A review by Jeff / expo_96@yahoo.com

Well, I have alot to say and this may draw some negative response, but I am willing to take it.

Let's start with some background. I have been a Bon Jovi fan since New Jersey. I have countless imports and bootlegs(around 70). I also live in the Poconos and drove over 4 hours with my wife to get to the show. This was my 8th Bon Jovi concert.

Here are my thoughts on the concert. Now, I don't know how the sound was for the other people at the show, but I thought it was HORRIBLE!!! This was my first time at the Mellon Arena, so I don't know if it's an acoustic problem with the venue itself or if they need a new sound crew, but the Goo Goo Dolls were very distorted. Bon Jovi's sound was good until "Undivided", then the high end went a bit haywire. There were some definite ear piercing moments. I was at Giants Stadium for Night 1 last tour and it was perfect sound. This is not the band's fault. Now something that might be the band's fault are the lights. They were cool for a while, but then they got just plain annoying. The green lights took the focus off the songs(which were the new ones) and took people's attention to the ceiling. They also blocked the screens. It's almost as if Bon Jovi felt they had to give the audience something else.....as if the songs couldn't stand on there own. This isn't Pink Floyd.....this is Bon Jovi.

Now, let's get to the setlist. I would like to start off by saying that this was "THE" most enthusiastic crowd I have seen. I was at the show at the Tradewinds, Asbury Park and Giants Stadium last tour, but Pittsburgh kicked ass!! Being that as it is, I feel that they got gyped. The show was approx 2 hours....I have seen longer set lists. There were 4 encore songs.....2 being "Have a Little Faith in Me" and "Shout".

Speaking of "Shout" I feel they need to do DROP this from the set!! They've been doing this since These Days!! After a while (8 years) it gets a bit old. How can they get tired of Prayer and Bad Name, but they have no problem with Shout?? People didn't pay $65 to see Shout. Hell, drop Bad Medicine from the set. The band has countless songs they could choose from. The band should not feel trapped to playing the same songs. I remember watching old tapes and the band alway said that they played what felt good to them. I don't want to see them turn into KISS as far as predictability goes.

Another problem with the setlist. I sat down only through one song...."Blaze of Glory". There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to play this song!!!! Now they didn't play this song in this tour until just recently. Why?? I don't care if it was a number 1 song. It was a number 1 song for Jon, solo. My feeling is that it's an ego trip from Jon because the people go crazy when Richie sings "I'll Be There For You". I could rant about this for days, but I won't. It was a Bon Jovi concert, not a Jon Bon Jovi concert. The man has been around too long to put people, especially his own band mates, in there place.

This brings me to the internet. I would like to say that I visit my 3 major sites everyday....bonjovi.com, backstage, and the drycounty site. I get the latest news and updates all the time. But maybe that has ruined concerts FOR ME(I stress that because I am not discouraging anyone from visiting these websites...they have great information and this one is the most frequently updated.) When this tour started, I was so psyched. They weren't doing "Blaze" and they put "In These Arms", "Joey" and "Right Side of Wrong". Then since Dallas, they dropped 2 new and very good songs and put "Blaze" back in. If I hadn't read this on the internet, I would have never known what they were playing. Then again I might not have bought the tickets either.

Sorry, this crowd loved everything the band played. They deserved more than the old hum drum. I got tickets to Giants Stadium so we'll see what happens. To whoever wins the road manager in Europe contest, please kick them in the ass and have them change there set lists.

I have been objective as I could. This was a good show, but not up to the BON JOVI standard that you and I have come to expect.

Thanks for reading,

Jeff

back to tour information page