Review: Bon Jovi, Villa Park, Birmingham

Greeted with a stage that had been made to look like a huge Cadillac frontage, fans arriving at Villa Park were already sure they would be in for a treat without even hearing a single guitar riff.

And after witnessing the electric three-hour set they were not left disappointed.

The quartet took the brave decision to open the show with That's What the Water Made Me, a track from their new album, What About Now, rather than one of their classics.

It was clear some were unfamiliar with this song, but the band quickly followed this up with one of their biggest hits, You Give Love a Bad Name. As soon as the opening bars played out everyone jumped to their feet and threw their hands in the air.

The band performed hit after hit and intermingled old classics with new offerings.

The performance of the soft and sweet Amen proved that 51-year-old frontman Jon Bon Jovi's voice is still as strong as ever. At one stage he joked that while he wasn't as good looking as Justin Bieber – cue screams – and couldn't dance like Justin Timberlake – cue more screams – he'd been around for longer than both of them put together and he wasn't going to get off stage without putting on one hell of a show.

There was only one disappointment for the fans and that was one of their founding members was notably absent from stage. However, Richie Sambora's stand-in Phil Xenidis certainly played his part.

The show ended with a rousing rendition of Livin' On A Prayer – performed with a background choir of more than 30,000 fans. Or so the crowd thought. As hundreds started piling out of the stadium, the band announced they'd got more to offer, before performing hit ballad Always and ending with Blood On Blood.

They may have been around 30 years, but it's clear their love of performing has never waned.

By Naomi Dunning