Kuba's O2 25th & 26th shows review - You gotta read it to believe it!

'They say that no man is an island, and good things come to those who wait….'

…and to those who Keep the Faith too I am a living proof of that. This is not going to be just a review of the last 2 shows at the o2. I guess it is going to be some kind of confession, a ride into the deepest parts of my soul. It’s going to be a story about dreams of a little boy coming true. Feel free to join me if you want…

For the record, I shouldn’t have even been there. I was only going to see the show in Paris and that was it. Nothing else. And still something that was supposed to be a trip for show only turned out to be the greatest family trip of my life. But if you want to read about it more go and check my review of the Paris show. Anyway, after the Paris show, on our way back home, we stayed at our relatives and I have checked JT as usual and I found a thread about promotion ‘2 for 1’ at the O2. I clicked on the link and just out of pure curiosity I checked how much the tickets would cost. I checked best available and it showed Block A2 for 56GBP/pp. That was cheaper than tickets to Paris show. But first I thought so what, I still ain’t going. But then something told me to check the flights from my hometown to London and it turned out to be really cheap too. So from that moment I couldn’t stop thinking about it. One last dance with BJ. The last 2 shows at the o2. That would be great. I went to bed trying to get some sleep but I just couldn’t sleep at all. Those damn shows were in my mind. Should I go, should I stay?...Finally at some point I fall asleep but the first thing in the morning was a thought – I gotta go! So without any hesitation I have bought tickets for the 26th June show and plane tickets. Then my wife wanted to go shopping so I had to take a break for few hours with that thought in my mind that I still have to buy tickets for the 25th June. Just because of that thought I have bought my wife everything she wanted so she came back from shopping very happy. And she also decided to go with me to London. So just to make it clear. We were half way home, in the middle of Germany and I already knew that next weekend I am going away again, but this time to London. So here starts the real story. London, here we come…

We arrived to our hotel on Friday at about 2pm. I booked a nice 2-star Ibis hotel on the web very close to the o2, just one stop away by tube. And we had a nice surprise from the very beginning. It turned out that some pipe broke down at night before our arrival and our room was flooded. And they moved us to a 4-star hotel next building. An upgrade without any extra charge That was cool for the start. We were a little bit tired after the flight and went to sleep for few hours before the show. So at about 6.30 we left our room and went to the o2 arena.

We reached arena in about 20 minutes, so that was also great and it turned out that my hotel selection was perfect. When we reached our seats Kid Rock was already playing. Our seats were in the last row of Block A2. But still the view was great, and closer to stage than in Paris. When Kid Rock finished and the break started I went to buy us some water. On the way back I noticed that Obie was standing near the sound consoles (at the end of floor, behind our blocks, I don’t know how it’s called in English but I am sure you know what I am talking about). And I decided to take my chances and go talk to him and maybe take a photo with him. And it turned out he is a very very nice person with a great sense of humor. And he was very opened for short chat. I told him that we were also in Paris and how great it was, how I love his jokes etc. Then I asked him about the chances for the show in Poland next year and he said that in fact they are thinking about it and it may happen, more than ever before. I also asked if he’s ever been to Poland and he said that he’s been here a few times and that he liked our country. So that was a good start. Then I asked him about the chances of hearing DC, TD or BPL in the next 2 shows and he answered that for sure not tonight (25th) and maybe tomorrow. All in all a short but a nice talk and at the end my wife took a photo of us and we shook our hands. I was very happy about it and it was great feeling to meet personally someone related with the band. It meant a lot to me. So we went back to our seats waiting for the start of the show.

