It took me some time, but finally: hereīs my review of the Stuttgart and Munich shows!
We were five guys from Sweden that rented a minivan and took off. We left at 5 am on Friday the 26th and just like that, 17 hours later, we were in Stuttgart! We visited some clubs in Stuttgart in the evening and then headed home to the parking as we slept in the van.
A good (thatīs irony) nights sleep later, we bought breakfest and beer and headed off to the que.
As we never got the whole become-a-fan-club-member-2005-if-you-want-to-get-up-front-thingy, we hade to run like idiots. But that we did, and we made it into the pit! Wohoo!
It was hard though. The field seemed to be 2000 miles long and I was wearing shoes that look good, but definately not is made for running.
The first opening act was okey. I thought the first two songs were very good, but then it got a bit... average. And the singer kept playing, I donīt know who you translate this but, airguitar? Like all the time. And that puts a big L in his forehead. It was a bit funny, though.
Then Nickelback entered the stage. Actually, I thought they were quite all right. They have some good songs and I can really see why theyīre opening for Bon Jovi since they have the attitude of a stadiumband. A lot of smiles and good interaction with the crowd. The drummer looks very cool also.
But then, thereīs something hilarious about them. And not in a good way. Chad has a very feminine way of... well, moving. Like my friend said when the band entered the stage: "Yup, thatīs a girl with a beard all right".
All in all, they did a good job.
Then it was time for Bon Jovi. Last man standing is absolutely not the best way of opening a show. Itīs too slow and Jon sings in a very low key. You just wanna sing your ass off when the band enters and... well, you canīt. Itīs too low!
I was very glad to hear Bounce instead of boring Everyday and I thought the setlist in general was very good. Seven songs from Slippery! No complaints here
..
As everyone has been saying, Richie is not the same! Yeah itīs cool when he messes up his face during the solos and he always wear very cool clothes, but I demand more of the man. Sure, heīs been through a lot, but people pay a lot of money and travel very far to see the band.
Iīm very satisfied with Iīll be there for you, though. Itīs one of the highlights in every concert. The solo in the end is true magic, but itīs always rather hard to hear since the crowd is singing their asses off.
Another highlight, if not THE highlight, were Bad medecine/Shout. That one is a killer this tour!
Encores were great, I was very glad to hear Never say goodbye. I was lucky enough to hear the acoustic version of the song in Kiel on the Bounce tour. It was amazing then, and even better know. Jon does a very good job singing it and Richies solo... well, it took my breath away. An excellent way to end a show.
I gotta say that Jon sounded brilliant throughout the whole show. He had a litlle problem in Keep the faith but otherwise... He sounded better than he has in a very long time.
And: I grabbed Jons hand during In these arms! I know I sound like a 13 year old girl but I canīt help it: I grabbed Jons hand!
So the show ended and we went to sleep in the van. The next morning, we drove for another three hours in the pouring rain. We had a quick meal at Pizza hut, then went to the que.
I think we asked like ten german secutiry guards about where we should que and got ten different answers. So finally we went with the que that were most suggested and of course we ended up at the wrong end of the stadium.
So again, we ran like idiots and made it into the second section like one minute before they wouldnīt let more people in. And then we managed to walk by some guards who didnīt pay attention and once again we were in the pit. I could get used to that.
Since Iīve always been more of a reader than a writer at this forum, I donīt know so many people, but I ran into Florin (devilsson). He was, as expected, a very nice person. Though, he did seem a little bit disappointed when we discussed the World Cup in soccer, and the fact that Sweden easily qualified and Romania did not...
However, Iīm sure he got happier when the first opening act started.
It was the worst Iīve ever seen on a stage! It was hilarious.
How they had got the honour of opening for Nickelback and Bon Jovi, I will never know.
Nickelback next. How you remind me was good, guitarist got crazy during Never again, Chad was feminine... Everything was normal.
I gotta say one thing though: Iīm amazed by the way BJ-fans welcome the opening act. Theyīre always so nice! They sang along, had Nickelback-signs and even did these pahtetic devil-horns throughout Too bad! You people are so nice!
..
And then Bon Jovi. An amazing performance. Iīve seen that some members here at the board have som complaints, but Iīm totally satisfied. To me, it was nothing but pure magic. Band was excellent, setlist was excellent, Jon was beyond my wildest dreams.
Setlist started of the same as Stuttgart. I donīt really understand why they keep playing I wanna be loved. It didnīt work in Stuttgart, it didnīt work now.
I like it on record but live itīs just lame.
Iīve stated earlier that itīs no use at all playing Radio if they donīt lower the key so Jon can get up there in the chorus.
In Munich it included a nice speach, but thereīs no power at all in the chorus. A waste of time.
Otherwise, everything was amazing. I really like the acoustic version of Blaze, and even though Bed of roses were played in TLFR-style, I liked it. Jon sang the last chorus as the original one and it sounded great. I think it worked out good to slow it down a a little with BOG, BOR and IBTFY.
Then came Bad medicine, again a killer. I was very impressed. I donīt even like that song very much.
And then, the wonderful encores. We had written Dry County on a swedish flag and brought it two both shows. So just before Jon started to sing "Across the border..." he pointed his finger at our flag. Sweet.
A little victory for the bad Bon Jovi-country that Sweden is.
The Philly Soul-thing during Keep the faith was very funny, as someone wrote earlier.
And then the last song; These days. We got both Dry county and These days. A 40 year old italian next to me cried like a baby.
But I canīt blame him. Jon does sing TD with a lot of emotion.
Just one complaint: Whereīs the harmonica? Bring it back Jon. Now.
So that was the whole thing. Three hours of magic. The crowd was awesome, you could tell by the look of Jons face that he also thought the night was very special.
Good idea whoever was handing out Smiley-ballons before the show started. It was very cool. Party, party!
So thatīs all! Sorry Florin that I couldnīt join you and the other JT-members for a beer afterwards, but my friends wanted to start the ride home.
After another 20 hours on the road we were finally home.
Happy, but tired.