The text message Joanna Sullivan received from her friend was to the point: “Are you free July 1st?”
The Patterson Park resident never expected what came next — an invite to a secret Bon Jovi concert at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena.
“Is this a prank?” Sullivan thought.
No, this is real life, as the song goes. The nine-time Grammy-nominated band — known for decades-spanning rock hits turned karaoke standards like “Wanted Dead or Alive,” “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “It’s My Life” — was in town this week for some invite-only concerts ahead of the group’s “Forever” world tour.
Sullivan, a longtime fan, said she was one of the roughly 500 people in attendance on Wednesday night. The volunteer-run animal rescue group Show Your Soft Side had received tickets, and her friend Val Seaberg had an extra one, said Sullivan, who added that she was unsure of how ticketholders were selected.
Bon Jovi also played a concert on Monday evening, according to Facebook posts from apparent attendees. CFG Bank Arena Marketing Director Rachel Fishman did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the band’s publicity company, Full Coverage Communications.
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Sullivan said the band, one of the most popular acts to come out of New Jersey, played a wide range of their catalog, including “You Give Love a Bad Name” and the rock ballad “I’ll Be There for You.” They opened the night with a cover of The Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends,” according to the website Setlist.fm.
“They have too many to play all of them, but they played a lot of their hits,” said Sullivan, a senior editor with American City Business Journals.
Bon Jovi did not address the purpose of the shows or why they chose CFG Bank Arena for them, she said. No photos or recorded footage of the concerts were allowed, as attendees had to give their phones to the venue beforehand, according to Sullivan.
The frontman did, however, talk about his time in Baltimore, Sullivan said — including that he walked to Federal Hill thinking it was Fort McHenry before eventually making it to the latter.
Sullivan said some fans in the crowd speculated that these were warm-up shows ahead of the band’s first tour since 2022, the same year Bon Jovi had surgery for a strained vocal cord. The “Forever” tour kicks off Tuesday at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where the band will perform nine shows throughout July before heading to Edinburgh, Dublin and London.
On Wednesday, the group played for more than two hours. They sounded great, Sullivan said, including its 64-year-old lead singer, who just needed a little time to get loose.
“His voice, starting out, wasn’t like it normally sounds,” said Sullivan, who has previously seen the group live. “But he really warmed up and he put on a great show.”
Bon Jovi was also very engaged with the intimate crowd, she said. Near the end of the night, he went into the crowd to high-five fans.
It was an “incredible” night, which also included a free buffet from the venue, for a fan who first came across Bon Jovi on MTV in the ’80s. She’s still impressed with how they pulled it off with little notice.
“I’m not sure how everyone ended up there or how they kept it a secret,” Sullivan said.
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