Friday, July 22, 2011
9/11 10th Anniversary Tribute
The Daily (among others) are reporting on a rumor that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in "secret negotiations with HBO to produce a historic Bon Jovi concert in Central Park the night before the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
It is believed HBO would pay to produce the multimillion-dollar event, as well as for security and cleanup, in return for the rights to cable-cast performances by Bon Jovi, John Legend and a dozen other top acts.
However, a rep for the cable network denied the behind-the-scenes wrangling last night.
The Central Park tribute to the fallen would be a prelude to the ceremonies the following day at Ground Zero, where the families of the nearly 3,000 victims will hear the names of their loved ones read out loud.
I'm not sure how I feel about that.
On the one hand, I feel any tribute to an event as horrific as the 9/11 attacks should, in my opinion, be more respectful than a rock show; a rock show seems more like a celebration. I guess my gut reaction was disgust over the culture today -- we want to commemorate some event / someone's life / whatnot, let's see who'll do it up biggest, and which network / station will pay the most for broadcast rights.
But on the other hand, a celebration is okay. As a country, we pulled together in spirit and purpose, and the extreme shows of bravery from the men and women in various fire, police, and military units during and since that event are definitely worth celebrating. Also very much worth remembering and celebrating are the lives of those who were killed and the lives of their families as well. There are some amazing stories of strength, faith, forgiveness, and healing in there.
I'm torn.
Assuming the rumors to be true, what do you think about it?
~ Hath
JonBon Sightseeing in Vienna
Or, STALKER ALERT (lol)
The band is apparently enjoying a stay at the Imperial Hotel in Vienna. According to OE24 in Austria, Jon and brother Matt strolled through the front door at the Imperial, Jon signed a few autographs, and was in a generally good mood. Why not? Vienna is gorgeous.
Countdown to Lisbon Contest
From the Bon Jovi Website:
As a special thanks to our loyal fans, Bon Jovi will be giving away a SIGNED prize every day for the next 10 days as we count down to the final tour date of 2011 in Lisbon! Visit BonJovi.com to learn how to enter up to once a day to win one of 10 signed prizes!
WHAT CAN I WIN?
HOW DO I ENTER?
Please send us your entry via email to bonjovi@contests.sparkart.com and include the following information listed below. Please put 'Countdown to Lisbon’ in the subject line. In the body of the email, please include the following information:
1.) You First and Last name
2.) Your email address
You may submit an entry to the above email address once per day, every day during the contest period. Entering more than once per day will not increase your odds of winning. One winner will be selected at random for each day of the contest. All winners will be contacted by August 2nd, 2011.
Each contest period runs from 12:00am -11:59pm WEST (Western European Summer Time) every day for 10 days. The contest will run from July 22nd through July 31, 2011.
Good Luck!
~ Hath
As a special thanks to our loyal fans, Bon Jovi will be giving away a SIGNED prize every day for the next 10 days as we count down to the final tour date of 2011 in Lisbon! Visit BonJovi.com to learn how to enter up to once a day to win one of 10 signed prizes!
WHAT CAN I WIN?
- Day 1 - July 22: Signed Bon Jovi t-shirt
- Day 2 - July 23: Signed Bon Jovi DVD
- Day 3 - July 24: Signed Bon Jovi t-shirt
- Day 4 - July 25: Signed Bon Jovi hoodie
- Day 5 - July 26: Signed Greatest Hits CD
- Day 6 - July 27: Signed Bon Jovi t-shirt
- Day 7 - July 28: Signed Poster
- Day 8 - July 29: Signed Greatest Hits Ultimate Collection
- Day 9 - July 30: Signed Bon Jovi DVD
- Day 10 - July 31: Signed Vinyl Greatest Hits Set
HOW DO I ENTER?
Please send us your entry via email to bonjovi@contests.sparkart.com and include the following information listed below. Please put 'Countdown to Lisbon’ in the subject line. In the body of the email, please include the following information:
1.) You First and Last name
2.) Your email address
You may submit an entry to the above email address once per day, every day during the contest period. Entering more than once per day will not increase your odds of winning. One winner will be selected at random for each day of the contest. All winners will be contacted by August 2nd, 2011.
Each contest period runs from 12:00am -11:59pm WEST (Western European Summer Time) every day for 10 days. The contest will run from July 22nd through July 31, 2011.
Good Luck!
~ Hath
Thursday, July 21, 2011
JBJ Soul Kitchen Needs Your Support
This just popped in my inbox -- I'm sure most of you have gotten it as well...
~ Hath
~ Hath
The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation is excited to announce that the new website for our program, JBJ Soul Kitchen, is now live. The website is complete with photo galleries, videos, and news stories. The site also has information on reservations and volunteer opportunities, and will provide up-to-date information on the renovation process.
Located in Red Bank, NJ the Soul Kitchen is a community restaurant with no prices on the menus; customers pay what they can afford. If you are unable to pay, you may do volunteer work in exchange for your family's meals. Our mission is to serve nutritious dinners in a warm and welcoming setting, where communities can come together.
Soul Kitchen is currently under construction and is in need of supplies that will enable us to serve our community. Donations made to this campaign will be used towards outfitting the inside of our Kitchen as we get ready for our Grand Opening. We will be using these funds to purchase silverware, place settings, serving dishes, glasses, appliances, and much more that is needed.
To help us outfit the inside of Soul Kitchen, please visit our donation page on our website. We thank you for your support!
More St. Tropez Pictures
The headline on the article accompanying the photos made me chuckle.
~ Hath
~ Hath
You Can Take Jon Bon Jovi Out Of Jersey But You Can’t Take The Jersey Out Of Jon!
Jon Bon Jovi is in St. Tropez hanging out on Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jone’s yacht. Such a tough life and yes, I’m eternally jealous. But the thing that made me laugh is Jon’s outfit. There he was in one of the most gorgeous spots in the world wearing a muscle tee and heavy chains. That man is Jersey through and through. Jon – you’re in the Mediterranean! Maybe you could lose the jeans and work boots? Just sayin’.
At The Acropolis
Just a brief little snippet. But holy crap, look how skinny Richie's legs are! His stage pants must be a bit baggy, because he looks meatier on stage :)
~ Hath
~ Hath
What a Way to Celebrate
Rike's our guest blogger again this morning :) She's got a review of the Mannheim show (her 35th) to share with everyone. Thanks Rike!!
