Bon Jovi - The Crush Tour
Pull out your Bics and get ready to flick. If ever there was a band made for massive rock shows, Bon Jovi is the one--and this is the video to prove it. So the veteran band lacks the sheer charisma of fellow Jerseyite Bruce Springsteen, or certain other distinctive qualities--U2's impassioned social conscience, say, or REM's self-conscious weirdness--of others who made it big in the '80s. Bon Jovi is, by objective definition, a journeyman band. But that's not a bad thing. They specialize in the kind of hook-heavy, unpretentious anthems ideally suited for stadium crowds, and that's exactly what they deliver to the 50,000 fans packed into a Zurich, Switzerland, venue on their 2000 European tour, who pump their fists, wave their arms, and sing along from beginning to end, undeterred by the steady rain that falls throughout the show.It's a safe bet that no one who was there went home disappointed, and neither will the Bon Jovi fans who pick up this great-sounding, well-directed DVD. Singer Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, and company hit the ground running, opening with two of their catchiest hits, "Livin' on a Prayer" and "You Give Love a Bad Name," before rolling through seven tunes from 2000'sCrush, their first album in five years, and a host of other Bon Jovi ballads and rockers. And if the 20 songs from the two-hour concert all start to sound the same after a while, you can always switch to the host of DVD bonus features, including a 30-minute "on tour" documentary, a photo gallery, a complete discography (including solo albums), and two song videos. A splendid time is guaranteed for all, more or less.--Sam Graham