Music · London
Bon Jovi Take Wembley for Three Nights, Starting Friday
The Forever Tour reaches Wembley Stadium on 4, 6 and 9 September — the band's first tour since Jon Bon Jovi's vocal-cord reconstruction.
Bon Jovi play Wembley Stadium three times in six days: Friday 4 September, Sunday 6 September and Wednesday 9 September. The stadium's own billing calls them 'GRAMMY Award-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees and rock royalty'. The third night was added on demand, going on sale at noon on 3 November last year.
What makes it a story rather than a booking is what came before it. This is the band's first tour since Jon Bon Jovi had reconstructive surgery on an atrophied vocal cord, followed by the extended rehabilitation needed to sing again — a recovery documented in the Hulu series 'Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story'. Announcing the run, he said he was 'deeply grateful that the fans and the brotherhood of this band have been patient and allowed me the time needed to get healthy and prepare for touring'.
Jon Bon Jovi: 'I'm ready and excited!'
Last Friday suggests the rehabilitation held. At Murrayfield in Edinburgh on 28 August — the band's first stadium show since 2019, before a crowd Ultimate Classic Rock put at 37,000 — they played 22 songs, opening on a cover of 'With a Little Help From My Friends' and closing on 'Always'. 'These Days' came back into the set for the first time in seven years and 'Hey God' for the first time since 2013. Introducing the former, he told the crowd: 'This one was a bigger hit in the U.K. than it was in the U.S. It makes me very proud to know that you guys have very good taste in music.'
The practicalities, because Wembley at this scale punishes vagueness. James Bay supports on all three nights, announced on 4 August; he features on 'Legendary' on the Forever (Legendary Edition) album. Time Out has gates at 5pm and is explicit that stage times are unconfirmed, expecting the band around 7.45pm on the Friday and Wednesday and earlier on the Sunday, which runs to a 10pm curfew rather than 10.30pm. Wembley is cashless, a restricted bag policy applies, there is no pitch standing for under-14s, and the stadium has sold out of accessible tickets for all three shows.
One piece of history worth carrying in: Bon Jovi were the last band to headline the original Wembley Stadium, in August 2000, before it was demolished. They did not play the current one until 21 June 2019.