For some reason, having moved halfway across the world to live in Perth, Australia, it seems that half of the worlds rock bands have decided to follow in my footsteps. Having failed to play Down Under for years Bon Jovi had lined up an Antipodean set of dates to coincide with my arrival. How nice of them. In fact it seems as if Australia is, for now, the place to play if you're in a rock band. Jovi notwithstanding the likes of Dream Theater, Nightwish, Maiden and numerous others have all lined up shows here in the coming weeks. Maybe it's a sign that bands are now looking outside of their normal territories for revenue streams as CD royalties dry up and the more usual audiences perhaps become complacent with tours year after year after year.

Situated just a ten minute train from central Perth the Subiaco Dome is usually an Aussie soccer stadium but that was to give rise to the first disappointment of the day - the seats. All those plastic patio chairs decked out in lines and even though we held “gold” tickets this meant that we were still ¾ of the way back. So as you can expect we didn’t see very much, but we weren't in the worst situation by any means.  Anyone unlucky enough to find themselves in Block A probably  didn’t see anything at all. Was the stage too low? I don’t know, I just know that even on tip toe it was a struggle to actually see the band in "real life" rather than via the big video screen feeds, and even those were obscured at some points. That leads on nicely to the second disappointment. For this show there was one support band, and that happened to be a local act that probably didn't do much for the majority of people in attendance. In Europe Bon Jovi have, in the past, dragged along the likes of Nickelback, Van Halen, Europe et al to open up shows so, for the equivalent of about £100 a ticket, this lack of any reasonable support was definitely a drag. But before we get onto Jovi themselves there was the third disappointment of the day - the sound. This came and went as the day progressed, never consistent and at times it almost sounded like the whole venue was in a tunnel.

BUT, having made all of the above comments it was still a good night. Bon Jovi themselves played superbly, but then again you wouldn't really expect anything else from artists of their calibre and experience. The one thing that the band always excel at is the way they mix and match the set lists from show to show, always different in some aspects and this time around, with Lost Highway to promote, it was certainly different from the last time I'd caught the band in Dublin back in 2006.

Starved of Bon Jovi for years the Aussie crowd were certainly up for the occasion, singing along with every word. This time around, and this may just be the fact that it was Australia, the band also brought along a more basic stage set up than in recent times but the main change to the show over recent years is the addition of a violinist to the backing band. The whole feel of Jovi's music took on a distinctly different feel when she played bringing a whole new dimension to those old favourite Jovi tunes. Between her and guitarist Richie Sambora it appeared that the band were having a ball on stage and the interaction between them also made the visual aspect of the show appealing.

As per normal Jon Bon Jovi himself was the frontman of all frontmen. Being the consummate professional he knows what to do, when to do it and gives it his all for the duration. Even with the passing years he still somehow manages to keep the looks to go along with the charisma, black skin tight jeans,  black waistcoat and not much else kept the ladies happy at the very least. Actually given his widely reported recent problems Sambora too looked healthier and fitter than in recent times and seemed to have found a new enthusiasm for this whole live thing, actually performing rather than just playing this time around. As for the set list, well with a back catalogue like Jovi's their always going to leave out someone's favourite, but showcasing the Lost Highway album the material delivered from that album sounded far better in the live environment than on CD,  the title track itself proving a definite highlight.

As you would expect the band also served up the "hits" with You Give Love A Bad Name, Livin' On A Prayer, Wanted Dead or Alive and Keep The Faith, crowd pleasers one and all with hooks designed for crowd participation. Likewise it's My Life and, arguably, the real highlight In These Arms, with the audience drowning out the band with the "I'd Hold You, I'd Need You" refrain. In Perth, despite the problems alluded to earlier Jovi put on as good a performance as any in recent years. No messing around just songs after song after song and that equates to value for money and a lot of happy punters...

Related Links

Bon Jovi - Coventry Ricoh Stadium Live Review

Bon Jovi - Glasgow Hamden Park Live Review

Bon Jovi - Dublin Croke Park Live Review

Bon Jovi - Lost Highway CD Review

Bon Jovi - Have A Nice Day CD Review

Return To Gig Reviews Main Menu