Bon Jovi show, staying power awes

About halfway through his band's near-capacity show at the Pepsi Center on Monday night, Jon Bon Jovi did something only he could do. He covered Leonard Cohen's iconic ballad "Hallelujah" in his own signature style — with an emotive growl, arms outstretched to the sky and a shell necklace topping off a graying pattern of chest hair, which was glistening above four unfastened snap buttons.
Some might consider the Cohen song a contemplative meditation. Bon Jovi sees the song as an arena rock ballad, not unlike his own jams "I'll Be There For You" and "When We Were Beautiful."
As over-the-top and ridiculous as Bon Jovi can be, his staying power is something to be admired. He and his band have been writing hit songs for decades, and their show at the Pepsi Center — celebrating their latest CD, "The Circle" — was an energetic showcase of their ever-growing catalog.
The band got started quickly with "We Weren't Born to Follow," an album-perfect take on "You Give Love a Bad Name" and a KYGO-friendly "Lost Highway." "Born to Be My Baby" is as predictable as late-'80s rock songs get, but it had the female-heavy audience singing along and dancing in the aisles as if it were a modern Top 40 hit.
Especially impressive about Bon Jovi's stage show: The video screens that soared above the stage were among the coolest — and most easily manipulated — in arena-rock history. They created their own spectacular light show and ensured that everybody, including those behind the stage, got a great show.
Most impressive about the crowd: Its amazing youth. Sure, there were some hilarious mullets and butt-rockers in attendance. But the floor also was littered with really young, beautiful men and women — people who could have easily been in the same, expensive position at a Lady Gaga concert.
In "Bad Medicine," Jon appeared to favor stage left, and sure enough, it seemed like he was singing to former Broncos quarterback John Elway, who was prominently positioned in the front rows of the arena's bowl. In the middle of the aging, if still vital, hit, Bon Jovi joked about being in a bar band with a few standard rock covers.
"I ain't in a bar band no more," Bon Jovi said with a hip twist. "I'm here on business — the business of pleasure."
Elway sang along as he finished "Bad Medicine," and so did everybody else. Highlights in the rest of the set included a heartfelt "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" and a righteous "Livin' on a Prayer."Read more: