[nikos greece]

the 23rd i think was better than the 22nd , jo kept mentioning that his goal over the o2 recedency is 70 different songs, he also mentioned that they have done somewhere near 55 and that he will try to make it. the low point for me was the small amount of circle songs, jon must be really fustrated and gutted not to promote it...sth that seems really weird because he hasnt given a real chance to most of the songs, for gods sake, jon has supported average albums like bounce, has said that lost highway has the best bridge ever written from bon jovi and finally makes a good-solid album, makes a huge tour behind it and doesnt play the new songs...i dont see why bullet-brokenpromiseland-thorn in my side arent regular!!!i went to 2 shows and i didnt hear superman and wwwb, but i got twice captain crash and sleep

[Javier]

Jon's voice is more suited for I don't like mondays now than it was in '96. lol

[ticos_stick]

Originally Posted by bman2112

OK - long review coming up.....

I went to the gig last night, and I've read through some of the reviews and I'm struggling to understand some of the comments.

I'm not here to troll, or bitch and moan, however honestly, I think that was an extremely average concert. I'm soooo dissapointed after taking my sister and girlfriend to the gig and saying in the lead-up how awesome the bad was going to be.....

Right from the off - Blood on Blood is NOT (in my opinion) an opening song! Someone of Jon's stature as a front-man should not have a guitar in his hand for an opening number. Blood on Blood is an encore song, not a lead-off song.

The guys looked a little tired, and it was only Living on a prayer that got the stadium up out of their seats, and that was the last number!

I was sitting half way down the arena, Richie's side, and from where I was sitting a fast proportion of the crowd were seated for about 50% of the gig. I understand people saying the set list was amazing, but there were plenty of people scratching their head at songs like 'damned' and 'I got the girl', 'Captain Crash' etc. There needed to be classics in there.... 'Always, This 'aint a love song, Raise your hands'

Maybe this is the problem - I normally get really good tickets for Bon Jovi, and I'm up at the front which is a totally different experience, but from where I was sat the band looked shagged and simply going through the motions, in particular Jon. You could almost see it on his face. he looked pis*ed off that the crowd weren't into it, and that (in my opinion) was due to the set list.

There were some great parts (it is a Bon Jovi gig after all). Bob Geldof was cool, Love's the only Rule was brilliant.

Here's my take........

1. Blood On Blood - Not an opening song - yes it is awesome and one of my favourites, but it's an encore song

2. We Weren't Born To Follow - Meh, about time the band realised this isn't a great song

3. You Give Love A Bad Name - Very good tonight, in fact it was excellent

4. Born To Be My Baby - Meh (great song, but Meh performance)

5. In These Arms - Very good

6. I Don't Like Mondays (w/ Sir Bob Geldof) - Awesome (and old Bob can certainly sing)

7. I Got The Girl - Seriously, utter rubbish.

8. Captain Crash - Yawn

9. Sleep When I'm Dead - Another yawn (just going through the same old motions that I've seen this song performed)

10. We Got It Going On - Not bad, considering the songs pretty average

11. Bad Medicine w/ Hot Legs + Shout - Very good! Especially Bad Med.

12. Loves The Only Rule - Awesome

13. Lay Your Hands On Me (Richie) - Rubbish. no, no, no. This just doesn't work at all. Play one of YOUR songs Richie - maybe One Light Burning, Stranger?

14. Bed Of Roses (Jon on Circle) - Good, but Jon's voice was a little buried in the mix (he looked like he was REALLY into it tho)

15. Diamond Ring (Jon & Richie Circle) - Yawn - cue for everyone to sit down and scratch their heads on why they're doing it.

16. These Days (Band Circle) - Actually pretty good version, but it was at this time most people were sat down (on the side of the arena - certainly my side)

17. Someday I'll Be Saturday Night (Band Circle) - Nope - didn't work. yawn. This is a great song when it's up-tempo

18. Happy Now - I love this song, so I'm glad they played it.

19. It's My Life - Pretty cool

20. Who says You Can't Go Home - 'Bon Jovi going through the motions'.

21. Keep The Faith - This song for me never really works live, so I didn't enjoy it.

Encore
22. Damned - Nope - I get the fact they rarely play it, but it's just not a great song for a first encore. Blood on Blood should have been here

23. Wanted Dead Or Alive - Very average. I think the band had almost given up, especially Jon

24. Living On A Prayer - Probably the best song of the night - Everyone was up and screaming. But it was the ONLY time during the gig this happened.

£85 for that ticket. Maybe I would have been happy to spend £20 for that gig. I think playing two nights in a row is too much for them on a 12 show commitment.

I'd say round 11 is going to be poor too, and then they'll blow the place away for the last gig. Shame I won't be there, because I'm not spending more money 'hoping' to see Bon Jovi at or close to their best. I just can't take that chance.

Last time I saw them in Southampton I enjoyed the gig, but said that would be the last time (I've seen them maybe only 10 times). I should have stuck to that thought.

As my sister said when leaving - "It was all very middle-aged stuff"

Summed it up for me. Damned indeed...........

I felt very much the same as you when I went to the show on the 17th (you can read my review a few pages back) I was very excited before but by the time the 5th song had been played I knew the show was going to be average.

The set list although varied was full of songs that killed the momentum of the show at numerous points. I think most of the people ranting and raving on here were in the first few rows because towards the middle / back of the arena the atmosphere never got going. These O2 shows haven't been special and I just hope they bring a bit of magic back in 2011.

[Tixy]

Agreed, I thought it was a good night only because I was 5th row or something.

[bman2112]

Guess it comes down to where you're sitting and who you're with to some extent. If all they did was an acoustic set of Lost Highways but i was at the front, I would have loved it (probably). Guess it comes down to ££ in some respects. You pay for what you get......

Like i said i've seen Bon Jovi about 10 times now, and for about 8 of those times i've been in the 'Gold Circle'. Each one of those gigs were excellent. The two i thought were poor shows was the one i've spoken about and the last gig played at the old Wembley Stadium, where i was sat high left of the stage.

Tico's Stick made the point about 'momentum killers' and I think this was very true of the O2 gig I went to. One moment it looked like they were going to blow the roof off, and then came something like "I'ver got the Girl" or 'Captain Crash'

Still, I shall continue to support the band, and look forward to any new music they put out.

The one thing i forgot to mention in my review was that Jon's voice was excellent. I didn't expect that, but he sounds much better now than I've possibly ever heard him.

[Kid_Jovi]

This was my first bon jovi show and it was the best show ive ever been to in my life it rocked. We were up shouting and giving them flying V's the whole night. It was a great atmosphere and the whole band rocked. People on this forum are stupid why on earth would you go to a show and say its bad, its only bad if you make it bad you have to make it good by head banging and shouting and singing. Rock n Roll isnt supposed to be perfect.

[tonybecks]

Originally Posted by Sami

This may sound a bit embarrassing, but I say it anyway... I was very much looking forward to hearing Happy Now. And when they finally started it, I didn´t recognize it at first. I thought they were playing I Believe but the opening riff sounded sort of weird...

Hahaha - I did the EXACT same thing - I even shouted to my friend: "Yaaaaaaaaaay - I Believe - they haven't done this at the O2 yet..." and then felt very stupid straight after. Haha.