Since last fall, Bon Jovi has been holding contests to pick local music acts to open for them. By the time the mega band wraps up this North American tour, more than 50 bands will have had the chance to flex their pipes and guitar strings before the powerhouse group?fueled by singer Jon Bon Jovi and guitarist Richie Sambora?ambles onstage. And the ultimate national winner will even snag a recording deal.
"Every kid who ever picked up a guitar dreams of playing in their hometown arena. Most only dream," Bon Jovi says on the band's Web site. "I was that kid, and I remember dreaming from the cheap seats about that shot 22 years ago."
Bon Jovi could be the poster boy for the idea that everyone gets one big shot in life. After Jon got a demo of his breakthrough hit "Runaway" played on a New Jersey radio station, the band has done nothing but spin that opportunity into pure gold. Despite all odds of any hair-metal rocker making it out of the '80s with a job, Bon Jovi has not only managed to survive, the band has thrived.
In fact, there seems to be a greater demand today for the group's ripped power chords and rock stadium anthems than ever before, and the latest album's success proves it. Last fall, Have a Nice Day debuted on the Billboard 200 Albums chart at No. 2 and moved more than 200,000 units, the band's best first-week sales?ever.
And Have a Nice Day delivers what Bon Jovi fans expect: raw anthems that reach the gut of every working-class stiff, pissed-off soccer mom or aggravated teenager in the world. The album builds off the title track?a sneering jab at a generic, friendly phrase?to construct an entire recording that is "about rising above adversity and staking your claim to a fair share of what the world has to offer," according to the band's biography.
"We've always stayed true to who we were and didn't jump on anyone else's bandwagon," Bon Jovi says in the band's bio. "It wasn't a conscious attempt to do anything, except to avoid whatever doesn't ring true and chasing anyone else's idea of success."
And keeping true ensures that Bon Jovi isn't just having a nice day, the band continues to have nice decades.
Catch some of Bon Jovi's karma at MGM Grand Garden Arena at 8 p.m. on March 11, but like all big breaks, it'll be tough to score a ticket to this already sold-out show.