A review by Jacob / RKorder@aol.com

This was the first time I'd been to a Bon Jovi concert and it not only met, but surpassed my expectations. The Goo Goo Dolls took the stage at about 6:10 p.m. and played until about 7:00 p.m. They were really good but the fact that it was still light out made the stage look rather boring because there weren't really many lights. Sheryl Crow came on at about 7:20 p.m. and played until about 8:30 p.m. She was pretty good also. A little while later somebody came on the stage to explain how this would be the last concert ever at Veterans Stadium. Then the lights went down and the intro music for Bon Jovi started playing. Bon Jovi took the stage at about 9:10 p.m. As usual, they started with "Bounce" and went right into "You Give Love a Bad Name." Both songs were played with alot of energy and the crowd sang along to all of the songs. Then, though I was expecting and hoping for "Wild in the Streets," they played "Everyday" and "I'd Die for You" next. Both "Everyday" and "I'd Die For You" sounded better live than on their respective albums in my opinion. Then Jon started singing the chorus of "Livin' on a Prayer" without any music and the crowd sang along, and then they started playing the actual song. There was some interesting new guitar playing at the beginning. Of course, almost everyone sang along to this song because everyone probably knew this one for sure. The next song was "Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars" which not only sounded great live, but the stage lit up in many different colors during this song, so it was a great visual as well. Everyone recognized the bass lines at the beginning of "Keep The Faith." Next was the classic and well known "Wanted Dead or Alive." This song was fantastic, and again, everybody sang along. When they started playing the next song, at first I didn't recognize it and I thought that it might be a cover, but it was actually "Diamond Ring." Though they played it very well and it sounded better live than on the album, I think that most people could have done without it because after everybody was standing and singing along for "Wanted Dead or Alive" everybody seemed to suddenly sit down for this song. I knew that they played Bed of Roses after "Wanted Dead or Alive" quite often, so I figured that since they already did "Diamond Ring" they weren't going to do another ballad. However, much to my surprise, they played "Bed of Roses" next, and it was played and sung with alot of emotion. Then came "It's My Life," which was dedicated to Tug McGraw. Then they played "Undivided," which I think everybody was happy to hear. Next they played "Runaway," which sounded much different than on the studio album. Jon played an electric guitar on the song and it was also sung much lower. I actually think that it sounded better this way than on the album. Without stopping, they went right from "Runaway" into "Just Older." "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" was played and sung with alot of emotion and then Jon stopped near the end and gave a moving speech. Then Jon introduced Richie and said he would play "I'll Be There For You," which he did. It was great but at the end it became a little bit too long. The next song was "Lay Your Hands on Me," but it started with the slow organ part as opposed to with the drums. It would have been nice to see the faster drum and organ part, but once the song got started it was great. "Born To Be My Baby" was really good. During "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" the video screens were in a sort of slow motion, but it fit the music. Finally, they played "Raise Your Hands," during which everybody had their hands in the air. Then the band left the stage and the blue Bounce logo came on the screen for a few minutes. Then they returned for the encore with "Blaze of Glory," which was sung with alot of emotion. I was hoping for "These Days" or "I Got The Girl" but they went right into "Bad Medicine" with Jon saying "Is there a doctor in the house?" Finally, was "Shout." At the end of "Shout" Jon introduced the band members as "the members of the greatest rock band in the world" and he thanked the fans for supporting them and the people who work to build the stage each day and take it to the next city after the show. Then at the end there were credits on the screen, which was interesting. The concert ended at about 11:40 p.m., for a total of about two and a half hours of music. It was certainly a great way to say goodbye to Veterans Stadium.

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