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15 July 2003 - Minneapolis, MN, USA Concert Review 17 July 2003
Hercules Couldn't Clap Hard Enough For This Piece of History

A review by Shaun Jovi / pop130@aol.com

So, I walked into the stadium excited and ready for the third time I’d see my favorite band, Bon Jovi, perform and the fifth time I’d see another one of my favorite bands perform, The Goo Goo Dolls. The Goo Goo Dolls walked out on stage and began with “Dizzy,” followed by my personal favorite “Black Balloon” and then went on to play some more of their great songs. They didn’t disappoint. When they had finished, I was just their waiting with three of my good friends for Bon Jovi to hit the stage. After about a half hour, the lights went out and everyone was instantly on their feet. A VH-1 winner came out on stage to introduce the band. She then explained to us that we were lucky to see a special show tonight. Bon Jovi was going to sit down to play us an acoustic set for the first half, followed by a full-blown electric rock show. My friends and I were shocked.
David Bryan came out first and began playing the opening keyboard part to John Hiatt’s “Have a Little Faith.” Then Jon and the rest of the band pilled out on stage and began playing the song. This entire first song was accompanied by screams by the audience. I was shocked to be a part of this piece of history. The first time Bon Jovi have ever done this in North America! After the John Hiatt cover, the band went right into “Love For Sale.” I went nuts, thinking they’d never play this song. When the song was over, Jon said, “Trivia question, what album was “Love For Sale” on? I instantly shouted New Jersey before he even finished the question. It was a great concert. They went on to play many other great songs done acoustically in ways I have never dreamed possible. “Saturday Night” started out very mellow and escalated. When “Something To Believe In” ended, I was so overtaken that they played this song and played it in such a creative and intimate way with the acoustic guitars, I turned to my friend and told him “Hercules couldn’t clap hard enough for this.” He agreed. “Bed of Roses” started by Jon telling the story of how he wrote it in a hotel room. Before starting “Diamond Ring,” Jon explained it was the only song that they have ever written and re-written over and over because they could get it just right. He told us it was originally supposed to be on the album New Jersey, then on Keep The Faith but it never fit, so they eventually got it right and put it on These Days. After finishing “Misunderstood,” Jon said to the audience “It’s about time to plug in these guitars, what do ya say?” And the audience replied with massive screams.
The kicked off the electric portion of the rock show with the most energetic version of “Lay Your Hands On Me” that I have ever seen on any concert film, DVD, or previous conert I’ve been to. Simply amazing. The stadium shook with the beat. When “Runaway” began and the audience went nuts (as they had, and continued to for the whole show). The intro with the guitars was layed twice as Jon smiled at his celebrating audience and walked up to the mike to begin the opening lyrics. At the end of the song, we were surprised that Jon was playing a guitar solo. He was actually very good and his solo sounded awesome. The rest of the show just went on incredibly. It was surreal that I was a part of such an amazing experience. The energy that went into this show was unforgettable. To end the show, they played “Raise Your Hands” to get the final “wow!” out of us before they had to take off. When the song ended, Jon proclaimed he wanted to do it one more time and they started the song again and did the chorus once more. For the encore, they came out with “Blaze of Glory,” followed by “Captain Crash” and concluding with the rock anthem “Bad Medicine” followed, of course, by Jon’s vocally strong intro to “Shout.” It was during this song that he introduced all the band members by coming up with rhymes about each one before he named them. After he said their names, they started playing “Shout” again for each member with a special solo of each instrument as it was called. After he announced Richie, and they played “Shout” for the last time, giving 110% as always, Jon pulled his shirt over his head, showing off his muscles and chest and camera flashed went off like a lightning storm. With his shirt over his head, he grabbed onto a bar and smashed his head into the window in front of Tico’s drums. When it ended, he pulled his shirt down, laughing, and they lined up at the end of the stage and Jon thanked us for the special, history-in-the-making night and promised he’d see us again “real soon.” The crowd roared as the band walked off the stage that they truly made history on in one simple night on July 15, 2003. Thank you, guys. What a night!


Acoustic:
HAVE A LITTLE FAITH (John Hiatt cover)
LOVE FOR SALE
LIVIN' ON A PRAYER
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
SOMEDAY I'LL BE SATURDAY NIGHT
SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN
BED OF ROSES
EVERYDAY
DIAMOND RING
BLOOD ON BLOOD
I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU
MISUNDERSTOOD

Electric:
LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME
YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME
RUNAWAY
JUST OLDER
IT'S MY LIFE
BORN TO BE MY BABY
I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD
KEEP THE FAITH
RAISE YOUR HANDS

Encore:
BLAZE OF GLORY
CAPTAIN CRASH & THE BEAUTY QUEEN FROM MARS
BAD MEDICINE
(SHOUT)

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