“I hit the first chord and my Marshall blew up”: Richie Sambora on Bon Jovi’s nightmare arena debut

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The old saying, ‘everyone has to start somewhere,’ has been repeated a billion times in a billion contexts for a reason – it’s true for even the most successful in any field.

Take Bon Jovi, who have spent the last 40 years taking their particular brand of hard-rock – peppered with literal million-dollar choruses – to stadiums and arenas around the world.

Needless to say, they’ve gotten that live show in tip-top shape during that time – their 2013 outing, for instance, was the single highest grossing concert tour in the world that year.

But what were we saying about ‘everyone has to start somewhere’ again?

Back in 2013, former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora told Guitar World about the band’s very first arena engagement, an opening slot for ZZ Top at Madison Square Garden.

ZZ Top were at the absolute peak of their commercial success, but the up-and-coming Bon Jovi were hungry, and all too eager to leave a real impression on the packed crowd. In that regard they did succeed, though not in the way they had in mind…

Bon Jovi perform at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1984, a year after their inauspicious debut at the venue

“We were opening for ZZ Top at Madison Square Garden. The first Bon Jovi record was in the can but hadn’t come out yet,” Sambora recalled to Guitar World.

“We had no management. We were just brazen kids who wanted to play Madison Square Garden. We probably had no business doing it. Not that the band wasn’t ready, but we had no road crew, no infrastructure.

“I knew this was a heavy blues-rock crowd, so I told the guys, ‘I’ll go out there and blow for about 60 seconds, then we’ll go into the first tune.’ I hit the first chord and my Marshall blew up.

“I had a spare head, but it took about 45 seconds to switch and get the tubes warmed up. The crowd started chanting, ‘Z-Z-Top! Z-Z-Top!’ Consequently, we played a 40-minute set in about 19 minutes.”

Reflecting on the experience 30 years later, Sambora saw it – rather than an embarrassment to be buried – as a learning experience. “Getting through moments like that,” he told Guitar World, “is what shapes you as a pro.”

In more recent Bon Jovi news, band namesake and frontman Jon Bon Jovi recently poured cold waters on rumors of a reunion with Sambora, who left the band in 2013.

“I’ve talked to him twice,” Bon Jovi told Classic Rock when asked about a potential Sambora return. “He. Quit. The. Band. I swear to Christ there was never a fight, nothing… He wasn’t kicked out, he quit. And he hasn’t made any great overtures about coming back.”