[yomamasofat]

Somebody has got to have the boot for this show!!!!!!!

[eriK]

can sense some sort of eager in your post Yomama...

[Captain_jovi]

Originally Posted by jenn1189

Actually he sounds great this tour. I was thinking about that yesterday and realized that while he isn't running around on stage so much, his voice is sounding better. Maybe he's realized that slowing it down some lets him have more oxygen to sing better. I don't know what the reason is, but I'm happy whatever it is.

I've been consdiering this as well. Then I realized how much he's doing to preserve his voice. He's stopped running around, he supposudly quit smoking, he's dropping the keys to a few songs and doing them acoustically. I think all of those combined means he gets less of a vocal work out each night and his voice will last longer and not kick out in a few weeks. I hope.

[MrBiscuit]

Anyone have a setlist for the 2/17 Tampa show? Thanks.

[jenn1189]

Originally Posted by yomamasofat

Somebody has got to have the boot for this show!!!!!!!

I'm hoping the same thing! And for Saturday too. It would have been easy enough to get equipment in. They hardly checked anything. We emptied our pockets in front of them, that's all they wanted. I could have had anything hidden under clothing and they never would have seen a thing.

[Becky]

Originally Posted by Kev

Lets hope so! As long as I get my pictures of you n becky. I dont wanna have to come n kick your asses in the summer!

How much you paying for this alleged picture of me & Jen? LOL

[yomamasofat]

Originally Posted by eriK

can sense some sort of eager in your post Yomama...

Dude, BOBITA was in the encore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Doesn't get any better than that.

[Becky]

I wrote my review to cover both nights, but it seems proper to split it into the "official" threads separately, so here the first part:

Round One

I can’t say for sure the reason, but I did not enjoy Friday night’s show as much as I did Nashville or Tampa #2. It probably had to do with thinking too much about too many things out of my control. I had never heard Bells of Freedom live before and it was one of the highlights to me. I noticed Jon was playing what looked like a 12-string guitar for the song too. I think it was the same guitar that Richie used later on in the show for Wanted. Before Richie sang “I’ll Be There for You” Jon said, “Heard any good rumors lately? Just remember there are two sides to every story. To my right, the truth.” Jon has been very vocally supportive of Richie at the shows I’ve seen this week and Jon and Richie are constantly slapping hands or fists. Richie was definitely getting the empathy from the crowd too. I really wished that yomamasofat from the Dry County board had been in Tampa—the band played In These Arms followed by Blood on Blood. It was great to hear Blood on Blood again. It emphasized the inner-band loyalty to me. One thing I hate about being in stands is that I feel compelled to sit down if the people behind me sit down. I really prefer to be on the floor, close to the stage. I watched the screen while Jon was over on the other side of the arena and it was amazing to see the reactions people have when he’s standing right there beside them. He took time to shake hands most of the time he was singing Bed of Roses and while he was making his way back to the stage. You can tell how much it means to the crowd that he interacts with them like that. I was captivated by it, moreso by the fan’s reactions than Jon’s actions. Men and women were both obviously thrilled by their moment. Before playing Novocaine Jon said he had seen into the future and that it was a song about misery. It wasn’t quite as intense as the Nashville performance though.

Nice show, but I just wasn't that into it. Jon had no vocal problems. I'm convinced that since every time I see him live he sounds fine, that bootlegs and webcasts are just not going to be up to par with the real thing.

[jenn1189]

Originally Posted by Becky

How much you paying for this alleged picture of me & Jen? LOL

LOL! You're in Becky's hands Kev! It occurred to me after Becky and I were done talking and she was back in her seat that I had forgotten to get a picture of us on my camera.

[Adam D]

Here's my review of Tampa Night #1. It's long so bear with me.

The last time I saw Bon Jovi was March 15th 2003 in Tampa during the Bounce Tour. It was a great show and it was cool to hear many of the songs off the Bounce record I'll probably never have the chance to hear again. The production was top notch with two massive satellite dishes doubling as huge screens. Fast forward three years to this past weekend at the same venue, the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, and there I was, expecting the same kind of show as last tour. I figured they would have a hard time topping the production values from last tour and went in with medium expectations. I was once again going to two shows in the span of two nights and didn't think the setlist would change drastically, if at all. I was in for a suprise.

