The Bon Jovi group has not come to France since 2010, where it performed at the time at what was not yet the Accor Arena in Paris. Its singer, Jon Bon Jovinevertheless came to us recently to take care of his vineyard, in Languedoc.
But in the United States, in his country, his training remains a juggernaut, playing in front of huge crowds, with more than 22 million albums sold locally (130 million worldwide). As Bon Jovi prepares to release “Forever”, its 16th studio album, on June 7, its musicians reveal themselves in a documentary mini-series in 4 parts lasting more than four hours, available from this Friday, April 26 on Disney+.
A testimony that goes beyond the pretext put forward at the beginning by Jon Bon Jovi, singer, founder and leader, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this melodic rock institution. Not that this would have already been enough for fans, as well as for all those who saw, appreciated – and perhaps were saturated -, during the heyday of MTV, clips of “Livin’On A Prayer”, “You Give Love A Bad Name” or “Wanted Dead Or Alive”, to name just three of the biggest hits from this hit machine. Their writing process is recounted at length, as is their incredible impact, and this is undoubtedly one of the strong points of the documentary series.
A 15-date anniversary tour in the United States in 2022
But this one is also very interested in John Francis Bongiovi Jr, alias Jon Bon Jovi, handsome face and beautiful voice, whose appearance actually ages better (he was 60 years old at the time of filming) than the vocal cords. In fact, when he begins a 15-date anniversary tour in the United States in 2022, at the end of the pandemic, the artist struggles with almost insurmountable problems, and he speaks at length about them.
We see him treating himself with a seat equipped with lasers aimed at his throat, as well as collapsing on the floor in the dressing rooms, or proclaiming that he has just given a very bad concert.
Uncensored testimonials from present and past members of the group
All present or past surviving members of the group are invited to testify, and not necessarily to say only nice things. The same goes for the group’s emblematic manager during its rise to fame, the sulphurous Doc McGhee, half-genius, half-crook who also took care of Kiss business or Mötley Crüe after being accused, in the early 1980s, of having imported 20 tons of marijuana into the USA! He takes on the role and doesn’t mince his words, and neither do the musicians in the group, who did without his services after a few years. It’s a treat to see the man recount his shenanigans, with an aplomb worthy of the mafiosi from “Casino” or Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas”.
Even the sometimes crude language of the witnesses was not censored, which may seem surprising when we see that the documentary is offered on Disney +, but is less so when we know that the program was originally broadcast on the Hulu platform across the Atlantic.
In short, beneath the glitz and glamour, we discover the human side, the sweat, the genius, the blues and the low blows. All with lots of clips and period documents – ah, the mullet or Afghan hound style hairstyles of the 1980s, the height of what we called “hair metal”! Don’t be fooled by the title, the very cushy “thank you, good night”, the documentary is very rock’n’roll.
American documentary mini-series by Gotham Chopra. Four episodes of 59 minutes at 1h33.
