Just two hours before their first performance in the Middle East in front of 17,000 people, Bon Jovi held a press conference in The Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi.
In their typical nonchalant way, the four-member hard rock band walked on to the platform as camera flashes and whispers echoed the room full of reporters. This would be a humble glimpse of the noise that would follow them as they performed - for the first time in their 25-year career - in the Middle East.
Although they have made their success traveling around the world, "it just took us a long time to walk here," Jon Bon Jovi, the lead singer joked.
After 25 years of performances, they have mastered their skill: "I have no idea what we'll be playing tonight," Jon said.
The quartet have become an icon of hard rock music that has earned them the reputation of being ambassadors of America's pop culture. Bon Jovi's performance is expected to sell 17,000 tickets, which would be Abu Dhabi's largest concert, beating Justin Timberlake's concert by 2,000 people.
My verdict
I don't like rock music, and especially not hard rock. But the fact that Bon Jovi have sold 120 million albums worldwide, says something. In their own words, "100,000,000 Bon Jovi fans can't be wrong," and I will be the first to admit that is a true statement.
Since their birth in 1983, their ability to become more diverse music than just head-banging and loud drums has really proven their talent and that was exactly the kind of performance I was hoping to see.
Everyone around me was dancing to the beat and I was the only one with a notepad and pen.
"Dance, mate. Write later," a guy next to me leans over and screams in my ear. For a moment I thought it was raining. I smiled, scribbled a few notes and closed my pad. It was time to watch.
At first, it was odd trying to mumble a few of the words I know from their songs, but no one seemed to care even if I was singing the lyrics in Arabic - it's a good thing the music was loud enough.
I stood there briefly trying to figure out how Jon, a 46-year-old man, could muster so much energy to perform, jump up and down, scream at the top of his lungs in the same vigour as his music videos from the 1980s. That on its own was something to wow about.
What makes Bon Jovi an icon of music is not just their talent for instruments, writing lyrics or even their voices. It's that they have stood the test of time - largely intact.
Garage bands are the fantasies of millions of kids growing up in the Western world. They rise, if they are lucky they'll get noticed, sign a record deal, release a debut and within a few years crumble.
Thus is the fate of some dreams. But the fact that Bon Jovi have lived for the past 25 years through wars and cold wars, moments when music would have been better left to a mellow violin, is proof they will be around a lot longer.
