After my 14 show trip in 2006 following the band from New Jersey, I repeated the experience in 2008. 2 years older and with a Country influenced album that reached nr 1 all over the world under their belt here's what Bon Jovi gave to Europe on their Lost Highway tour.
What does a band have of so special to make people to travel all around Europe to attend to their shows? I don't really have a very rational explanation. The only thing I know is that this band have been keeping their fans loyal after 25 years. And the reason is perhaps their ability to make people dream... that they can achieve their dreams, that there is hope after all, that if you believe in yourself you can make your way through tough times. That is basically the bottom line of their songs. And if you see them live, you will feel that the message is really genuine. This message makes a lot of people go through tough times, and recover hope and will to survive in a troubling world. So growing up with this band, made me want to give something back, and traveling to see them gave me the perfect opportunity to also meet different people from different countries, all with this blind faith that at some point of our lives we needed and was given to us by this band.
So, through the tiredness the band did show in Gelsenkirshen, which didn't prevent them to deliver surprises like Always, Summer "We will Rock you" time,These "Sambora" Days or Blood on Blood that are among fans favorites, to the prestigious tour finale in London, when they surprised all the die hards with an astonishing performance of I Believe, there were lot's of episodes worth to mention.
In Munich, where we witness in the rain another night of intimacy in the band's second home: the city's Olympic stadium. Where they delivered an amazing version of Hey God, a song of anger that was brilliantly delivered with a dramatic sense of urgency. And what could we say after one the funniest and most enjoyable surprises of the tour: Duffy's Mercy was played on the Sleep when I'm dead's Jukebox, showing the band was not only aware of the old classics - like Jumping Jack Flash, Star me up or Twist and Shout - but also knows the current trends. The yeahh yeahhh yeahhhs of this song would be heard in many other stadiums, but it was here that it had its debut and the band saw the good reaction it caused. Every time the band reached a climax, the clouds did their job and sent us rain, showing that Heaven and Earth were in sync. A "developing" version of Always, David singing the first lines of In these Arms, I Love this Town or the final unplanned encore with Blood on Blood gave all the presents the first highlight of the European tour, setting the tone for the European gigs.
And if in Leipzig there were surprises like Wild in the Streets, Jon's version of These Days, Last man standing or Die for you, despite the short set, Hamburg was another highlight of the tour with Glory Days and Mercy in the Jukebox, Die for you replacing Runaway, Joey making its unique European appearance in 2008, American Girl being played in a medley with I got the girl, another angered version of Hey God and what was so far, the best encore of the tour: Livin' In Sin, Saturday Night, Hallelujah and Wanted: All fans favorites, all classics, 3 of them debuting in Europe in 2008, not to mention the way the songs were delivered with passion and like there was no tomorrow. Perfect.
Next day in Stuttgart, everybody thought it 'd be a filler show, since the band would be tired. We couldn't be more wrong. This was one of the top 5 shows of this European tour. With a full version of Rockin' all over the World and a nice version of Last Night, the band played Bounce as the real first surprise. And when we all saw Jon whispering to all musicians one at a time a secret when Bad Medicine was being played, we could never imagine what we would hear next. Completely unexpected a song the band didn't perform since 1996: Drift Away with a big sing along from the audience. History was made. And right after that when the mega hit Livin on a Prayer was being played, another highlight from the whole tour: Jon came down and touched the fans from the first rows. Something that had never happened ever since 2000. Historic!
And if in Hamburg the encore was amazing, the band surpass themselves by playing an even better one: Livin' in Sin, Wild is the Wind - a song barely played but very intense, lyrically and musically - and Wanted (as the expected finale). But this time, for the 2nd time in the tour, the band didn't leave and offered an extra song: Any other Day, the perfect show closer, with a message of hope under a dark background, with a cool jam in the end, giving Jon the opportunity to present all the musicians. The first time this song was played and just like what happened with Mercy in Munich, this was the moment the band found out this one had to stay in the set list. It was magical, no other words can describe such a special show.
And with no time to rest, I had to hurry and with a few hours sleep take a plane back home, where I'd fulfill a 13 year old dream: see my heroes play in my home country... but that's something I'll write about in my next post, as soon as i can....
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