[rocknation]

I live too close to Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands Arena to go to Madison Square Garden very often. However, I did see Bon Jovi there at a Z100 Radio concert in 1994 with Green Day headlining.

I read through the lineup in the program and went into "WTF???" mode when I tallied up the playing times. Bon Jovi was getting 30 minutes, Hole 40, Melissa Etheridge 45, and Green Day 65! "In Bon Jovi's own back yard? No f***king way!" I protested. Well, I didn't know how right I would be!

There must have been some last-minute renegotiating, because Bon Jovi played for 75 minutes featuring Jon entering through the center aisle. Melissa Etheridge followed, and I left. The next day, I learned that most of the audience had left by the time Green Day took the stage, which pissed them off so much, they trashed their hotel room!

[Javier]

Yeah, it was something about never following Jovi ever again?!?!

So The guys played acoustically right???

[rocknation]

Originally Posted by Javier

Yeah, it was something about never following Jovi ever again?!?! So The guys played acoustically right???

It was SUPPOSED to be acoustic, LOL, but I guess BJ wasn't in the mood--and the place was nuts!

I also guess that Z100 saw Hole and Green Day as the big draws, and invited Bon Jovi (a great, but peaked, local band they weren't playing much) as a "professional courtesy." What they didn't calculate was how many hardcore BJ fans would show up, or how many of them would feel "satisfied" and leave afterward, like I did.

Had I been Green Day or (especially) Hole, I would have insisted that BJ go on last. Between BJ's being local and their "seniority," it would have been an act of great respect that they could have parlayed into an opening slot on a future BJ tour. And since the size of the crowd had diminished noticeably by the time Green Day took the stage (most likely the real reason why they were so angry), it also would have been an act of common sense.

[danfan]

Yeah, the crowd was so into Bon Jovi, that they were left flat during Green Day, and Billie Joe through a hissy fit about it.

I used to like Green Day. Once they came back with American Idiot and got big, they've annoyed the hell out of me.

[rocknation]

Originally Posted by danfan

...(T)he crowd was so into Bon Jovi, that they were left flat during Green Day, and Billie Joe (threw) a hissy fit about it.

It also probably didn't help that they had to sit through three "lower energy" bands first. I stayed for Melissa Etheridge because I wanted to, and I did want to see Green Day -- but not badly enough to sit through Toad The Wet Sprocket and Hole.

Here's another example: Insane Clown Posse kicked opening act Biohazard off their tour after only three days. Why? Because after Biohazard finished playing, at least one third of the audience left with them!

[Javier]

I would also imagine that Green Day at that time wasn't half the live force they are now. And having to follow Jovi at that time (which is arguably their live peak) would be murder to almost any band...........

[danfan]

I remember going to a big radio show in 2000. It was an all day show. Bon Jovi was the 2nd to last act to play. Christina Aguilera closed. This was right before It's My Life came out, and I remember wondering if Bon Jovi would get any reception, especially from a much younger crowd. Did they ever. Before they came out, the entire crowd was chanting for them. The reception they got was amazing. After they finished their set, literally, more than half the crowd left.

That was when I realized, "Holy crap - They're still gonna be popular."

OT, Crush was never my favorite record, but that was an exciting time. They had been gone as a band for so long, and nobody was quite sure if they'd be able to make it big again. They became absolutely massive after the release of It's My Life.

[ticos_stick]

I remember seeing Billie Joe on TV in 2000 telling fans to put their lighters away during Time Of Your Life "Put those ****ing lighters away, this isn't a Bon Jovi show"

Ten years later and he's asking fans to get their lighters out.....

[rocknation]

Originally Posted by danfan

I remember going to a big radio show in 2000...Bon Jovi was the 2nd to last act to play. Christina Aguilera closed...I remember wondering if Bon Jovi would get any reception, especially from a much younger crowd...Before they came out, the entire crowd was chanting for them...After they finished their set, literally, more than half the crowd left...

An EXTRA dumb move, since Christina was peddling her debut album (though it did end up going multi-platinum). Once again, it was probably a case of the radio station deciding that she should headline because because they were giving her lots more airplay. But if she'd offered to let them headline, she would have played to a full house, might have sold a few "extra" albums to the hardcore BJ fans, and could have called it in as a favor when her career needed an "extra" boost!

[MJB12]

I saw Green Day this past Saturday, and saw them last year as well. Both times they played for 3 hours, they played an insanely good mix of songs from all eight of their studio albums, and rocked everyone's faces off. Their setlist was 34 full songs + several mini-covers and acoustic bits. See Jon, it is possible! Green Day is one of the few bands of the last decade or two that will continue to thrive for at least another decade.

Just throwing my two cents in on that.