crashed's perspective
 

So, had time to sort my own thoughts out on the shows I saw, and read some interesting and conflicting things on here. Thought I'd pop in my 2 cents.

First of all, let me start by saying I have seen Bon Jovi on tour since These Days, sometimes front row and sometimes in GA, and have never not enjoyed a show and have never felt let down by a show, period. Maybe I just don't have as high expectations as some people here, but when every other band I've seen (with the exception of INXS and Counting Crows) has fallen short of those expectations, then they can't be that low either. I'll also point out my wife Jude has been seeing them since the KTF tour, and has been to every major London/MK gig since 92 (except the 02 arena), and she feels exactly the same way.

Right, first off, Hampden:

It was the wettest day I've ever experienced at a show, and Jovi also seemed to start late. There's been a few comments about the short set, but it didn't feel that short, and I've never been in a crowd with such a charged atmosphere. Maybe we were all just so relieved when the band finally came on. Rockin' All Over The World got the party started straight away, and then we went into BTBMB and Lost Highway. Hampden was already bouncing and when Blaze began I lost it totally. This song got me into Jovi, and I was in the middle of the crowd roaring it out, but so was everybody else. It's the loudest I've ever heard that song sung by an enthusiastic stadium. I was also stunned because this band were playing the best I've heard them (and yes, that includes in 96. And as that was my 1st show I've always thought nothing could beat that.) When Richie began doing I'll Be There For You I moaned at my wife, because we've heard him doing this tons of times, but for the first time, it was actually great. He was as good as he was doing stranger in this town in 96 on his birthday. Dry County came on and I'd waited 12 years of seeing them live to hear this (I always seemed to miss it somehow), and it was truly one of the best performances I've ever heard. Always was also played and again first time I'd heard this since the These Days tour, and delivered just as good if not better. Also the very best version of Prayer I've heard. Jon started it with just an acoustic guitar and got the crowd to sing along before the band kicked in, and then the crowd sang forever at the end too. Hallelujah was a chilling performance, even though I actually don't see what's so good about the song. His vocals on it though one me over. When they played wanted I was worried it was going to close with that, and it's the one song that strangely felt like a wash out. For me, the crowd didn't feel into it at all. Weird, because it's usually one of the best. They finished with Bad Medicine though and that made it all go out with a bang.

Verdict: okay they didn't play anything from These Days but a set doesn't make a show. The best performance I've seen. 10/10

Fast forward a week and we have Twickenham. The last show and the most hyped...

Total contrast of a day, hot and sunny. Was much more pleasant waiting around and the band came on sharp. I was at the GA barrier this time rather than a few rows back and had a laugh with some of pals who were at the back of GC. Rockin' All Over The World started again and I was worried I would end up getting the hampden set all over again. So I was relieved when I heard them play we will rock you and realised they were changing whole lot of leaving for summertime. Thought it worked alright considering I don't rate the song much. When I knew it was time for Blaze again, I got excited. And then almost died when Jon started Blood Money. Never thought I'd hear that live, ever, and really is the perfect song to go before blaze. Any Other Day was another pleasant change and I quite enjoyed it. I Believe came out, and that was just thrillng. Richie did I'll Be There For You again. It was good, but not as good as the week before, and now he really does need to change up. Wanted again seemed weak for me and so did KTF. I've heard it done a lot better, with or without ad libs (my personal faves are the boom, boom, booms). I Love This Town was okay, but not great. When they ended with Twist & Shout there was a long delay before the lights came on and I really thought they would be back on. Someones said on here about the after party cutting the set short. I don't buy that because they had an after party at Hyde park and that gig lasted over 3 hours. I think the band wanted to come put again and either a strict curfew or half the GA crowd leaving stopped them.

