Bon Jovi live, Adelaide Australia

On Wednesday 11th December 2013, I saw Bon Jovi live at AAMI stadium in Adelaide. I am a huge Bon Jovi fan and own every single one of their albums. So to say I was excited about this night is an understatement.

The only disappointing thing was the support act, Kid Rock. I am not a Kid Rock fan at all, I’ve never enjoyed his music so having to put up listening to him in concert was torture. I know there are some fans out there, and that’s fine, but I’m not one of them.

As for Bon Jovi, let’s just say, they didn’t disappoint. The picture above is of their stage setup, also known as Sophia. It is one of the most stunning, if that’s the right word, stages I have ever seen. When they were on stage, the lights flashed and it often seemed as though the car was moving.

When the background music started, the band gradually came out on stage and the crowd roared. But of course, as soon as Jon appeared on stage, the roaring turned into ear piercing screaming. I’m not going to deny I was one of them. 🙂 For 51 years of age, he’s still got the looks, the charisma and, dare I say it, the sex appeal.

Oh yes, I know, he’s a happily married man with children but we females can letch, can’t we?

This was one of the first photos taken when the concert started. I was in the stands so I didn’t have a clear view of the bad but the screens were good and there’s a nice picture of Jon. *Swoon*

The starting song was ‘That’s What the Water Made Me’ from their new album ‘What About Now’.

After that Jon greeted the crowd, which of course resulted in even more screaming. Next they rocked the stadium with the good ol’ faithful ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’. Let’s just say by not even halfway through the concert I had totally lost my voice.

As the night progressed, they played music and sang to their hearts’ content, making the 50,000+ attendees extremely happy and full of life. Jon has a way about him. He says just the right thing to make people feel they’re special. And do you know what I think is great? Jon is such a genuine guy in real life, he doesn’t say it to rile a crowd, he says it because he really does mean it. His fans mean the world to him because without them, him and the band wouldn’t be where they are now.

Check out the awesome curls of the one and only David Bryans..

 

Sorry it’s a little blurry, it was getting dark but you can’t miss those curls anywhere. Someone made the quip that he still had an 80s perm but I have since found out they are his natural curls.

The whole concert was a success and the night was awesome. But for me the highlight was when they sang ‘I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead’ and turned it into a medley of different songs. Each band member had a chance to start and sing their own song, or at least parts of songs. Phil X, who is filling in for Richie Sambora, sang the ACDC song ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’. That whole section was insanely brilliant and had the crowd cheering louder than ever.

What really added to the amazing night was not long after Jon and the band first started, we had the most exquisite sunset. It was beautiful.

Here is the set list from the concert, and to be honest I feel this is one of their best set lists yet. The songs chosen for that night were, in my opinion, the best set list by far. Tell me what you think:

– That’s What the Water Made Me

– You Give Love a Bad Name

– Raise Your Hands

– Lost Highway

– Whole Lot of Leavin’

– It’s My Life

– Because We Can

– What About Now

– We Got It Goin’ On

– Keep the Faith

– When We Were Beautiful

– Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night

– Diamond Ring

– (You Want to) Make a Memory

– Born to Be My Baby

– We Weren’t Born to Follow

– Who Says You Can’t Go Home

– I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (w/ Start Me Up, Great Balls)

– Bad Medicine (w/ Shout)

Encore:

– Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen From Mars

– Work for the Working Man

– Wanted Dead or Alive

– Have a Nice Day

– Run Rudolph Run (Chuck Berry cover)

– Livin’ on a Prayer

So thoughts? Personally, I thought it was awesome. It would have been great to hear ‘Always’ and ‘Bed of Roses’, but I’m not disappointed. The set list was perfect, in my opinion. However, on Tuesday night, Bon Jovi played his last concert of the tour in Brisbane. They even had a live stream which I watched from the comfort of my own home. He played ‘Always’ there so I was like a cat who got the cream. It was a perfect way to feed my Bon Jovi addiction. 🙂

That’s all from me. It was a wonderful night and this concert has just proven me that the whole Bon Jovi band still has it. I miss Richie, I won’t deny it, but he’s made his choice and he’s not there. However, Phil X was amazing in his place and the band have still continued playing brilliantly in Richie’s absence.

 

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Muse live, Adelaide Australia

On Wednesday 4th December, me and my husband went to see the band, Muse live in concert.

Their opening act was Birds of Tokyo. I thought I didn’t know many of their songs but was surprised how many I did know. It turns out I’ve heard many of them but didn’t realise it was them. Anyway, they were a good opening act but not great. Their music is great, I can’t fault that. However, the performance of the front man (I don’t even know his name, shocking!) was much to be desired.

To put it bluntly, he danced about like a fairy. As he jiggled around on stave, waving his hands around like he was imitating an airplane, I found myself looking away, unable to stand watching him. As I said, the music was great but I was cringing every  time I saw him ‘dance’. I think Mr Bean would have been a better dancer than him.

So apart from that, great music and I would happily buy their albums now but I won’t see them live in concert again. I’m just glad they were a support act and I didn’t buy tickets just to see them.

On to Muse… well there is only one word that describes their performance. Incredible! The band knows how to put on a great show and front man, Matt Bellamy has so much charisma you can’t not like their performance. It was absolutely breathtaking.

At the end of 2010, I saw Bon Jovi live in Sydney. At the time I deemed that the best concert I had ever seen. He and the band are much like Muse, they just know how to do a great show and Jon’s charisma is on a par with Matt’s. But after seeing Muse, they have surpassed Bon Jovi. It kills me to say it, I’m a huge Bon Jovi fan, but seriously the Muse concert was just, dare I say it again, incredible.

When I say surpassed, it is only by a little bit. They are both brilliant and it is a hard choice. But Muse’s music is very different to Bon Jovi’s and their performance is different. But they definitely both know how to put on a show.

Although I’m very excited to say I”ll be seeing Bon Jovi live in Adelaide next week (Wednesday 11th December) so I will revisit my opinion and decide if I still think Muse are a little better. It’s a tough call!

Has anyone else been to any good concerts lately?

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