~ Hath
What a way to celebrate – a Mannheim review
Last weekend was my only weekend off for July. So Mannheim was supposed to be my last show this tour. And it would be my 35th show ever. And is there a better way to celebrate this together with friends and fans I met over the years on tour? There was a party planned for all who wanted to camp out for both front rows. ;)
After a nightshift and an 8hour journey by train I arrived at the venue pretty exhausted around 3:30pm. Sleeping in a train is not really relaxing. On the parking lot opposite of the main entrance to the venue were already put up some tents. With No 21 for Diamond circle I should be able to get front row. This time I would not long look for a spot, I would take the next opportunity. I really wanted a front row spot this time, because I made a request banner for my 35th show.
“34 shows and I never heard “Lie to me”. But maybe tonight for my 35th???”
But first - party. They welcomed me with Prosecco and after the 2nd can I had regained enough energy to put up my tent. In the meantime there were about 50 persons, a lot of them I knew from previous shows and camp outs. It was a warm and sunny evening and we had a couple of small grills (for one time use) and sausages, turkey steak and some other stuff to grill. And wine, beer and other alcohol next to cola, juice and water of course. We sat together, talked about all the past shows and our expectations for the next day. The night was warm, too and a pretty full moon was on the sky. Sometime later that night we crawled in our tents and short time later different sounds of snoring were to hear. *lol*
The next morning started sunny and warm, too. There were some toilets and wet baby tissues are pretty good for body cleaning. And mineral water is good for teeth brushing.
We had breakfast with the leftovers and then we took down our tents and packed our stuff together and loaded it in the cars.
The info mail said they would give out the tickets from 11am. But like usual, it was almost noon, when we get our wristbands. And only the wristbands, because there went something wrong with printing and delivering the tickets. The printer’s sent the tix out to a wrong city. So we went back to our cars, because there it was shady. Waiting an hour in the heat and sun was enough already. I guess we had almost 30°C that day. 2 hours later the next try and we actually got our tickets. It took a while til all had a ticket in hand, then they let us on the Maimarkt areal. There we sorted out the chaos and lined up by our numbers. Luckily there was a bit shadow; otherwise some of us would have ended at the first aid tent. Few minutes after 4pm we could go into the pit and this time I took the first opportunity and saved me a spot in the front row, direct between Jon’s and Richie’s microphone. But at first we sat down and relaxed, then after all we had to kill 2 more hours til showtime. It became a bit cloudy so I did
n’t feel like a roasted chicken anymore.
At 6pm the winner of the local band contest came onstage. I forgot the name of that band, but they were pretty good. Next band were Vintage Trouble, they are not bad, too. But after he 4th time the same setlist and the same speeches and jokes it’s getting bored.
20:10pm – the intro came through the speakers and was showed on the screen. From my place I could see the stairs below the stage and I caught a glimpse of that red jacket. And only few moments later all our guys were on stage and after the first sounds of “Raise your Hands” I knew it would be a great show. Jon was looking around and he must have seen a request sign, because he picked up his setlist and pointed on it. We were curious now. After the 3 usual songs came with “Radio” the first highlight. The girls next to me had a banner; it was printed from both sides. And they turned the banner immediately, so you could read the request for “Radio”. Jon had to laugh as he saw this. Then IML, Runaway and Sleep, with “Start me up” in it. Jon was on fire, a lot of smiles, eye contact and I had to laugh a lot about Richie. He was joking a lot and he made faces….. priceless.
“We got it going on” is simply THE party song!! And you could see that Jon’s knee is absolutely fine again.
“I get a rush” ahh, that was the request, they should play it more often.
“Bad Medicine” – the song I was waiting for. ;) We heard about Jon trying “Mercy” in Dusseldorf 3 times, so we made ‘Mercy’ signs, too. And I got rewarded. When you watch the video, a bit after Richies solo you can see Jon’s reaction to my sign, *rofl* And I have to say, I’d rather get a fist than a finger. Hahaha.
At the end of “Bad Medicine” Jon were walking on the circle and he was staying there. So no Richie solo I hoped for.
It was the fist time for me that I was front row and Jon was out there on the circle. It was an oddly feeling, but Richie was still in front of me and I could focus on him playing the solo of “Bed of Roses”. Then Jon called for Richie to join him out there for “I’ll be there for you”. At this point I wished I had a spot outside the circle. The song wasn’t finished yet as you could see David took his accordion. But Jon had to call twice for Tico. And then the next song which was played not so often – “Mrs.4th of July”, followed by the acoustic version of “Saturday Night”. In my opinion too much slow songs, it was killing the mood of the crowd a bit.
Now followed the unavoidable „Who says…“, but it brought back the excitement. And right after this the “confetti Captn Crush” – the energy was back in the audience and on stage. And I still find confetti on places I couldn’t even imagine.
“No Apologies” is a great stadium song, too. Also “Have a nice day”. For “Keep the Faith” I wish they would add some cover snippets again.
Then the venue went dark and we were guessing what we would get as encore.
“Hey God” I love this song and I was not alone with this opinion. “Wanted” and Richie was singing the 2nd verse. It was so funny to see how Jon was gentle pushing on Richie’s shoulder and nodded questioningly if he wants to sing. Followed by “In these Arms”, Dave could sing a bit from the 2nd verse. I think it was because of the request sign of #MrsDavidSambora. And then an absolutely awesome interpretation of “Hallelujah”; only Jon’s voice and David’s Keyboard. It was quiet in the stadium, all were just listening.
Then Jon said thanks for support, friendship and so over the years and started with “Prayer”. We sang it all together and after the band introduction and bows we were screaming, shouting and clapping so loud, that Jon added “Love’s the only rule”. He walked around the circle again, shook hands and let us sing the “oh oh oh ohs”. And when he wouldn’t vanish from the stage down the stairs, I bet he would have to sing another song. But it was very close to 11pm and right at the beginning Jon told us, that they overrun the curfew in 2003, so that for 8 years no concert was at this venue.
Only when the lights went on, we realized the show was over. We were overwhelmed; you could see tears in so many eyes. For a lot of our friends Mannheim was the last show of the tour; so the melancholy was very understandable.
