A review by Jersey Girl

I was so excited when I bought tickets to this concert! I counted the weeks, and finally the days, until it came. August 4, 2003, Meadows Music Theatre, Hartford, CT.

This was the final night for the GooGoo Dolls on the tour, and they rocked. Then came the Main Event - Jon and the Boys. They played for almost three hours. High energy, nonstop. I think the audience sang most of the concert for them! As a bona fide Jersey girl, I can tell you that I was full of pride. A lot of times I just looked out at the sea of thousands of faces singing, smiling, loving Bon Jovi's music, and the fact that they've been so successful brought me a sense of satisfaction.

We didn't have an acoustic portion - maybe the oppressive humidity had something to do with it. Jon seemed to be having some issues with his earpieces (a lot of adjusting), and since we were out on the lawn we were able to detect that the speaker in front of us kept getting louder/softer anytime that Richie played, but it really wasn't that noticeable amid all of the screaming females around us. Jon seemed to fade out on a lot of lyrics, and we only caught portions of lines. Couldn't tell whether he was out of breath or if the earpieces had something to do with that.

My rating: brilliant, soulful, upbeat, an overall blast.

I wish I could see them at Giants Stadium, on my home turf. Somehow I think it would be even more spiritual than this one was for me.

Thank you for so many memories.

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