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The San Francisco 49ers threw a cool private party in downtown San Jose on Sunday, Jan. 6.
The occasion? Well, of course, it was to celebrate the Jan. 7 College Football Playoff National Championship game between Clemson and Alabama at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
And the team secured a pretty cool band to play the event — led by none other than Jon Bon Jovi himself.
No, it wasn’t the band Bon Jovi. But it was the lead singer of the multi-platinum-selling, arena-and-stadium-rocking band fronting a group of other talented musicians in a set of both Bon Jovi originals and interesting covers.
Of course, fans around these parts are used to seeing Mr. Bon Jovi perform in major arenas, such as the SAP Center in San Jose. This time around, however, these lucky listeners got to experience the New Jersey rocker’s vocal work in the comparatively intimate City National Civic, which is a beautiful venue to enjoy a concert.
Yes, it's @jonbonjovi rocking @AlGuido and @49ers at @SanJoseCivic #CFBPlayoffs #NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/g3xLYP9H2X
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) January 7, 2019
“Here’s what is going to happen tonight,” Bon Jovi explained to the crowd of only a few hundred invited guests of the 49ers. “We are going to have a lot of fun because I’ve never played this small (a venue) in San Jose.”
He’d stick to his word, opening the show with a pair of Bon Jovi cuts — the title track to the 2007 album “Lost Highway” and “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” from 2005’s “Have a Nice Day” — before veering off to cover the 1968 Sly and the Family Stone classic “Everyday People.”
More @jonbonjovi @BonJovi from private concert in beautiful San Jose. Thx @49ers pic.twitter.com/hciDS6wg1m
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) January 7, 2019
The evening included several memorable covers, as Bon Jovi tried his luck with such classics as Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll” and the Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman.”
Yet, not surprisingly, Bon Jovi sounded his best when he stuck to his own catalog and cranked out such fan favorites as “Bad Medicine” and “You Give Love a Bad Name.”