Back at our cars there was no sign of movement, so we were stuck in the parking lot for almost an hour. Sometimes around 1am we arrived at our hotel and we fell in our beds, we not even bothered with shower or so.
We booked our rooms at this 4 star hotel purposely because we wanted to celebrate the end of the tour (at the time we booked this, it was the end of the tour for us!). So we went to have breakfast around 10am and whoow, that was a breakfast! That was a realization of wishes; you could have everything. Sparkling wine, different sorts of coffee, juice, tea; also bread, cheese, cakes - it would go too far to describe it all. The breakfast room was full of BJ fans; we really enjoyed it to be together again.
But then it was time to say good bye, my train wouldn’t wait. It wasn’t too sad, because I’ll see my girls again this weekend in Zeebrugge/Belgium.
A review will follow ;)
~ Hath
What a way to celebrate – a Mannheim review
Last weekend was my only weekend off for July. So Mannheim was supposed to be my last show this tour. And it would be my 35th show ever. And is there a better way to celebrate this together with friends and fans I met over the years on tour? There was a party planned for all who wanted to camp out for both front rows. ;)
After a nightshift and an 8hour journey by train I arrived at the venue pretty exhausted around 3:30pm. Sleeping in a train is not really relaxing. On the parking lot opposite of the main entrance to the venue were already put up some tents. With No 21 for Diamond circle I should be able to get front row. This time I would not long look for a spot, I would take the next opportunity. I really wanted a front row spot this time, because I made a request banner for my 35th show.
“34 shows and I never heard “Lie to me”. But maybe tonight for my 35th???”
But first - party. They welcomed me with Prosecco and after the 2nd can I had regained enough energy to put up my tent. In the meantime there were about 50 persons, a lot of them I knew from previous shows and camp outs. It was a warm and sunny evening and we had a couple of small grills (for one time use) and sausages, turkey steak and some other stuff to grill. And wine, beer and other alcohol next to cola, juice and water of course. We sat together, talked about all the past shows and our expectations for the next day. The night was warm, too and a pretty full moon was on the sky. Sometime later that night we crawled in our tents and short time later different sounds of snoring were to hear. *lol*
The next morning started sunny and warm, too. There were some toilets and wet baby tissues are pretty good for body cleaning. And mineral water is good for teeth brushing.
We had breakfast with the leftovers and then we took down our tents and packed our stuff together and loaded it in the cars.
The info mail said they would give out the tickets from 11am. But like usual, it was almost noon, when we get our wristbands. And only the wristbands, because there went something wrong with printing and delivering the tickets. The printer’s sent the tix out to a wrong city. So we went back to our cars, because there it was shady. Waiting an hour in the heat and sun was enough already. I guess we had almost 30°C that day. 2 hours later the next try and we actually got our tickets. It took a while til all had a ticket in hand, then they let us on the Maimarkt areal. There we sorted out the chaos and lined up by our numbers. Luckily there was a bit shadow; otherwise some of us would have ended at the first aid tent. Few minutes after 4pm we could go into the pit and this time I took the first opportunity and saved me a spot in the front row, direct between Jon’s and Richie’s microphone. But at first we sat down and relaxed, then after all we had to kill 2 more hours til showtime. It became a bit cloudy so I did
n’t feel like a roasted chicken anymore.
At 6pm the winner of the local band contest came onstage. I forgot the name of that band, but they were pretty good. Next band were Vintage Trouble, they are not bad, too. But after he 4th time the same setlist and the same speeches and jokes it’s getting bored.
20:10pm – the intro came through the speakers and was showed on the screen. From my place I could see the stairs below the stage and I caught a glimpse of that red jacket. And only few moments later all our guys were on stage and after the first sounds of “Raise your Hands” I knew it would be a great show. Jon was looking around and he must have seen a request sign, because he picked up his setlist and pointed on it. We were curious now. After the 3 usual songs came with “Radio” the first highlight. The girls next to me had a banner; it was printed from both sides. And they turned the banner immediately, so you could read the request for “Radio”. Jon had to laugh as he saw this. Then IML, Runaway and Sleep, with “Start me up” in it. Jon was on fire, a lot of smiles, eye contact and I had to laugh a lot about Richie. He was joking a lot and he made faces….. priceless.
“We got it going on” is simply THE party song!! And you could see that Jon’s knee is absolutely fine again.
“I get a rush” ahh, that was the request, they should play it more often.
“Bad Medicine” – the song I was waiting for. ;) We heard about Jon trying “Mercy” in Dusseldorf 3 times, so we made ‘Mercy’ signs, too. And I got rewarded. When you watch the video, a bit after Richies solo you can see Jon’s reaction to my sign, *rofl* And I have to say, I’d rather get a fist than a finger. Hahaha.
At the end of “Bad Medicine” Jon were walking on the circle and he was staying there. So no Richie solo I hoped for.
It was the fist time for me that I was front row and Jon was out there on the circle. It was an oddly feeling, but Richie was still in front of me and I could focus on him playing the solo of “Bed of Roses”. Then Jon called for Richie to join him out there for “I’ll be there for you”. At this point I wished I had a spot outside the circle. The song wasn’t finished yet as you could see David took his accordion. But Jon had to call twice for Tico. And then the next song which was played not so often – “Mrs.4th of July”, followed by the acoustic version of “Saturday Night”. In my opinion too much slow songs, it was killing the mood of the crowd a bit.
Now followed the unavoidable „Who says…“, but it brought back the excitement. And right after this the “confetti Captn Crush” – the energy was back in the audience and on stage. And I still find confetti on places I couldn’t even imagine.
“No Apologies” is a great stadium song, too. Also “Have a nice day”. For “Keep the Faith” I wish they would add some cover snippets again.
Then the venue went dark and we were guessing what we would get as encore.
“Hey God” I love this song and I was not alone with this opinion. “Wanted” and Richie was singing the 2nd verse. It was so funny to see how Jon was gentle pushing on Richie’s shoulder and nodded questioningly if he wants to sing. Followed by “In these Arms”, Dave could sing a bit from the 2nd verse. I think it was because of the request sign of #MrsDavidSambora. And then an absolutely awesome interpretation of “Hallelujah”; only Jon’s voice and David’s Keyboard. It was quiet in the stadium, all were just listening.
