Remember how it felt when....

and you heard the new arrangement of runaway for the first time and your jaw just dropped? Or when you somehow find yourself lost in the middle of Drift Away? Or when you cant believe the balls they have in bringing out a brass band or opening with London Calling? Or when the Rock n Roll Circus stage was ablaze in full glory? Or when Jon was so full of pride at Richie at the 02? Or when you can't believe that you're at Giant's ****ing Stadium hearing them play Never Say Goodbye? Or Even when you watch Live at Wembley and you see that girl in the front row with tears in her eyes?

****ing hell, I love Bon Jovi.

Such a great feeling, going to a Jovi show and experiencing something that you know most fans would kill to see.

Or even just the opening bars of the first song, so good.

I think Alex called them goosebump moments in a recent thread. It's magic when that happens. Last summer when I heard the first chords of Dry County being played at Giants was a recent one for me. It had been 10 years since that song had been played live here. I stood and listened, mesmerized all over again.

And These Days on the last Giants night last summer - I never expected to hear These Days at Giants (the Europeans get to hear it but it is practically never played here). AND Wild is the Wind on top of it all. What a night.

I could mention Alec coming out to play on Wanted at Giants 2001 - another goosebump moment. I'll Be There For You at the first Crush concert at the Meadowlands after a looong break in the late 90's.

I could go on but I guess that's why I'm still a fan. All of my good memories are not just from the late eighties / early nineties (though I have plenty of those too).

Kathleen

Amen.

I'll add these: Remember how it felt at your first Jovi show and the lights finally go down and you're waiting and waiting, and one by one you see the guys come on stage, and then out comes Jon and it is pure euphoria? Or when you look around during Capt Crash or RYH and see thousands and thousands of hands swaying back and forth in unison? Or when Jon goes that extra mile and does an AMAZING improv during a classic ballad? Or when the band finally honors your sign and plays the song you've been waiting to hear for 10 years (Blood) and they play it for you and dedicate it to you and you feel like you are the only one at the show (thanks JBJ!) Or when you watch a Giants DVD (2001 for ex. during Just Older) and you see Jon gaze out at the massive crowd and you see the look in his eyes and you realize he "gets it" and that he is as moved by it all as the fans are. Or when Richie struts out in his black Stetson and double neck and you hear Jon utter the words "Please rise for the playing of our national anthem?" Or when you watch them perform Hallelujah and just take it all in.

There's a word for it and that word is: Magic.

no, no, nope, no, no, no, not really, never...

sorry.

got a lot of my own goose bump stories though

...having just finished watching The Whos "The Kids are Alright", I can tell you that every single time I hear the line "why don't you all just f-f-f-f-fade away" in My Generation, my heart skips a beat. Always. Every single time. Might be conditioned to it by now.

does that count?

For me...

Remember that first show when the lights were down and the rest of the band was onstage and then Jon shot up from the floor surrounded with fireworks and your jaw dropped because you couldn't believe he was actually right there? And then when Jon and Richie stopped on the catwalk right in front of you and you could have sworn you could reach out and touch them? Or when you and your best friend had your arms around each others shoulders and sobbed uncontrollably as you sang along with Blood on Blood? Or when you heard I'd Die for You live and the words finally hit you? Or when you were 2nd freaking row and the orange seats didn't register in your mind because you six feet from your idol? When Alec took the rose you and your friend tossed onstage and put it on the drum riser? When you heard Jon sing Can't Help Falling in Love and you melted? When Jon lost his mind and cussed out the security guard because so many people were passing out? When you heard new songs at a Christmas show? When you thought "nothing could ever be better than this?" When you and your friend got to your seats and realized Jon's mike was exactly between the two of you and then the band played for nearly three hours? And you thought nothing can get better than this. When the ceiling started leaking during Dry County and you thought it was a really cool special effect? When you heard songs that had given up on ever hearing live: I'll Be There for You (back when Jon still sang it), Born to Be My Baby (which you'd never heard though it was a 12 year old song), and NEVER SAY GOODBYE? And you were sure nothing could get etter than that. When you and your two best friends in the whole world took a trip and you got to see the joy on the face of someone who had not been to a Jovi show since that very first one 14 years ago? Sitting in traffic for 3 1/2 hours to go 35 miles? Hearing Blood on Blood again after too long? Trying to telepathically convince Jon to do his jungle screams when he launched into Keep the Faith? Thinking, "That's actually pretty cool" when the band played funky versions of their own songs? Wondering if they would still live up to how you remembered them before after upheaval in your own life had made it difficult for you to even listen to them anymore? Being blown away that they were even better than you remembered them being? Being satisfied that you had been right all along and seeing Bon Jovi live was one of life's greatest pleasures and knowing that nothing could get better than this. Escaping the hell of the real world and savoring every moment of a show? Driving all night long and then sleeping all day long before a couple of shows? That feeling that you felt right in your soul when Jon sang about wanting to be loved? Wondering if you'd lost your own mind because you were standing in a thunderstorm in a heat wave inviting a tornado to blow your dumb ass all the way to Kansas just so you could risk bronchitis turning into pneumonia so you could sing in the shower with 65,000 of your friends? Looking to one of the few people who could really appreciate the significance of the opening note of Dry County, grabbing each other and jumping for joy?

