Originally Posted by stone_crazy

i'm with Sugardrops - not a big fan of the 'TLFR' version of "I'll Be There For You," no offense to anyone. i thought the bluesy version that Richie did last tour was much better.

here's a memento for anyone who enjoyed getting "In These Arms" at the show last night...

http://www.uploading.com/get.php?get=A5UYKFLC

do you have the whole show?

[SamboraQueen21]

Thanks stone crazy ~ just listened to it. Such a good song but i thought the one from Atlantic City sounded ALOT better and that is when Jon was supposedly sick. Still I love In These Arms....

[Marco@BonJovi.nl]

I was just thinking the same thing, especially the 2nd part of ITA.

Did you happen to capture the duet with Jen too?

It's good quality!! Thank you for the share!!

[yomamasofat]

Originally Posted by stone_crazy

i'm with Sugardrops - not a big fan of the 'TLFR' version of "I'll Be There For You," no offense to anyone. i thought the bluesy version that Richie did last tour was much better.

here's a memento for anyone who enjoyed getting "In These Arms" at the show last night...

http://www.uploading.com/get.php?get=A5UYKFLC

The president of BOBITA brigade thanks you!!!!!!!!!!!!

during ITA for some reason jon decided to lay down during the guitar solo and didnt get up until after the baaaaaaaaaaaaaby part

[stone_crazy]

Originally Posted by wolfgang

do you have the whole show?

word.


and http://s49.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2...L3HL7R3E8VW51K

[Sugardrops]

Originally Posted by stone_crazy

i'm with Sugardrops - not a big fan of the 'TLFR' version of "I'll Be There For You," no offense to anyone. i thought the bluesy version that Richie did last tour was much better.

here's a memento for anyone who enjoyed getting "In These Arms" at the show last night...

http://www.uploading.com/get.php?get=A5UYKFLC

stone_crazy, you're my new hero.

[Becky]

Hi all--just got in from Nashville. I'm exhausted. It's only the 2nd show I've been to this tour, but I thought Omaha was better because the crowd there was a lot more enthusiastic and I think the band feeds off that. The set list was good though, several changes from the Omaha show.

Kid Rock will be offended that bj.com left him out of the list of celebrity friends--he was there too. My friend Christy saw him up close and personal (she pointed him out to me from a distance). Dann Huff was there as well, but I guess they left out his name because he's a producer, not a "celebrity." I'm disappointed because they didn't bring out any of the celebrity guests besides Jennifer whome we all expected anyway. It would have made a really different show. The Storme Warren (who hosts Country Music Across America) introduced Trent Tomlinson, the opening act, and said that country and rock are really blended now and nothing would showcase that better than the night's show, so after hearing about Kenny being there and seeing Kid Rock, I thought it would be a really different type of show. But it wasn't that different. I honestly think the whole "big surprise" thing was a misquote in the first place because someone who heard a radio interview made more out of it than it was.

So, anyway, on with the show... they set list has been covered. The interaction with the crowd was great. I know it thrilled the people at the back of the place to see Jon on that platform at the back for the first song. The GEC is a lot bigger on the inside than it looks from the outside. Those poor folks at the back of the place probably thought the big screen looked like a 12 inch television screen. During Bed of Roses, Jon was walking through the crowd shaking hands with everyone within reach. I know it was a thrill for them--Christy got to touch him and she hasn't come down off that high yet. We met a couple at the hotel and the wife got to touch him and she was floating too. They said they couldn't believe he'd get out in the middle of the fans like that.

Jon did introduce himself as, "My name is Keith Urban." Did that little half laugh of his and added, "I like Keith Urban." He called introduced Jennifer Nettles as "Sweetness Personified." He said that when he and Richie wrote Who Says You Can't Go Home, they had no idea the life it would take and that they were surprised to have a hit on country radio. Chris Cagle covers Wanted on his new CD, so Jon referenced that by saying that he didn't write it before they played it. He spoke to Dann Huff from the stage.

I was thrilled to hear My Funny Valentine. I went to the Atlanta show on 2-13-03 and they did not play it there because they hit the curfew too early (it had been appearing in earlier shows). I hope someone recorded it. Well, I know someone was recording the show, I saw video camera red lights going off in a couple of sections.

