Oakland rocker Thadeus Gonzalez lands Bon Jovi dream gig
A few months ago, Thadeus Gonzalez saw something online that mentioned Bon Jovi was having a contest for local bands to open the shows on its “This House is Not for Sale” arena tour.
Without giving the rules too much thought, the Oakland singer-songwriter uploaded his band’s video for the song “Silver Inside,” a blazing hard rock tune, and forgot all about it.
The guy said, ‘Congratulations, you’re the opening act for Bon Jovi’s show in San Jose.’
“This totally wasn’t on our radar,” says the frontman, who was a longtime member of the Bay Area rock band Electric Sister before going solo with his 2014 debut, Utopian Society.
The rocker has appeared on a few high-profile gigs in the past, including a show with Mötley Crüe and Kiss at the Concord Pavilion and another with Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash at the Fox Theater in Oakland.
Gonzalez released his self-titled second album last year, and the music is considerably louder and cagier than that of the headliners — drawing influence from acts like Bon Jovi’s onetime chart rivals Mötley Crüe and Metallica.
Gonzalez wants to restore it to its creative peak and win back a measure of the respect he feels it deserves.
Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop music critic.