A review by Kevin Laumen

This was the third concert of Bon Jovi I've been to, the first one was last year in Arnhem, another one was in Amsterdam two weeks ago and now this one in Koln. It was a hot day and we waited for four hours in the hot sun before they started playing, so by then I had a sore throte and I hadn't even begun singing. Also, I was standing in the middle of the stadium and I am pretty short, so I could only see the videoscreen on top of the stage. Apart from these minor irritations I had the second best time ever on a Bon Jovi concert (I nearly got a girlfriend from the BJ-cocert in Amsterdam, but it went wrong, unfortunately). The funny part was, the german audience doesn't know how to sing and how to go crazy (We’re from Holland). I went with my dad and my cousin, who, after four songs, couldn't take the heat (either from the sun or from the band), and had to fled to the back of the stadium. From that point on, the german audience became still a lot quieter. Me and my dad kept clapping and singing. All the folk around were looking at us. I guess they had never seen people go crazy!

Right before Lay Your Hands On Me I saw Richie and Jon and Hugh leave the stage, so I knew right then that they were going to play Lay Your Hands On Me. Tico hit the drums and we immediately shouted Hey!! (The way it is supposed to be).....No Hey's from the audience. As there was no one else singing in the part of the audience where we were, it seemed like Jon and the band was just singing and playing for the two of us! It was great!

The first encore was Something To Believe In. This was my favorite song for a long time, then I Believe was my favorite till last tuesday. When they started playing, I didn't immediately recognize it, because they played it so differently this time. They played the song much slower than usual and the drums were much cooler! All the hits from Tico sounded much fuller (throughout the whole concert, by the way). Also, the tones that David played sounded much more like that of the old Bon Jovi synthesyser. Really cool! And Jon, he was fantastic. He really layed some feeling into the song. Especially in the last part where he and the audience sing together. The german folk didn't understand it.....again. But that didn't matter, my dad and I kept on singing through to the end!
Then came Keep The Faith; great song, especially with the fireworks at the end!

Livin' on a Prayer really got the audience singing.
Not surprising, considering this is probably their best song after Wanted Dead Or Alive.

Finally they closed the show with Tequila and Twist And Shout, two real party-songs. During these songs Jon had a sweater on, and that may seem rather unimportant, but during these songs that contributed to the feeling that Jon was singing separately with EVERYBODY in the audience! It was a great feeling. This just proves that they aren't just playing some music, but that they are really connecting with the audience. And that is a very good thing!

In all, a really good show. Like you would expect, naturally! You can really see that Jon is connecting with the people, and this especially is, I think, a great source of inspiration for Jon to write better songs.
Bon Jovi still have a long road in front of them.

I'm confident that, as they go along, they will keep true
to themselves and their music, as they have done so far.
Here's hoping that their next album is going to be a classic rock album like New Yersey!

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