After seeing my heroes for the first time in my home country, I felt a chapter had just ended. But at the same time, after my 30th Bon Jovi show, a new one was about to begin. So as the Portuguese concert ended at 1 a.m. of June, 1st, I had only a few hours to rest since the next flight was scheduled to 6 a.m. of that same day.
The scenario was Barcelona's Olympic stadium and a huge crowd was expecting a band that had been away from the country in the previous 5 years. The hits that had been played during the tour were reproduced in Spain with passion, along with surprises such as the 90's power ballad "Bed of Roses" in its original version, brilliantly introduced by an acoustic version of King Elvis' "I can't help falling in Love with you", superb; the rocker "Hey God" that after the German performances was reproduced with high levels of energy. A song that proved to have enough power and social concern to be a highlight for any crowd. "Always" remained in the set list much to the audience's amusement and "Bad Medicine" was moved to the end of the encore just to close the night with the highest levels of adrenaline. Overall a very professional show with good surprises. None the less, it must be said that the atmosphere couldn't compare to the previous night and that if we take into account the level of the other European concerts, this show doesn't stand out.
One day break to another show, this time in Frankfurt, Europe's Financial capital received Bon Jovi's aufiderzin to Germany. And the country once again proved to be the band's second home since it received a 5 start treatment. Right from the start when "Summertime" made its return with Queen's anthem "We will Rock you" as the intro. A key song from the last album that fits the stadium's atmospheres. "Mercy", one of the tour's best surprises due to its freshness, edge and rhythm also returned to Sleep's jukebox. And a few minutes later the first big surprise: "Blood Money", Billy the Kid's tale sung in the first person is the most brilliant intro to the western's anthem "Blaze of Glory". And personally with a special meaning, since it was a request for a girl with whom I had a little chat before the show. The thing is she wanted to ask for the song "Miracle", but knowing it would be very hard, I suggested why not asking for "Blood Money", since this last song had been performed back in America. Suddenly it occurred to me the phrase "Blood Money would be a Miracle" which fitted as a glove, since it included the 2 songs in a catchy sentence. I must say the girl sculpted an amazing banner, drawing a 1 dollar bill, in stead of the word "money". So Jon accepted the challenge and provided the miracle. Powerful performances of the regular songs filled the show up until the audience started to sing the "uh uh's" that characterize the Rolling Stone's classic "Sympathy for the Devil", the song that is rarely included after the "Keep the Faith" solo in Bon Jovi shows. But once again the band said yes to the audience's request and the crowd simply loved it. After Richie's abitué "I'll be there for you", the band surprised everybody performing for the first time in Europe one of the fans favorite hits: "Lay your hands on me", with a full intro that astonished all the presents. I had seen them perform this song in Newark, USA, in the kick off of this world tour, and it had been a highlight. Now in a huge stadium it felt even better. When the main set was over we knew the band was in a good mood, which meant we could expect anything from the encore, the show's normal period for surprises. And we weren't wrong. The encore began with one of Lost Highway's best tracks and fan's favorite: "Any other day", one that fits perfectly the beginning of this part of the show. And up next my request was fulfilled, after holding a banner that simply said "Damned" for the whole show, Jon pointed to it, and started singing "If loving you is wrong" acapela, another perfect intro, this time for a song that had been performed only once during the current tour. And what a song, so much power and adrenaline in 6/7 minutes with band and audience in perfect communion. For me the highlight of the show, of course. And right after it, another audience request: "These Days". Amazing, simply amazing. The crowd couldn't help but to surrender to the band's humility and delivery. So the show closer "Wanted Dead or Alive" was sung by everyone in the stadium with the emotion of a goodbye to good old friends. Definitely one of the best shows of the whole tour.
Again, with no time to rest, I had to fly in the following morning to Austria's capital: Vienna, only to understand the show was being held 30 kms away from the city, in the middle of nowhere. The rain visited a show with tasty surprises like "Complicated", "Glory Days", a full version of "Rockin' all over the World", "Garageland" and "I got the girl". But the truth is much like Barcelona, the band was not on fire. Whether if it was because they had performed an amazing show the day before and were tired, or because the audience didn't have a warm reaction, truth to be told, this show didn't cast for the tour's highlights. Nevertheless, it was filled with professionalism and sympathy.
Finally 2 days off, before another show in the middle of nowhere. This time in Ireland's horse race field in Punchestown, and my 10th and final show in a row. Ireland is one of Jon Bon Jovi's favorite places to perform so no less than a brilliant show was what everyone was expecting. Again the band didn't disappoint. This time not for the surprises but for the struggle, The thing is the lead singer was suffering of a hay fever that didn't let him reach the high notes, or deliver his best performance. The show's strength was the enthusiasm both band and audience shared. One of the highlights was when a girl grabbed Jon and didn't want to let him go, the security had to took measures, but the girl only let the man go when the lead singer looked at her eyes and kissed her. An attitude that soften her, and enabled the securities to take her away. Jon confessed the audience he knew Irish girls since his own wife was from Irish families. Another highlights were the celestial "Hallelujah", Leonard Cohen's song that was dramatically performed, and the tour's best ballad: "Always". This last ballad had such an amazing guitar solo and a passion ed performance, it really stood out as a song that got better and better on each time it was played. The band couldn't leave the stage and returned for a final encore in which was heard the grooving cover song "Rockin' all over the World" and the fans favorite "These Days". The title track from the 6th studio album had its best performance in the whole tour and had such an emotion and chemistry between band and fans that it is without a doubt not only a highlight of this show, but also a highlight of this tour.
And with the confusion of thousands of people taking buses to get back to Dublin and only a couple of hours to sleep before an early morning flight back home, I saw the end of this 10 show in a row experience. Countless hours traveling by plane and train and queuing for the shows, not enough hours of sleep, but a huge satisfaction for having witnessed amazing concerts from my favorite band. I had 1 day to rest before getting back to work, but another 8 shows ahead of me in the following weeks.
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