June, 12th I took the plane heading to Amsterdam for another rushed couple of days. A concert that was delayed 2 hours because of a football match that would be broadcast in the big screens of the stadium was not the best indicator for Bon Jovi's return to Amsterdam. So a half stadium crowd (all in orange to support their national team) received the band in a big party (since Holland beat France in a good game). Jon and the boys were surprised when they were coming up the stage and saw some images from the Dutch team's goals and decided to improvise right from the kick off. "Rockin' all Over the World", the classic cover the band have adopted since 1995 turned up the volume and set the mood to a late evening of good Rock'n'Roll. Jon wore a Dutch team shirt with his first name on its back during the song, which made the audience even more crazy.
The classic set list followed, but with an intensity one could easily foresee that something special was about to happen. "Lost Highway" made the audience save some energies, so they could be released in bursts during "Born to be my baby" and "Bad Name". The crowd sang along every word - it was definitely one of the best crowds in Europe. "Raise your Hands" didn't let the intensity go down and during "Runaway" there was no doubt band and audience were having a blast. The always cool rhythm of "I'll Sleep when I'm dead" followed with a classic and a surprise in the "juke box". The classic was "Jumpin' Jack Flash", the Stones' Bon Jovi most covered song and the surprise - and for the first time in a long time - was "Gimme somme lovin", that fit brilliantly in the mood of the 10 minute party song. Then it was time to rest for a bit and so "Whole lot of leaving" was played, a song that lyrically is very meaningful for the band, specially when Jon asks "Do we got it anymore?" and then the silence is cut by the screams of the fans and Richie goes to his mic and says: "I think you got it". "In these Arms", with David Bryan singing the first verse sends the show again to stardust, with everybody jumping and singing every word.
Before the show I had thought of a banner with a friend and we made it, asking for the acoustic ballad "Diamond Ring", from my favorite record "These Days". My friend made a nice banner with a ring drowned in it. We showed the banner every now and then, and at this point Jon told the audience they usually played some request songs and they were about to do it. Then he pointed in our direction and joined Richie for an incredible rendition of "Diamond Ring". It was just like we were in a small club, one of those moments that only few bands can offer: a huge stadium was suddenly turned to an intimate room in which we could only hear the guitars and the song writers delivering a song just like it was written. The audience stood silent in respect for the moment, contemplating the magic we could seance in the air. And when the song was over, their biggest ballad and one of this year's best come back songs was performed. No other than "Always", which was sung by band and audience with the dramatic feeling the lyrics talk about.
After the ballads, the band got back to their party songs and a double combo from the album "Crush" followed: "Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars" and "Just Older" made the 30 plus thousand people swing again. The other original song from the 1994 Greatest Hits collection: "Crossroad", "Someday I'll be Saturday Night" was played next. But it was no standard version, the performance came deep down from the heart, with such an emotion it was almost tangible. The add libs after the solo had such a passion that everybody understood the true meaning of being frustrated and completely lost, and taking all the chances in a single moment to feel a "Saturday Night" again in their lives. Truly, these are the performances that made me go around the world chasing these guys. They can really make you believe in your dreams and tell you it is worthwhile fighting for them.
"We gotta goin' on" the party song from the latest record and the mega hit "It's my Life" made the rooftop almost blow away, with such an intensity. And if fans were already at the band's feet, the band didn't took their foot out of the gas, since the 1992 Hit Single "Keep the Faith" was delivered with not only a huge dose of adrenaline, but with hysterical jungle noises, a medley of "Sympathy for the Devil", two mega guitar solos and yet another emotional discharge of power. Again the band proved why they have legions of fans around the World and keep filling stadiums 25 years after they first started.
Richie Sambora's moment was next with the Nr. 1 single from the 80's "I'll be there for you" and again the audience didn't disappoint me, and showed not only respect, but a great admiration for the talented guitar player. Jon's solo Nr.1 single "Blaze of Glory" followed in a another brilliant rendition. Another great come back from this tour. Great singing with the screams at their best and a perfect harmony among the instruments and a leading guitar that shone at their top. Next was one of fan's favorites "Blood on Blood" or the Brotherhood song, a good surprise that gave the set list another highlight. "Have a nice Day", "Who says you can't go home" and the never old "Livin' on a Prayer" closed the main set with everybody having a good time.
After almost two hours the curfew was almost being reached and there were still two mandatory songs to be played. The band came back and saw the entire first row holding the lyrics for a song they had only played once live, in 1988. The song was "Stick to your Guns" and Jon, the never tiring leader, decided to offer a final gift to their die hard fans. And so history was made and they played a completely unrehearsed, raw and stripped version of the cowboy ballad. With no solo, bridge or final chorus it's true, but with an extended outro in which we could hear "It's only if you have to" repeated again and again, until the fading music that surrounded the voices was gone, and a smile gave the sign to the Cowboy anthem "Wanted Dead or Alive" to begin. This was the last song with the other mandatory song ("Bad Medicine") being dropped - of course after such an amazing show no one even noticed. And as the band bowed at the edge of the stage we could only applaud and say Bravo to one of the band's best ever performances.
By this time, I was already used to not having time to sleep, so a few hours later we were already in a train heading to Brussels, for a tiring day in Belgium's capital, in the rain waiting for another Bon Jovi show. It was hard for me, since all the tiring started to be felt. But I also witnessed for the first time the band giving signs of the long road behind them.
The stadium was half empty and the crowd was no good. The band made too many mistakes - which is not very usual - as you could easily see Jon doing angry faces to the back of the stage. Nevertheless this was probably the most surprising set list in terms of songs to be played: "One Wild Night" had its only European performance, a song the die hards loved, and that reminded the tour with the same name back in 2001; "Story of My Life" brought the 2006 "Have a Nice Day" tour atmosphere back; "Any other day", the best track from the album that was being promoted was the perfect excuse to introduce some of the musicians in the outro solos; "Blood on Blood" again for the fans; "Dry County" had its debut (but with some really disturbing mistakes that proved the song had not been rehearsed as well as it should, since it is not an easy song to play); "Last man standing", the 2006 tour opener made its come back and proved to be one of the band's best songs from the 2000's. Finally, as the first song of the encore we got "Livin' in Sin" a rare ballad that made everybody happy.
After so many good surprises no one could be sad, but an awkward feeling was also in everybody's chest. Something was not right during the show. This was the band in a bad day trying their best to surprise, while in the previous night we had witnessed the band in a good day, not only surprising the audience, but playing their hearts out.
All in all two very different shows. Memories I would take home in the plane I had booked for the following day. And then another week to get ready for the "last round", the final 6 shows of the European tour were scheduled for a week later in the Queen's lands of Britain....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment