Remember how it felt when....

Guys, it's threads like these that keep me going in the 'dark times' in between tours. Thanks for the memories, you've all just made my day!

Some of my own, firstly from Dublin 2003:

- Bed of Roses (sexiest guitar sound ever in the intro)
- Rockin' All Over The World (BJ cover the mighty Status Quo classic lol!)
- I'll Be There For You (first time I ever heard Richie sing unaccompanied, and worth the wait)

Dublin, 2006

- Booking the tickets in either October or November 2005 and having something great to look forward to for the following year!
- Croke Park itself (a vast, spectacular stadium, and a natural home for BJ's live experience)
- Dry County (no further comment required! Well, OK then - Richie's awesome guitar work, and Jon standing there, gazing in admiration at just how good a musician RS is.)
- Audience participation on songs like Wanted, Livin' On A Prayer, It's My Life etc (best concert crowd noise I've ever experienced)

A general experience I love is actually travelling to a venue itself. For Dublin concerts, the wife and I always stay somewhere within walking distance of the venue, and I really enjoy gradually making my through increasingly large crowds of people heading in the same direction, then the stadium comes into view, and there's the wonderful knowledge that you're in for a real treat...

(Come on guys, schedule that 2008 tour already! Memories, great as they are, are still not quite as good as knowing when the 'next time' is going to be!)

So many amazing magical moments watching Bon Jovi over the years. From my first concert @ NEC Birmingham on the KTF tour, feeling the bass rattle through my chest on I Believe and the euphoria when Jon took to the stage, to hearing for the first time Richie's solo on Wanted. All such special memories.

Every tour since has been a blast, even taking my beloved Audi to Milton keynes only to find the car park was in fact a field ( a very bumpy field!) was worth it the moment that roar went up signalling show time!

I think for me though, the best memory was at the O2 gig. It really hit me like a ton of bricks what this band means to me and so many others. I'm new to these forums and in all honesty was a bit shocked at the level of criticism the band, and Jon in particular were getting, not just over Lost Highway but in general. ( To be fair a lot was constructive and honest criticism. )

I think it even made me take a step back and wonder was i too blinkered to see that this band we all love was actually on the slide? I think you kinda develop a f**k you attitude at non Jovi fans piss taking the band all the time, and in some ways become over protective. But when you hear genuine FANS questioning the bands hunger and desire etc, well for me at least it made me think long and hard.

So back to the O2 gig. I was excited as always waiting for the gig to start, but at the same time a niggling feeling was growing inside me, sort of like what if the "blinkers" come off and instead of seeing the best rock n roll band in the world, a watered down version show up. Scary stuff !!

I need not have worried.

It was an awesome performance, a really heart felt show, and i think it was made even more special because you could really see passion in their performance. Jon seemed pumped for it, the band were tight as usual, but the biggest thrill was seeing Richie just slay those guitar parts like his life depended on it. Any Other Day was simply magical.

I met up with my bro at the end of the gig, we were in different parts of the arena during the show. He's a fan, but nothing can touch the Slippery/ Jersey era for him, and the last gig he went to was on the HAND tour and he wasn't overly impressed. I was buzzing and on a high, and when i asked what he thought he looked at me and just said, " THAT'S the f**king band i fell in love with. "

I spotted a copy of Lost Highway in his car the other day. First album he's bought since These Days.

That was my first concert as well
And what a concert it was..
Let me just tell the story really quick:
I was 15 at the time, and damn I was so stoked for the show. At that point, I didn't give a shit what songs they played. Still remember the show opening with Bounce, the first bars of Prayer, how the sky seemed to open the **** up with the opening bars of Wanted, and didn't close all night, a picture perfect version of Bed Of Roses (including a proposal), and the highlight for me was an AWESOME version of Someday I'll Be Saturday Night (the highlight of which is me screaming "They're playing it, they're ****ing playing it!" )

Then, fast foward to Dec. 21 2005, second of the three Christmas shows in Jersey. The absolute highlight was Prayer (as I was there with my girlfriend, who I've been with since Nov. 03, and on who I used the line's from Prayer as a pickup line ), plus all the other greats, including Blood on Blood. Then to boot they played Welcome To Wherever You Are (which is one of my favorite HAND songs), and I Wish Everday Could Be Like Christmas being played for the first time in like 10 years..

Then Giants, last year, parents and Girlfriend again, and rain, again.
Great show, albeit cut short due to the goddamn lightning...
Great elongated version of Who Says..., and of course the kickass version of Prayer that closed the all too short encore, and the drunken guy who clung to me, soaking wet during the song...

That's some awesome shit.
Look forward to more in the fall..

This thread is giving me goosebumps too

First concert OWN 2001 in Dublin. Thinking I would be half a mile away from the stage and having to watch on screens but actually getting up very close. Seeing the guys on video on the screens coming up in the lift and then bursting out on stage. Loved that opening. Hearing Wanted for the first time ever live. And One by U2..excellent.

Bounce 2003 - Getting into the pit and being in the 3rd row and so so close to the stage. Amazing. Starting with Bounce and everyone around you just...bouncing Knowing how extremely lucky I was to hear Diamond Ring live.

HAND 2006 - Dry County in Dublin. Just the best. Turning to a fan next to me and we both just knew what it was and we just screamed. Richies excellent excellent solo. Blood On blood. & Garageland, knowing how lucky again I was to hear this. MK 2 - the helicopters bringing in the guys. Jon leaving the stage wanting us to scream for them to come play some more. Richie singing Ill Be There For You. These Days.