Then Jon said thanks for support, friendship and so over the years and started with “Prayer”. We sang it all together and after the band introduction and bows we were screaming, shouting and clapping so loud, that Jon added “Love’s the only rule”. He walked around the circle again, shook hands and let us sing the “oh oh oh ohs”. And when he wouldn’t vanish from the stage down the stairs, I bet he would have to sing another song. But it was very close to 11pm and right at the beginning Jon told us, that they overrun the curfew in 2003, so that for 8 years no concert was at this venue.
Only when the lights went on, we realized the show was over. We were overwhelmed; you could see tears in so many eyes. For a lot of our friends Mannheim was the last show of the tour; so the melancholy was very understandable.
Back at our cars there was no sign of movement, so we were stuck in the parking lot for almost an hour. Sometimes around 1am we arrived at our hotel and we fell in our beds, we not even bothered with shower or so.
We booked our rooms at this 4 star hotel purposely because we wanted to celebrate the end of the tour (at the time we booked this, it was the end of the tour for us!). So we went to have breakfast around 10am and whoow, that was a breakfast! That was a realization of wishes; you could have everything. Sparkling wine, different sorts of coffee, juice, tea; also bread, cheese, cakes - it would go too far to describe it all. The breakfast room was full of BJ fans; we really enjoyed it to be together again.
But then it was time to say good bye, my train wouldn’t wait. It wasn’t too sad, because I’ll see my girls again this weekend in Zeebrugge/Belgium.
A review will follow ;)
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Mid-Day Motivator: Darlin'
Bay, this one made me LOL when you sent it to me.
I'm still giggling :)
~ Hath
Resplendent Randomness: Lie To Me (Udine)
The ever-wonderful DeweyJovi was on hand in Udine. DJ has some of the BEST YT videos out there, and captured the Lie To Me intro to Always with PERFECT clarity.
I especially love the beginning, when the guys are working out the words.
And the little lip tap before Jon takes the mic, telling Tico to 'watch, watch'...
I love this kind of stuff -- the spontaneity of it, and of course the song itself.
Enjoy!!
~ Hath
I especially love the beginning, when the guys are working out the words.
And the little lip tap before Jon takes the mic, telling Tico to 'watch, watch'...
I love this kind of stuff -- the spontaneity of it, and of course the song itself.
Enjoy!!
~ Hath
From Horsens to Bristol
Rike is guest blogging again today; this time about her recent concert experiences from, well, Horsens to Bristol :)
Thanks Rike!
~ Hath
From Horsens to Bristol - on the Road with friends
Actually I wanted to write a review for each show. But since I didn't had the time I decided to write a review of our road trip in general. Not only the shows, but all the fun we had together
So let me begin.
After I came back from a week at my son's (incl. the trip to Munich); I only had one day to do laundry and packing for the next trip.
On Friday, June 17th I took the train to Horsens, Denmark. There is a great connection, so I only had to change the train in Berlin. Then I could stay in the train for the next 6 hours. I was killing the time with reading, tweeting and sleeping. I arrived at 5:30pm and took a cab to the camp ground where we want to stay the next 3 days. In the meantime I got the information that my tour buddies had some trouble with the car. The brakes were broken. Luckily Sandy's boss is a nice guy and they could take the company car for the weekend.
Since the girls were some hours behind our timetable I enjoyed the sunny and warm evening on the Horsens Fjord. I was sitting on a bench and had a delicious ice crème cone.
When the girls finally arrived we putted up our tents and then we had a nice BBQ. It was around midsummer, so the daylight was still there at 11pm, but you could also see the almost full moon.
Next morning the sound of raindrops on the tent waked us up. Fine! Why is it always bad weather when the guys are coming to Europe?
Fortunately there was a warm and dry TV/Breakfast room, so we spent the entire morning there. I had my laptop with me, so we checked the setlist and news from the Helsinki show - what a shock!! Jon injured his knee, what will happen with the upcoming shows????
At 3pm, it was still raining, we went to the stadium to have a look how much fans would be there already. There were 23; a few of them camped out since Friday. From Munich we knew that the DC isn't that big, so no reason to camp out, too.
So we went to a mall and bought some food and something to drink and went back to the camp ground. And there, the sun came out. So we could sit outside and grill our sausages. Later we had a walk on the beach and enjoyed the sunset.
The next morning saw us up pretty early. The sun was shining; you could hear the birds and watch pheasants and hares. Peaceful.
We putted our food, a thermos bottle with hot water and what we also needed for the show day, in the car and headed to the stadium. We got our numbers, (45-49) and also a good parking space. We took our stuff and sat down on the lawn to have breakfast.
About midday we got our tickets and wristbands and we could enter the area in front of the stadium. There was something like a pre-show party, you could buy food and drinks and on a small stage played some local bands. We were sitting and saving our strength for later. At 4:30 we had to line up and then we were waiting in the sun almost one hour before they let us into the stadium.
While I had in Munich Golden Circle tickets with a great view to the stage, Horsens was the 1st show in the Diamond Circle. And I have to say that stage is damned high. I'm not a tiny person, but I could barely see David keyboards or Ticos drum kit from the front row. So we decided to stay at the side, direct on the circle ramp. It would have be a perfect place when Jon would go to the circle. But with his injured knee we didn't even know what kind of show we could expect. When the 2nd support act was onstage, the sky opened suddenly the flood gates and within seconds the guys there were drenched. Luckily we had our raincoats ready on hand. 15 minutes later the rain was over and the crew started preparing the stage. The white mic came out, and a stool and there were two handrails on the stairs to the stage - ohhh.
Then the intro was played and our boys were onstage, expect for Jon. But then he came - leaned on a cane, a brace around his leg and a big grin on his face. The setlist is well known, but the best moment for me was when Richie sang a solo song for the first time since his come back. He was on fire this night; I think he liked his role as support for Jon. The setlist was shorter than usual, but especially at the last half hour of the show you could see that Jon was in pain. Another highlight was playing "10th Avenue freeze out" in Honor of Clarence Clemons, who died a day before. The Danish audience was absolutely great, but why had they go so often to buy more beer? It was a constantly come and go and pretty annoying.
After the show we could luckily leave our parking space pretty fast, and we had a very late dinner at our campsite.
