A review by Stephen Raffa / Thorpejr@aol.com

First off I'd like to say that the Goo Goo Dolls do a pretty good job as an opening act for such an enormous band, and they seem to really appreciate Bon Jovi. Secondly, what love must the boys have for Pittsburgh to make 3 stops here in just this one tour. (Hard Rock,Mellon Arena,PG Pavilion) And I quote Jon on this one, they are like a fine wine that just keeps getting better with time, and they continue to prove it. When I learned that the show was going to be an acoustic/electric format I was at first disappointed knowing that I had a lot of first time people going, and they wouldnt get to see the hard rocking side of Jovi. But as the time wound down, I said to myself, they dont do this every show so it must be something special, and that was exactly right. From the first note of "Have a Little Faith in Me" you could tell that Jon and the rest of the guys were focused and giving it their all. Being a big Bon Jovi fan, I was thrilled to hear some of the less known songs like "Love For Sale", "Something to Believe In". and "Never Say Goodbye". But when Jon gave the word to "Plug these Guitars In" it was time to rock, and they wasted no time with the heavily involved crowd song, "Lay Your Hands on Me". To watch Ritchie play the axe like he does making it squeal and cry is just amazing to me as an aspiring guitarist. One thing that really got me excited was finally hearing "Blood on Blood", that song really gets me going and tells a great story of growing up. The one thing that somewhat disappointed me but nothin major was that after talking to my dad who sat behind the conrtol board and saw the whole set list, at the last minute they replaced "Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars", with "Bounce". But either way the show was amazing, and once again I took first time Jovi concert goers and turned any doubts they had into sheer amazement after seeing the magic of a Bon Jovi show. Jon and the boys still have it, and I think they have what it takes to keep up with the stones when they reach that age. Pittsburgh as you know loves them as much as they love us by making us one of their favorite stops and I hope they continure touring for a long time.
Keep the Faith,
Stephen
PS, Comments welcome, thanx

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