SamboraBlog

They'll be there for us

The only band to ever play five shows at the ACC on a single tour takes us backstage

Move over Spice world, Toronto is Bon Jovi country.

More than 60,000 fans have already rocked along with New Jersey's finest, at two shows in December and one on Monday. With concerts tonight and tomorrow, the band sets a record for the number of nights played at the Air Canada Centre on a single tour. The previous record of four nights was held jointly by The Police and the Spice Girls.

With the amount of equipment, people and planning involved in a giant concert, it's easy to have a Spinal Tap moment. Case in point: the Star was taken behind the scenes of Bon Jovi's new stage before Monday's show.

One of the group's public relations representatives is trying to get us to the sound check – usually off limits to media. Now if only we knew where we were going.

Lost in the depths of the ACC, we turn left into a hallway and emerge by the floor seating. The band, on the 17-metre-wide by 12-metre-deep stage, stops playing. Jon Bon Jovi isn't with them. He's beside us – about 15 metres from the massive platform, practising one of the songs he'll perform from a side stage, getting up close and personal with fans.

Fans who saw the two shows in December are in for a new experience, as this leg of the tour features added touches like four huge HD screens behind the stage.

"For the first part of the tour, it had a western, saloon type of vibe," says crew chief Mike Rew. "For this part, Jon wanted something a little more rock 'n' roll."

We make our way to the other side of the stage, where guitarist Richie Sambora is speaking to his guitar tech, Takumi Suetsugu. Sambora plays a chord and the sound powers through the ACC via 155 speakers.

Under the stage, Suetsugu places the guitar on a rack with more than a few others.

Just how many does Sambora travel with?

"Well, let's see, he usually has around 36 with him. I know I just sent eight back to his home and 16 more are coming. He just likes to switch things up, you know to keep things interesting," says Suetsugu, who adds Sambora uses about 10 different guitars a night. Is there anything Sambora is particularly picky about? "Everything," Suetsugu says.

In a hallway just behind the stage, a short distance from where two ice resurfacing machines are blocked in by sound equipment, Sambora is horsing around with members of the crew. The band caught a Chicago Rush-Philadelphia Soul arena football game Sunday – Bon Jovi and Sambora are part owners of the latter team – and the guitarist is demonstrating a mock tackle.

Yesterday was the band's day off, and the plan is to take Sambora – where else? – to guitar stores in town.

"I like everything (guitar-wise), that's my problem," he jokes.

"Well, for you, that's a good problem to have," says a crew member.

Sambora retreats to the ACC team locker rooms, which are being used as dressing rooms and crew offices, and Rew shows us the back of the stage, a semicircle he says can swivel to vertical, creating a surface that can backlight the band and act as a screen for projections.

Under the stage, Jon gets a private quick-change area, where he can change his shirt or grab a quick drink of water. It's spare; a framed, weathered portrait of Frank Sinatra looks to be the only sign of personalization.

Wires, cables, speakers are everywhere backstage; setting up and getting the show ready is controlled chaos. What's more amazing is that, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the Philadelphia Flyers last night, the stage had to be pulled down after Monday's show, only to be rebuilt again this morning.

Between sound check and show time, the band scatters.

Fans begin to fill the ACC` and, around 7:30 p.m., opening band Daughtry takes the stage. There are definitely some fans here to see them.

Bon Jovi take the stage at 8:30 p.m. Four touring musicians, including guitarists and a violinist join core members Jon Bon Jovi, Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres.

The huge roar that greets the band gets louder as Jon takes the stage last.

They begin to play "Lost Highway" and the crowd goes wild.

BON JOVI BY THE NUMBERS

8
hours to set up production

4
hours to take it down

7
miles of cabling for the audio and video

13
trucks needed to transport stage and tour materials

9
buses to transport artists, band and crew

100
touring crew members

100
additional staff recruited in each city

155
speakers in stage set-up

295
watts of power generated by 155 speakers

93
microphones to amplify the band and 80-plus instruments/inputs

$4,893,109
amount grossed in 3 Chicago shows