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4 November 2005 - Chicago, IL, USA Concert Review 8 November 2005
Aweosme time!

A review by Andrew / mapmaniac12@yahoo.com

Oh, what a nightmare driving in rush hour traffic to downtown Chicago on a Friday night. Once we got closer to the United Center, though, traffic was fantastic and parking was a breeze. This has to be one of the easiest arenas to get in and out of.

When we got inside, the first thing I noticed was the relative ease of getting into the show (no metal detectors…I guess enough time has passed since 9/11). The second thing I noticed was the place was abundant with women between the ages of 25 and 45, generally those who likely grew up listening to Bon Jovi in their heyday. They brought their husbands or they just went for a “girl’s night out”. There were a few older members of the crowd, as well as a few teens. This made me feel square in the minority, as I am an 18-year old male seeing a Bon Jovi concert. Although I was with a girl, so it wasn’t that bad, then.

The stands had a good selection of merchandise, but limited quantity…as they were out of most of the specialty (non t-shirt items), including programs, by the show’s end. Everything had that “smirk” logo found on the Have a Nice Day album. I got an awesome black t-shirt that says “Bon Jovi: Have a Nice Day” on the front with the red smirk in the center.

Once inside, the place was rearing to go. Rock radio station 97.9 the Loop was in full-force, introducing Johnny B., a famous morning radio DJ who makes his return to Chicago this week, as well as introducing the band Sleeping Shelby, who won a spot as opening act for that night. Bon Jovi has been doing something that I have never seen before…tapping a different local band for each concert they perform.

Timing was great. Bon Jovi hit the stage promptly at 8:30. They opened with the song “Last Man Standing”, a good rocker about the lack of real talent in the music biz these days. It revved the crowd up a little (or was it just the fact that Bon Jovi hit the stage?...we don’t know). Then, he asked the crowd “are you with me tonight?!?!” (a la Crush tour DVD), before going into “You Give Love a Bad Name”, and of course letting us sing the entire chorus by ourselves at the end.

The band continued to rock us with “Everyday” and “Born to Be My Baby”, however slowing down significantly by “The Radio Saved My Life Tonight”, a gem found on the recent box set that not too many people knew. Then they roared through “Runaway”, two new rockers, and “It’s My Life”, after introducing half the band. The show slowed down significantly with a JBJ solo version of “Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night”, where everyone was anticipatory of a kick-it-into-high-gear that never happened. “I’ll Be There For You” drew the crowd’s interest significantly, with Jon and Richie both on acoustic sharing the microphone. The females went nuts. Then everybody booked for the bathrooms on the This Left Feels Right acoustic version of “Lay Your Hands on Me”. I highly recommend the band do this song like they did in 1988 if they want the crowd to stick around.

Then, Jon redeemed himself by going up to the 200 level seats on the right side of the stage to do “Blaze of Glory”, with the rest of the band performing on the stage. The band rocked through an awesome last half of 80s rockers, as well as “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”, the only KTF song of the night. They wound up with “Livin’ on a Prayer”, letting the audience sing basically the whole chorus of the song, before starting it.

They departed the stage and were gone for about 5 minutes, before coming on to do a patriotic set including the heartfelt “Bells of Freedom” and ending with what Jon declared to be the national anthem, “Wanted Dead or Alive”. The crowd was nuts, yearning for more. It almost seemed as if Jon was serious about leaving us with only 1 encore, with the band encouraging him to get back on there to do a cover that everybody remembered at night’s end for the “hey, hey, hey” part. Everybody was yearning for me, and we did need more. Maybe 2-3 more rockers. No “Keep the Faith” or “Something for the Pain” or “Bed of Roses”??? Nevertheless, they put on a great show, and busted through a great set, even though it was rather quick.

The stage set-up was very simple…a bunch of screens on the top. 3 steps coming down from the drumset and keyboard areas. The band members were hard to follow, since Jon was all over the place and since they added a 2nd guitarist and 2nd keyboardist to the mix. Two side ramps ran upwards from the stage, so Jon and Richie could go out into the audience.

Not one, but two women got to dance onstage with Jon (and Hugh…lol). I guess they balanced out the stage, one on either side. I can’t remember which song they were on for. Maybe “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” or “Sleep When I’m Dead”??

The crowd was very into the band, sporting signs on the floor. The old-fashioned cloth signs were very popular. Including one that read “It’s alright, It’s alright”…the repeating line in the 2nd single off the new album. Additionally, the hands and fists were up in the air on all the favorite anthems like “Raise Your Hands”, “Bad Medicine”, and “Livin’ on a Prayer”.

Jon was dressed in leather, and the ladies were lovin’ it. Richie sported a usual long-jacket, and came out with a purple-jacket in the middle of the set. Jon laughed and was like, “where did you get that purple jacket?”

David Bryan was rocking on the keys and seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. Tico Torres was busy and focused on keeping the beat. Hugh seemed to be loving every minute of it as well.

Jon did a lot of talking, and the audience loved it. He mentioned early on that we have a lot to be excited about in a World Series champion (White Sox) and the crowd went nuts. Jon responded by saying how excited we get over our sports teams. He also made mention of the fact that 3 years has gone by since he last saw us, and that a lot has happened since then before going into the box set tune. On “Who Says You Can’t Home”, he alluded to it being their next single, and also said “If I can’t go home, can I stay in yours Chicago?”

This sold-out crowd was very impressed and did not want the show to end. My only requests are that they do the real version of “Lay Your Hands…” and do some more tracks from the early 1990s, such as “Keep the Faith” or “These Days”. Otherwise, it was a great show!!! 4 out of 5 stars.


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