Last night, at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska, I attended my third Bon Jovi concert in 23 years. The first time I saw Bon Jovi was with Deniz in South Florida in the late 1980s. It was September 2002 when I last saw Bon Jovi in Times Square with my friend Ernest from NJ, where we were just 5 feet from the stage. Today Bon Jovi still Rocks just as hard and puts on a fantastic performance.
The night opened with a young band called “Dashboard Confessional”. They are an American alternative rock band from Boca Raton, Florida. Dashboard Confessional has been around since the early 2000’s with several Gold Records. Personally I never really listened to them before. Dashboard Confessional puts on a good show; and I believe this should be a career boost for them to be able to open for a legendary band like Bon Jovi.
I took my wife to the Bon Jovi concert. Like many women she is crazy for Jon Bon Jovi. Yes, our personal song we danced to in 1988 was “Never Say Goodbye”, which by the way they performed last night. I would have thought that “Always” was the more popular love ballad, so this was a nice surprise. The other trivial connections are that I am also from New Jersey and that we share the same wedding anniversary as Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, whom were married in April 1989.
The Qwest Center was sold out of course. The seating capacity is about 16,000. I had to buy my tickets from a broker online, “StubHub” of which I have had good experiences getting tickets. The stage has a “Circle” which is connected with VIP seats inside. (See image of the The Circle stage diagram). Everyone was standing up - off their seats - screaming and singing during the entire concert. There was a lot of energy. Bon Jovi played songs from their new album, "The Circle", like “We Weren’t Born to Follow” and “Superman Tonight”. In an interview given to Rolling Stone Magazine, guitarist Richie Sambora says the album is a return to "rock and roll" and said "There’s going to be some big choruses on there. It sounds like Bon Jovi, but it sounds fresh. We experimented with a lot of new sounds and had a really good time working with John Shanks, who is also a really good guitar player, so he and I did a lot of ‘weaseling’ with the guitar sounds. There are a lot of really good guitar sounds and new kind atmospheres on the new Bon Jovi record, that I think makes it really modern. I think people are going to dig it, man. And it rocks hard." Personally I agree with Richie and do like the new music. Check out The Circle track listing and music video below.
There was a great mix of old legendary hits from the Slippery When Wet album like “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Never Say Goodbye” as well as some more current hits like “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” from 2006. Everyone screamed loud and crazy singing along to “Bad Medicine” from the New Jersey album. What was really cool was when Bon Jovi broke into the Door’s “Roadhouse Blues”. --- The encore was Awsome!! Jon Bon Jovi said “Oh oh, it’s 1984 again” and jammed into “Runaway”. Then Bon Jovi played their anthem “Wanted Dead or Alive” and the ultimate predictable finish was “Livin’ on a Prayer”. There’s no better way to end a Bon Jovi concert! It was great!
There were people from all ages at the concert. This demonstrates Bon Jovi’s fresh appeal that has outlasted all Glam Rock bands of their era. Bon Jovi is definitely a class act as they continuously thanked their fans throughout the concert. Below is a crude 55 second video clip from my iPhone of Bon Jovi performing “You Give Love a Bad Name”. I have also included the official video from the “The Circle” album of the song “We Weren’t Born To Follow”. – Kenny Leibow
Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name - Clip
(Qwest Center, Omaha, Nebraska March 9, 2010)
3/10/2010 I was just on the blameitonthelove blogsite and found a great and clear video clip of Bon Jovi performing "Never Say Goodbye" from the concert in Omaha. Check it out below:
source: www.shallownation.com
The Circle Track List
1. “We Weren’t Born to Follow”
2. “When We Were Beautiful”
3. “Work for the Working Man”
4. “Superman Tonight”
5. “Bullet”
6. “Thorn In My Side”
7. “Live Before You Die”
8. “Broken Promiseland”
9. “Love’s the Only Rule”
10. “Fast Cars”
11. “Happy Now”
12. “Learn to Love”
iTunes Bonus Track
13. “We Weren’t Born to Follow (Jason Nevins Remix)”
Bon Jovi "We Weren't Born To Follow"
