A review by Nik / nik_nak_nik@hotmail.com

I went to 3 of the UK Bon Jovi gigs, and this one was by far the best. Although we had gold standing tickets, we came too late and didn't get as close to the stage as we wanted, but it didn't matter, we still had a great view. We thought we were gonna be queueing for hours and hours (the size of the queue was breathtaking) but suprisingly we got in quite quickly. Wristbands weren't given out, which suprised me. I missed LIVE playing, I was to busy in the mile long queue for my Bon Jovi t-shirt and cap.
Bounce was the first track they played, as ever. It was excellent and really got the crowd moving. The show carried on and I thought they were going to use the same setlist as they did for the other gigs, but it certainly suprised me when David Bryan started playing the opening notes to Lay Your Hands on Me. This was a definate hit in the audience, everyone was singing like crazy. Anyway, the setlist stayed pretty much the same, Richie sung I'll Be There For You absolutely perfectly. I've gotta thank my Dad for letting me sit on his shoulders through my favourite songs, especially Livin' on a Prayer, one of the best crowd movers, I got some wicked photos! Well the show carried on, and Jon finished with Raise Your Hands, absolutely superb, there wasn't a soul in the crowd who wasn't wiggling their fingers along with Jon. They made their exit and came back shortly with their first encore. It was incredible when Jon played a duet with Craig Davies from The Kinks, they sung Lola, and you could see how much they were both enjoying it. When Shout/Bad Medicine began, we made our way to the exit, we thought that would be it, but boy were we wrong. Jon was talking about 'If I carry on, they're gonna be filming me in jail!' But nevertheless, with the words, 'F**k it, let's play!' Twist and Shout was the next song, and Jon wiggled his bum and the crowd went wild, we were at the back with loads of space dancing like mad.
I thought surely that would be it, but no no, I was suprised they chose to play Blood on Blood and These Days, but they were done superbly, I really enjoyed them.
The boys on stage were pretty tired by now, and their last song was an excellent choice, I wouldn't have changed it at all. The guitar playing in Never Say Goodbye brought tears to my eyes, one of the best songs in the evening.
The show ended with Jon saying the words, 'All's I can say is thanks for making a bunch of kids from New Jersey's dreams come true.' This was followed by the usual video and as we were leaving, there was a fantastic firework display. What a concert! The best I've been to by far! Nothing can beat such an amazing live band. Bon Jovi.

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