Once in a while- mostly once a year- i get out of my students life to bring me back to my teens. meaning i find myself nervously standing and waiting in front of the gates of some austrian football stadium in expectation of a band i've seen so many times before- playing the same stuff over and over. not only the sense of this action even the necessity of it keeps me wondering about myself. then- when the gates open i squeeze towards the place where mean ppl want to take away my water bottle so that i dehydrate during the following hours. but the fail cause they don't know that in my rucksack beneath all these clothes there's another bottle which they can't find cause i carefully prepared the rucksack (nerds!). when they've finished failing to do their job i aim towards the stage and run like a haunted beast- only 14 year old girls in the same situation but at a robbie williams show are even faster (and even madder) than me. the following hours pass like a deja-vu- the crowd, the support act and the blaming of the support act for them not being bon jovi. then they finally leave (thank heaven!) and after a short time bon jovi arrives- the crowd goes with them, jumps screams- me in the middle- amongst the loudest and most annoying for the normal folks who came just to have fun but they don't understand. i don't understand, too- it just happans. last night was one of these nights i'm just talking about. but first things first:

Jana, apple of my eye,
light of my day,
princess from jovitalk,
hottest of all chocolates,
best of all frauds,
german bon jovi queen,
personal favourite german of mine!
What you did yesterday i will never forget-
Thou hast three wishes free (i will stop now....*g*)

Little explanation: as you know there were 2 standing categories- the 58€ general admission and the 99€ gold circel or whatever it was called. Jana had the 99€ ticket- i had GA. i called her in the stadium- she left her spot in the third row to give me her ticket (she had the wristband and didn't need it anymore and btw: i was so pumped that i was really unfriendly to her- sorry again, jana!) i went to the wristband guy complaining that they've wripped off my 2nd rip off thing at the entrance- he hesitated and finally said: it's ok- go in! so i got my wristband got into the second barricaded area (behind the ramp) where i found my spot directly in the middle in the first row. great!!! it worked once- it will have to work twice: i went out handed the ticket to a friend and the same trick really worked again. we stole bon jovi 81€- it won't hurt them... this glorious deed appreciated i must say that the pit wasn't ful and the securities filled it up by letting GA ppl into the pit but thanks, hugs and kisses anyway!

So finally to the show. about nickelback: they're a very good band with an awesoe drummer but with only one song- their show is a continuing deja-vu... a fun thing were their t-shirt guns with which they shot t-shirts into the crowd. enough said about them. to bon jovi:
it won't be another these days tour. it was the same setlist as in düsseldorf with 2 changes or something. the good thing: jon sounded GREAT- didn't know that he can really sing that good- he gave full steam and the price was that he lost his voice towards the end of the concert.
It all started with LMS- a long and good live version. jon stood directly in front of us shaking hands with everybody but me cause i didn't wear a jovi shirt- he would do the same thing again during "in these lights" but i think i will survive it somehow- hope i don't get a PTSD.
Next came just like always Bad Name... imho cpt. crash came too early- the crowd wasn't warmed up and jon had real trouble to get all hands saying. First highlight was i'd die for you which i finally heard live the frist time- first big deep was that jon noodled the solo- terrible- i might get nightmares from this one. second highlight followed instantly: novocaine! this song should stay in the setlist forever and ever- it's not only one of maybe five out of all jovi songs with an actual meaning and (at least parts of) great lyrics- moreover it's topic is in this band is as evident as it can be. while i watched jon singing i knew that today i'll finally get the answer to why i think that the band has lost it. and btw: no- god is NOT a women!
My first disappointment was that the following songs turned out to be just like in düsseldorf and with every song my disappointment grew and grew and finally reached it's climax when he announced joey- despite my threats i didn't leave. and after joey it should get even worse. cause in these lights followed. in these LIGHTS?- yep- in these lights. as i told you, my dear reader, i was in the front row of the 2nd pit directly behind the ramp and... directly behind a big neon light which blinded me throughout the night- i actually should sue 'em for this pain i suffered... it was one of these moveable lights with different colors etc. and during in these arms - really, during the entire maybe 8 minutes, this goddamn thing never moved off my face so that i saw nothing but light and it really really hurt! i closed my eyes but it still was light as day- then i decided to jump so that i'd have a rhythm of taking off and feeling the relief that the torture has ended and landing directly in front of this hells instrument. so it went like 4 minutes. then- as if the w***** who made the lights wanted to take the piss out of me- put the lights about 20 cm up so that it was torture to jump and a relief to land- then i logically stopped jumping but this thing still blinded. after the song the light finally went away from me so that i could figure out that i don't see a thing....

