Cleveland Review
 

Okay here's Cleveland show review done by yours truly.

I came early because I anticipated tons of people would attend the show. Turned out I was right. I managed to park in a good spot so I could get the hell out after the show before I got stuck in the traffic. I went into the arena and goddamn my seat was really really bad. I was so freaking far away from the stage, up in the nosebleed seats. Plus the upper level seating in Gund isn't really for rock n roll. It is very steep and narrow, it's just a matter of time before someone really drunk tumble down and lawsuit happens. But I digress.

Goo Goo Dolls took the stage at about 730. I am not familiar with their materials but I do know the hits and they played them all. The highlight had to be Name and Broadway, complete with sax solo (not the first rock band I saw with sax solo - Tom Keifer did it before, but neat nonetheless). There are a couple of songs that I like but I can't remember the names. Seems that I have to check out their albums.

Iris closed their set and although I had never liked this song because it was totally overplayed, in live setting it worked well and I actually dug it very much.

Then the roadies took down GGD's stuff and set the stage for our favorite band. Meanwhile they played Avril Lavigne on the PA system. Avril !??!?!?! Well, I guess this is a family entertainment after all. Many people brought their kids. I actually asked one kid, what's your favorite artist. The answer, Aaron Carter. Okay.

But anyway, the curtain dropped and three goofy looking sattelites appeared. Goofiness is part of rock n roll, so that was great! The best BJ stageshow I've ever seen (better than the lame elevator effect back in OWN). The band took the stage with Bounce but it wasn't until Bad Name that the audience got really rocking. I thought Bounce will get the people pumped up but I was wrong. Wild in The Streets followed and then Prayer destroyed the place. Although Jon does not sing the "whoah livin on a prayer" part at all (and he hasn't been singing it for a while anyway), the crowd took the vocal duties and did extremely well. Definitely the high point of the show. Everybody went berserk. I am actually convinced that this is the best song ever written (even rivals Phoebe Buffay's Smelly Cat).

After that it got kinda funky. Jon said, there are 7 days in a week... and I was thinking, Jon please don't say it. Thankfully Jon did not name all the days of the week and quickly went to the song. Everyday got polite applause but the difference between the audience's reaction to Prayer and Everyday was so great that it felt like after you fly so high, you drop down to earth with a thud and whimper. Undivided was next and got an okay reaction as well. Doesn't seem that any of the Bounce songs can qualify to be a live classic judging from this show. Fortunatey Runaway kicked up the show to another level. Just Older was good, Wanted got a great reaction (see the trend here? people love the old shit very much). The Distance paled in comparison when it comes to applause. Another thing that I noticed by this point is the fact that during Bounce songs, the laser show was at its best. Didn't seem to help matter by much though.

The second half of the main set started with a bang. People were totally rocking when IML was performed. Then Misunderstood was played and again, the response wasn't as good. Saturday Night brought the energy level up again. Then it was time for Jon's toilet break so Richie took the mic for I'll Be There For You and the crowd ate it up like crazy. I still prefer Jon singing it but Richie did a great job. At this point I'm convinced that if you have Dave sing Bad Medicine, the crowd will be pumped as well. The song is what matters. Then Jon came back and played that godawful Blaze Of Glory. I think this song (and all Jon/Richie solo stuff) should be kept away from a BJ concert. Let them have solo tours to play these. Anyway it was time for my toilet break. After Blaze was over, Hook Me Up was played and again, excellent laser show, decent crowd reaction.

At this point it got funky again, when Jon counted 2 3 4, I went huh???? WTF??? Since they've been closing their set with BTBMB, I was thinking, don't sell me short here, I paid lots of $$$ for a shitty seat! Thankfully BTBMB wasn't the main set closer. Too bad the song that followed it was that Sleep When I'm Dead. :mad: After this atrocity was over, BJ closed the main set with Raise Your Hands. Bet you didn't expect that, didja? I wasn't sure whether to commend the band for being creative or just shake my head at their creativity (which was merely changing the song order).

The encore was predictable. I'm a 'half empty glass' kind of guy so I thought the encore could've been better. If I'm a 'half full glass' kind of guy I would probably think "well at least it's not I got the girl". But **** that. The crowd were chanting USA USA USA, imagine if the band had played IGTG following the USA chant. Not only it would've been embarrasing, it would be totally wrong.

I must say Keep The Faith was totally excellent. It is the BEST version I have ever heard. No jungle screams but Jon had a new variation of that. He went boom boom boom before he went 'watch your back' (silly I know but the performance was great). This song was definitely a highlight. The evil combination of Bad Rx and Shout closed the show, so it was a let down after the blistering take of KTF.

Overall the band sounded good. It was obvious that Jon avoided notes that he can't hit anymore, but he still smoked for KTF. I grade the concerts that I went to on a scale from 1-10. Now let's see... no In These Arms, that's automatically one point deducted. I won't go to another BJ concert unless I'm sure that ITA is mainstay in the setlist. Next, the setlist. I found it kind of lame, so that's another point deducted. Blaze of Glory and Sleep When I'm Dead, another point deducted. However, the stage show and light show were excellent, so one bonus point. 8/10. Good show, but could've been MUCH MUCH better.

Europe, I hope you get a better setlist.