BON Jovi lit up the North-East tonight, as Sunderland heralded the start of a summer and rock and pop.

The New Jersey rockers are the stars of the first of three major concerts to be held at the Stadium of Light in the next nine days, with pop diva Rihanna next up, followed by a whole host of stars including JLS, Stooshe, The Wanted and Rita Ora for North-East Live.

Missing star guitarist Richie Sambora due to personal reasons, Jon, Tico Torres, David Bryan and replacement Phil X' Xenidis, wowed the 45,000 fans - some of whom had travelled from as far afield as Australia - with a succession of hits.

With a backdrop featuring a 30 metre wide 1959 Buick Electra, spanning the length of the main stage, they showcased songs from the albums that brought them to prominence in the 1980s, 'Slippery When Wet' and 'New Jersey' as well as more modern numbers, including tracks from the latest release, What About Now.

Wearing a denim jacket emblazoned with the Stars and Stripes, the enigmatic frontman walked onto the stage and immediately struck up with 'That's What The Water Made Me' from the new album 'What About Now'.

"Beautiful Sunderland on a Thursday night. Get up out of your seats, stand up, stand up, stand up. show me what you are made of," he urged. Within minutes the crowd was a sea of pumping fists as the band launched into arguably their biggest song 'You Give Love A Bad Name'.

Barely warmed up, Bon Jovi and Co were confident enough to cut the sound and let the crowd play their part in proceedings, the stadium resounding to the chorus line.

Bouncing around stage, belying his advancing years, Bon Jovi was clearly enjoying himself with 'Born To Be My Baby' next to be given an airing. "I ain't gonna waste a lot of time talking," he said after a brief respite from proceedings, before asking the audience to 'Raise Your Hands'.

Returning to the guitar for 'Runaway' from the band's debut album, the frontman sang with the same conviction he did when a tousle haired rebel back in those long gone days. 'It's My Life' got the best reception of the early numbers as they ran through their hit laden jukebox.

Bon Jovi's longevity is not down to their deep and meaningful lyrics, it is because they write songs that not only can everyone relate to but that they sing along to. Why do they do it? As the title of the tour suggests 'Because We Can'.

The memorable night was topped off with a rousing rendition of the band’s iconic anthem ‘Livin On A Prayer’ and power ballad 'Always' which brought the show to a stunning climax.

SAFC commercial director, Gary Hutchinson, said: “It was a fantastic show and a great way to kick off our summer concert season. There’s a huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to get a stadium show up and running and to see it come to fruition in such style is really pleasing.

“Once again, as a city we’ve demonstrated that by working together we can deliver major events in spectacular fashion, but with two more shows next week we certainly won’t be resting on our laurels.”

Sunderland’s Stadium of Light welcomes R&B superstar Rihanna on Thursday 20 June, followed by the biggest pop show ever staged in the region, North East Live, featuring JLS, The Wanted, Little Mix, Rita Ora and host of top acts, on Saturday 22nd June.

A limited number of tickets and hospitality packages are available for both shows, see www.safcconcerts.com for details.