The next morning saw us up pretty early. Beate had to catch a train home at 8am and we had to take down the tents and to pack our stuff. It didn't take that long, so we could leave around 9am. The 1st Monday traffic was over already, so we could drive without obstructions. Until we reached Hamburg. Between Hamburg and Bremen the traffic was horrible. Parts of the expressway were under construction, so only one lane was available. And then we heard on the radio station that there were some accidents, so there would be a huge traffic jam ahead of us. We took the next exit, but we weren't alone with this idea. So we needed more time for the short distance from Hamburg to Bremen than from Horsens to Hamburg. Finally around 3pm we arrived, Steffi picked up her car from the garage and then we unloaded all our stuff from Sandy’s company car, went to a car wash and brought it back to her boss.
Back at Sandy's we re-packed for the next week, saved our photos on an extern HD and after dinner and a bottle of beer we went to bed a bit earlier than usual.
On Tuesday morning at 4:30 we were on our way to the airport in Dusseldorf. Why we flew from there had to do with our originally tour schedule.
It was raining the whole way, our flight was in time and we arrived in Edinburgh around noon and were greeted with - rain!!
We picked up our rental car and a little while later we arrived at a very nice bed&breakfast hotel. A bus station in front of the door and much better, the stadium only 15 minutes walk away. There were already a few people who camped out. It may be fun when it is warm and sunny, but not in the cold Scottish rain.
We couldn't even do a bit sightseeing because of the rain. After a bit shopping we went to the Hardrock Cafe instead and enjoyed a yummy dinner and met some other BJ fans.
Back to our hotel Steffi went to bed since we got up at 3.30am and she had to drive to Dusseldorf. Sandy and I went to the airport by bus to pick up our lovely friend from NYC - Bigapplejen. She was happy to see us after her long flight. Back at the hotel we chit-chat a bit, but then exhaustion kicked in and we fell asleep.
Wednesday - showday! And it wasn't raining anymore - should we get lucky? But first coffee was more important. They served a very good english/scottish breakfast and finally our 5th tour-buddy arrived - Iris. She will only stay with us for the Edinburgh and Hydepark show. It was after 10am when we went to the stadium. To our surprise there weren't that much people. We got number 32-35. Whoow. And the sun came out. I had to wait for a Scottish guy, who bought my GC tix, which I bought first, before I could get DC. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't recognize him, but he sent me a txt message and said I should look for a man in a kilt and a BonJovi jersey. He would arrive in a black BMW. And few minutes later he was there, exactly looking how he described it. He was happy to get the tix; he was there with his 2 daughters. And we took a photo together, when would I get the opportunity again to hold a real Scottish man in a kilt in my arm *rofl*.
We went back to the hotel for a short time, to change clothes and something to eat. Back at the stadium the usually waiting began. I think it was close to 5pm when they let us go into the venue. Despite our low numbers, we refused to go front row. Instead we choose the spot on the circle, this time in the middle. There, were Jon usually would stay when he is doing the acoustic set. But we had only a slight hope that they would go on the circle.
This time the DC wasn't that full, so we had a great view to the stage and the screens. And we had so much fun with the fans close to us.
The 1st support act was a local band who won a contest, they were not that bad. Next band was Vintage Trouble, I like them. And it started to rain again. So we pulled on our raincoats again. But it was more drizzling, not really raining - thanks god.
He guys opened with Blood on Blood, in my opinion a better opener than Lost Highway. Then the usual songs, expect from "whole lot of leavin". And no solo song for Richie, I wonder why? Then in the acoustic set we got "Wild is the wind", I so love this song. And as the encore started I couldn't believe my ears - but the "Hey hey hey hey" you can't miss. "Something to believe in" is a great song for a stadium. And "These days" we got because of our screaming. Even the rainclouds went away for a while.
Leisurely we walked back to our hotel; we grabbed some food on our way there and enjoyed the fresh air. Back in our room we looked through our pics and I already posted some.
The next morning after another good breakfast we checked out of the hotel. Sandy and Steffi went to Manchester by car; Jen, Iris and me left the baggage at the hotel and we did a bit sightseeing, because our flight to London was later in the evening. We went to the Castle and had a real good coffee at the "Scottish Whisky Experience" and we shared a very smooth and tasty glass of Blair Athol whiskey. After taking some pictures of the castle and the historic city center we went back to the hotel, picked up our luggage and headed to the airport.
Our plane was a bit late and so we were at our hotel around 11pm. Jen felt sick and we were tired, so we fell in our beds immediately.
On Friday, after we ate a large breakfast, Jen left for visiting Wimbledon and Iris and me did a bit shopping. There are really great shops in London and since we both have grandkids, we bought a lot of kids clothes. We also bought some food and drinks for the next day, because we had to go to the Fanclub line at Hydepark pretty early.
The evening we spent in a nice pub with yummy dinner and some glasses of beer. We talked a lot and Sandy texted the setlist from Manchester, so we had truly a nice evening.
Back at the hotel we checked emails, saved pictures and went to bed around midnight.
Saturday morning I woke up at 5:30 am and I was worried because I didn't hear something from Sandy and Steffi for hours. The last message was that they got stuck at the parking lot after the show. So I sent a text message and they said they had to drive one more hour. I decided to pick up their room key at the night reception and then I went looking for a parking spot since it wasn't allowed to park on the street in front of our hotel. I found a place just around the corner and around 6:30 the girls finally arrived - exhausted and tired with Vicky (Totallysambora) in tow. They fell in bed immediately and I went back to my room to take a shower and to pack my concert stuff. We had breakfast and then I woke up the girls. We took a cab to the Fanclub meeting point, it was 10:30am already and our numbers were much above 300. So we didn't expect too much, but the entry was a bit chaotic. It wasn't the fault of the fanclub staff - the local security didn't really care about this all. And the ground was really muddy and slippery from the rain the night before, so we were relieved when we arrived in the pit without any accident. Jen ended 3rd or 4th row in the middle and we tried first a spot in the back of the pit, but decided then to stay front row on the left side. When you look at a picture of the Festival stage, we were near the left screen. It was noon and it was supposed to be a very long day. We sat down and relaxed a bit.
