Bon Jovi rocked the Air Canada Centre in Toronto last week, and it inspired the latest Story from 2010. Last July the Mini-Meanie and I saw them play at the Rogers Centre, and this is my Screaming Review.
The first thing you need to understand, is that Bon Jovi is my absolute favourite band. However, until last July, I'd never seen them play live! I know, how crazy is that?? It just seemed like whenever they came to Toronto, it was the absolute worst time and I simply didn't have the money to go (yes, I'm the "down-on-his-luck" guy that Bon Jovi seems very fond of singing about). However, thanks to a very generous Christmas gift, my luck was about to change.
Kid Rock was the opening act, however we didn't get into Toronto on time to see him so I can't really comment on his performance. Actually, we did get into Toronto on time, however traffic and parking was a nightmare so it would be more accurate to say that we didn't get to the stadium on time to see Kid Rock. And I'm not complaining, just explainin'.
When Bon Jovi hit the stage at 9:00pm, it was a magical moment for us. Here we are, Father and Son, Screaming Meanie and Mini-Meanie, and our favourite band in the world is right there in front of us. Actually, I suppose Bon Jovi is the Mini-Meanie's second favourite band (he still likes David Cook best - although technically David Cook isn't a really a "band", so I suppose we're back to Bon Jovi being his favourite?).
I digress....
Even at my age, I have to admit, I was starstruck! Finally, after 25 long years, I was finally seeing my favourite band live in concert!
They opened with Blood on Blood from their album New Jersey. It was a wee bit of an odd choice I thought since it wasn't really a big hit for them, nor is it the kind of song that really pumps you up. But really, who cares, Bon Freakin' Jovi was on the stage! They followed that up with We Weren't Born to Follow off of their recently released CD 'The Circle'.
After that, they blew the roof off the dome when they played You Give Love a Bad Name! It's still my favourite Jovi song, and the Mini-Meanie and I were loving every second of it!
The party continued with Born to Be My Baby and the country-ish Lost Highway, before they blew the roof off the place AGAIN playing Runaway and It's My Life. I was actually surprised how many of the 50,000 in attendance knew the song Runaway - and it was awesome!
Kid Rock joined Bon Jovi on stage to perform Old Time Rock n' Roll - even though I think the song is completely overplayed, and I'm not a fan of Kid Rock (at all), it was actually a pretty cool moment.
The Stage set up was very cool. The lights were mounted on a semi-circle above the stage, while the inside of the semi-circle served as a giant video screen - which was great since our seats were so far back.
If I had one complaint, it would have to be our crappy seats - floor seats aren't as cool as they sound. Not when Andre the Giant is standing in front of you and you're about 40 rows from the stage. When you have 6th row seats, as I did for Def Leppard in 1988, then floor seats are uber cool!
Ok, I actually have a second complaint. Would it have killed the folks at the Rogers Centre to either open the roof, or turn on the air conditioning?? Look, I'm no rocket scientist, but it's the middle of summer, and you've crammed 50,000 people into a stadium, do you think it might get a wee bit hot??? The Mini-Meanie and I were sweatin' like hookers in church!
In fact, at one point during the show, a woman in front of us collapsed! I felt bad for her as I could see early on during the concert that she was struggling. When her and her husband/boyfriend finally made the decision to leave, it was too late - down she went. I was disappointed at how long it took the paramedics to arrive, but once there, they did a great job taking care of her. It was more than a little ironic that the woman collapsed while Bon Jovi was performing, Something for the Pain! Hey, I can't make this stuff up folks.
The other thing that bothered me was the sound (ok, so it's 3 complaints - sue me). This was the first time I'd ever seen a concert at Rogers Centre and if you've never been, the acoustics suck! The sound was bouncing off every corner of the concrete jungle. It was a big disappointment, but not enough that I didn't enjoy it.
Am I allowed one more wee complaint??? Of course I am - it's my blog!! They didn't play anything from their album Bounce. In my humble opinion, Bounce is probably their most underrated album.
During the encore they played Always, their mega-hit Wanted Dead or Alive and then finished off the night with a rousing rendition of Living on a Prayer. You haven't lived until you've heard 50,000 people sing an acupella version of the song. It was nothing short of incredible and I'm man enough to say, it gave me giant goosebumps!
After more than 25 years of performances, it's not surprising that Bon Jovi knows how to entertain a crowd. He certainly sent the Mini-Meanie and I home very happy!
Setlist
1. Blood on Blood
2. We Weren’t Born to Follow
3. You Give Love a Bad Name
4. Born to Be My Baby
5. Lost Highway
6. Runaway
7. It’s My Life
8. I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead
9. We Got It Goin’ On
10. Bad Medicine/Old Time Rock & Roll/Shout (with Kid Rock)
11. Love’s the Only Rule
12. Lay Your Hands on Me (Richie on lead vocals)
13. Bed of Roses
14. I’ll Be There For You
15. Something for the Pain
16. Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night
17. In These Arms
18. Work for the Working Man
19. Have a Nice Day
20. Who Says You Can’t Go Home
21. Keep the Faith
Encore:
22. Always
23. Wanted Dead or Alive
24. Livin’ on a Prayer
