Bon Jovi to ‘Post’ ahead of TA show: I wish someone had told my younger self to slow down

Two months after news of the band’s return to Israel leaked in the Hebrew media, the group has officially announced its return to Tel Aviv – three years after its first show there.

By AMY SPIRO, DAVID BRINN
Updated: DECEMBER 17, 2018 12:03
Bon Jovi to preform in Israel (Courtesy).
If Jon Bon Jovi could do it all over again, he’d slow things down a little bit.
But now, at age 56, the rocker is still operating at full speed, and just announced that Bon Jovi will be ending its “This House is Not For Sale Tour” with a concert in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park on July 25.
“We toured relentlessly early in our career because we didn’t know any better,” Bon Jovi told The Jerusalem Post in a short email interview. “It really took its toll on all of us, and I wish someone had told us to slow down just a little bit. We’re older now and back to having fun on the road, so we made it out OK, but slowing down is something I’d encourage younger Jon to do.”
Two months after news of the band’s return to Israel leaked in the Hebrew media, the group has officially announced its return to Tel Aviv – three years after its first show there.
“Guess what? We’re coming back,” Bon Jovi said in a video announcing the upcoming show. “Looking forward to ending the tour in Israel, and celebrating the end of a wonderful tour. Get ready, we’ll see you July 25.”
The band performed its first show in Israel in October 2015 to a crowd of 50,000 screaming fans.
“Israel really has a special audience. The 2015 show was hugely memorable to us,” Bon Jovi told Israeli reporters via email. “The fans were absolutely incredible and amazing, there was an electric energy in the air.” The rocker said he doesn’t know any Hebrew yet, but added, “If someone wants to help me out, I would be very happy to greet the Israeli audience with some Hebrew on the stage!”
Bon Jovi said he’s expecting that “the band will be on top form and the energy will be high to celebrate our last show!”
“And I’ll come back here any single time you want,” Bon Jovi told the exuberant crowd in 2015, in footage included in the video concert announcement.
While the band is clearly excited to return, it will likely once again face a campaign to cancel fronted by boycott activist Roger Waters. In 2015, after Bon Jovi announced its first show in Israel, Waters wrote an open letter to members of the band slamming them for the decision.
“You are making your stand,” Waters wrote. “You stand shoulder to shoulder/ With the settler who burned the baby/ With the bulldozer driver who crushed Rachel Corrie/ With the soldier who shot the soccer player’s feet to bits/ With the sailor who shelled the boys on the beach.”
Waters was responding in part to an interview Bon Jovi gave to Yediot Aharonot, in which he said he had heard a great deal about Israel and always wanted to visit.
“I’m thrilled to be coming,” he said at the time. “I’m bringing my wife and kids and we want to stay a few days and see as much as we can.” And in regard to those who wanted him to cancel: “I told my managers to give one clear answer: ‘I’m coming to Israel, and very much looking forward to it.’”
This time around, Bon Jovi will be heading to Tel Aviv to cap off more than two years of touring the globe, with dozens of shows – many of them sold out. In more than 30 years together, Bon Jovi has released 13 studio albums and sold more than 130 million records, becoming one of the most iconic US rock bands of all time.
With global hits like “Livin’ On a Prayer,” “It’s My Life,” “You Give Love a Bad Name,” “Wanted Dead or Alive,” Bon Jovi has become a household name around the world. Earlier this year, the Grammy Award-winning band was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
And Jon Bon Jovi still has hope for the next generation of rock & roll.
“I don’t think we’re at the end just yet,” he told the Post via email. “It’s true that kids can pick up a computer and program whatever they want, but there’s still the magic feeling of picking up a guitar. There will always be kids who have a story to tell and feel that a notepad and a guitar are the best way to share their story.”
Tickets for the show range from NIS 335 to 955 and go on sale Monday evening at tmisrael.co.il or by calling *9964.


Related Tags
Bon Jovi
performance