(Live Review) LOVERBOY + BAD MEDICINE - St. Charles, IL (12/3/25)
- Mark McQueen
- 4 hours ago
- 6 min read
Welcome friends, fans, and followers to the 111th episode of your favorite Rock & Metal Reviews show, Beard Reviews with our special guest reviewers Miss Kelly & Little Johnny. Tonight, we got intimate with Mike Reno and the rest of Canadian 80’s supergroup Loverboy. (Ed: Supergroup? Aren't the members supposed to be well known before they joined together as a group to be labelled as such? Additionally, I apologize on behalf of all Canucks for the band's continued existence. )
This would be our third time taking the trip with Loverboy, but this one was unique for a couple reasons; one, Loverboy got to headline instead of just doing the short opening act duties, and two, the Arcada was a much smaller venue than they usually play affording us a better view of the act. (Ed: Next time it'll be in someone's back yard. I'll only join you if there's free beer on tap.)
Unfortunately, before Mike Reno and the boys hit the stage, the Beard, (and the rest of a sold out Arcada Theater), first had to endure opening act ...
BAD MEDICINE
Bad Medicine was a local act that attempted to do a Bon Jovi Tribute. Now normally the Beard does NOT cover tributes in his Mighty Decibel columns, however he does review a lot of them for his independent Beard Reviews articles and so since the two worlds have merged here, I will apply the Beards official four part criteria for reviewing tribute acts to Bad Medicine.
Tribute bands are different from cover bands (who get more leeway to vary from the originals.) For tribute bands I evaluate Look, Sound, Vocals, and Intangibles (meaning how well did you cause my suspension of disbelief to drop?)
Bad Medicines Look
2/10 Nope, they did not look a thing like Bon Jovi. I would have ranked them 1/10 except the guitar player at least looked like a rock star. The drummer had something resembling a Fischer Price Drum kit, and the keyboardist might be another bandmembers girlfriend otherwise I have no idea why she was there since it was not for her keyboard prowess.
Bad Medicine’s vocals
3.5/10. Someone must have once told frontman and singer Joe Frasca that he sounded like Jon Bon Jovi. Clearly someone lied to Joe Frasca because, no, he does not.
Bad Medicine’s playing:
5/10. Joey Miroballi (guitar) at least looked the part and played the leads well enough so that I knew what song it was. I will give that a 6.5/10. Mike Stone (drummer) if placed behind a real drum kit, might be something but not behind THAT kit. 5/10. Dave Calderone (Bass) was indistinguishable and that is the best compliment I can give. 5/10. Diane Tragos (Keys) other than being attractive to look at was…well…. not good. 3/10
Intangibles:
4/10. For starters, when you are the opener, admitting you have never “seen” the headliner before is perhaps “not” the best hype job. I know they are young and trying, and the crowd loves Bon Jovi’s music so much that they wanted to pop for anything even close, but, trust me readers, Bad Medicine was not close too often.
I did once catch Miss Kelly waving her lighter phone around on “I’ll be there for you.” Apparently, chicks just need to hear any version of that song to get all wistful.
I asked Little Johnny what HE thought and he said, “Beard, that song sucked when the real Bon Jovi did it and this version sucks extra, but hey chicks dig it, so I am going to go find one and tell her how sensitive I am. Call me when Loverboy is about to go on." Then he slammed his IPA, burped, and was gone.
Now, just so I am not 100% critical, the front row ended up all chicks, and they did participate especially on “Runaway” & “You give Love a Bad Name. Personally though, I don’t know about “Love,” but Bad Medicine gave “music” a bad name with that set.
In conclusion, Bon Jovi was a band that marketed themselves to chicks and made a huge ass boatload of money performing sappy songs. Bad Medicine was a band doing bad versions of these bad songs for all the chicks that did not get picked to go out on the dance floor the first time.
Beard Review 55/100
After Ron Onesti came out and did his usual sell job for the Arcada and its upcoming acts, it was finally time for ...
LOVERBOY
The opening four songs were the same as every other time I have seen Loverboy - "Notorious", "Lucky Ones", "Queen of the Broken Hearts", and "Take Me to The Top". All four were fine, and it was nice to see them close-up since on arena tours I cannot afford tickets close enough to achieve a great view. I clearly need a raise from Mighty Decibel for my amazing work this year. Come on boss, loosen those purse strings, Espolon Tequila only pays Johnny. (Ed: I don't know what you're complaining about ... we both make the same amount of money from this venture. Plus, if I did pay you an allowance you'd waste it on purchasing more Loverboy tix!)
Anyway, back to the review. Next, we got what I was hoping for. Reno and the boys had warmed up and were all smiling and joking around. They realized for a change that the crowd of one thousand people was there to see THEM, rather than tolerate them until the real headliners came on. The cheers were loud, genuine and all for them and as the set went on Mike Reno seemed like he was having a great time up there, even doing some extra dancing and moving about. (Ed: Call the medics!)
"It’s your Life" from Get Lucky and "This could be the Night" from Loving Every Minute of It were both songs I had not heard them play live before. That was fun and on "This could be the Night", Mike Reno showed everyone he “can” really sing a song when he wants to. That was a good number where he exhibited range and power.
They jumped back to the usual set list with “The Kid is Hot Tonight”, but then deviated one more time to play “When it’s Over” from Get Lucky. That also was fun to hear live for the first time, so big points for the three songs that normally don’t make it to the stage.
They finished the initial set with "Hot Girls in Love", then a nice extended intro for "Turn Me Loose", (although that may have been because Mike was over the 45-minute mark vocally and needed a breather off stage.) He once again struggled with the big high note for that song, but kept going like the old-time pro he is, and the crowd was kind enough to let it go. "Working for the Weekend" was a bit more like 'Winded for the Weekend' as Reno rasped through portions, but again Loverboy is not used to playing up to and past the hour-long mark anymore. (Ed: And past 8PM!)
They waved and exited the stage for about four minutes before coming back out. Reno joked that “they don’t do a lot of encores anymore,” then they launched into "Loving Every Minute of It". Of course, the crowd was primed to sing along, and the response was loud enough to make the salty old dogs smile up there. Afterwards bows and waves were given and the fellows headed off to their tour bus and probably some well earned sleepy time. Reno might have had a bite to eat first since he doesn’t seem like a guy who misses mealtime. We exited the mostly happy venue and looked at merch, but even the Beard was not ready to throw twenty bucks at a red Reno dew rag.
Miss Kelly enjoyed the more intimate setting and even Johnny felt Loverboy did an impressive job tonight. The Beard felt that once the crowd really fed them their energy, Loverboy did what good bands do and cycled it right back out to them. When that happens, the band enjoys playing more and the crowd enjoys feeling like THEY are special. Alice Cooper is fantastic at making EVERY crowd feel like they are the best. Tonight, Loverboy tapped that vein a bit and between that and the fresh songs, I am going to crack my first Loverboy cold one and award them 91/100. It was not set of the year kind of stuff, but it was better than the other times I have seen them so it’s worth the nod.
And that is a nod to episode #111. Only one more concert this year and then the Beard & Little Johnny will get busy on their top 20 of 2025 lists. You will be able to read them right here on the Mighty Decibel.
For all the Beards live show videos, check out my TikTok site at thebeard0728, and of course follow Mark McQueen on geezer media at Facebook, and Instagram. Finally, check out our boss Chris Tighe on Wild Dogs Radio. We do not often agree musically, but old Ebenezer Tighe does possess a lot of musical knowledge so give him a listen, you will know a lot more afterwards.
Until Next time, this was the Beard & Little Johnny reminding you to Live Life, Stay Heavy & Horns Up.
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