Get to the Bon Jovi concert early: two charismatic local artists will open the shows
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Looking for an opener in Pittsburgh for the first night, Bon Jovi naturally turned to an old friend and local legend, Norman Nardini.
Their friendship began when they met at an Asbury Park club in March 1980 when Jon Bon Jovi was 18 and playing in a band called the Rest.
In 1987, the Pittsburgh rocker stopped back stage at the Arena and ended up on stage with Bon Jovi doing Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Travelin' Band." Later that night, they hooked up again at the Decade, where Bon Jovi joined Norm Nardini and the Tigers for nearly a full set.
It's been more than a decade now since they shared a stage.
"It wasn't anything I expected," Mr. Nardini says. "Johnny [Bon Jovi] just called on a Sunday morning and asked if I wanted to do the gig. I haven't been pushing the business side lately. You know I'm not that good at business. I've just been working on my music. It was a happy surprise."
"Norman, he's a bad-ass," says guitarist Richie Sambora. "He's been a friend for years and years and years. And he's a marvelous entertainer and nobody knows him, you know, so you know what? Come on, he's a buddy. I mean there's business and there's friendship."
The second-night headliner, Jimbo and the Soupbones, was determined by an online round and live contest last week at Charlie Murdoch's.
"I think it's a wonderful opportunity for a band to do a contest, come play in front of 20,000 people right out of the box," drummer Tico Torres says. "There's nothing better than that. I mean because we go back to the day we support ZZ Top at the Garden. It was our first big gig as a band, and we were ecstatic. We were out of our minds."
First Published February 10, 2011 12:00 am