The concert started around 1pm with The Breakers. We knew them already from Munich and Denmark and most of the people in the pit didn't even stand up. The next bands were not really bad, but also not absolutely great. From time to time we went to the (absolutely clean) toilets or bought something to eat or drink or merchandise. The sun came out and it became pretty warm. It was maybe 6pm when Ray Davis came onstage and at this time the pit was pretty full and no one was sitting anymore. Precise 8pm Bon Jovi entered the stage. Since I knew there was a live broadcast at the radio I could concentrate to the show and doesn't have to tweet the setlist. The guys were in an absolutely great mood right from the begin. And you could feel and see the difference to the regular Bon Jovi shows with the Diamond Circle half full of VIP package holder. In London the pit were filled with 1800 fanclub members and a few people who got their tix from promoters and so. There was a palpable positive energy, it was amazing. And it was loud; sometimes you couldn't hear the band. Next to me was a little girl, maybe 8 or 9 years old; she was dancing and singing every song from the begin. Unbelievable!!! I think I don't need to rewrite the setlist here, you all know the songs already. London is in my all-time Top 5 shows. A highlight of the show was Hallelujah, Dry County and Hey God. I never get tired to hear those songs. Almost at the end of the show Jon pointed to a sign in the crowd and let the camera show it on the screens - "Fu*k the curfew" and he added "I love this town". It's not my favorite song, but it was a perfect song to end the show. With no voice, hurting backs and feet, but with a happy smile on our faces we went back to the hotel, ate a bite and fell in our beds. It was really a long day.
Sunday - Day off. Iris left early, because she had to go home. We slept a bit longer and after a shower and a late breakfast we took the tube and went to the Tower Bridge. It was the 1st visit in London for Jen, so we had to do a little sightseeing. It was a hot and sunny day, so we took it slow. We strolled a bit on the bank of Thames, then we got on a bus and looked at the city from there. Near Liverpool Street we stopped at a small pub for a little refreshment and went later to our favourite pub near Hydepark. There we sat around, had a delicious dinner and a couple glasses of beer and let the day come to an end.
Unfortunately we forgot that there was another show at Hydepark, so as we left the pub we stuck in a swarm of people who left the park. Some roads were closed so our regular bus was cancelled. It took a while and a little detour, but finally we reached our hotel.
As we planed to go to Bristol the next morning, it was supposed to be a short night. The clock was ringing at 3:30am, so we could leave London before the Monday morning rush hour would start.
All went well and we arrived at the Ashton Gate Stadium at 7:30am and we got pretty low numbers (around 25 for us 4). After we got our numbers, we went to the hotel and checked in. Back at the stadium we laid our blankets on the lawn and enjoyed the sun. Later some local radio and TV teams showed up and they took pictures, videos and interviews. It was funny. A bit later it started to rain, but not too long - thanks god. The ticket hand out was pretty late this time and we had to line up behind the entrance, but before the stadium. And we waited and waited and waited. After 5pm finally the local security let us go inside. Despite my low number I ended in the 2nd row right in front of Richies microphone. But it was my own fault, because I couldn't decide which spot I should choose. But it wasn't a tragedy; I'm tall and in front of me was Shari (Blackvelvet) and she is at least a head shorter than me. ;)
The setlist was shorter than in London, but with "Treat her right" and "It's hard letting you go" we got 2 other rarities. And I like "Happy now" as opener. And the crowd was amazing again, the "Richie fanbase" around me was incredible, we had so much fun.
For me it was the last show for the moment, so I felt a bit sad.
Back at our hotel we ordered pizza and packed our stuff. The next morning we had to go separate ways. I had to go home and Jen, Sandy Steffi and Beate went to Dublin. I so wanted to go with them, but I couldn't get more days off because the summer school holidays started in my part of Germany. But I had 11 great and funny days with my friends and 4 fantastic Bon Jovi shows and the prospect to another show almost 3 weeks later. But that will be written in another review.
Thanks Rike!
~ Hath
From Horsens to Bristol - on the Road with friends
Actually I wanted to write a review for each show. But since I didn't had the time I decided to write a review of our road trip in general. Not only the shows, but all the fun we had together
So let me begin.
After I came back from a week at my son's (incl. the trip to Munich); I only had one day to do laundry and packing for the next trip.
On Friday, June 17th I took the train to Horsens, Denmark. There is a great connection, so I only had to change the train in Berlin. Then I could stay in the train for the next 6 hours. I was killing the time with reading, tweeting and sleeping. I arrived at 5:30pm and took a cab to the camp ground where we want to stay the next 3 days. In the meantime I got the information that my tour buddies had some trouble with the car. The brakes were broken. Luckily Sandy's boss is a nice guy and they could take the company car for the weekend.
Since the girls were some hours behind our timetable I enjoyed the sunny and warm evening on the Horsens Fjord. I was sitting on a bench and had a delicious ice crème cone.
When the girls finally arrived we putted up our tents and then we had a nice BBQ. It was around midsummer, so the daylight was still there at 11pm, but you could also see the almost full moon.
Next morning the sound of raindrops on the tent waked us up. Fine! Why is it always bad weather when the guys are coming to Europe?
Fortunately there was a warm and dry TV/Breakfast room, so we spent the entire morning there. I had my laptop with me, so we checked the setlist and news from the Helsinki show - what a shock!! Jon injured his knee, what will happen with the upcoming shows????
At 3pm, it was still raining, we went to the stadium to have a look how much fans would be there already. There were 23; a few of them camped out since Friday. From Munich we knew that the DC isn't that big, so no reason to camp out, too.
So we went to a mall and bought some food and something to drink and went back to the camp ground. And there, the sun came out. So we could sit outside and grill our sausages. Later we had a walk on the beach and enjoyed the sunset.
The next morning saw us up pretty early. The sun was shining; you could hear the birds and watch pheasants and hares. Peaceful.
We putted our food, a thermos bottle with hot water and what we also needed for the show day, in the car and headed to the stadium. We got our numbers, (45-49) and also a good parking space. We took our stuff and sat down on the lawn to have breakfast.
About midday we got our tickets and wristbands and we could enter the area in front of the stadium. There was something like a pre-show party, you could buy food and drinks and on a small stage played some local bands. We were sitting and saving our strength for later. At 4:30 we had to line up and then we were waiting in the sun almost one hour before they let us into the stadium.
