Friday marked the two-year anniversary of my move from Aotearoa to the UK. As luck would have it Bon Jovi were playing show four of twelve at the O2, thus gifting me the perfect opportunity to acknowledge my little milestone.
As one may gather from my explanation of why my blog is called shininglikeadiamond, I am one of the Bon Jovi faithful. One of the first albums I bought was their 1994 best of album Cross Road. As I mentioned in my virgin post I didn’t have a lot of exposure to contemporary music until the dawn of the nineties. The purchase of Cross Road, like Jackson’s Thriller, was the start of forming my own opinion of what music I liked (even if the purchase was based purely on a review I read in the teen magazine TV Hits). In the end that little blurb of a review started a life long love affair with the New Jersey rockers. It also paved the way for one of my first acts of teen rebellion as the charm of Jon and crew did not rub off on my parents (to put it mildly).
The O2 concert was the second time I’ve seen Bon Jovi live. The first was during their Lost Highway tour when they played Christchurch, NZ. This particular concert ranks high on my list of favourite concerts as it was a glorious mix of good company, good live music and a gorgeous late summer evening. Friday’s concert was just as good, if not for different reasons. Up in the gods of the O2 the view actually exceeded my expectations and wasn’t nearly as vertigo inducing as I had imagined (a photo from the night has been included at the end). Much like the Stereophonics’ concert earlier in the year, Friday’s fix was a timely opportunity to let loose the inner Rock Chick (which was long overdue an outing). If I had to choose three top moments from the evening it would go something like
- The inclusion of let it rock on the set list. Seriously cool. For the curious I’ve added the set list to the end of this post.
- Richie Sambora’s lay your hands on me. Would it be cheeky to ask for more Sambora taking the lead? Hmm, possibly. Muchly enjoyed all the same. I’m gonna add the double necked Telecaster Sambora plays during have a nice day, it’s a beast and I love it.
- The acoustic someday I’ll be saturday night. Made all the better for the fact that all four members were out front on the outer ring of the stage.
Honourable mentions for the night would also go to work for the working man which was as good live as I thought it’d be, bad medicine with pretty woman thrown in (ok, yes, it sounds like it should’ve been naff, but it wasn’t, please believe me) and Jon purely for his energy level throughout the evening – the man’s an energizer bunny.
In the end, the concert was so enjoyable that I’m going back for the final of the twelve shows.* Proof that you can’t have too much of a good thing – and that you should take all the opportunities there are to let out your inner Rock Chick.
Set list: happy now/we weren’t born to follow/you give love a bad name/born to be my baby/radio saved my life/lost highway/when we were beautiful/raise your hands/we got it going on/sleep when I’m dead/bad medicine w/ pretty woman/lay your hands on me (Richie Sambora)/open all night/diamond ring/I’ll be there for you/something for the pain/someday I’ll be Saturday night/let it rock/it’s my life/work for the working man/who says you can’t go home/keep the faith. Encore: have a nice day/wanted dead or alive/livin’ on a prayer.
*Even though it clashes with the Dr Who finale. Oh, did that cause me some consternation when I realised this was the case. Thank goodness for i-player – I wouldn’t want to have to choose between Bon Jovi and The Doctor otherwise.
