What Bon Jovi’s latest tour has to say about nostalgia, the 80s and the performing arts.
„We’re halfway there”: What Bon Jovi’s latest tour has to say about nostalgia, the 80s and the performing arts currently.
Recently I had the pleasure of travelling to Dublin to see Bon Jovi’s second concert on European soil, as part of his 2026 Forever tour, comprised of performances in New York’s Maddison Square Garden, Edinburgh’s Murrayfield, Dublin’s Croke Park and London’s Wembley, the band united to give 14 concerts to sold-out arenas. Although initially there were fewer events planned, the demand forced the organisers to add more dates, with tickets selling out in a matter of hours. This ticket-mania was particullary present in the European side of the tour, mainly due to the fact that there were more shows scheduled for NYC, showing the power that bands like Bon Jovi still have in the music market. Let’s not forget that other bands such as Metallica also had tours this summer in front of sold-out arenas.
Why is this significant? Chiefly due to the fact that this is the first series of concerts that Bon Jovi give following the vocal chord surgery that Jon Bongiovi undertook in order to combat one of his chords that was atrophying. The almost miraculous recovery has not been easy, especially in an age where everything is scrutinised on Tik Tok. Flying into Dublin Airport I have to admit that I was nervous regarding the quality of the music, with the internet’s mixed opinions making some impact to my expectations. Something that seems to be more and more present in the arts is the unrequested ‚feedback’ by people who haven’t even seen the show. They have opinions and that should be respected (I am not arguing against free speech), merely against uninformed speech from those who exert opinions without having any knowledge on the subject. We saw this recently with the Odyssey (see previous review), where there was a wave of online hate due to the performances of Lupita N’yongo and Elliot Page from people who followed their criticisms by „I won’t even go see the movie now”. This is dangerous, not only due to the impact it undoubtedly has on performers, actors etc, but also because culturally we seem to be at a point where we try to find something or someone to hate 24h a day, 7 days a week. Perhaps it would be wiser and we’d all be happier to focus on the positives of things, such as Nolan’s groundbreaking recording using only IMAX cameras, to Jon Bongiovi’s perseverance in recovering from what would be a career ending operation for most, rather than simply saying that he doesn’t sound like he did in 2005.
Finally Sunday arrived an following a breakfast pastry and a steak lunch, I made my way to Croke Park, where another 80 000 people were waiting for what may be the band’s last performance in Ireland. The show started at around 18:15 with the Dublin’s ‚The Boomtown Rats’ performing, which was unexpectedly positive, with Bob Geldof’s energy being contagious. But we were all waiting for the main event, and I am pleased to say that the Internet got it wrong this time. Sure, Jon Bongiovi doesn’t sound the way he did when he was 30, but to me and I’d argue to most of the spectators that was irrelevant. The feeling of witnessing 80 000 people ‚living on a prayer’ or proclaiming their love on ‚Bed of Roses’ was the emotion we were all chasing and the audience’s voice becoming one on some of the hits that defined a generation created something that words can’t fully describe.
In an age dominated by nostalgia (of which I am generally not a fan) this evening was a reminder that not all nostalgia is negative, and that for a couple of hours it might even be healthy to give in and let yourself be transported to a different time. Not a better one, but a different one. One of innovation, social change and when people weren’t worried that AI will take their jobs and livelihoods, but also a time of repression, violent regimes and more. We shouldn’t apologise for the 80’s, but that doesn’t mean we should wish we were born then, but rather enjoy the legacy they left, including rock music.
-Dejan