Verdict: blood money and I Believe made the gig, but it was a solid 2 and a half hour show. The only let down is the hype everyone built up in their minds. That's our fault, not the bands. 8/10

Now people, the reality check... (to be continued)

I prefer Crashed's perspective a lot more to most people's on here :cool:

so the next day we're sitting at MK Bowl for Linkin Park's Project Revolution tour. Got through there about 12 when the gates opened and just sat on the hill and chilled. After all, we were still tired. What I think was a local opening band came on first and though the sound was shit they sounded decent enough. Next came The Bravery, who I thought were rubbish. Then on came Enter Shikari, and I'd never listened to them before and probably never would. But they were brilliant. The front man was really funny and they had great interaction with the crowd. Then came NERD, and I'd seen them before supporting the Chilli Peppers. They were good at working the crowd but a bit too R&B for me. Then came Pendulum. Again not a band I've paid attention to before, but they rock live. And then came Jay-Z. Don't know if you've heard much live rap music but most of its pretty bad - even from ppl who rap well in a studio like Eminem. But Jay-Z is a freaking master. Like most of the crowd, I don't know a lot of his songs, but his delveru and flow were brilliant. I think he had a hard time working up the crowd, but pit this down to hm being a rapper when I guess the crowd were there to see a rock show...not quite the case...

Here's the point of this long thread, ladies and gents. Linkin Park are arguably one of the biggest bands on the planet, and I know someone said before that the bowl was only half sold, but let
me tell you, it was packed from stagefront right up to the back hill and even along the edges and behind the soundstage where no one could see a ****ng thing...so when lnkn park came on and opened with One Step Closer I thought the place would explode...and it did...like a tiny balloon. Apart from a few rows at the very front about 85 percent of the people were stood stock still. And it stayed that way for an hour. LP weren't playing badly, they were okay n fact but kept commenting on the awesome crowd...I was one f the few trying to dance and singalong but in the end felt too self concious and studied my hands in my pockets and just kinda' wiggled a bit instead. There was no magic, no spark, nothing. Compared to that, twickenham was the best show on earth. LP's main set lasted an hour and ten minutes and only on their last song did the crowd start to sing along quite weakly - I remember MK from the HAND tour and this was like chalk and cheese. Finally Jay-z came back on for 2 songs with LP and suddenly, finally, everyones singing and dancing. It took the entire gig to get there.

So Jovi played Twickenham for 2 and a half hours. It wasn't the best show they've done but the performance was still up there. LP play for an hour and 10 minutes and need a rapper to put some life into their show.

I'm glad to be a Jovi fan, even on their worst days because the alternatves don't bear thinking about.

Sorry for the typo's but this was written on my phone, and I couldn't sleep until I got my thoughts out. Night.

Thanks for your thoughts, Crashed. Very interesting. Excellent point about overblown expectations for a particular show. I did that to myself earlier in the tour, and I'm trying VERY hard not to do that for the Boston and New York shows. I just have to keep reminding myself! :rolleyes:

yeah crashed u hit the nail on the head with the twickers gig! we all built it up too much hence y i left feeling kinda let down ha!

Great to hear your thoughts altho i must admit i thought the band were better at Twickers then Hampden hehe. I feel warmth in the fact some1 else had to endure that bloody weather!

It's not only that I thought the band were better, I thought the crowd was better as well.

Aloha !

It's a bit obvious that Linkin' Park aren't as good as Bon Jovi. Go see a proper band instead and you'll be able to compare apples to apples.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I've seen lots of proper bands, and none of them compare to be honest.

Who did you have in mind, Seb?

I think the point is how you and others have been going on about how utter rubbish the Twickenham shows were - and the fact is they weren't rubbish at all. They were good shows. Of course they could have been better if the band had played a bit longer, but I could say that about every single show I've seen. I'd love them to play longer and do more songs etc, etc. The fact is a 2 and a half hour show is still more than most bands put on - and I'm talking about big bands that I've seen - R.E.M., Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Foo Fighters to name just a few.

I do agree with that statement actually. I said a few times on here that I reckoned people would be disappointed with the London shows, as everyone thought all these songs they have been playing over the past 6 weeks, were gonna be showcased last weekend. Bon Jovi have themselves raised the bar, with epic shows at Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Manchester. On reflection the twickenham shows were still good, just not the absolute classics they could have been.