While I had in Munich Golden Circle tickets with a great view to the stage, Horsens was the 1st show in the Diamond Circle. And I have to say that stage is damned high. I'm not a tiny person, but I could barely see David keyboards or Ticos drum kit from the front row. So we decided to stay at the side, direct on the circle ramp. It would have be a perfect place when Jon would go to the circle. But with his injured knee we didn't even know what kind of show we could expect. When the 2nd support act was onstage, the sky opened suddenly the flood gates and within seconds the guys there were drenched. Luckily we had our raincoats ready on hand. 15 minutes later the rain was over and the crew started preparing the stage. The white mic came out, and a stool and there were two handrails on the stairs to the stage - ohhh.
Then the intro was played and our boys were onstage, expect for Jon. But then he came - leaned on a cane, a brace around his leg and a big grin on his face. The setlist is well known, but the best moment for me was when Richie sang a solo song for the first time since his come back. He was on fire this night; I think he liked his role as support for Jon. The setlist was shorter than usual, but especially at the last half hour of the show you could see that Jon was in pain. Another highlight was playing "10th Avenue freeze out" in Honor of Clarence Clemons, who died a day before. The Danish audience was absolutely great, but why had they go so often to buy more beer? It was a constantly come and go and pretty annoying.
After the show we could luckily leave our parking space pretty fast, and we had a very late dinner at our campsite.
The next morning saw us up pretty early. Beate had to catch a train home at 8am and we had to take down the tents and to pack our stuff. It didn't take that long, so we could leave around 9am. The 1st Monday traffic was over already, so we could drive without obstructions. Until we reached Hamburg. Between Hamburg and Bremen the traffic was horrible. Parts of the expressway were under construction, so only one lane was available. And then we heard on the radio station that there were some accidents, so there would be a huge traffic jam ahead of us. We took the next exit, but we weren't alone with this idea. So we needed more time for the short distance from Hamburg to Bremen than from Horsens to Hamburg. Finally around 3pm we arrived, Steffi picked up her car from the garage and then we unloaded all our stuff from Sandy’s company car, went to a car wash and brought it back to her boss.
Back at Sandy's we re-packed for the next week, saved our photos on an extern HD and after dinner and a bottle of beer we went to bed a bit earlier than usual.
On Tuesday morning at 4:30 we were on our way to the airport in Dusseldorf. Why we flew from there had to do with our originally tour schedule.
It was raining the whole way, our flight was in time and we arrived in Edinburgh around noon and were greeted with - rain!!
We picked up our rental car and a little while later we arrived at a very nice bed&breakfast hotel. A bus station in front of the door and much better, the stadium only 15 minutes walk away. There were already a few people who camped out. It may be fun when it is warm and sunny, but not in the cold Scottish rain.
We couldn't even do a bit sightseeing because of the rain. After a bit shopping we went to the Hardrock Cafe instead and enjoyed a yummy dinner and met some other BJ fans.
Back to our hotel Steffi went to bed since we got up at 3.30am and she had to drive to Dusseldorf. Sandy and I went to the airport by bus to pick up our lovely friend from NYC - Bigapplejen. She was happy to see us after her long flight. Back at the hotel we chit-chat a bit, but then exhaustion kicked in and we fell asleep.
Wednesday - showday! And it wasn't raining anymore - should we get lucky? But first coffee was more important. They served a very good english/scottish breakfast and finally our 5th tour-buddy arrived - Iris. She will only stay with us for the Edinburgh and Hydepark show. It was after 10am when we went to the stadium. To our surprise there weren't that much people. We got number 32-35. Whoow. And the sun came out. I had to wait for a Scottish guy, who bought my GC tix, which I bought first, before I could get DC. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't recognize him, but he sent me a txt message and said I should look for a man in a kilt and a BonJovi jersey. He would arrive in a black BMW. And few minutes later he was there, exactly looking how he described it. He was happy to get the tix; he was there with his 2 daughters. And we took a photo together, when would I get the opportunity again to hold a real Scottish man in a kilt in my arm *rofl*.
We went back to the hotel for a short time, to change clothes and something to eat. Back at the stadium the usually waiting began. I think it was close to 5pm when they let us go into the venue. Despite our low numbers, we refused to go front row. Instead we choose the spot on the circle, this time in the middle. There, were Jon usually would stay when he is doing the acoustic set. But we had only a slight hope that they would go on the circle.
This time the DC wasn't that full, so we had a great view to the stage and the screens. And we had so much fun with the fans close to us.
The 1st support act was a local band who won a contest, they were not that bad. Next band was Vintage Trouble, I like them. And it started to rain again. So we pulled on our raincoats again. But it was more drizzling, not really raining - thanks god.
He guys opened with Blood on Blood, in my opinion a better opener than Lost Highway. Then the usual songs, expect from "whole lot of leavin". And no solo song for Richie, I wonder why? Then in the acoustic set we got "Wild is the wind", I so love this song. And as the encore started I couldn't believe my ears - but the "Hey hey hey hey" you can't miss. "Something to believe in" is a great song for a stadium. And "These days" we got because of our screaming. Even the rainclouds went away for a while.
Leisurely we walked back to our hotel; we grabbed some food on our way there and enjoyed the fresh air. Back in our room we looked through our pics and I already posted some.
The next morning after another good breakfast we checked out of the hotel. Sandy and Steffi went to Manchester by car; Jen, Iris and me left the baggage at the hotel and we did a bit sightseeing, because our flight to London was later in the evening. We went to the Castle and had a real good coffee at the "Scottish Whisky Experience" and we shared a very smooth and tasty glass of Blair Athol whiskey. After taking some pictures of the castle and the historic city center we went back to the hotel, picked up our luggage and headed to the airport.
Our plane was a bit late and so we were at our hotel around 11pm. Jen felt sick and we were tired, so we fell in our beds immediately.
On Friday, after we ate a large breakfast, Jen left for visiting Wimbledon and Iris and me did a bit shopping. There are really great shops in London and since we both have grandkids, we bought a lot of kids clothes. We also bought some food and drinks for the next day, because we had to go to the Fanclub line at Hydepark pretty early.
The evening we spent in a nice pub with yummy dinner and some glasses of beer. We talked a lot and Sandy texted the setlist from Manchester, so we had truly a nice evening.