I will not write about the set lists because you all know how it looked like. I will just focus on the parts that made this night big for me. First SOML was a nice surprise, I like this song a lot and it was nice to hear it live. But of course I waited for something much bigger. ST was also great for me because I just love the new album and the more songs I hear from it the better. We didn’t have it in Paris so was glad it was played. Then was LYHOM by Jon which was very cool to hear, I think Jon was on lead vocals on this one for the first time this tour. But first huge track was Richie on HT He is just simply phenomenal on this one. His voice is just amazing. Sometimes I wonder if it’s even better than Jon’s. It was great to hear him singing that after LYHOM in Paris. Right after that we had Hallelujah. And let me tell you something. This was the most spiritual BJ experience I have ever had. I love this version but hearing it live just takes you on a totally different level. It is just magical. I closed my eyes at times and had literally shivers down my spine. And you can clearly see that Jon gets into that song so much, he’s a part of that song, with his whole heart and soul. It was brilliant. I am very happy that I got the chance to hear it live. Then we had Blood Money which was nice but not my favourite of YG. But right after that we had an absolute bomb. SANTA FE!!! And that is my favourite one from YG. Just before this one Jon said something like ‘this is something for the biggest die-hards in the world, it’s called Sante Fe’… and I went nuts This is a song that would never come to my mind as a request. I don’t think any of us would think it would be played ever again. And obviously it was an absolute highlight of the night for me. Sure, Jon did not hit the high notes, he did not even try. But I totally understand it and don’t have any hard feelings for that. This was magic, this was perfect. YT videos, no matter how great, will not give you even a glimpse what it was like to be there and hear it live. This is a song that probably will not be played ever again. And those of us who have witnessed that are the luckiest men on earth. And I am really happy I am among those people. This moment will stay in my memory forever. No matter what. Thank you Jon for this one, this already made a trip to London worth it After that we had a rather strange choice of Last Night. It was Ok but definitely not my favourite song. I knew that DC wouldn’t be played that night so I just waited for my all time fav KTF and it was a killer as always. I always pass the camera to my wife for this one so I could jump, scream and let it all out. The rest of the show was very good but without any big surprises as you know. But still a very solid show with 3 highlights – SF, HT, and Hallelujah.

So we got back to the hotel in about 20 min again…and then I realized something. I talked to my wife that meeting Obie today was the closest that I could ever be to the band. I mean ever. He is Jon’s best friend. He is there with the band since the very beginning. And then I thought about something really crazy. As a die-hard since KTF album was released one of my biggest dreams ever was to thank Jon for his music, because for sure BJ changed my life, it changed me, I grew up with it, it made me a man I am today, was with me through the good and the bad times, always, a soundtrack to my life. And I thought: ‘what if I write a letter to Jon and will try to pass it to Jon through Obie, my one and only chance and opportunity to do so?’ Fist I thought ‘yeah right, go back to earth, Kuba’ but then after a second I thought “it’s now or never, you’ve got nothing to lose, you talked to him once so you can do it again, KTF and it will work out’ And with that thought in my mind we went to bed.

to be continued...

Next day after we checked-out at 12 from the hotel we had really nothing to do in London. We both were still not fully rested after the trip to Paris and had enough of sightseeing for this year So we decided to go to the center, and sit down by the Thames River, near the Eye Of London and rest over there doing basically nothing. And that would give me enough time to write a ‘Thank You’ letter to Jon. And so we did that. I took me about 2 hours to pull out 3 pages, sitting on the bank in the sun, enjoying the great weather, searching in the back of my head everything that I always wanted to say to Jon if I would ever meet him in person. Well let me keep it to myself what I did wrote over there, but just to give you a glimpse I have written about 4 things:
1.How grateful I am for their music and how much it means to me and how much it effects my life everyday, a big thank you for everything;
2. How great TC album is and that Jon should be proud of it, and play as much as possible from this album, especially BPL, HN, Bullet, TIMS, LTOR and LTL, all my personal favourites. And told him not to give up on them and give some more time for people to fall in love with them, and it will come and they will be as big in the future as any other big hits;
3. Show in Poland. I invited him to come and offered him some help with organization. Some of you may laugh but this is not as stupid as it seems. Some of you know that I have my own business. I am a co-owner of a travel & event agency and last year we have helped with organization of a huge concert in my hometown on the anniversary of the set up of The Solidarity Movement. It was a concert of Ennio Morricone, a great movie score composer, with a 100-people orchestra from Hungary and 100-people choir. It was huge and I personally was one of the few who picked up Maestro at the airport. You can believe it or not, but our small company has had its small success already but we take it step by step. That’s why I love TC. It gives me lots of strength and motivation to move on in business and get better and better even though it’s really hard sometimes. And that’s why it annoys me so much when some of you attack Jon for being a CEO, but you have no idea what it’s like to run your own company and gain success. So I also put my business card inside of that letter. I am not saying I want to make profits on it, all I want to do is help with possible organization of it, even if it means good advice only. But I think sometimes a good advice is worth more than loads of money;
4. And last but not least, I told Jon about this board. I have given him the link to JT and invited him to drop here from time to time so he could find out some inspiration and appreciation but also some constructive critics.

