A review by Erika A. / rumours_77@hotmail.com

Where do I begin?! Bon Jovi's St. Louis concert put the "R" back in Rock!!

I'll start this off by saying that I waited for this concert my entire life. I'm 17 years old, have been a fan for most my life, and this was the first time I was able to attend a Bon Jovi concert. I must also say that my brother, my friend, and I had to travel five and a half hours to reach St. Louis, and some people I talked to traveled a lot farther, but I'm sure we all agree it was worth every minute.

Originally, our seats were "ok", in the 31st row about in the middle of stage left (Hugh's side). After Less than Jake played, my friend and I went on the hunt for better seats. God must have been watching over us, because we were able to find 2 seats in the 6th row on Hugh's side; our view was awesome!

When the lights dimmed and this intro of "One Wild Night" began, the crowd errupted! Everyone was screaming, especially when the guys were shown on the big monitors. Then the doors to the on-stage elevator open, and everyone was on their feet, screaming for what seemed like ages. [Jon was wearing black leather pants, a light-blue button-up long-sleeved shirt, and black leather shoes. Hugh had on black pants, black shirt, and a black leather blazer. Richie had on some funky silver sparkly pants. David wore, I think, black pants and a royal-blue shirt. As for Tico, I think had a white outfit on. ] For a minute or so, the guys just stood there, basking in our adulation.

All the songs sounded great! I don't remember the exact order of the set-list, but here are some of my comments.

-Livin' on a Prayer: everyone sang along at the beginning, and Jon looked impressed, making gestures as if to say "keep it up!" That's my favorite of their songs, and JON did a good job at hitting those high notes.

-Someday I'll Be Saturday Night: wow, I haven't been giving this song enough credit all these years; it was awesome live, and had to last about 10 minutes. During the middle, Jon started talking to us about how he was "day-dreaming" and thought about how sometimes in life, our dreams come true, and other (dreams) we're still working on. It was so cute, I could of cried! He also commented about first playing in St. Louis in '83 or '84, and how moving it was to look out at the audience and see us singing all the words to all the songs back to him.

-I'll be There For You and Never Say Goodbye: I didn't expect them to play either of these, and they both sounded great and up-to-date. I was slightly distracted by all the couples around me making out, but both songs had passionate performances.

-Twice during the show, Jon walked over to the very edge of our side of the stage. Both times, my friend, myself, and about 7 other women RAN down the steps and started jumping up and down wildly (must of been hormones) not more than 5 or 6 feet away from him. After the second time, a security lady came and stood by the rail, blocking us from doing this again. heh.

-I don't know how some people could stand still. My friend and I danced and clapped and sang the whole show. I'm sure some people thought we were nuts; both of us bought t-shirts at the show and put them on right away (in the middle of the bathroom because all the stalls were full; the other women gaves us look like we were on drugs- the things i go through for my boys!) because we were so excited. But it was pretty hot by the second songs, so I'm glad I wasn't wearing the turtle-neck I came in.

-From where we were standing, I could see Jon's face every time he turned around at the end of the songs and motioned to Tico. Well, every time he had the biggest grin on his face, and I could tell is was for real.

-Okay, now I have to mentions to ENCORES!! For the 1st one, the band came out and played Thank You for Loving Me. But we weren't about to let them go that easily! Jon seemed so happy, as if he truly didn't want to stop playing. I don't blame him- the crowd was in the palm of his hand. I've never heard a more rockin' verson of Twist and Shout, and everyone was singing along and waving their arms in the air- it was one big party.

I'm sure I'm leaving a bunch of stuff out, but to summarize things, the band souned great, looked great, and everyone in the building had great energy. It's night's like this that make life worth it.

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