[BeExcellent]

Everything James D said!

[Butters]

Holy shit what a gig.

You guys that didn't go might look at that setlist and think it's short and predictible, and maybe it is (should this have been a promo show or a proper "tour" show?), but in this instance it was all about quality not quantity.

The new songs all sounded superb.

The highlights were of course ANY OTHER DAY with Richie's mind-blowingly brilliant solo (although the crowd needed a sever kick up the arse for their reaction to this one) and MAKE A MEMORY.

LOST HIGHWAY and WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN' both came across very well and it was obvious Jon and Richie loved playing them. After the playing of those two songs which followed the Prayer/Bad Name opener Jon said "That's two for you (Prayer/Bad Name) and two for me". I LOVE THIS TOWN was as good live as I had imagioned it would be. The only minor complaint I would have is that playing this song and WHO SAYS (which was quality) is a bit much in a 19 song set. HAND would have balanced things out a lot more, and I'm sure it would've been more of a crowd pleaser.

THE LAST NIGHT also stood out. I know a lot of people don't think too highly of it, but the performance was superb, but then again I think the song is superb. WE GOT IT GOING ON was very cool. That is what the song is written for, much the same as Raise Your Hands.


If it had been any other concert I would have been moaning about the lack of imagionation with regards to the hits in the main set list but they were all performed with so much energy and enthusiasm that I really didn't mind at all.

The encore was steller. As I've already said AOD was the highlight of the night, followed by an epic and passionate performance of SATURDAY NIGHT. HALLELUJAH was haunting. WANTED was.....wanted, and the band's performance of KEEP THE FAITH summed up the night perfectly, ie, perfection.

The venue is really superb. It looks great, it sounds fantastic and the atmosphere was electric.

Jon, as others have said, was on blistering form. Vocally he was steller and personally I have never seen him more animated and up for show as last night.

Richie was beyound words. You could very easily see how happy and moved he was last night and his performance was truly inspired. I also loved the interaction between he and Jon throughout the concert.

It's rather amazing, had I seen that setlist prior to paying 150 euro for a ticket, and not to mention flights etc. I almost certainly wouldn't have gone. Boy would I have been kicking myself.

[Javier]

Originally Posted by Jim Bon Jovi

you're missing the point that aerosmith was a festival show. to get 14 tunes from a headliner at a festival is pretty good and chances are they couldn't play any longer even if they wanted to.

But aerosmith never play more than 14-15 tunes even on headline shows.

[hackster73]

Originally Posted by Thierry

I agree Laura, the show was magical as Richie was too. Damn it was great, Richie was on top form. There was just one downer for me on this show - the middle part with Who Says - Sleep and Bad Medicine.

Jon was awesome and not taking it easy like he did quite a few times on the Hand Tour. He was pushing it. There were quite a few highlights like Any Other Day (the guitar solo by Richie was breathtaking) - Make A Memory - Whole Lot Of Leaving, in fact all the new songs sounded really well except the Last Night which bored me a bit. Despite the expensive tickets - this was a lot better than probably anything they did on the Bounce and Have A Nice Day tour. It was great to see Richie playing like this again.

Totally agree with this. We were A2 row S, great view and the sound was awesome. The band had high energy and it was a pleasure to see them. I have not seen the band so into it for quite some time. I hope next year it is a shorter tour, fewer dates so the band put more into every performance.

[RS8MB0R8]

It was a great show but a poor setlist IMO.

Seven songs from the new album is just too many and they could have easily done five for the promo bit and added a couple of others, even if they weren't rarities.

I don't know why peeps are saying the sound was good though. The band were on form but it took a while for the sound engineers to sort out the levels which, considering there was a proper soundcheck before the event, was slightly bemusing. Richie's first notes in LOAP instantly had him diving for his pedalboard as the sound was overpowering and Dave's keys were very loud all night. Not the greatest mix and I've heard better at outdoor gigs. It didn't detract too much though.

OK gripes over, this is why I am SO glad I went...