Missing it because it's been too long?

Yeah, I love Bon Jovi too.

All I can say is wow. I can relate to alot of what you guys are talking about even though its not directly something that happened to you.I will never forget my first Jovi show.It was my birthday on a long ago March night back in 1989.Seeing Jon pop up from the stage dressed in leather for the very first time saying the whispered lines of Lay Your Hands On Me.Hearing I''Be There For You and thinking he's singing to me with the line Didn't mean to miss your birthday baby wish I seen you blow your candles out." Watching Jon on the catwalk just in awe of the band.I knew from that first show that I was a fan for life. There's just so many moments to look back on but after all these years its still the same.

My first concert memory is more of the anticipation of the show and not believing that I was actually going to see Bon Jovi in concert. It's probably one of the best days of my life...

My first Bon Jovi concert was August 7, 2003 (my 13th birthday). When I first heard the Bon Jovi would be playing in their hometown on my birthday, I thought, "Hey, that's cool, maybe that can be my birthday present." But my parents kept telling me that the tickets would be too expensive, etc., etc. So my birthday arrived and my parents woke me up at about 5 in the morning to open presents, which, now, seems odd, but it didn't register with me at that time. And so I opened my presents (I got a couple of movies and CD's...and a package of socks). My parents insisted on my opening of the socks, and I did, and inside were two tickets for the show that night. It's safe to say that I was in complete shock at this time, as I was thinking, "How are we supposed to get there in time?" But then they showed me the plain tickets, and I couldn't believe it. So I got there (we were in the upper-deck, left side...I didn't care where we sat, well, stood, it was just such an incredible experience to be there on my birthday). I don't remember the set list, but I do remember when the lights dimmed and the show started with Bounce, and then the on-stage proposal during Bed of Roses, and them closing with "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" (they may have not sung ISWID, but there was some video montage that had the song at least). And oh yeah, did I mention the rain?

Remember when you are a University student and your best friend comes to pick you up, bearing in mind it's a 300 mile round trip from where you are at University in Southampton to Wembley Arena. Remember getting to your seats, and though you aren't in the standing area, those first tier seats are actually closer than you expected. Remember waiting for Bon Jovi to come on stage and wondering of just aybe that backstage pass that came with the special cassette release of In These Arms that you just bought from HMV would actuall work? Remember the elation of the guys finally coming on stage as you are finally seeing your favourite band in the world, line and in person. Remember Jon telling the crowd that Dorothea is due to have their first baby any time and that he has a private jet waiting to take him home should he get 'the call' and please forgive him if he has to leave all of a sudden. Remember thinking that you don't want him to leave, but if he does then it's ok because its Jon Bon 'f'n Jovi.

As for gossebump moments, aside from Hallelujah, it was during Wanted at The O2 just recently that I fellt so excited and moved to be there and a part of something so special. The emotion from the band and from the crowd almost lifted me off my feet and I was almost overcome with the moment.

I never knew Alex could play bass?

Ice