Back at the hotel we checked emails, saved pictures and went to bed around midnight.
Saturday morning I woke up at 5:30 am and I was worried because I didn't hear something from Sandy and Steffi for hours. The last message was that they got stuck at the parking lot after the show. So I sent a text message and they said they had to drive one more hour. I decided to pick up their room key at the night reception and then I went looking for a parking spot since it wasn't allowed to park on the street in front of our hotel. I found a place just around the corner and around 6:30 the girls finally arrived - exhausted and tired with Vicky (Totallysambora) in tow. They fell in bed immediately and I went back to my room to take a shower and to pack my concert stuff. We had breakfast and then I woke up the girls. We took a cab to the Fanclub meeting point, it was 10:30am already and our numbers were much above 300. So we didn't expect too much, but the entry was a bit chaotic. It wasn't the fault of the fanclub staff - the local security didn't really care about this all. And the ground was really muddy and slippery from the rain the night before, so we were relieved when we arrived in the pit without any accident. Jen ended 3rd or 4th row in the middle and we tried first a spot in the back of the pit, but decided then to stay front row on the left side. When you look at a picture of the Festival stage, we were near the left screen. It was noon and it was supposed to be a very long day. We sat down and relaxed a bit.
The concert started around 1pm with The Breakers. We knew them already from Munich and Denmark and most of the people in the pit didn't even stand up. The next bands were not really bad, but also not absolutely great. From time to time we went to the (absolutely clean) toilets or bought something to eat or drink or merchandise. The sun came out and it became pretty warm. It was maybe 6pm when Ray Davis came onstage and at this time the pit was pretty full and no one was sitting anymore. Precise 8pm Bon Jovi entered the stage. Since I knew there was a live broadcast at the radio I could concentrate to the show and doesn't have to tweet the setlist. The guys were in an absolutely great mood right from the begin. And you could feel and see the difference to the regular Bon Jovi shows with the Diamond Circle half full of VIP package holder. In London the pit were filled with 1800 fanclub members and a few people who got their tix from promoters and so. There was a palpable positive energy, it was amazing. And it was loud; sometimes you couldn't hear the band. Next to me was a little girl, maybe 8 or 9 years old; she was dancing and singing every song from the begin. Unbelievable!!! I think I don't need to rewrite the setlist here, you all know the songs already. London is in my all-time Top 5 shows. A highlight of the show was Hallelujah, Dry County and Hey God. I never get tired to hear those songs. Almost at the end of the show Jon pointed to a sign in the crowd and let the camera show it on the screens - "Fu*k the curfew" and he added "I love this town". It's not my favorite song, but it was a perfect song to end the show. With no voice, hurting backs and feet, but with a happy smile on our faces we went back to the hotel, ate a bite and fell in our beds. It was really a long day.
Sunday - Day off. Iris left early, because she had to go home. We slept a bit longer and after a shower and a late breakfast we took the tube and went to the Tower Bridge. It was the 1st visit in London for Jen, so we had to do a little sightseeing. It was a hot and sunny day, so we took it slow. We strolled a bit on the bank of Thames, then we got on a bus and looked at the city from there. Near Liverpool Street we stopped at a small pub for a little refreshment and went later to our favourite pub near Hydepark. There we sat around, had a delicious dinner and a couple glasses of beer and let the day come to an end.
Unfortunately we forgot that there was another show at Hydepark, so as we left the pub we stuck in a swarm of people who left the park. Some roads were closed so our regular bus was cancelled. It took a while and a little detour, but finally we reached our hotel.
As we planed to go to Bristol the next morning, it was supposed to be a short night. The clock was ringing at 3:30am, so we could leave London before the Monday morning rush hour would start.
All went well and we arrived at the Ashton Gate Stadium at 7:30am and we got pretty low numbers (around 25 for us 4). After we got our numbers, we went to the hotel and checked in. Back at the stadium we laid our blankets on the lawn and enjoyed the sun. Later some local radio and TV teams showed up and they took pictures, videos and interviews. It was funny. A bit later it started to rain, but not too long - thanks god. The ticket hand out was pretty late this time and we had to line up behind the entrance, but before the stadium. And we waited and waited and waited. After 5pm finally the local security let us go inside. Despite my low number I ended in the 2nd row right in front of Richies microphone. But it was my own fault, because I couldn't decide which spot I should choose. But it wasn't a tragedy; I'm tall and in front of me was Shari (Blackvelvet) and she is at least a head shorter than me. ;)
The setlist was shorter than in London, but with "Treat her right" and "It's hard letting you go" we got 2 other rarities. And I like "Happy now" as opener. And the crowd was amazing again, the "Richie fanbase" around me was incredible, we had so much fun.
For me it was the last show for the moment, so I felt a bit sad.
Back at our hotel we ordered pizza and packed our stuff. The next morning we had to go separate ways. I had to go home and Jen, Sandy Steffi and Beate went to Dublin. I so wanted to go with them, but I couldn't get more days off because the summer school holidays started in my part of Germany. But I had 11 great and funny days with my friends and 4 fantastic Bon Jovi shows and the prospect to another show almost 3 weeks later. But that will be written in another review.
Wanted Wednesday: July 20, 1998 (Richie)
Please rise, for the playing of our National Anthem...Today I've got a Richie track for your enjoyment. On this day back in 1998, our Richie was in Holland, at the Paradiso (pictured below). I couldn't find a video of this performance to share, but the quality of this track is actually pretty awesome, so you Richie girls out there shouldn't have a problem picturing him :)
You've got to wait nearly 2:45 for the song to start -- lots of audience noise, but when he and his band finally come on? You get not only a long-ish intro (at around a minute) but the Midnight Rider intro as well.
*sigh*
Let's Ride!
You can download this from my mediafire account here.
~ Hath
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Out and About
"And Friend" JonBon (and Dorothea?? -- is that her in the orange? Kinda looks like her, but Jon's not being attentive at all, so methinks not) cruise around St. Tropez with the Douglas/Zeta-Joneses
~ Hath
source: DailyMail
~ Hath
source: DailyMail
Monday, July 18, 2011
Mid-Day Motivators: That Cord
Hmm, methinks the Jonny girls need some new beach pictures...
August is coming up, girls :)
~ Hath