So here's my review of the show :
We got there a bit late the opening act was closing their set... don't even know who they are and what they sing... I don't like missing opening acts but you can't control works hours and/or traffic.
Anyway... Bon Jovi was quick to come on stage at 8h30, opening with LMS. I must say their entrance is cool, with the giant screen coming down and then flipping back, Richie starting with the heavy riff and Jon in the back of the crowd facing the stage. I like that song but it doesn't really work as an opener, by the time they get to the second verse a lot of the crowd's excitement had already gone.
Then followed the usual beginners for this tour. Bad Name was played quite well and fast enough. BTBMB was slower than it should be, it works but imo it's a live filler, many other songs could fill that slot more efficiently.
I was surprised with the new ones, I don't like songs like Complicated or SOML, but I must say they came out live better than I expected. To be honest Jon was really good in both of them, it helped. Richie didn't seem to have that much dedication or fun though.
ISWID and Runaway came down well. ISWID is in it's right place at that time in the show.
Novocain was brilliantly played, again I don't like the album version, but they made it something more. Despite a lot people sitting down or heading for the toilets... Same for WSYCGH.
Bounce doesn't work imo, it doesn't reach it's ambitions as a rock anthem. Nore does Everyday. On the other hand, HAND blew the place up. This one works better than any of the "Life is mine so I'll live it because I'm alive" songs, including IML, which was played way too slow.
Now for the slow part... IBTFY played the way they play it on this tour is a shame. The vocals go nowhere, the guitars are absent, the feeling is gone and there's a stupid ridiculous tune in the background. The very lower low of the show.
Then, after a cool jam from Tico, Dave and Richie (mainly) Jon reappears in the middle of the crowd, half way up on the side of the stage, and the jam blends into BOG which was a quite cool new version. But then followed BOR TLFR version, it was awful from the start, but then Jon walked down through the crowd, so his concentration wasn't as much on his singing as it was on keeping going forward. I must say I find all his little games with the girls pretty boring... Once is enough but he did it at least 4 or 5 times in the show...
The end of the main set was pretty good, especially RYH. Prayer was played very slow, but Jon really made it tough on his vocals, trying hard on some high parts and succeeding for most of them.
The first encore wasn't that much interesting. WTWYA was ok and brought some sort of an interest, but Everyday killed it. The Treat Her Right was fun but it felt... I don't know, misplaced... Not that a great party song.
Encore 2 was close to great. Have A Little Faith was a nice surprise. Just Older I could have done without (like replacing it with KTF!), but SIBSN was definitely the highlight of the evening (and somehow made it up at least partly for the KTF absence). Jon was at it's best with the adlibs, the screaming and all, a lot of emotion and energy there. Brilliant. A bit sad to realise it was the first song of the night to really come and get me.
Then they pretended to leave the stage and came back for Wanted, a good one.
About the boys... First Jeff and Bobby... ?... There's nothing to say about Jeff, he was nowhere to be seen except 10 seconds on Treat Her Right. Make that 20 seconds for Bobby. It's seems he was hired so Hugh could look lively.
Hugh... He plays solid but still boring to watch.
Dave, he seemed in a good mood and did a good job, but the new stuff doesn't give him the chance to shine as much as he could and should.
Tico is still the cool hitman we know, could give a faster beat here and there though.
Richie was a disappointment in the way there was nothing special about his performance. Sure his solos were good, but they were usual. As his vocals.
So yes, Jon is the man of the match. This show was his. You could tell he was working hard on himself to make it all work, and overall he managed and had fun. He surprised me, annoyed me at times, but he wasn't laid back at all. Pity the new songs don't match his abilities as a frontman.
I prefered the overall shows I saw in Paris in 96 and 2001, but his dedication was great to see. He might not hit all the high notes, but at least he can still be hungry. I doubted about that very much before that show.
A word on the light show and stage... The giant screen is very cool, the quality is amazing. The light show behind the stage is pretty impressive too, though the originality of what is displayed fits perfectly the band's current creativity... A rose for Bed of Roses... Pills for Bad Medecine...
Overall the show was good, very good, don't get me wrong... but... The last three times I'd seen BJ I loved every minute and we'd get to the encore, I'd want to hear some more. Tonight when we reached the encores, I wanted more of what I was missing.
The new songs (from Crush to HAND) do no work at all on me, but that could be ok if the old ones did, but it's like they've worn out... I don't blame the band here, they played most of the songs how they should, it's just me, I've moved on musically and came to find Bon Jovi a superficial band. Except for SIBSN, where what I loved about this band, real emotion, finally burst through... but that just makes the disappointment even bigger.
So I'm turning that page, it was my last Bon Jovi show.
Ponrauil
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Last edited by ponrauil; 12-15-2005 at 08:23 AM..
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12-15-2005, 08:35 AM
