The Australian Bon Jovi Show

Squeeze into a pair of tight, stone-wash jeans and put on your favourite flannie for a night of glam rock, with a side of metal and grunge. The Espy is putting on the Ultimate Tribute Night, starring the Australian Bon Jovi Show.PantallicA will be thrashing out hits from Pantera and Metallica, and Foovana will be playing, you guessed it, Nirvana and the Foo Fighters.

Ben, what has been your favourite Bon Jovi video to study, with regards to pulling off gestures and gallops across the stage?
There are so many live concerts to watch. You can pick up on a lot of their signature moves by watching ‘Lay Your Hands on Me’, ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ and ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’. There is a lot of YouTube live footage as well. And Live In Japan is another good source of pure ’80s stuff.

Have they ever made a career move that broke your heart?
They’ve been able to reinvent themselves with the shift from ’80s hard rock to the ’90s grunge movement. They managed to do this with the release of Keep the Faith in 1992. It was a massive shift and was a huge success. So to answer your question, no.

What are your costumes like?
The costumes are an imitation of a mixture of clothes originally worn by Bon Jovi during 1988-1990.

Do you play in any other bands?
Yes, we all have other projects [Ben also does a mean Bryan Adams], but the Bon Jovi show is our main focus. The band was established in 1992 as Keep the Faith. In 2010 the band reformed as the Australian Bon Jovi Show with three original members, me being one of them.

Have the real Bon Jovi delivered any verdict on Australian Bon Jovi?
Bon Jovi are not supporters of Bon Jovi tribute shows, in fact they sued an all-girl Bon Jovi show in the States because of their name, Blonde Jovi. True story.