Let me start out by saying that I LOVED the concert. I just read pages of comment here at Dry County and obviously some people were not happy. Apparently the sound and the audience did not come over as well on the webcast as it did in person. The sound inside the Borgata was very, very good. Much better than the usual stadium sound or arena sound. The Borgata is a small place but the audience sounded like a stadium crowd. Perhaps the directional mics for broadcasting cut out a bunch of the audience noise. The audience was not dead or quiet at all, and the band appeared to be having a good time also. You can act or pose when on stage but an audience can tell when a band is really into what they are doing and Bon Jovi were rockin on Sunday night.

One of the things that I like about the Bon Jovi audience is that there are people of all ages there. There were lots of older people but also lots of twenty-somethings and also lots of teenagers. I guess that this means that they appeal to a wide audience.

Also everyone that I talked to after the concert last night thought that Jon sounded better than he has for a while. He may not have hit all the high notes but other than Prayer where he had some problems, Jon sounded good. He obviously avoided many of the high sections on new songs which took away some of their impact. I may hear more problems when I listen to a recording at home, outside of the excitement of a live concert. It sure beat the hell out of last years concert though. This was a much happier more upbeat event, more of a celebration.

Considering that we all know how predictable the setlists can be I was actually surprised that they played that many new songs for a one-off concert. I was pretty sure that they would play what they had released early on their website and I was right: that way at least some of the audience would know the music. The only “extra” song was Miss 4th of July which was very welcome.

I felt the same way that some of you did when I heard Shout start – groan – but I thought that Jon did a good job of introducing the band. I would have liked something more than the same old but I think I understand why he plays the same stuff over and over. He gets a much better reaction from the audience for a known song than for a new song (as do most bands).

All in all – this concert rocked (unlike the last one) and there were 9 new songs played. When was the last time you went to a Bon Jovi concert with 9 new songs heard?

Kathleen