Bon Jovi - Munich
The weather god must've been a Bon Jovi fan. It was a damn awful weekend, raining a lot all Sunday and Monday again, except for Sunday afternoon and evening. It was really ... well, strange that the rain somehow stopped for the gig.
It was my second show in Munich. I witnessed the first of the two historical gigs (like Jon called them) 5 years ago but missed out on the second one. I saw The Boss at this venue 3 years ago and the Bon Jovi stage was already half built up back then, their show following 3 days later. After the Bounce Tour I swore next time around Munich is my venue again. And there I was and the biggest band in the world added a third historical show like Jon promised 5 or 6 songs into the show. I was sceptical while he said it but I didn't leave disappointed. I have to say I was a Philadelphia Soul fan that evening because I had a feeling he would bring the gig to a rushed ending if his team would not win. Plus it was the fourth show in five days.
Nickelback sounded good and I enjoyed most of it. The guitarist seems to take his playing more as some sort of sport though and hardly got a precise solo out. However, I agree that Chad should talk less and less silly and play more. But I have to mention that he always talked very respectful of Bon Jovi, something that I had not witnessed too often so far with support acts. The Rammstein part was fun although I can't stand their crap.
I was surprised how "in time" they all started. It was two minutes to eight when the intro music came up. The non-symmetric stage was indeed cool, I especially liked when the video material went beyond the big screen and included what looked like a skyline. The freeway material looked cool, too.
They kind of rushed through the set at the beginning, since it was only after the fifth or sixth song Jon began talking to us. But then he promised to write history once again in this beautiful venue, that let them have two remarkable nights the past tours. And once again the stadium was packed with 75,000 people, an excellent crowd up to the highest seats.
I'D DIE FOR YOU went over well, hadn't heard this one before. THE RADIO SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT had a cool speech in the middle like DevilsSon and Carli mentioned. I was thinking it was a little pathetic that he had to mention the critics and stuff, but I nonetheless agreed with what he said.
About Jon overall, I had read about his voice being better again. It really is. Well, a few times he struggled, at other points he clearly saved his voice, but most of the time it was truly awesome. I hadn't heard him this way in a long time. During the encores he was almost exploding. He also used much less of the worn-out phrases.
I can't compare to other shows this tour but Richie was not quite himself. He not once changed his outfit, he rarely went into the spotlight, smiled less and I also realized that he put on a quite angry face while showing the finger during HAVE A NICE DAY. And I couldn't make out is he acting or really that pissed by something. But then I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU. Yes, it is not new anymore he sings it, but damn, it is still a highlight. After this glorious performance he was way more present, I felt.
David was fun as usual. When Jon said they should turn up his microphone for he could sing IN THESE ARMS, I felt he was very surprised and had some trouble taking over (besides the technical problems). It was great nonetheless, HE was great.
About Tico, well DevilsSon said it all: he is A BEAST. Truly the man is a phenomenon. Not just that he beats the hell out of his drum set, he has always time to make fun into the camera next to him. I also realized little changes in sequences that appeared to be fixed standards past tours.
Back to the setlist. I enjoyed I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD early in the set, because it was short and without any boring stuff a la "Say 'Hi, Momma'". I WANT TO BE LOVED was ok, but I knew I would not get to hear NOVOCAINE. I hadn't heard the new version of BLAZE OF GLORY and I cannot believe some people count it somehow as TLFR only because it is part of the acoustic set. This is a fantastic new arrangement. The drums are huge. I would love to see a studio version popping up. The whiners would probably appreciate this quite unusual change (ain't that what they want the band to do?) more if it wasn't connected to the TLFR songs.
TLFR. Some might know that I liked it, not as something Bon Jovi should do normally or regularly, but as well-known songs re-arranged completely different. I do agree that it is not for a stadium gig and Jon said we will never get to hear it again. However, after 1.5 hrs of almost non-stop up-beat stadium anthems, BED OF ROSES was very welcome, if only to take a rest. It was a good cigarette break. And with BAD MEDICINE/SHOUT, RAISE YOUR HANDS and LIVIN' ON A PRAYER at the end of the main set it is more than easy to get the crowd back going.
Although I find the fact itself boring that they have been doing BAD MEDICINE and SHOUT for like 15 years, it is still and always big fun to see the crowd going ecstatic.
All in all the main set hardly had big surprises, but therefore it was long. Damn, 21 songs, 120 minutes – that is some others' whole program each night.
The encores one by one were all done before, but DRY COUNTY and THESE DAYS together made it really magic. DRY COUNTY alone was brilliant and very well done. The solo was breathtaking. WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE should never ever be left out. It IS Bon Jovi's national anthem. A true classic. Richie didn't even change for the "right" hat here though.
When they immediately broke into SOMEDAY I'LL BE SATURDAY NIGHT (with quite a long build-up in the middle) I had a feeling we will only get one encore because they usually took another break after WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE. But I should be wrong. KEEP THE FAITH with jungle screams was just great and everyone went wild when Jon stopped singing the second verse and celebrated the Philadelphia Soul win. The show appeared to be over when they all did the bow and left. But not yet.
Jon came back with his Soul jersey on. Although I find the lyrics rather pathetic and the save-the-world attitude a little too much, I really love the composition of BELLS OF FREEDOM. It went over very powerful.
Finally David introduced what appeared to be the perfect final song of the night. THESE DAYS was phenomenal and Jon completely lost himself in the emotion.
A fantastic show of 3 hours and 27 songs.
Afterwards we went down to the Olympic Lake where Jon and the band had put their hands into concrete a few years ago.
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06-01-2006, 09:44 PM
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