Live Review: Bon Jovi, Birds Of Tokyo

On a warm Tuesday afternoon, the crowd strolls into the idyllic outdoors arena. The venue - set up next to the Adelaide Zoo in Botanic Park - tactfully blends a large stage into Adelaide’s iconic parkland to create a tree-lined venue with big arena feel, but beer garden aesthetics. 

Perth’s Birds Of Tokyo offer a lively warm-up performance featuring fuzzy guitar tones, layered synths and strong melodic lines. Even as a first-time listener, Birds Of Tokyo have some great earworms like newer track The Greatest Mistakes or the more familiar Plans. These contrast greatly with other work of theirs; Brace for example stands out with its darker sound, synth, guitar distortion and pushed vocals.

At 8.30pm, Bon Jovi open to an eager crowd under a blue and pink sky. Prefaced by a short clip offering homage to the iconic sights of Adelaide, the group’s explosive energy soon takes hold of the crowd. Within the first few songs it’s already down to the good stuff with You Give Love A Bad Name. Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi is shying away from the high notes though it's hardly noticeable when thousands are singing along. As darkness takes over the parklands arena, lights flood the stage and the band keeps building on the momentum playing classic hits. The set is punctuated by numerous guitar solos that are of particular note and exemplified the prowess of Bon Jovi perhaps more than any other aspect of their performance.

With over 35 years in the business, the show is clearly pitched as a nostalgic experience for ‘80s and ‘90s rock, much to the glee of the crowd. This is not to say that the band doesn’t have anything new to offer. In the five years since their last visit to Australia, Bon Jovi have released the album This House Is Not For Sale. "Trust me it was a hit in America," Jon Bon Jovi jokes before launching into the title track.

A less obvious ingredient is the live video feeding back to the stage, which is outstanding. In a venue this size, the video becomes a major feature in the audience's experience and the way it is edited live and incorporated here is quite impressive in itself.

As the night wears on and the temperature drops, the band’s hard-hitting hits give way to the softer side of their catalogue. Ballads and slow anthems feature more heavily in the second half of their set and Bed Of Roses is just so beautifully done.

It is an impressively long set from a band whose career spans almost four decades. Bad Medicine, Wanted Dead Or Alive and of course Livin’ On A Prayer are the perfect send off in an exciting encore that we wish would never end.