Jon demanded a doctor and the women started dancing on the big video wall. Now this song everybody knew again and accordingly was the response. What made the song special was, besides the good performance, the middle part. There weren’t those standard phrases after the guitar solo, instead Richie came to Jon’s mic and they both joked about the women in the pit writing request banners with Jon saying to Richie “that’s why you get divorced!” Then he grinned down to the pit treating them “Mercy, huh?” and starting the “yeah yeah” parts which I heard about a thousand times in Dusseldorf with the band failing to get it done right back then. This time it was different, all joined in, so I’m pretty sure they had rehearsed it before. Also Hugh played a nice bass line which I never heard before. After they got their treat Jon told David he needed “that old time rock and roll” and this got an even bigger cheer out there on the left that Mercy before. After they had finished the cover songs he challenged the crowd by telling Richie that we seem to get tired early. We most certainly didn’t and it just got louder by that!
Time for the circle, time for an outing of Bed of Roses. The performance was vocally good, much better than in Munich (besides the fact the microphone worked this time), but still couldn’t hold a candle to the mind blowing rendition of Frankfurt 2008. Everybody enjoyed it anyway and was singing along, holding up flashlights and cigarette lighters. Ironically I struggled all night long to get a proper connection with my mobile phone, but during this song (where probably most of the calls to people outside were done) I could easily phone 2 friends of mine and make them happy.
Richie joined Jon on the circle and they started discussing, I guess about a banner requesting Never Say Goodbye. They ended up staring I’ll Be There For You then. Yeah, I would have loved a rendition of the Slippery classic, but the NJ ballad is a song they can really play every night without me ever getting tired of it! And to make a comparison again - whereas it was delivered without any emotions Dusseldorf you could feel here that the song meant something to the band again. It was nice with the long sing-along part in the end.
Now the part I was so hoping for finally came back!!! Tico and Dave made their way out onto the circle, because it was “too much fun” being out there. Another sentence that gets said so often, but this time I believed it. I was eagerly awaiting whatever would come and when Jon told the band “good luck with this” I knew something rare would be coming up. It was Miss 4th of July!!!

The day after the Dusseldorf concert I had been driving in the car with my dad, and we were listening to a live compilation of the circle tour. I was pissed and angry and when this song came up I told him “see, why don’t they just play such a song acoustic on the circle??!?!? Would make every diehard happy, has a great melody and isn’t hard on Jon’s vocals” Now that they did it I looked over my shoulder and saw my dad with a big grin on his face - he was thinking the same!
They stayed on the circle and started Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night. I normally share the opinion that the electric version works better but the audience just along the same way and when they key change came on and everybody sang along like a big choir I was totally shaking for a moment. Brilliant!
Well, every night has got to have it - Who Says You Can’t Go Home. This time it was carried by the audience even enjoying that one. I was pretty sure nothing could ruin this night anymore for me.
When the song was done I spotted Richie having his guitar he usually uses for Hey God. And I knew that this would be the rare spot where the song might appear. I already was getting hyped when Jon punched me right in the face by screaming “Captain Craaaaaaaaash!” No, Jon! NO!
I was a little bit unsatisfied, for the first and only time that night!
The fans around us didn’t seem to mind though, they were waving their arms and clapping all the time. When the turd had finally reached its end, Jon said that this would be a song from the Greatest Hits they had not done live here so far. Really? This Is Love, This Is Life? No, No Apologies! We had it in Dresden, but Jon never gets those facts right anyway. It was awesome, really rocking the crowd and I totally loved it again! I tried to phone my cousin, who had been with us in Munich and got pissed that he didn’t get it. I just saw on my mobile phone that the line was open, not realizing that he had been too late to get the call and all was running onto his mailbox. Well, he got to hear Have A Nice Day afterwards. The song had the guitar being edgy in the mix and Jon nailing it - and especially singing at the right time, something that had been terribly wrong in Dusseldorf.
I was sweating, my hands were burning from the constant clapping and my voice was fading - and I loved it!!! Brilliant night!
Keep The Faith again was stellar, everybody was pumping their fists in the air - screaming “faith!” That’s how it should be! The song, which was a rather no-go in my very early fan days, grew so much on me over the last 2 years. Every time you’re on a borderline in your life the words get more meaning and I screamed the lines “it’s hard to be strong when there’s no one to dream on” and “trying to hold, trying to hold on” into the night of Mannheim like I never did before and like I may never do again. It was just a burst of emotions in that moment. They had done it again - I was taken away from the reality by their music!
The encore break followed. Normally the band leaves the stage for one, maybe two minutes. This time they were off almost 4 minutes and I started to think that they are going to totally kick the setlist into the garbage and so something special now, considering how awesome the band’s mood, Jon’s voice and the audience had been all night long.