Jovitalk - Bon Jovi Fan Community

Ok, So after 15 hours of total driving im wired on coffee so its time for an honest review of what I thought about last night's show. First of all my expectations... Considering this was basically the first total GA show in North America in a long time (if ever) I figured that the 40,000 fans (maybe more) would be an incentive for the band to put on a great show. I expected the basic set from the First leg of the NA shows with perhaps 1 or 2 goodies that i hadnt heard before, Blood on Blood (didnt think it was too much to ask) These Days or Dry County.

We arrived at the venue around 11:00am and found the fan club people we were with, ended up 29 and 30 in that line and were quite pleased with that result. Of course security had no idea about a fan club and we were basically sitting in the sun for a couple hours. Finally they moved us to the shade (only 50 or so of us) and we waited longer.

After a 5 hour wait we went in, and managed front row, on the rail on Richie's side... Quite the thrill to be in the 1st row even though the view isnt the best of the entire stage.

Nickelback came on after some no name band and did very well. I enjoyed their set and Chad is full of energy, they played basically all of their hits... In No particular order other than Animals first.

Animals
Savin Me
Far Away
Too Bad
How You Remind Me
Woke Up This Morning
Photograph
Figured You Out
Someday
Never Again

So here's the buildup, that half hour or so where you know Bon Jovi is just minutes from coming on, the diehards basically know what we're gonna get but there's that glimmer of hope. There was some guesses on whether Jon would be on the ramp singing Last Man Standing, or stay stage centre, possibly another opener? I remembered that Great Balls of Fire started the other night as i said a silent prayer not to damn me with that fate.

So the band walks out, Richie was first (at least in my view and the opening chords of KEEP ON ROCKIN' IN THE FREE WORLD were played, Right away i knew what it was and although i love Last Man Standing as an opener and was looking forward, the energy of this classic was a good enough open for me.

Now i expected Last Man Standing, Nope... Silly me, YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME has been in this slot since I was skinny (Long long time ago) so here we go, obviously the crowd goes nuts, blah blah blah....

As the drums started for WILD IN THE STREETS i felt this sense of deja-vu ... oh wait, Just like Toronto... and half of the other shows ive attended in my life... Alright cool, I like the song and Jon was really into this one, jumped up with David for the keyboard solo and was actually running on the stage at one point...

A couple other tunes go by and its the same old set basically... im figuring something was bound to happen. Then finally it did... I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD has officially been turned into a BALLAD. Well not literally, but this song seems to get slower everytime i listen to it live... seriously. I could never stand it to begin with but now its just awful.

RUNAWAY - I certainly hope this Timewarp goes after the tour cause it's getting annoying.... but then again they played 2 shows in Montreal in Feb. so why do it again. Whatever.

Really there were only 2 highlights of this show, IN THESE ARMS was the first, and of course this was the one time Jon chose to use the ramps, i did manage to video the whole song, but there isnt much to look at as Jon is gone... i will get it up soon. The vocals were solid and its always good to hear this one live. The second highlight had to be I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU with Richie singing. I dont care what people say, i personally love this song with him at the controls and look forward to hearing it.

HAVE A NICE DAY is a staple song that i hope doesnt go away, its powerful and it seems the band puts all of their energy into this song. As far as im concerned WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME can go away cause its boring too... The 15 minutes of "Its alright" actually makes some people laugh, like they are embarressed to be apart of it.

The last 4 songs of the set were the standard IT'S MY LIFE, BAD MEDICINE/SHOUT, RAISE YOUR HANDS, LIVIN' ON A PRAYER. Not htat i expected a change from here so i went with it and had a good time.

Now on to the encores... Finally the chance to hear some sort of change, what is in store? A return of Lay Your Hands on Me? These Days? Dry County? Blood on Blood? At this point I was willing to take Misunderstood to at least say I got something semi-rare. The band returns to the sounds of... COMPLICATED ... Are you F*#&$%^ING KIDDING ME? First song in the Encore? Way to get everyone pumped up after the wait... Jon dancing in the spotlights again.... yay. On to KEEP THE FAITH .. I know how many people love this song, personally im not in love with it, but even still, I just wanted something else at that point.... i was dying for anything to justify the 8 hour drive and 10 hours of waiting. Nope... WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE ... Jon let the crowd start and let Richie sing the second verse... nothing special about it as we've all heard it time and time again. They leave again and My unofficial count was at 22 songs so i figured they were coming back... game, set, match.... Jon you screwed me again lol. 21 songs (not including Shout and Jack Flash) and i left the venue shocked, disappointed and frustrated.

Let me clarify something for those that wanna say that im bitching, cant be satisfied, etc. I didnt HATE the show... theres a certain level of excitement that you hit everytime you see the band, and yes I was there. I was happy to be front row, to get lots of good pictures and have some interaction with Richie... but something was missing. This really did seem like a cookie-cut show where the boys went through the motions. Early on i thought it could be special but something happened to change that. This is where the set comes in... people say that the set doesnt make the show.... well i disagree. The songs bring out the emotion in us fans and if the songs are the same, the improvs and speeches are the same, what emotions am I supposed to show? I cant freak out over Bad Name anymore, Just Older has run its course, Crash is OK but there's so much more you can do, Sleep When Im Dead is awful...Nobody even knows Radio Saved My Life Tonight... So how is a diehard supposed to get up for a show like this?

As for the show itself? The band was crisp at first, sounded really good. Richie made some mistakes as did Jon vocally. Overall it was average at best.

I can honestly say I will not be putting this much effort into going to see the band unless something changes, I WILL be there each and everytime they hit Toronto but thats about it.

The running time of the concert was 2 Hours 15 Minutes (8:15 - 10:30).

Will post Vids and Pics soon.