Jon's voice sounded great. There was no evidence of his recent illness at all. I didn't notice any straining and he wasn't constantly drinking water or chewing gum. It was a real treat to hear In These Arms again after so many years! Novocaine and Welcome to Wherever You Are are songs I had not heard before and loved both of them. Like most Bon Jovi songs, they're even better live than on record. Novocaine was pretty intense. Jon said it was funny how the cover of People Magazine could turn things around. At the end he was saying, "I feel nothing. I feel NOTHING," so adamently you'd think it was him going through the divorce rather than Richie. I think Jon said Cupid could be evil but love was ultimately worth it before I'll Be There for You. Richie came over and said love was a "mother-ffff" and censored himself by turning away from the mike. Jon told him it was okay because there were 17,000 women available in the audience and he was going to sell him to everyone one of them. They sang the song TLFR style which I enjoyed. I'd rather hear it done properly electric with Jon on vocals, but I do like this version. It's a nice change. I think Jon and Richie being so close makes the men in the audience uncomfortable. Some guys behind kept giggling like little girls. Oh, back to Welcome to Wherever You Are, I think that song hit me the hardest because I'm going through a personal upheaval right now and trying to keep the faith that it will work out for the better. I know other things in my life that were horrible have made me stronger, so I'm trying to believe that things will get better. I find the song inspiring because it reminds me that it's not always as dark as it seems. I think I can say it was the personal highlight of the show for me and for Christy too because she's going through some major changes in her life too. It's funny how the songs that reduce us to tears are the ones that we leave considering highlights. It's rare I cry at any concert, so the song was really hitting home with me.

Raise Your Hands will never go down as one of the meaningful songs in the world, but it's a blast live. That's part of the greatness of a Bon Jovi show. You leave feeling better than when you went in. There's nothing wrong with a bit of plain old fun for the sake of fun. Christy and I both went in saying we weren't going to think about things, we were going to enjoy ourselves and that's what we did.

Richie (or The Great Sambora as we called him the whole way home) has a really cool new guitar that he didn't use at the Omaha show. If I played guitar, I'd want that model. It's a golden/white/cream color with stars on it and his initials. It's absolutely BEAUTIFUL, a work of art even before he plays it. He seemed kind of down at times. and sometimes kind of defiant. He was letting the music do the talking for sure. It seemed to me Jon was playing more guitar than normal. The coolest Tico moment was the beginning fo Blaze and the video screens with clouds blended with the images of him.

I've never attended a Bon Jovi show that was not incredible. I love that they're mixing up the set more than they did on the last few tours. It makes an already great show even better to not know exactly what's coming next.

Christy has a wonderful bubbly personality and isn't shy about going up to anyone. So, when we saw Obie, she approached him and she asked if Jon really hated Mississippi because he got hit by a bottle at the Jackson show in 1989 and if that was why they wouldn't come back. Obie said things like that happen and that someone threw a cherry bomb onstage at an Aerosmith show in Philly. He said Jon only hates one group of people--the Dallas Cowboys. He got so amused when she called me her friend that he got her to repeat the word friend a few times. It's an accent thing. We're cute. LOL He even sat down with us for a few minutes, so I took the opportunity to asked if they'd ever release the duet with Keith like the demos on the box set. He shook his head and said something to the effect of, "You know, it's just a pain in the ass to work things out with two record companies and two management companies. It's not as easy as recording the song to work all that out." It doesn't really matter, but it was nice to hear it from someone who really knows exactly what the status is. Edit: Gah, how tired am I? Obie cracked me up by saying, "Jon and Keith are the same guy. You never see them both in the same place." I laughed and said, "Like Clark Kent and Superman?!" LOL

Bon Jovi shows are always great and this one was no exception. I wish the crowd had been more into it, but the band was in good form and that's what really matters.

One of the people I met after the show was a country singer named Gary Nichols (Joe's cousin?) and he said that he'd always been a Bon Jovi fan and that after meeting them he wanted to cut one of their songs, maybe Bad Medicine or I'll Be There for You. Being the bold little twit I can be sometimes, I said, "Why don't you cut one of the more obscure songs and make it your own?" He asked for suggestions so I said Without Love or Mystery Train and told him that when he won a CMA he better remember to thank Becky. LMAO. No, I'm not really expecting to hear a Gary Nichols cover of either song, but it was fun to talk to him since we all had being fans of Bon Jovi in common. It was nice that most of the people who asked where we were from also asked how things were going with Katrina recovery after they found out we were from Mississippi. Maybe the human race is more compassionate than I give them credit for being.

Our trip was a lot of fun. I've spent hours laughing. So, no matter what changes in my life, Bon Jovi remains constant. I'll give my problems a Sambora Salute and move on because things can only go up when you feel like you're hitting bottom.


**PS: Jon came out in a Marine Dress Blues top which THRILLED Christy and her brother. He's a Marine and their father was a Marine so it was very special to them.

[RyanBounce04]

The part where you talked about Richie's guitar... It definently is an awesome looking guitar!!

Ryan

[SamboraQueen21]

Becky~
Thanks for the EXCELLENT review!! All those details really made me feel like I was right at the show! Love the line about Jon telling Richie he'd sell him to the girls in the crowd.. hmm ~ think i can charge him ~ I'm a little strapped for cash....

And here's a closeup of the coolest guitar in the world.... I LOVED it too when I saw it