And that was it. And what’s funny, since I didn’t have any proper piece of paper I have written my letter on the back of the copies of my tickets for both shows from Ticketmaster (self print, A4 format). I will leave the rest between me and Jon. Anyway by time we were supposed to go for the Saturdays show, the letter was complete and in the envelope (taken from the hotel).

So all I needed to make my dream come true was to see Obie again and try to convince him to pass this letter to Jon So we went straight to the o2. We were there early but couldn’t see Obie anywhere before the Kid Rock show. After that during the break I started to look for Obie by those sound consoles again but I couldn’t see him. And just when my chance was almost gone I suddenly noticed him in front of the floor, giving something to the people in VIP area. And I said to myself again : ‘this is your once in a lifetime chance, you did everything that you could, now everything is in God’s and Obie’s hands’. So I walked toward Obie. I walked up to him and asked him if he remembers me from last night. He said ‘Sure, how are you man?’ I said I was great and that I want to ask him for one more favour (no photos this time ). He said ‘Sure, what can I do for you?”. So I told him that after our last conversation I realized that he was the closest I could ever get to the band and that I always wanted to thank them for their work and that I had written a letter and would like to ask him to pass it over to Jon. And he replied without any hesitation “Do you have it with you?” I said ‘yes’ and took it out of my pocket and showed it to him. He just smiled and said “I will pass it to Jon personally, don’t worry, he will get that letter for sure, I will do that for you, no problem’ And he put it into his back pocket of his jeans. You have no idea what I have felt in my heart at that moment. Pure joy. I just smiled to him, shook his hand, said a big ‘Thank You’ and went back to my seat.

I know that for some of you it may sound silly, childish or whatever. For me it was a really big deal. A dream come true. I don’t really know if Obie really gave that letter to Jon and probably I will never get to know about that. But if he did, and Jon himself read those 3 pages that would mean a lot to me. All I care is so he would know how his music changed the life of as small boy from Poland, who grew up on their songs and became a good husband, father and even a businessman. That’s all I care. I know Jon needs that kind of appreciation from real fans as he’s given his whole heart and soul into his music and by saying a big “THANK YOU’ that’s the least we could do to give back for all those magical and unforgettable moments that their songs have given us. I know that I did everything that I could. And honestly I don’t see any reasons why Obie shouldn’t pass it to Jon. So no matter what anyone may think about it, I am sure that Jon has received my letter. And if it has put just a little smile on his face and a thought “Damn, my music is really important to someone, and someone really cares about what I do”, that’s all I want. Then I am happy too.
And if suddenly Jon starts to play BPL as a staple it would mean that he really read my letter

to be continued...

