Jon Bon Jovi put together a night for MUSIC lovers. With definite influence from Bobby Bandiera, the show was one big rock-n-roll revue featuring my beloved Southside Johnny, as well as Bob Burger and Lisa Bouchelle, among others. Thanks to all who followed the Twitter play-by-play. I had a blast sharing the experience with you.Even before the screen featuring information on the Parker Pavilion was raised, you could tell there was a LOT of gear on stage. I could see a line of stands for horns (which of course got me all crazy) and percussion plus drum kit plus a BUNCH of mics and amps and ... and ... and ...
Little did we know what we were TRULY in store for!
Okay...so of course, I was trying not to rely too heavily on all the rumors that Southside was going to be up there too. I always love seeing them together, my two favorite guys in the world (who REALLY need to coordinate their concert schedules a bit better so I don't have to run around QUITE so much! LOL)
As the night progressed, it was a constant stream of "oh, man, I LOVE that song" ...
I thought it was poignantly beautiful for them to open with "Help" considering the purpose of the evening's show.
But, it was not to be a night focused on melancholy reflection...it was a night to PARTY! And what better way than a horn-heavy, rockin' version of CC Rider?!
Just about everybody had a chance to sing a song ... and there were some great performances especially by Bob Burger on "She's Not There." If you don't know Bob Burger, you should check him out ... he's a great songwriter sometimes working with Glen Burtnik, another Jersey Shore legend (umm...I'm not sayin' you guys are old, by the way! LOL) I'm hoping somebody got Bob on video.
Well, and, you ALL know of my love of all things Southside Johnny ...
oh, before I continue...must give HUGE shout-out to Deb308 who ALWAYS takes the best video...you should all definitely subscribe to her channel on YouTube #justsaying
Okay, back to the show. As you can see from list, Jon eventually did a few Jovi songs. But honestly, I would have been fine whatever he chose to do. As I said, this was not a show for just Jovipeeps, this was a show for MUSICpeeps ... stuff that has always resonated with me.
This was a night where I felt you see the human Jon ... the fun-loving, likes to hang with his friends, do the songs he loves, rediscover the joy of music, type of Jon. Dancing and singing and swaying his hips, joking and laughing, it makes you think "damn, he must throw a really good backyard barbecue!" LOL
As for the venue, entry, etc. I think most of us thought it would be a similar entry procedure as last time at Starland. I wasn't really prepared to stand out for several hours in line, but if you wanted a relatively decent spot you had no choice but to wait. Luckily, regardless of the 31,486,380 inches of snow we had, the temperature wasn't nearly as brutal as the 2009 show. THAT was ridiculous! (speaking of all the snow...I'm still very bummed my dear friends S and B were not able to fly in...#NotHappyWithMotherNatureRightNow)
We did end up getting a decent spot...here's a picture taken by my pal @hugsy2k who was with me and @Zoe211 and her friend T. I'll be sure to post some of Zoe's pictures in a bit. She was dead center 2nd row. :-) Additional thanks to Z for sending me home with some kick-ass Greek food. LOVE YOU!Oh, and a note to Starland...hey!...maybe try promoting an UPCOMING show to the people standing in line?! Just a thought.
They had this "welcome to an evening of JBJ and Friends" recording on a constant loop for HOURS. We could all recite it verbatim. And I love how they emphasize he's playing "LIVE" ... well, he certainly wouldn't be playing dead now, would he? Haha.
Gotta go for now...will be back later with more pictures and more mundane commentary. LOL
P.S. Oh, and I got a JBJ guitar pick! Yay!
P.S.2. THIS JUST IN...one of Zoe's pictures...SSJ on harmonica. He and Bobby had a great little impromptu jam session at the end. :-)