"The wheel of fortune, round and round it goes- where it stops nobody knows- i thought this to be the dullest introduction in the history of this planet" (Frank Sinatra, Live at the Sands/ Las Vegas)

"Like Franky said i did it my way- caus it's.... my.... life....- this IS the dullest introduction ever made" (Martin Steinkogler, Live at Gugl-Stadium/ Linz)

But next came the highlight of the day and the best moment in a jovi concert for years: richie singin i'll be there for you. incredible, stunning, amazing- i lack of words. This man loves music, this man loves his guitar, he gently strikes it, treats it like a lover, and his singing is painful screaming whispers. the words are his- he is not singing a song- he is telling us what's on his mind, shares all his emotions and all his pain with 32,000 ppl. he isn't a rock star- he is just a man named richie sambora: a totally ****ed up guy from the states. he is what he does and he does what he is. that's him. that's intimate. that's true. he's true.
and then i realized why i started to think that they've lost it- it's all about jon. jon is a rock star. jon is an actor (and one of the worst!). jon is a society man. jon's more entertainer than musician. he is an actor even on stage. he's untrue- and that's it. his songs are what he thinks that sells- existentialistic and ever repeating crap; it's my life was the worst what could happan to this great band. but the show continued and i will, too

next came hit on hit on hit- you have to do this before leaving- gotta get the crowd going. no jungle voices during ktf cause jon's voice began to stumble. my biggest surprise: i enjoyed medicine/shout/medicine - it was fun and it made the crowd (which i thought to be a bit lame) wild. and jon killed his voice during medicine- as i said before: he sang better than ever- vocally, he did amazing!
prayer gave him the rest what i don't understand is why jon still shrieks up to the highest notes after the modulation- why not let an other guy sing it?

the encores- i was diappointed to hear bells- mostly cause i hoped that the changes will come in the encore- and paradoxly- my biggest fear was that they'd leave off dry county. but back to bells. spiritistic verse, martin luther king on the screen- i thought that i'm in a church somewhere in the southern states of the USA "can i hear an amen? AMEN!!! can i hear an amen?? AMEN!!!!" pathetic. but the music is somehow good and i think the crowd liked it. but my mind was set on a totally different thing: dry county! but jon took his guitar and runaway followed. man, they ROCKED!! they crowd was exhausted and not too much response came but i gave it a damn and like the biggest of all idiots and jumped and sang beneath all those ppl who did hardly anything.
next was sleep when i'm dead which i'm gonna defend to the bone. i love this song and it's the only song i wanna hear at every single bon jovi concert i visit. but during the song i only thought: c'mon guys- i know jons voice has suffered a lot but please please please play dry county!!! when jon said "i'm feeling just older" i thought a) all of your following movies should flop and the critics should destroy all your hopes of becoming an actor b) your stocks should sink dramatically and c) you should be denied good sex for the rest of your life!!!! taking dc out and playing OLDER instead??? and why the f**** is crowd so happy? why are they all dancing? am i the only sane guy here? the only one who knows that we've all been cheated? we're just facing the biggest scandale in rock history and they cheer???? WTF?????????? but this was finally over and david started these days i was in peace again. not in heaven cause they usually play TD in austria- but they wouldn't have to fear me coming to their hotel rooms. funny details: dave totally messed his intro- richie started too early and ****ed up his part of the intro, too!

all in all it was a good show- from tour to tour the boys get better and better - the biggest step ahead was jon who sang great- but his stage appearance is faked