Dammit! We picked the wrong show. Or should we say, the wrong the show picked us. With living legend Levon Helm bringing his
Ramble to The Ryman, and Louisville indie-faves My Morning Jacket bringing their mass-cult takeover to Municipal Auditorium, there was more than a time or two where we found ourselves wondering how exactly we ended up at Bon Jovi. Free tickets, that’s how. Another Spin faction laid claim to Levon, and tickets for "free BJ" got to us before tickets for free MMJ.
With conventional wisdom as our guide, we felt secure in anticipation that Jon Bon & Co. would treat us to the quintessential rock spectacle. Unlike most rock acts, Bon Jovi is a band you really, only want to see in an arena, and we most definitely got the parade of powerhouse radio staples and shout-along choruses, as led by Jon Bon Jovi’s consummate showmanship. So why then, did we come away from this show feeling a little disappointed? It’s not because we felt bad fist-pumping to “You Give Love a Bad Name” while missing out on seeing Levon Helm sing “The Weight.” It’s because the handful of obligatory hits we came to see was dispersed throughout a heavy-handed “miss”-laden set of overly earnest thematic train-wreckage. Plus, there was no pyro. WTF?
