Review: Bon Jovi Brings It Home with Live Listening Party at the Barrymore

Jon Bon Jovi has been making the world that much more special with his music for more than thirty years, and the listening party on October 20th to promote his newest album proved that he isn't quite finished rocking it yet.

As an introduction to the band's fourteenth album entitled This House is Not For Sale (to be released on November 4th), Bon Jovi chose the historic Barrymore Theater on West 47th Street in Midtown to play his album in its entirety to an intimate yet practically sold out house of fans both old and new. And as he said during the concert, to those who were either there for the entire journey or those who just joined the party, he gladly performs for all those who are willing to listen to what he has to say.

From the start of the month, Bon Jovi has performed live listening events at different venues around the world to give fans a first glimpse of the band's upcoming album before its release. It all started in their home state of New Jersey at the Count Basie Theatre, moving on to the London Palladium, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto and concluding with Thursday night's party at the Barrymore. This event allowed the audience to hear the entire album from start to finish, while also throwing in a few favorites that came to define Bon Jovi as the star he is. The entire concert was streamed via TIDAL, allowing fans not in attendance to watch from the comfort of their own homes.

Since the band came together in 1983, they have sold over 130 million albums worldwide, performed more than 2,800 concerts in over 50 countries and have an enormous following. Throughout those three decades, Bon Jovi has not only proven himself to be a talented musician and song writer, but the Jersey-born native has also extended his talents to the big screen and also by providing a helping hand to many charitable organizations.

Last night's event was a sort of collaboration of everything that he is: from the pure joy emanating from him as he snuck a couple of smiles into certain moments of the show, to the overall idea of giving his adoring fans a new, more intimate way of seeing their favorite performer sing, the entire night was just so human in its nature. There's a reason why people love Bon Jovi so much, and this concert was really not just a performance, but a story to be told: a story, as he said, that gives him the reason to write the songs he has, and one that last night's audience became a significant part of.

From the moment the concert started through to the very end, Bon Jovi gave an incredibly excited audience (one fan in the first row even presented him with a bouquet of flowers) a very personal perspective as to what the music "business" is all about to him. From explaining how the songs he writes and performs are taken from his life and handed over for others to use as a lens to see their own existences through, to how the whole idea of performing in a Broadway theater took his manager by surprise, there is something so personable about Bon Jovi that he really stressed with this performance. With each segment of the concert, he gave accounts of how much meaning his songs hold: from the album cover showing home roots that can never be relinquished (the idea that "this house is not for sale) to one of two of his album's songs about relationships and how beautiful the idea of something lasting is in "Labor of Love," to asking the question of whether, if you were given the chance to change your life, would you do something differently in "Born Again," his album is almost like a progressive lesson by which everyone should live their lives.

Since this new album was three years in the making, as it marks the band's first major release since What About Now back in 2013, Bon Jovi even told that story of how he waited for his inspiration to come back before a new album was at last released. Watching Bon Jovi perform his songs with such confidence in them being true representations of his inspired heart, with such a passionate understanding of both himself and the journey he is a part of, was so magnificent to watch. To be able to explain our lives in the way Bon Jovi makes music is something really great, and judging by how simply happy he seemed on stage and by the crowd's continuous cheering, everyone was definitely having the time of their lives. It was a simple yet inspiring performance that was heartfelt, and I think that people appreciate him that much more for it.

The audience was really loving the whole experience last night: from the flashing strobe lights to how the incredibly talented band was situated (a band that was introduced person by person), last night really was something wonderful to behold. And how odd for people to be standing, cheering on their favorite performer, in the orchestra section of a Broadway theater! It was quite different to see a full-fledged concert take place on a Broadway stage, so kudos to Bon Jovi bringing something like this to life. It was nice to see how his enthusiasm for being there truly flourish when he said how much he anticipated giving this concert, and everything he said was said with such sincerity that you really have to believe that he would be a wonderful friend to have - a multi-talented friend whom people flock to NY to see. And with the This House is Not for Sale Tour that will come around in February of next year, loyal fans will be doing a lot more flocking in the near future.

What would a Bon Jovi concert be without some of the classics, which he almost tricked us all into believing weren't going to happen. As an encore, the band came out once again and performed "Who Says You Can't Go Home" and "Bad Medicine," which revved an already pumped-up crowd that much more. Overall, it was a really great night with great music and a music icon that truly graced the Barrymore Stage in a whole new way: it felt like home.

Photo Credits: David Bergman and Norman Jean Roy

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