Now back to the show. The show started as on the night before. I was a little disappointed they did not start with HN. I wanted to hear it really bad as it’s my second best song of TC. But I have to admit that on Saturday they were really on fire. The crowd was great. And no matter what you may think about the set lists, after seeing 3 shows in 10 days I can tell you only this. All the songs work perfectly live. Especially those that most of us would like to be dropped. I mean CC, Sleep, LH, WSYCGH, WGIGO etc. Crowd loves them. You just have to see it to believe it. And like I have said millions of times over here. On each show there about 99% of casual fans and they want just to have fun. And those songs give them that. They sing them, they jump, wave their hands etc. That’s why they get played. And I enjoyed them too.
But back to highlights of the show. First it was ‘Blaze’. It was great and the crowd got crazy on this one. Everyone just knew the lyrics. Then was BOR. I got to hear it for the second time but I don’t complain as this is my favourite ballad and I will never get bored with it. Perfect performance. But then a big surprise – DR. It was great. Heard it for the first time live and it sounded amazing. When they started to sing Saturday Night I just knew that my chance for hearing TD was gone but I still had faith for DC. After the part on the circle they returned with a huge surprise for me – Bullet That’s my third fav from TC. I love it. I passed the camera again to my wife so I could scream, jump and shout on it. It was brilliant. I am very very happy that I got to hear at least that one. No BPL, HN, TIMS and LTOR but at least we had Bullet. Thanks Jon, TC songs are amazing live, play them more often. But I knew we were getting closer and closer towards the end of the show. After KTF (great as always) we came down to the most important moment of the show for me- ‘Will I hear DC finally or not?’ My heart was beating like drum when they started coming back for the encore…’DC guys, damn it, play it, play it now’….moment of silence and….HAND It’s not that I don’t like the song, I really do. But it’s just that I wanted to hear DC or TD the most. My number 2 and 3. On all 4 shows I have seen so far (including the one in Bristol) I always got to hear my fav KTF so I can’t complain, but still those 2 are just my holy grails. In fact my TOP5 is like that: KTF, DC, TD, LOAP and BPL (yes, straight to TOP5, the newest baby means so much to me). But hope was still in me. Maybe as a second in the encore, I thought. But no, they started to play WDOA and somehow I knew that the chances are almost gone…And then comes the most magical part of the show. Believe me, it was something I could never imagine. No one would write a better script for this one in Hollywood. After they received a huge applause after Wanted Jon started to look at the banners in front rows I think. But after words like “I have to think about that one…man, you’re f***ing with my head’ and a smile on his face by pointing out to some banner Jon comes up to the microphone and starts to sing Prayer. And when I heard ‘We’ve got to………’ my faith was gone. No DC or TD for sure. I wanted to hear any of those 2 so bad that I can’t even express it right now. And then… Jon stops, and asks the crowd “No, are you ready for this one yet, no?”. The crowd started to scream. Jon walked away from the mic for sec and then came back with “No, I am not ready for that one”. And suddenly I felt that hope is still there, we might get something big…and then says by pointing to that people in front rows “They wanna hear These Days” I thought, no way, are you kidding me? And I screamed “YEAH” from the bottom of my deepest parts of soul. And when I heard David hit the first few sounds on the piano I realized that my biggest dream has just come true. All I could do was to scream “yes, yes ,yes” and then I realized even more, that we are going to get a full electric version, not the acoustic one. Then Rich comes up with the guitar and starts his part and I realized 100% this is it. At that moment I passed the camera to my wife again and just enjoyed it. Believe it or not, and somehow I am not afraid to say that, when Jon started to sing, tears started to fill in my eyes. Yes, a 30 year old grown up man started to cry, but with happy tears. I couldn’t sing, my throat was blocked from the emotions, all I could do was to watch and listen to this beautiful song, one of my holy grails. It was a dream come true. All the emotions, the tension that was with me through the last few months has found its way out. I felt like I was in heaven and I didn’t want to leave that place. It was just me and the band. I felt like they play it just for me. It was more than magic, it was more than spectacular, in fact I do not know the word in English that would describe what I felt at that particular moment. But that was the highest high I could ever get. Jon thanks for this one. This moment will stay with me for the rest of my life. Anytime I will hear TD I will think about that moment at the o2. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! By the way, everything that I have written above you will be able to see on the video that we recorded. And I think that you will feel it out of my screams what emotions were driving me at this magical moment.
But it turned out it was not the end of the magic. After TD Jon starts to play something talking to himself “How did that one go?” And then it turnes out he starts to play It’s Hart Letting You Go Are you kidding me? 2 TD songs in a row? Is this real? And what amazed me even more, most of the crowd knew the lyrics to that one too. But what hit me the most was the feeling that it was really hard for Jon letting London go. You could see it in his eyes, he did not want to finish the show. He wanted to play as long as possible. He smiled, he laughed, and he really enjoyed playing those songs, old friends of his, hidden somewhere in the closet of his head, and now being brought back to life. That was magic. Those 2 songs were just a highlight of the o2 residency in my opinion. He saved the best for the last. And what a finish it was
After that he also played ILTT. I don’t like this song personally but I didn’t care about it. I was still in shock after TD. But I think that London crowd deserved it and they really enjoyed this song.
And after ILTT there was one very touching moment. Jon bend down on his knees and bowed down before the crowd few times showing them respect for what they have given him during those 12 amazing nights at the o2. You will be able to see it right at the beginning of my LOAP video, when he stands up from the floor. After that there was Prayer with the crowd, which was by the way amazing that night. As good or even better as the one in Paris.

