2007 is a very special year for me. It is the last year of my 20s and the 10th year since I came to this country. It is also the year I became an Ivy League student, purchased and designed my first home, and learned how to enjoy life by being alone. Nov 7, the10th anniversary of my arriving in America, I bought myself a $500 ticket to Bon Jovi's concert in Newark where they were opening for the new Prudential Center.
It was a wild night. Opening for BJ was the Daughtry, who according to the Billboard had the No. 1 album of the year. I was fond of Chris Daughtry in his Idol era and thought their songs were decently good. There were heart pumping moments during their 45-minute performance; but the 17,500-seat arena was only about half filled. Chris was a good singer and performer, but the chemistry between the band and the audience was nowhere near the arena-wide mania that I was about to experience.
15 minutes before BJ's appearance, the stadium was suddenly all full and an accelerating tension started to circulate in the air. Then the curtains at the gates were pulled down and the audience was boiling. Finally, the band came to the stage and the arena went straight to a riot when Jon stepped in front of the microphone. Even though I knew the live would go crazy, I was still shocked at the scene; but the shock didn't last long as soon I was sucked into the cyclone and completely let myself go as well. My seat was at 7th row on the floor but I never got a chance to sit down. Being that close to the stage, I could literally feel Jon's sweat during the performance. I had never been that high: no moment were my hands not waving in air and my throat hurt badly from all the screaming and singing. When Jon stood on the stage, he was no longer a human but a god of ours, and he knew it.
Honesty, I didn't become a Bon Jovi's fan until a couple of months ago. I always knew they were there and had a few of their downloads. Being someone who was born in the '70s of China, Hard Rock was a rather distant and frightening term to me. Even after I came to the States, I somehow found myself surrounded, voluntarily or involuntarily, with hip-hop, pop-rock, techno, dance, etc; rock was a blurred image of past glory, which I wouldn't even bother to figure out. Then, it came the song (You Want to) Make a Memory. I guess the song caught me in a moment when I was dying to turn a new page of life while having the same strong feeling about holding on to the past. I remember wandering around the city in a late September afternoon. The sky was pure blue and the air was crispy clean. Watching tree leaves shimmering under the reflections of sun light while listening to Jon whispering in my ears with the ballad, I knew that was a moment of love.
I then started collecting information of the band and Jon; the more I know about the band's history the more I was drawn by its legend and Jon's individual charisma. It is true that the band has gone through a rather dramatic transformation in the past 10 years. Especially since the new millennium , many fans and critics have denounced the band's efforts of altering its musical style as well as the members' image in hope to attract younger generations, calling Jon a "trend-hopper". Although some of their recent songs, namely It's My Life, do sound pop-ish and I still find myself much in love with their early albums, Jon is by no means a "trend-hopper". Yes, Jon is certainly fully aware of what is going on in today's market and does take advantage of current trends and incorporate new genres into his music; but that marketing strategy only goes as far as the music does not loose the Bon Jovi distinction. While criticized most severely by many old fans, It's My Life was commercially one of the band's most successful singles. In the Crush album, although Jon's intention to cater for the mp3 generation's musical palate is pronounced, there are still many songs of traditional hard-core rock style on which Bon Jovi has engraved its name. It is exactly the band musical adaptability and Jon's keen sense of market that make Bon Jovi one of the most successful and enduring rock bands in history.
Jon is among a few talented people who are able to combine both individual vision and popular taste and come up with music that is innovative yet still distinctively original. Bon Jovi's latest album Lost Highway is Jon's another experiment. Although I can't say that is my favorite album, I do think that constant exploring new directions while holding onto its hard-rock stand is who Bon Jovi is. It is Jon's " always going-on" and "never back down" spirit that I find most inspiring. Going to BJ's live was the perfect salutations to the incredible ten years I had.
No comments:
Post a Comment