By that point, everyone was breathless, including Jon. He decided to take a break but that didn’t mean we earned one as well. Things were just getting better and better. He gave the microphone to his “esteemed colleague and my dear friend, my right hand, the one, the only Richie Sambora”. When Jon said “This song is from our 1995 album…It’s the title track…It’s called THESE DAYS”, I was about to collapse. I screamed out in joy. Everyone in the front area heard me. It had always been a dream to hear THESE DAYS live, especially the piano introduction, which always gives me goosebumps. I would say out of all of the songs the band has produced and whilst there are many inspirational songs, the four main inspirational songs that have had a pivotal impact of my life are Dry County, Something to Believe In, Santa Fe and These Days. From the moment I heard it back in 2000, I was swept completely. I was blown away when watching the 1996 Yokohama performance (). But the most emotionally filled footage I’ve seen of the song being played was during the extra video at the end of the Live from London 1995 DVD when Jon said (while the piano introduction was playing in the background) “It was always just people, and that was all it ever was. And you know, the greater claim that we seem to be getting for These Days, I’m not gonna take that anymore seriously, but I know that there’s 72,000 people out there tonight that like those lyrics and they are Tommy and Gina and they are those people you know, and that’s more important to me than the critic”(). To me, that clip does not only relate to the band at that point in their career (whereby These Days was arguably their most successful album and the 1995-1996 world tour was their biggest and most successful tour), but relates to many universal themes and also, personal themes too. It is a special song that features in so many personal memories during my lifetime and my association with Bon Jovi. Whilst I had become so used to Jon’s vocals singing this song (as I have heard it over a thousand times), I embraced Richie’s voice and loved the style of singing he brought to the song. He makes it his own. I just couldn’t believe how each song/period during the concert was outperforming what preceded it. As Richie took the microphone and the piano introduction commenced, he said “How’s ya day? Thank you guys for coming out tonight! You know, through the years, you write a song and as the years go by, the lyrics mean a little something different. And I had pretty tough year about a year ago and I just wanna thank you guys for helping me get through that ****************. Thank you. This one is for all of us, cause all we got is us, these days”. I almost surrendered to my emotions and cried, not only because I emotionally felt for Richie and his recent tough period, but also, because the song too helped me get through some tough times. The piano introduction has always been the most inspirational sound that I’ve ever heard. It always reminds me of the world that we live in, and how to reach your goals in life, you must reach for the stars, as they “aint out of reach”. Richie’s voice was breathtaking. The best part was during the second verse with the lyrics “Jimmy shoes busted both his legs, trying to learn to fly. From a second story window, he just jumped and closed his eyes. His momma said he was crazy - he said momma I’ve got to try. Don’t you know that all my heroes died, and momma, I guess Id rather die than fade away” and the final lyric towards the end “There aint nobody left but us these days”. Simply unforgettable!!!

Now, at that point, I had no expectation, thought, prediction as to what was going to occur next. I’ve always been a firm believer that dreams do come true but I never knew that a dream of a dream can also come true. I was about to witness the surprise of my life.

As Richie finished singing These Days, I sensed that the noise levels in the area I was seated in increased dramatically. Girls were screaming. The arena was pitch dark, so I couldn’t work out exactly what was going on, but had feeling something was going on. Little did I know that Jon was within proximity and was going to be performing with his acoustic guitar on a little stage right in front of my very eyes (literally 10 metres). The lights were switched back on and there he was, right in front of me with his acoustic guitar and pulling the surprise of my life.

All I could remember saying to myself was ‘this can’t be true’. The following question became a headline in my mind ‘Out of all the sections in the front area to choose from, how in the bloody hell did we managed to end up facing each other with a 5-10 metre distance barrier?’. I was shell-shocked. That was too good to be true. There I was, holding my camera and not knowing how to return back to reality. I couldn’t fathom the fact that he was that close. He was a singer and role model I’ve always looked up too and I was given the chance to see him perform his magic in front of me. I knew right then and there that I was blessed and I was thanking God for making my dream a reality, after years of living in the recorded performances and not experiencing the real thing. Surprisingly, it never crossed my mind in the past that this would ever happen or I would be in such a position, so it was definitely a new and unique feeling, never before envisioned. Looking back in hindsight, just that moment in the show made up for not hearing my two all time favourites, Dry County and Always. In fact, when I heard the first few acoustic beats of (YOU WANT TO) MAKE A MEMORY, I had no choice but to accept the fact that he was there in front of me, and I excitedly did. I also waved my cardboard sign in front of him to see my request. It was the closest that I could ever get it. I’m pretty sure he saw it because other people from further away saw it (including some friends). I was proud with what
I was doing. As I write this review, I watched a Triple M interview with Jon following the Sydney shows, and he made a few comments regarding the signs that were present at the Sydney shows and how he it affected his singing when trying to read a sign and sing a lyric. It was extremely funny the way he explained it. He said that he had to fight with himself to not read any signs, but ended up doing so. It reminded me of how I put my sign right in his face. It would have been a miracle effort to have not read it, as it was as visible as you can get. Nevertheless, (YOU WANT TO) MAKE A MEMORY sounded great, but I don’t think the crowd prefer it as much as they would prefer their old ballads. In my opinion, I believe it was the most fitting song because it defined that whole moment. An unforgettable memory was definitely made. Every line sounded superb, especially when he pulled off the high note when singing “you wanna make a memory” towards the end of the song.

Then, from a distance, I saw Richie make his way to the stage where Jon was. I couldn’t control emotions because once I saw that, I knew they were going to sing I’LL BE THERE FOR YOU, one of the best ballads of all time, together acoustically. It was just too hard to believe and it was one of my all time favourite songs. So there I had it. Two of the greatest musicians with two acoustic guitars playing one of the best ballads of all time, and the question remained, could it get any better than that? It was too good to be true. And then, both acoustically commenced the masterpiece, which was done so beautifully. Whilst I loved Richie singing this song as the main vocalist, I love it when Jon is on the lead vocals with Richie backing up. They combine so well, and melt when they sing the verse(s) “And Baby you know my hands are dirty. But I wanted to be your valentine. I'll be the water when you get thirsty, baby. When you get drink, I'll be the wine…” and “And I wasn't there when you were happy. I wasn't there when you were down. I didn't mean to miss your birthday, baby. I wish I'd seen you blow those candles out…” That just literally blows me away every time I hear it because it’s just raw passion at its best and I was just so happy to have witnessed it being performed right in front of my eyes. It couldn’t get any better than that. I couldn’t believe that two of my idols were playing right in front of me. It just felt hard to believe. I spent years worshipping their music in my studies, at work, at the gym, at home, overseas, in my free time and in my dreams and all that became reality. Both Jon and Richie ability to engage the crowd in the song was beautifully, especially towards the end when everyone was singing “ohh wohhh ho”. Probably the best version I have heard/seen of this song was the Yokohama 1996 performance, mainly because of the additional lyrics Jon sung towards the end, which went “I’ll be there for you, baby if you want me to, I’ll be anything you need to me, baby just call my name cause I’ll be there for you. I’ll be there for you, through the pouring rain, and the driving snow. Baby, I’ll come home again, just call my name, and tell me that you want me, need me….” (). Mind blowing!!!