Trish somehow managed to schedule a trip to Cuba during the same week as the Bon Jovi concert so Cinthia ended up winning big in getting her ticket from her. I held off on telling Vero and Cinthia how close we were so they were pretty pumped when we moseyed on down to the floor onto Row 16 for a spectacular view of the stage.
This was definitely a better view than I had before when I saw them in Montreal from Level 400 IN BEHIND THE STAGE. Hey, for $25, it still was probably in my Top 5 concerts I have ever seen. Man, they put on a great show there.
The stage setup for this tour (supporting their not yet released album “What About Now”) is fairly sparse but I wonder if that’s common for 360 degree stage setups so the people in the back can see the back of their heads. Let us not even get into the comparison of the U2 360 tour here!
While the girls were swooning over the dreamy figure on stage, I was digging the tunes coming from the machine called Bon Jovi. The band were in fine form the entire night and I just love all their tunes, even if I wasn’t familiar with a few of them (namely the tunes from Lost Highway and What About Now). The setlist had a lot of tunes from the new album and they were pretty good. Not sure if they will be better than The Circle, but we’ll have to find out when the album is released.
Highlights:
– Amen – I’m pretty sure that after singing Hallelujah for many concerts in the past, Richie and Jon decided to write their own version.
– We Weren’t Born to Follow – Always a crowd pleaser!
– Wanted Dead or Alive – Epic, epic tune!
– In These Arms – I don’t think they play this tune all that much and it’s one of my faves from Keep The Faith so I was truly in awe. Great, great tune. Makes up for missing out on Born to Be My Baby.
Cons:
– I’ve said it before…Ottawa crowds are a hit and miss. This night presented the band with a crowd that embarrassed me. Hey, when the band wants you to clap along, the least you can do is clap along. I would think that 25% of the people on the floor clapped along. At least they were standing. I am making it a point to go to Montreal for a show if I have the choice in the future. Montreal crowds are insanely great. Ottawa…hit and miss. I’ve had some great crowds, I’ve had some bad crowds.
A related topic is the fact that not many bands are coming to Ottawa lately. There was this period about 5 years ago where Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto was a good circuit for bands like U2 to travel. I’m not sure how concerts are organized but I would have to think that if a band doesn’t feel that the crowd was into it all that much, they may choose to skip that town. I’m wondering if that’s what trap we are falling into. But I don’t know the inner workings of concert organization. All I know is that other than the awesome Bluesfest every year, I have seen a noticeable drop in concerts coming our way. But I’m sure Mike will be reading this and say something like “That’s because all you listen to is mainstream acts!”
Two big thumbs up for the show put on by Bon Jovi. I doubt the tour will be ending anytime soon with the new album being released so I recommend you go check them out!
1. BAD NAME SLIPPERY WHEN WET
2. LOST HIGHWAY LOST HIGHWAY
3. WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN’ LOST HIGHWAY
4. BECAUSE WE CAN WHAT ABOUT NOW
5. WATER MADE ME WHAT ABOUT NOW
6. IT’S MY LIFE CRUSH
7. WHEN WE WERE BEAUTIFUL THE CIRCLE
8. WHAT ABOUT NOW WHAT ABOUT NOW
9. WE GOT IT GOING ON LOST HIGHWAY
10. KEEP THE FAITH KEEP THE FAITH
11. MAKE A MEMORY LOST HIGHWAY
12. AMEN WHAT ABOUT NOW
13. I’LL BE THERE FOR YOU NEW JERSEY
14. ARMY OF ONE WHAT ABOUT NOW
15. WE WEREN’T BORN TO FOLLOW THE CIRCLE
16. SUPERMAN TONIGHT THE CIRCLE
17. WANTED CROSSROADS
18. WHO SAYS YOU CAN’T GO HOME HAVE A NICE DAY
19. BAD MEDICINE NEW JERSEY
20. IN THESE ARMS KEEP THE FAITH
21. HAVE A NICE DAY HAVE A NICE DAY
22. RUNAWAY BON JOVI
23. SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD KEEP THE FAITH
24. PRAYER SLIPPERY WHEN WET