Choc's Kiel Review

At first i want to say one word about the Kiel concert: Unbelievable!!!! Amazing!! I don’t think anything can top this… but here we go. Prepare yourselves for what could become my longest post ever.

Steph and I arrived in Kiel on Monday afternoon. We checked in at the hostel, left our stuff there and walked to the arena to see what it’s like. When we got there at 4.30 pm there were already 6 people queuing!! Hardcore! It was crazy… I really pitied them, I really did. They must have been bored to death by the time the sun rose again. But anyway, we went back to the hostel to get a good night’s sleep before setting off at 7.30am the next morning. When we arrived at the arena at 7.45 am we got number 70 and 71…not too bad

We spent the morning talking to some girls from Braunschweig (Sonja, Birte - it was great to meet you ), looking at pictures from previous shows, making banners and of course waiting. I was so nervous I regularly went to the nearest McDonalds to use the toilet. LOL. And some point in the morning Steph and I got free promo posters from the ticket store (we had already asked for them the day before and the lady in the shop got them for us from her boss ). We were thrilled! I think I will frame mine J

Later Jovimimi and her kids arrived. I went to say hello and it was great seeing her again!!! I also talked to two Dutch girls and a few other Germans. It was really nice to meet so many great people!! Altogether, the mood in the queue was better than in Erfurt, people seemed a little more relaxed. Except of course for the German woman with the number 1 on her hand… she thought she had to shout at people again, like she had done in Erfurt. Lovely. But nobody really took any notice of her and the morning proceeded. It became ever hotter while we were all sitting outside in the sun. Some of us had got sunburned already so they escaped into the shade. But there it was rather cold. So whatever we did, it wasn’t right. HIH

At around 1:00 pm we were all lined up in rows of four at the VIP entrance. We were supposed to get our wristbands at 1.30pm. Excitement rose, none of us could wait to get them. The BSWJBJ sign was already on the door and we thought it wouldn’t be long now. But how wrong we were!! Even though Kevin was there quite early, we didn’t get into the arena until 5.30 pm!!! Never have I experienced such a long wait! It was just crazy… When we got into the arena we weren’t let into the arena itself, but had to sit on the floor before closed doors. Again in rows of four. Nobody knew anything… Then suddenly at 6pm we heard music coming from inside the arena! Jon and Richie were doing an acoustic sound check. Annika and I ran to the door and pressed our ears against it. We almost died when we heard them play Something to believe in and Living in Sin! When the sound check was finished all the fanclub members applauded Jon and Richie, it was really loud. Although I doubt they heard it

Soon after that we were finally let inside. I almost fell down the stairs because the girls in my row were pulling me…LOL We the got into the pit and I saw a free spot in the front row and ran there. But two girls were reserving the spot for 4 other girls… If I had only known before!!! When the pit was filled up Kenny went outside to get the girls and heaved all four of them over the barrier so they were in front of me. I was second row right in front of Jon. Not a bad place at all HIH. But the four girls were awful….I think you all know who they were…

Anyway. Finally Live entered the stage. They were great. Ed was a bit reserved for the first two songs or so. But he got such a great response from the audience that he blossomed out and couldn’t stop smiling. He was so cute J The sound was great too! So much better than in the stadium. And Ed just loved the attention he got!

Suspense rose when the stage was converted. We all were full of excitement! The sheets were taken down and the OWN roof top stage was revealed. I was even more excited when chairs appeared on the stage, and a music stand in front of jon’s chair J By that point we knew for definite that it was going to be acoustic!

The band took their places, Jon appeared at last. An without saying anything they instantly started with “Have a little Faith” . What a surprise it was! I was thrilled. That was followed by love for sale and by this point I was ecstatic already. I just love this song. And even Tico sang in the end. Perfect! After that Jon welcomed us and promised us a “very special show” with surprises! And that we got! Oh and he said it will be a night we would tell all our friends about. Which I am doing now

Love for sale was followed by Prayer (amazing!), Wanted (Richie was great on his 12 string), Something to believe in (Jon had to look at the lyrics sheet quite a few times during this song hih) and an absolutely amazing Bed of Roses, during which I burned my finger on the lighter HIH. Then everyday acoustic was great, liked it better than the electric version for some reason. Diamond Ring was such a highlight. I really couldn’t believe that EVERYBODY around me knew the lyrics! It was so great. Jon shot us a huge smile and Richie had his passionate face of course

Then what I had been waiting for for so long: Blood on Blood! Acoustic! I started crying and Hugh noticed it. He looked at me, smiled and shook his head. Then smiled again. It was really sweet Hugh was in such a good mood all night, always singing, smiling and dancing
The Distance followed, and straight after that Jon pointed at a banner in the first row and started playing Fever! WOW!! The audience went crazy. A great swing came from Dave’s pianos.

