Tampa Review: Lisa from LI

A review sent to me by my Jovi-pal Lisa from LI. Sounds like she and her son both had a fantastic time!!

I decided to take my son Kyle who is 12 (almost 13) with me to the show to witness the first Bon Jovi show of his life to see why Mom is such a lunatic over the band!! I asked my hubby, but, he was really not interested (as I could tell by the rolling of the eyes). My 16 year old daughter, Kristin was supposed to be my partner in crime but she went to Disneyworld and sang with her High School Choir for a singing competition. (They got a trophy and placed at the event woohoo). We arrived at the venue (St. Pete Times Forum) very early @6:30 and we decided to go in(what the hell).....we knew we had seats on the floor but not sure how close....so, we were 9 rows from the circle...right in the center....both Kyle and I looked at each other and started to scream and shake..yippee for us!! I asked him if he wanted to get a soda or anything....he said he was shaking too much to leave his seat!!!! So, everyone is starting to get their seats and we made fast friends with everyone around us sharing Jon stories and gushing over how much we love the band..yada, yada, yada....So, I go up to the circle(just to check it out) and this girl comes running over to me....OMG..your are Gina from Long Island..you go to a lot of shows don't you?? Now, for those of you who dont know me I am from Long Island originally (only been in Florida 8 years) and I look like every Italian girl from Long Island and I am thinking...hmmmm...should I go with this??? I was like no I am Lisa from Long Island...and she is like Oh I am Emily...blah, blah, blah...is that your son? How cute...is this his first Bon Jovi show...etc....anyway...not to bore you but, you kinda feel like a family as you start talking to everyone around you and in Tampa.....lots of people are from Long Island and New Jersey so, I felt like I was HOME!!! Ok..now I will fast forward.....Dashboard Confessional started at 7:30pm...very cute lead singer..ok band..singer looks like the lead singer from Green Day...starting to shake some more...where is Bon Jovi?? I thought they might start early..but no...8:45 start time!!!

This is Our House starts playing....I decide to call some friends to listen in. I do this several times through the night..seems to have worked out well!!!

Ok..Lights get dark and loud screams and here comes HRH.....melt, melt....I had a clear shot of him from my seat...really, I tried to imagine that he was playing to me alone in my living room.....the illusion worked..all I could see was HRH and I was just blown away by his well, beauty.......really the youtube vids and pics do him no justice..the man is A WORK OF ART!!!!! Kyle at this point, is standing on his chair, a sea of women all around him giving him high 5's and asking him if he is having a great time (how cute)!!!

So, of course, the 3rd song You Give Love a Bad Name...got the most screams... boy can he move his behind (duh), I was blown away by When We Were Beautiful.....when I watch it on youtube the song does not blow me away but LIVE..OMG....he sings it with such LOVE...that you just wanna cry!!! The Whole Crowd seemed to LOVE, LOVE Superman Tonight....loud screams on that one...again, very very nice LIVE, and then when he sings We Got It Going On.....the place just erupts as he is climbing the robots....I really mean it...the crowd went NUTS!!! Ok, so, he finally comes out to the CIRCLE and he is so close to me that it almost seemed Surreal......you know?? So, me and the LOUD and VERY FUN, Jersey Girls in front of me were hugging each other and screaming and saying how Mother EFFIN hot he is...what a blast...those girls added to the fun of the night!!! And then Richie joined him in the Circle for I'll Be There For You and I have a new love of Richie....he is extremely handsome up close..his muscles are to die for...the videos and pics dont show the real Richie!! Then, of course, David and Tico join the boys on the Circle...and for those of you who know me, I love David.....also such a cutie pie....but really, as much as I love him...it was all about Jon for me last night...Jon was playing to me in my living room and 15,000 other people were invited!!!

There were a couple of cute moments.....

When Jon introduces Richie to play Lay Your Hands on Me He says....this is my roomie from last night....I am figuring they stayed in South Florida....in Miami as witnessed by the paparrazi pics out there..they both giggled..it was cute

Then during one song...damn, I cannot remember which one....Jon says...I have an Aunt and she lives here in Florida and this is her favorite song

Then, during KTF....Jon stops playing the maracas at the beginning looks at David and gives Tico the stink eye.....I want to see that on video to get the full effect but, it looked like Stink Eye to me...it also looked like he stopped singing too....I am not totally sure on this but that is what it looked like to me!!! If anyone else knows the story..let me know!!!

And finally, when the amazing night was over, my son turned to me and said "MOM, this was the HIGHLIGHT OF MY LIFE"........I smiled at him and said "Mission Accomplished"!!!!!!

Thanks, Lisa, for sharing your evening!

~ Hath