shakes Istanbul Stage

July 11, 2011
Written by Admin TOA
Published in Culture & Art

Photo by AP

Bon Jovi came back to Istanbul to make the Turkish girls scream, as the frontman said during Friday’s show. And the American rock giant deservedly got what it asked for

Bon Jovi’s opening song was ‘Raise Your Hands,’ which was, in a way, the perfect way to kick start a stadium show. But the show was not only about songs. An eye candy screen and a light show also helped. AP photo

There is only one reason why Bon Jovi came back to Istanbul, “to make the Turkish girls scream.” After a triumphant performance, the band deservedly got what it wanted. Before Friday, the Bon Jovi show was dubbed as “the biggest concert of the year,” and it lived up to expectations, if not crushed them, as the 35,000 people present for the American rock giants’ performance at Türk Telekom Arena would tell you.

The set’s opening song was “Raise Your Hands,” which was, in a way, the most perfect way to kick start a stadium show. Jon Bon Jovi, the band’s 49-year-young frontman, took a short tour around the stage during the song’s chorus, calling the crowd to do what is urged in the song title. Within the seconds, the crowd started to obey the master and the show was on.

If “Raise Your Hands” was a call to arms, then the second number, “You Give Love A Bad Name,” was the air raid. The mass went wild and did what should be done at a rock show: sang along. Actually, Bon Jovi’s back-catalogue is the perfect fit for such an atmosphere. Jon has a knack for writing hooks and those catchy choruses are tailor-made for concert madness.

This helped a lot through Bon Jovi’s career. First of all, the band managed to jump off the crash-bound hair-metal train in early 1990s. Virtually all of their peers, from Mötley Crüe to Poison, either were pushed to obscurity, or rock ’n’ roll trash-bin to be “crüel” to them, or survived their career as nostalgic novelty acts. But Bon Jovi managed to stay relevant and produced hits: When grunge buried hard rock they made “Keep The Faith,” when nu-metal was taking over they stayed alive with “It’s My Life” and when garage bands were going above ground, they made “Have A Nice Day.”

Not only entertainment

Bon Jovi played almost all of their hits, from the 1980s’ powerful kicks to 2000s modern rock tunes. And they stayed on stage for about three hours, reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen, Jon’s fellow New Jersey idol. It was not only the songs: An eye candy screen and light show also helped.

Earlier in the evening, the night’s opening act also earned credit for their political stance. Redd, a Turkish rock band, presented larger-than-life statues and posters of Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener, two journalists who have been under arrest for 127 days and counting for being part of an alleged coup-plot. While Istanbul was preparing for the show, what Redd did was to remind that rock is not only about having a good time. Source: Çetin Cem Yılmaz, Hurriyet Daily News

Last modified onSaturday, 06 May 2017 10:07

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