The energy was immense. The band were tight and seemed to be really savouring the brilliant atmosphere inside the arena. It was great to see Richie looking so well given recent events but his workrate and playing were amazing. The rendition of 'Any Other Day' will no doubt go down in the Bon Jovi legendary performances bible alongside the likes of 'Always '95'!!

The rather unexpected 'rumbling' of the band's arrival at the O2!!! We just went for a wander around the back of the venue at around 4pm, along the Thames cyclepath and walkway before noticing a small gathering of fans, men in black suits, large tele-focal lenses and a procession of five rather nice BMWs parked up along the riverbank. Being naturally curious (and rather intuitive ), we joined the group and jostled for information as to what exactly was going on, with muffled mutterings of,

"Their boat's due shortly...," and, "They're almost here...,"

fuelling our excitement!

Sure enough, a fairly inconspicuous catamaran promptly appeared to our right and turned briskly towards the gathering of now frantic paparazzi fighting for space on the cordoned off jetty. The fanclub members were then told they could either wait by the cars or make their way down to the pier (which most obviously did) so we were left with an amazing spot just by the gates. I hoisted my fiance up on to my shoulders with her camera as the cheering grew louder and the cars pulled up beside us.

Jon appeared first, swaggering up to the first silver BMW with a calm and collected Richie in tow as the fans around us jeered. Tico and Dave then sauntered up to the second car with Hugh jumping in the third behind them.

It was the unexpectedness that made it truly fantastic to have been there - we'd just taken a stroll to try and see the Thames Barrier!!! I'll post up links to youtube once I get the video footage my fiance took up!

Meeting Thierry and Laura was cool. Would have liked to have got a group photo with you guys but you were in the middle of trying to frantically locate somebody in the tiers so we decided not to interrupt you!

Another highlight was getting to our seats pretty early alongside the sound and lighting desk and recognising Patrick of 'Last Man Standing' fame! Wayne and I wandered up and politely asked if he would be kind enough to sign our concert tickets to which he obliged. I wished him a great show and wandered back to our seats. It was all the more cool to get his autograph because a handful of people also tried to get his attention about 15 minutes later and were promptly ushered away by the security. A unique memento of a brilliant night!

And to top it all off, we managed to drive straight out of the carpark and on to the M11 within about ten minutes! RESULT!!!

A great night. Perhaps overpriced but if given the opportunity to do it again, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another ticket for such an intimate venue.

Excellent gig!

Here's the band arrival vid:

Bon Jovi arriving at the O2 Dome - 24/06-07 -...

The Hallelujah clip will follow shortly once it has registered on youtube.

[KeepTheFaith2211]

Sounds like a brilliant show. My brother went so I'll get another review

[Christo]

Whilst Any Other Day is yet to grab me in the same way that it has done to a lot of other people here, I would love to hear Whole Lotta Leavin' live, I think it is a great song and a good reflection of where some of the band members are at in their lives, as divorce is probably at least as common at their age as any other. Novocaine is still my favourite song from HAND too....

Glad so many people enjoyed the show!

[UKjovi]

Originally Posted by RS8MB0R8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbrUlGGz3RY

I love this clip , all the fans shouting "Play Dry County"
The more i think about this gig the more i think it was one of the best i've ever seen. I'd say it was as good as Milton Keynes in '93

[Kev]

Bon Jovi - Any Other Day Richie solo - O2 Arena -...

Another Richie Any Other Day clip

Bon Jovi O2 Arena - I Love This Town - YouTube

Cool vid of I Love This Town

[mrleaf]

Going to keep this short,
Great Show--(agree with a lot of people saying that it was one of the better"Band"performances in years)
Great Venue--Even though there was a few teething prob(my wifes ticket not scanning and having to go pack to the que and get another)Oh and a few places Running out of Drink
Great Sound--We were right in the middle so it sounded brilliant.

Highlights--Any other day(Ritchie solo)actually all the tracks from Lost Highway came accross very well in a live enviroment even We Got It Going on(which i dont like on the cd) sounded very good live.I can see I love This Town turning into an Anthem because hearing this live made it stand out.
Hallelujah was brilliant(but i question having it as the start to the Encore)

So i guess there's a whole lot of waiting going on now to see what dates they will do for the tour next year?