My mom and I arrived at the Forum later than usual as we didn't care to catch the opening act, a local band called Among the Thirsty, I found out later. They gain points for having a cool name at least. We walked around to the merchandise stands where I bought a shirt and a program. Grand total: $60. Ahh well. There was quite a bt of "scenery" around, if you know what I mean, that made spending the money not as difficult.

As soon as the lights came up, we found our seats. Section 104, Row S tonight. I'm not used to being in the 100's as we are normally down on the floor but the seats weren't bad at all and they afforded me a little more room to move around at least. Nothing compares to the feeling I get when the house lights finally go down at a Bon Jovi show and finally the time had come. At 8:40 on the dot, Richie started the opening chords to Last Man Standing, my favorite song off the new album and the party was underway.

Because I have followed the tour since it started back in November, I knew pretty much what to expect. Jon sneaking through the crowd to a podium at the back of the arena to start Last Man from the middle of the crowd while the rest of the band chugged away on stage and it was just as cool as I had evisioned. Last Man is one of my favorite songs EVER by the band as anyone that read my little piece on the song written back in 2004 can attest to and it was amazing to hear live. The usual suspects followed, You Give Love a Bad Name, Sleep When I'm Dead and Born To Be My Baby (which was special to me this time as it is my sister's favorite Jovi song and with her just having a baby a few days before, it gave it a whole other meaning) Complicated and Story Of My Life off the new album were also played during this time and although Complicated is my least favorite song on the new record, it sounded much better live.

Then Jon said he was gonna take us all on a trip back in time and to climb aboard his time machine as he went back through the years. As he counted back "2005...2004...2002..." the crowd's anticipation kept growing as shots of previous band albums flashed on the HUGE high def. screens. When he reached 1986, the crowd's response was deafining as that was the year the band's landmark album, Slippery When Wet, was released. However, Jon wasn't done yet. He kept going and when he reached 1983, the year I was born I might add, he yelled "STOP!!!" The crowd went nuts as he told a story about walking into a radio station with nothing but a dream, a guitar and the truth. He asked the DJ to please play this song and that the song would make him a rock n roll star after it was over. The band than tore into Runaway, the first song on their debut album and everyone erupted.

The guys continued to roll, a great mix of old and new, Have a Nice Day (which went over GREAT with the crowd), It's My Life (with the audience so loud it was impossible to hear Jon) and I'll Be There For You with Richie on lead vocals. The emotion he put in the song, in part I'm sure because of the recent struggles he's gone through, really added to the atmosphere along with the killer solo at the end. After the song finished, I felt like I just wanted to shake his hand and tell him that he'll make it through the divorce just fine. One of the most emotional moments of the night for sure. The next song was Blaze of Glory with Jon in the crowd. This time it was on the opposite side from where he was before and the people over in that section just lost it. Say what you will but especially after seeing these shows, I can say that no one comes close to Jon in terms of controlling an audience. He's the most charasmatic frontman I've ever seen and that includes Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler. He had every one of the 20,000 people in the place hanging on his every word and in the case of the women, his every move. At 44, the man still has IT, whatever IT is.

More familar tunes followed, Bad Medicine, Raise Your Hands, and my personal favorite, #1 song of all time, Livin On A Prayer. It was just one giant sing-along and what a great feeling . Nothing tops that song live. On to the encores, with Novocaine, a favorite of mine off the new album, starting things off. I was very happy to hear it, as with all I've gone through this past year the lyrics really fit. The band then went into the catalouges and pulled out a seldom played gem, In These Arms off the Keep The Faith album. This was my personal highlight, as this was my eighth Jovi show but my first time hearing the song live. So many memories came flooding back for me. It was just amazing and I have to say Jon sounded awesome on the song as it's certainly not an easy one to sing. Blood on Blood, my father's favorite Jovi song, was next and it is always a very hard song for me to get through for that reason. That one really takes me back to being young, without a worry in the world.

Wanted Dead Or Alive ended the night in sing-along fashion once again, with the crowd singing the entire first verse then Richie taking over for the second. This song is really the "Bon Jovi National Anthem" as Jon puts it, and is the perfect capper to a night full of memories, excitement and magic

Night #2 review coming soon...probably won't be as long. If you read all that, you deserve a cookie