Then the greatest highlight of the show: LIVING IN SIN! I couldn’t believe it! I cried again and almost died. This was only my second show and we got this song… unbelievable. I’m still on a high!!! I’m surprised I can write this review so well LOL. Heroes was good too, better than in Erfurt. I liked it this time and it absolutely fitted the set.

At one point in the acoustic set Richie had a problem with his guitar and this one guy took it behind the stage. Obviously Richie was expecting it back very soon but no – he just sat there without a guitar. Jon already wanted to start the next song and looked at Richie, wondering why he didn’t start. Richie just shrugged his shoulders and then Jon noticed that Richie’s guitar was missing. He had a funny look on his face and everybody just started laughing, including me. Richie had a big grin on his face and looked at Hugh who was laughing too.

For one song Jon introduced Richie’s solo…he said “Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrichie!!!!” and rolled the “R” really long. Made me smile

Also once the lights went out and didn’t come back on for quite some time. Jon and Richie looked at each other, again smiling. Jon said something like: “Can I have the lights back now, please” hih. Richie ran his hand through his hair and that moment the lights came back on and Richie’s hair was rather messy :P but very cute of course

But on with the show:
The stage was rearranged and the boys proceeded the show electrically. At first rather slow… Joey! But what a version it was! I was so happy for Dave. He could improvise a lot during this and made it longer than on the record. Misunderstood followed. Not one of my favourites, but the crowd loved it. Runaway rocked!! All arms were in the air and Jon did a great scream at one point in the song

When they started In these Arms Jon and Dave were arguing as to who of them should sing the song… Dave insisted on Jon…but then Jon held his microphone to David. Dave smiled and started singing and from that point on nobody was in their seats anymore. The whole arena was boiling over, all the arms were in the air… I looked behind me and there wasn’t one single person sitting. Dave got a great response for singing the first verse of the song… The whole time Jon smiled at him and looked at the audience and couldn’t believe his eyes. After this song this was how the show proceeded…Singing, dancing, clapping hands, cheering… unbelievable!!!

The next song was “You give love a bad name” and again the crowd freaked out . After that It’s my life, again the arena was bubbling over. Another Highlight for me was “Born to be my baby”. It’s one of my favourite songs and Jon commanded us to sing along really loud (the nanananananananananana part ). But we weren’t loud enough for his liking so he started all over again, making the song twice as long as on the record Everybody was singing along and you could feel the huge energy in the arena. I’ll sleep when I’m dead was good, the German crowds really seem to like that one Then another WOW for me: Rocking all over the world!! I just love this song. I jumped up and down, singing along. Jon and Richie smiled a lot and even Hugh seemed to have loads of fun! Of course Dave was flirting with the girls in the audience and Tico flashed a big smile They ended with Raise your Hands. A really long version….so much energy from Jon!!! He didn’t put down his arms ONCE. I got tired already, only holding up one arm at a time but Jon’s energy seemed to last forever!! Unbelievable!

For the encore only Huey and Dave came out and Dave started playing Right Side of wrong. Then Richie came on stage and everybody started screaming. Richie noticed that he was pulling attention away from David’s solo and hid behind huge boxes. That was really sweet of him. Suddenly a change in Dave’s solo and I started crying… he had changed it to These Days!!! Jon came out and went to Dave and was like “no, don’t play that”. But Dave just smiled at him and continued. Jon looked at the audience which was going crazy for the song already. He then smiled, nodded to David and they all started These Days THANK YOU, DAVID

Jon then wanted to leave the stage for good. But Hugh pulled him back, pointed at a Never say goodbye banner and said something to Jon. Jon nodded and they started Never Say Goodbye acoustic… But changed it into electric towards the end

A great show!!! Unbelievable!! This review can’t even capture the mood in the arena. It was really special.

Great review, Jana

Wow Jana, that sounds like it was simply great!!! AND I think it's the best set so far....Never Say Goodbye, Living In Sin, Something To Believe In, Blood On Blood...I think I've made my point.

Dammit, I want Bon Jovi HERE!!!!

We saw what happened and really wondered why you didn't do anything. These girls didn't have any right to push you back. If I were in your shoes I hadn't move a centimetre.

I really feel sorry for you. If I were you these Groupies (and they are Groupies) wouldn't have enjoyed the show.

great review thanks.

Great Jana!

WOW, Jana, what a review!!! It sent shivers down our backs and I think we almost cried too because we weren't there.... It must have been a very special experience for you, and all the people that were there! Sniff...

Let's hope someone at least makes a proper bootleg for this show (the dvd wont be a full one anyways)

Taija & Laura

I was also there! It was a ****ing great show with a great setlist! Acoustic and electric!

i hope the rest of us common mortals get to see/hear the show... i want to hear NSG personally more than the rest of the show. As there were only 8 cameras (i think ??) do you think it's possible they were just filming it as bonus tracks for the yokohama DVD?

... i hope not anyway.

I have a feeling that tomorrow night at Dublin will have a short acoustic set in the middle of the show (like in 1996) -

Very very nice Choc, than you