A review by jonboy

Although I've lived in Virginia all my life, I've never been to a concert at the Nissan Pavilion. Thanks to the traffic jam on 29N, it will most likely be my last. My wife and I left the Outback Steakhouse @ 6:15 to make the ten mile drive to the show. We figured we might miss part of the Goo Goo Dolls, but that was no big deal. Plenty of time to get settled before Bon Jovi started their set. We were stuck in traffic for two hours. It was miserable. We finally parked the car @ 8:30, and started the walk to the gate, and we could already hear Livin on a Prayer..... #@!@#@!!! Unbelievable.... We were so mad.....

Bon Jovi started off with an acoustic set, which I was not expecting. I knew a few shows were going to be acoustic, but I didn't see anything about this show being planned to be acoustic. It was a treat to see the band performing the acoustic set. They did a great job. It has to be a nice change of pace for the band and fans.

The electric set followed after about an hour or so of the acoustic set. The acoustic set was cool, but I much prefer the fast paced intensity of the electric set. I was a little concerned the band may be a little flat/tired after the stadium show in Philly the night before, but the band seemed full of energy to us. Maybe the acoustic/electric split helps them stay fresh. The band appeared to be at the top of their game, very confident pros taking care of business.

It was a very good performance by Bon Jovi on Sunday. Looked to be close to a full house to us, and it was nice to be treated to an acoustic set. The traffic jam really put a damper on things for us though. I know we should have left earlier, but there is no way to expect it to take two hours to go ten miles. I am anxious to read other reviews to see if this is a common problem at this venue.

back to tour information page