Aboard Jon Bon Jovi’s Runaway to Paradise Cruise: the Sights and Sounds of Superfandom

InterviewSeptember 3, 2019Variety

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Live music on the ship is not exclusively Bon Jovi, however, and included performances by Johnny Rzeznik (pictured below), Grace Potter, BETSIE GØLD, Stewart Mac, Antonio Rivas, Hannah Wickland & The Steppin Stones, Kris Barras Band and the up and coming British rockers Collateral. Goo Goo Dolls frontman  Rzeznik, fresh off a summer tour with Train, played on the pool deck (as did Potter) performing two sets — one acoustic and the other with Bon Jovi tribute band Slippery When Wet. “Sixthman does a really good job,” Rzeznik tells Variety. “We did another event with them … and know you are going to be treated well.”

The Goo Goo Dolls opened for Bon Jovi on the 2003 “Bounce” tour and while originally from Buffalo, New York, Rzenik now lives in New Jersey so naturally, he cracks a joke about highway exits. But seriously speaking, the singer hailed the cruise as an opportunity to get reacquainted with Bon Jovi’s fanbase, rest and recharge before the Sept. 13 release of the Goo Goo Dolls’ new album, “Miracle Pill.”

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“When people are paying a lot of money, you have to take care of people,” says Rzeznik, pointing to perks like free swag left in every state room nightly. “Jon’s is an important brand. It’s all about the experience.”

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