And that was it, the show was over and residency was over. Was it worth it going to London.? Oh yes it was, this was an amazing weekend. The one I will never ever forget.

I have no idea if anyone of you has read this post to the end but I just wanted to write everything from start to finish. From the bottom of my heart and soul. I had a feeling that the trip to London might be epic but never in my wildest dreams I would expect what I will experience. Meeting Obie, writing a letter to Jon, hearing KTF, Hallelujah, HT, Sante Fe, Letting You Go, Bullet and most importantly These Days was just something I could never expect.

Just for the note here’s a list of songs I recorded during those 2 day. I will try to put them on YT asap but it will take lots of time as all of them are in HD. Here they are:

25th June - Friday
BOB, BTBMB & SOML, ST, LYHOM, CC, WGIGO, BM – cover part, HT, HALLELUJAH, BLOODM, SF!!!, LN, SLEEP, IML, WSYCGH, KTF, WDOA, LOAP

26th June - Saturday
LH, ITA, BOG, BM - cover part, BOR, DR, IBTFY, SIBSN, BULLET, KTF, HAND, TD, IHLYG & ILTT, LOAP


So just to sum up, right now I know even more than before that our dreams and wishes are limited only by ourselves. It’s a simple truth that Jon is trying to send us in his songs for years. Some of us only live in dreams and some of us really try to make them come true. Only sky is the limit and everything is possible.

These days, the stars seem out of reach….but they only seem….in reality they are all within our reach. Dreams are closer to reality than we all think. All you have to do is fight for them and believe in yourself. Never give up and then anything can happen. And always Keep The Faith!!! No matter what! And it will happen. Sooner or later but eventually it will happen.

Bon Jovi, thanks again for the amazing shows, 3 in 10 days time, the ones I will remember for the rest of my life. Thanks for those amazing songs, for the ‘straight from the heart’ performances and for writing another unbelievable and memorable chapter of my life. You are the best band in the universe and I hope to see you live again in the future.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

And here it is – for the start the most magical moment – THESE DAYS:

THE END!

Yes - I read it from start to finish. It is obvious a very heartfelt review and I think any die-hard fan of any band would understand the music meaning that much to you.

Just for the record - Hallelujah does exactly the same thing to me. I close my eyes and simply listen to the emotion - and get chills. Hearing Dry County twice at Giants did the same to me - it was completely unexpected - and therefore very special.

That's a great story. Just really amazing.

I read it all too... and you left me speechless man. You know, it's almost 4AM here in Spain, I should be sleeping, but Im going to read it again cause... just wow, Im so happy for you. The letter thing is a dream for most BJ die-hard fans, its almost like talking to Jon himself, its great. A dream come true indeed

When I heard Hallelujah in Madrid I felt the same way really. I've always love that song, but seeing Jon singing it live was awesome.

Thank you for this post. For things like that Im proud to be a BJ die-hard fan, with no regrets xD. Few bands can make you feel this way.

Good Night!


PS: Sry if my english is not the best, its late and Im tired xDDD

You are AWESOME, Kuba!

Amazing tale . . . because it is so much more than a review. Many thanks for sharing it with us. If Jon opened your letter and started reading, I'm sure he read the whole thing if it was anything like this. There's no way he could have stopped!

Your TD video is awesome! Nice getting to see how that audible all went down

Amazing review of your O2 experience and I so can relate to everything you wrote. There was magic in the air indeed and the encore of night 2 will stay in my memory forever.