Jon Bon Jovi cover band ALWAYS JOVI plays Roanoke on May 9
jon bon jovi tribute band ALWAYS JOVI played Dr. Pepper Park Amphitheater in Roanoke, Virginia, on May 9, giving the new act a second live date just weeks after its April 18 debut. Steve Brown leads the band, and he has built it around a voice he says sounds like Bon Jovi at his prime.
Steve Brown and Roanoke
May 9 placed ALWAYS JOVI back onstage at Dr. Pepper Park Amphitheater after the band first played live on April 18 at BMI Event Center in Versailles, Ohio. That quick turnaround shows the project moving from launch to a working live booking, not a one-off announcement.
Steve Brown, the TRIXTER guitarist, singer, producer and songwriter, said, "It's a tribute like no other." He also said that while working a DEF LEPPARD fill-in guitar job, Phil Collen and Joe Elliott kept pointing out how much he sounded like Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. Brown said that line of feedback pushed the idea from a thought into a band he intended to play.
Brown's Tribute Logic
Brown said, "I think a lot of people know, over my career, I've always done numerous things outside of TRIXTER." He added, "Sadly, being in a band like TRIXTER, I wish I made a couple hundred thousand dollars a year off of it, but I don't," before explaining that he put ALWAYS JOVI together after hearing about how much money some tribute bands are making.
That business logic helps explain why this project arrived with a full lineup instead of a loose cover-night format. Fred Gorhau is on guitar, Kevin Humphris on bass, Joey Cassata on drums, Frankie D'Esposito is a fill-in drummer for Cassata, Chris McCoy is on keyboards, and Devon Marie is the female singer Brown said adds a different visual element.
April 18 Debut
April 18 is the other date that matters here, because it marks the moment ALWAYS JOVI became a live act rather than an idea built from comparisons and side-band experience. Brown said he had looked at Bon Jovi bands around the world and around the country, which suggests he wanted this one to enter a crowded tribute market with a specific hook: his voice, his history, and a lineup built to stand apart.
Brown also said one of Bon Jovi's biggest hits over the last 20 years was "Who Says You Can't Go Home," a reminder that the catalog this band is built around has enough reach to support more than a nostalgia set. For a reader tracking the project, the useful takeaway is simple: ALWAYS JOVI is already booking rooms, already playing, and already moving from concept to circuit.
