Don’t laugh, don’t play the group as misunderstood — Bon Jovi can still rock.

The 1980s hairband proved its workman style hasn’t been diminished by side projects and acting gigs with a 2 1/2 hour performance last Saturday at the United Center in Chicago.

With an extravagant three-satellite set behind them, Jovi and cohorts Richie Sambora, Tico Torres and David Bryan blazed through more than 25 songs with plenty of glory and lasers.

The band played a handful of songs from its new album, “Bounce,” which was released last October. The band also went through some of its classic hits that bombarded rock radio for the last 15 years. The group also played its first single, “Runaway” and treated the crowd to a special rendition of “I’ll be There for You,” with Sambora on lead vocals.

While plenty of the band’s newer music has lost a lot of the fun, instead a more powerful message has been sought by the group. Bon Jovi’s days of romping through towns across the country stealing the hearts of women and the booze of local clubs made him “Wanted Dead or Alive,” but those days (nights) have vanished in a blaze.

The deeper meaning behind Jovi’s music, or at least the one he has tried to establish, could stem from his coming of age.

“Bounce” is loaded with songs with heavy post-9/11 rhetoric and the images displayed on the giant satellite dishes showed that.

The rocker turned 41 last Sunday and the rest of the band surprised him with a Marilyn Monroe look-alike serenade from a cake, a la John F. Kennedy.

But the tone wasn’t all sap and somber. Jovi rekindled his wild past with “Wild in the Streets,” “Bad Medicine” and “Shout.”

Not too bad for guy who isn’t old, but “Just Older.”