Captain Crash - I love this song. I love how everyone does the sway. Watching it on the Crush DVD and seeing it from the stage everyone just doing the sway and then being part of it. Same with Raise Your Hands.

Cannot wait for 2008!

This is the best thread I've read in a long time...keep adding memories.

I remember coming home from Milton Keynes 2006 (1st night) and then realising that Living In Sin was actually a replacement for Dry County

I have yet to see the band live! I only became a fan recently. My parents went to the Manchester gig last year, I took a look at the setlist on here then I was like 'omg you got DRY COUNTY!' and they were like 'what?'

The main picture in my mind from that night was Jon singing Keep the Faith - and looking up into the downpour with his arms outstretched singing "YOU KNOW YOU'RE GONNA LIVE THROUGH THE RAIN"

So many good memories

Kathleen

Soooo many memories i remember hearing livin on a prayer for the first time and putting on the 7 inch record my sisters got me and consantly flipping it over to listen to wild in the streets..i still have it albeit it aint in great shape but id never part with it,Then actually witnessing the live specatacle on the KTF tour for the very first time i remember just waiting and waiting for the opener and once it happened i remember thinkin this just cant end! Also as stated before the thunder and lightning show in dublin standing there with close to 30-40000 people soaked to the bone not giving a shit and havin the best night ever i have the bootleg at home for the memories! Was "One2 not played at the thunder and lightning show? the crush tour and the OWN tour were so close together i cant quite remember i could have sworn it was the crush tour until i seen the other guys testomonies...anyway keep the thread goin gotta love the postive thread!....I shall add to it as i remember more stuff

Let's see .

Nijmegen 1995: I was going to a merchandise stand to get a t-shirt, and I never found my dad + uncle back. They where so pissed off. So I decided to go to the first aid and I saw the show from the first aid very close to the front. I remember really enjoying Dry County and Always of that show. The weather was so bad that BJ decided to cut the show short, so they didn't play Wanted Dead Or Alive. Van Halen was a great opener though!

Enschede 1996: I was here together with my dad and uncle again, after 2/4 of the show they decided that they saw the same thing in 1995 and they wanted to go home to watch the European Football Championships. I remember walking back to the car while Jovi was playing Hey God and Rocking In The Free World. I was very pissed off .

Arnhem 2000: This was a great show, These Days was superb and also the ending with Thank You For Loving Me was great. I was in the middle of the field and I really enjoyed the show. Oh, they opened with I Believe!

Amsterdam 2001 (2nd Night): I can't remember too much of this show since I was so incredibly drunk, I remember at least One Wild Night and Raise Your Hands. Back then I wasn't too familiar with Raise Your Hands so I kept on thinking from which album this song was. After this song the show went as a blur... beer and wodka never a good combination.

Gelsenkirchen 2003: A very sick Jon Bon Jovi and the show was crap. I've almost sold all the other tickets I had for the rest of the Bounce Tour since I was so dissapointed. Oh well they played All About Loving You at this gig (yes a very cool rarity ).

Mannheim 2003: This show was absolutely mindblowing. These Days, Keep The Faith and a great version of Joey. This show is probably in my top 5 of my favourite Bon Jovi shows.

Amsterdam 2003: Decent show, we had a banner and they decided to play I Believe because of it. Very nice . And Keep The Faith was very good too! For the rest the show wasn't too special.

Oostende 2003: I'd Die For You!! Because of Laura and Taija requesting it. This was a very nice change from the other Bounce Tour shows. Unfortunately the audience in Belgium was quite lame and the show wasn't too good either. Too predictable and the weather was really bad at the end.

London 2003: Man what an audience, this was something really special. Although Jon didn't sound that good at this show. Never Say Goodbye (acoustic) and These Days. Ah and the kickass version of Keep The Faith!

Amsterdam 2005: Have A Nice Day Promo.... that's all it was. Nothing special and a jetlagged and pissed off Jon Bon Jovi, Last Man Standing was played for the first time and it sounded horrible.

Düsseldorf 2006: The return of Dry County!!! This show was for me the highlight of the Have A Nice Day Tour. A really special show with good performances and a great audience.

Dublin 2006: A nice and solid show. Croke Park is such a good venue, and the audience rocked. The mexican wave quite a few times . Dry County again!!!

Nijmegen 2006: I was first row for the first time and very tired. The show was crap! Quite a few This Left Feels Right songs, yuk!

Milton Keynes 2006 (1st night): A very drunk Richie Sambora!! A very good show with the Boys Are Back In Town and Livin' In Sin. Although Jon sounded like crap on Livin' In Sin especially in the chorus. Too bad Jon decided to play Livin' In Sin instead of Dry County.

Milton Keynes 2006 (2nd night): Richie broke every record, being drunk 2 shows in a row! Congratulations Mr Sambo! This was a nice show and it was very cool to hear Rocking In The Free World and Wild In The Streets. Although Jon should be shot for playing the TLFR crap at the shows...

East Rutherford 2006 (1st night): Oh man, the homecoming show! It was awesome and the setlist was a bit weird probably because of the weather - thunder and lightning.

East Rutherford 2006 (2nd night): This was a superb show, I remember Jon's speech during Dry County, kickass!

London 2007: Very good show, the new songs seem to be very nice live. With the exception of the Last Night, which was played way too slow. Highlights for me where I Love This Town, Keep The Faith and Any Other Day.