The Bon Jovi Experience at Lighthouse, Poole Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Helen O

Having grown up alongside the music of Bon Jovi, their music has formed a soundtrack to my life, although I’ve never seen a tribute act to the band. So I was really excited to get the opportunity to head to the Lighthouse, Poole this evening to see ‘The Bon Jovi Experience’.

The Bon Jovi Experience are the only Bon Jovi tribute show to be endorsed by Jon Bon Jovi himself. In fact, they’re known today as the World’s leading tribute to Bon Jovi. You can’t get better than that!

Following on from their 30th Anniversary Tour in 2024, which saw their meteoric rise and selling out theatres, The Bon Jovi Experience is back for an extensive UK national tour between January and October 2025, and we couldn’t wait to take our seats as they visited Lighthouse, Poole, for one night only.

We took our seats in the Stalls in the Concert Hall at Lighthouse, which is always a great performance space for an event like this. We had an excellent view of the stage, comfy seats and loads of leg room, so we settled down to enjoy the show.

Bon Jovi formed in New Jersey in 1983 and since that time have released 16 studio albums and sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling American rock bands, so there was a lot of material for tonight’s setlist.

With Tony Pearce performing as Bon Jovi frontman, Jon Bon Jovi, it was clear that the band have an eye for attention to detail; it was almost as though Jon Bon Jovi himself was appearing on stage! He certainly looked the part, in every aspect.

As expected, the performance featured all of the commercial Bon Jovi fan favourites, including the iconic ‘Livin’ On a Prayer’, ‘Bad Medicine’, ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’, ‘Blaze of Glory’, ‘Always’ and also some lesser known (to me) tunes.

The stand out moment for me personally was the rendition of ‘Bed of Roses’ which happens to be my favourite Bon Jovi song, it was delivered perfectly. Also, I really enjoyed when the band performed ‘It’s My Life’.

The only downside of the performance was that often the music was so loud that it drowned out the vocals, therefore, it wasn’t always possible to hear the lyrics, so whilst I enjoyed the music, I found it difficult to appreciate the vocals, which is a real shame.

From the get-go, the audience were encouraged to get to their feet, join in and clap, to immerse themselves in the experience. By the end of the night, the whole audience was up on their feet for a standing ovation.

The show ran for just shy of 2 and a half hours, including a 20 minute interval, which was sufficient time to grab a drink and take a comfort break, in preparation for the second set. With a show this length, it meant that all fan favourites were included. I wasn’t familiar with all of the songs, but it was evident that the die-hard fans amongst us, knew them word for word. The energy from ‘Jon’ in particular, was contagious, throughout the performance from the beginning to the end.

Ticket prices started at £24.50, which I think is really reasonable for an evening’s entertainment. The band are highly talented musicians and clearly work so hard to deliver this performance.

I would recommend the show to any Bon Jovi fan who is looking to unleash their inner rocker.

Rating: 3.5/5
RRP – Ticket price from: £24.50
Buy tickets here: www.lighthousepoole.co.uk
The Bon Jovi experience were appearing at Lighthouse Poole for one night only, as part of their UK tour. Tour dates can be found here: jonbyjovi.com

Address: Lighthouse, 21 Kingland Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 1UG