"Bon Jovi speaks at Oxford. Jon addresses the Union!
Jon Bon Jovi addressed the historic Oxford Union, the world's foremost debating Society, on June 15. Dressed in a black suit and matching shirt, the 39-year-old star was following in the footsteps of such previous speakers as black leader Malcolm X, controversial American statesman Henry Kissinger, and pumper-up poet Henry Rollins. Jon talked about his own life, the myths surrounding rock stardom, and his own philosophy on life, which he summed up with; "Passion plus perseverance equals possibility."
Following his address, Bon Jovi answered questions on subjects ranging from the enormity of his hair to his views on Napster. On the latter topic, Jon stated: "Record companies are criminals." but refused to expand on that opinion. He further admitted that, while stars of his stature would not be hurt by having their music downloaded, newer bands might be adversely affected.
Jon ended his speech by saying: "I hope it was like a pretty girl's dress: long enough to cover the subject but short enough to keep it interesting." He went on to invite the entire audience to attend Bon Jovi's Milton Keynes show as his guests on the following day. He then retired to the Union bar where he enjoyed a pint of lager while posing for photographs and signing autographs for fans. In between sups, he told Kerrang! that he hadn't felt nervous at all before his appearance.
"I was honestly less nervous than when I played Wembley." he said "The students were great. I expected a little more blazer-and-tie, conservative students who wouldn't know what Kerrang! was, so I was surprised by that. I over-dressed."
Design for life: Wise pearls in Jon's speech.
"just because someone is wearing a fancy pair of trainers, doesn't mean they can run faster. Don't be intimidated by the competition. Don't get too comfortable with who you are at any given time. You may miss the opportunity to become who you want to be. Never forget where you come from. Be humble, Stay humble. Money can't buy you happiness, class, respect or love. Grow up, but don't grow old and live while you're alive."
"Jon's the best" Jon goes down well with Oxford thinkers...
"Name; Maddy Press. How did you like the speech? It was really good actually. Really interesting; he's a really good speaker, and one of the best ones I've heard since I've been here. Are you a Bon Jovi fan? When I was about 12 I was into him, but I've kind of moved on since then. Will you be accepting his invitation to the show tomorrow? Oh yes."
"Name: Joanne Hopkins. How did you like the speech? It was really good, really inspiring. It was really entertaining as well, because I never realised where he'd come from and stuff before. Are you a Bon Jovi fan? I used to be when I was a teenager. Will you be accepting his invitation to the show tomorrow? Definitely!"
"Name: Eva Majcherczyk. How did you like the speech? The first bit was a little regimented; he read it. But the questions were great and he's a genuine guy. The best, actually. Are you a Bon Jovi fan? For years now. Will you be accepting his invitation to the show tomorrow? Definitely. We've shrugged off all our other commitments."
"Name: Charlie Banner. How did you like the speech? It was very good indeed. I'm on the committee here, so I've seen quite a few of the speakers we've had over the years, and a lot of them tend to focus on their life and career solely, or one specific theme. So for Jon to talk from a more philosophical point of view was very good. Are you a Bon Jovi fan? We invited him purely because we are such fans. Will you be accepting his invitation to the show tomorrow night? Absolutely. We're going to buy him an Oxford University T-shirt to wear onstage."
There are two photos, one of Jon making the speech captioned "Jon waxes intellectual at Oxford Union June 15, and a posed smaller one of him holding a very old book in the library captioned "and cunningly conceals a copy of Razzle in the library".
Page 42 has a review of the Milton Keynes show. Entitled One Wild Night: Bon Jovi: The ultimate stadium rock band return to the UK. It has a photo of Jon onstage in the combat pants, black Tshirt and leather biker jacket, with the bug-eye shades and straw cowboy hat - the caption says "Jon Bon Jovi: he's a cowboy, on a steel horse he rides. Of course."
Support: Matchbox Twenty, Delirious?. The National Bowl, Milton Keynes. Saturday June 15th - rated 4 K's. Review by Brett Callwood.
After hosting the Ozzfest and AC/DC, the summer of rock rolls into The National Bowl for the third time today for the melodic radio-friendly leg. It all gets off to a slow start though, with alternative rockers Delirious? a band who claim that the fact that they're Christians has been stopping them getting the media attention that they deserve - though it may have more to do with the fact that their songs aren't very interesting. Falling somewhere between the Manics' more recent output and Travis at their most insipid, Delirious are instantly forgettable. Not even that Therapy?-esque question mark at the end of their name can save them.
Matchbox Twenty are the band born to support Bon Jovi. Their Counting Crows-esque tunes have been going down a storm in the US since the release of their debut effort "Yourself Or Someone Like You" and tunes like "3AM" and new single "Mad Season" get a decent reaction today.
But to be fair, neither of those bands are capable of upstaging Jon and his boys. With the stage set up like the top of a New York skyscraper, video screens show images of the band making their way to the stage in an elevator, complete with piped music.
Of course it's cheesy! We'd expect nothing else from a band who sing about riding steel horses, but frankly it's nothing compared to the pseudo hip-hop shenanigans that Mr. Durst got up to at Wembley recently. Jon seems to have been attending the Eddie Spaghetti school of frontmen, as he rants about the "religion of rock'n'roll" before blasting through such all-time hard rock classics as "Raise Your Hands" and "You Give Love A Bad Name".
As usual, Richie's guitar playing amazes throughout (this band should always have been called Sambora" and by the time the band get to the climax, a thunderous run through "Livin' On A Prayer" a packed National Bowl is suitably partied out. Bon Jovi may not be fashionable anymore, but this is undoubtedly stadium rock at its finest."
Thanks Jan B for typing this for us all:)