Barnes Photography - Bon Jovi Adelaide 2013 review


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Bon Jovi Adelaide AAMI Stadium 11 December 2013
The Because We Can tour moved on to Adelaide and after a few days of questionable weather the gods produced the perfect evening for the concert even Jon commented on the amazing sky as the sun set (of course we had to take his word for it as we were all watching the stage from the pit. It really was a different experience having them on the stage when it was still the last shards of daylight and the occasion breeze very different from Rod Laver or Etihad). I received a gift of a ticket to the pit (had originally had tickets outside) due to a fellow South Australian having one spare and I will always be grateful for the chance to be there again (please contact me with your postal address if you are reading this). Before we had even entered AAMI Stadium we could hear the soundcheck from outside and it wasnt two songs this time we got four songs starting with Lost Highway, then Radio Saved My Life Tonight, Work for the Working Man and We Were Beautiful. I was surrounded by casual fans but Im trying to listen thinking wow its going to be another blockbuster show tonight. Unfortunately they didn't play Radio Saved My Life Tonight (I would have easily preferred that to Work for the Working Man) but at least I got to hear it performed live even if not actually seeing them play it. Compared to Etihad Stadium there was a stark reminder on how AAMI Stadium (Football Park) is showing its age (it was constructed in the mid 70s). Bon Jovi will be the last big concert at the stadium since sport & other events have been moved to the brand new Adelaide Oval in the city. Due to a slight delay Kid Rock appeared to cut out a song or two off his support set but again put on yet another entertaining display doing a brilliant job of warming up the crowd and finishing right on time. This is the second Sofia stage as the one used in Melbourne should now be being constructed for the Sydney shows. It was still light when the intro music began and soon heralded the band members on stage as they started another rollicking version of That's What the Water Made Me followed straight into You Give Love a Bad Name. Raise Your Hands again kept up the pace before Lost Highway. A slight breather followed with Whole Lot of Leavin with Jon leaving the crowd hanging at the pause for what seemed an eternity before finishing off the song. Once again the brilliant live song It's My Life got the crowd up out of their seats (well OK Jon kinda asked them to get up earlier too but this song rocks live!) before Because We Can and What About Now from the new album. It has been disappointing to read a few comments complaining that there was 'heaps of new stuff and not many 'older' songs' played since it was only 3 songs from the new album and all should be permanently on the play list as they are all brilliant (this is probably my favourite album since Keep the Faith). Bon Jovi have the right mix 3 or 4 out of 20- 27 songs on a night. I do miss No Apologies from the Greatest Hits album that went across so well last time but they dont seem to play it anymore - every show has a different mixture of songs from nearly all their albums over 30 years and the dedicated fans love the fact its not always old or new always a great selection across the years. Back to the show and We Got it Goin On was next with Jon heading out to the edges of the stage and up to the headlights of the car for fans on the outer parts of the crowd before returning to stage centre for a rousing version of Keep the Faith with the rest of the band finishing up the 12 inch version with Bobby David and Phil taking centre stage as some dedicated fans rushed for their spots along the circle in the pit in anticipation of Jon heading out there. I missed him going past on our side of the walkway beyond the barrier but saw security with a penlight and soon Jon was up in the centre of the circle stage for the ballad When We Were Beautiful. Jon then called out David, Tico and Bobby out on the circle for Someday I'll Be Saturday Night and Diamond Ring. For Make a Memory all three bolted (quite impressively in the dark too!) back along the circle walkway to head back to the stage in time to start the song while Jon made his way back in the final stages. Back on the main stage the pace picked up with Born to Be My Baby then We Weren't Born to Follow then Who Says You Can't Go Home where after much prompting from Jon two fans came up on stage for the song. We then got a marathon I'll Sleep When Im Dead medley which included Start Me Up with Jon then Great Balls of Fire with David then Dancing in the Street with Hugh (first time he has had a turn at singing!) followed by Tico on the drums with Wipeout and finishing with You Shook Me All Night long with Phil X with Jon doing the Angus Young guitar moves. Bad Medicine was next with Jon making a brief return to the circle stage and then adding in Shout with an incredibly long pause (the entire band just frozen waiting to roll into the song seemed to go on forever). Its fantastic to see songs so well known by generations of Australian's in the Bon Jovi regular playlist! With the return to I'll Sleep When Im Dead Jon put in his trademark leap to finish and they headed off stage. Back for the encore first up it was Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen from Mars which really does make a great live song being upbeat and involving the crowd and this was then followed by Work for the Working Man - really would have preferred Radio Saved My Life Tonight - then it was Wanted Dead of Alive where Jon got everyone in the stands to hold up the lights (I phones etc) and the others harmonised as well as ever with the vocals on this song. Then the screens filled with red smirk from Have a Nice Day which got everyone up on their feet again (I know no one should sit down at a Bon Jovi concert but some audience members need the extra push!). Then a Santa hat appeared and it was Run Run Rudolph and just when it seemed the night could just go on forever Jon picked up the guitar and did the acoustic verse marking the start of Living on A Prayer normally the last song (not always there is always a chance til those house lights go on!). Soon it was into the full on Living on a Prayer and then it was over the band did the group bow and they were gone. Some lucky fans went on to Perth just 24 hours later while others headed for Sydney while for many including me that was the end of the concerts for this tour. We can only hope they return in two years instead of three for the next tour (and keep coming back to Adelaide as well!). And thank you to Bon Jovi for allowing everyone to take in the little cameras/Iphones so we could take photos etc as personal memories of the concerts and have the chance to share with other fans not to mention leaving all the videos on youtube so well can relive the songs over again til hopefully there is a DVD of this tour at some stage in the future. While Melbourne 2 will remain the best concert experience EVER this concert was absolutely incredible and I have heard wonderful reports from people even up in the 'nosebleed' seats of how amazing they thought the show was. It will be one of the best I've gone to and I cannot think of another major artist I would want to see before Bon Jovi again (but I guess that just means time to save up for next time they visit Australia and we can do it all again). Please note the images used for this write up are my personal photos from the concerts they are not for sale in any form and are only used to illustrate this review Contact www.tourphotographer.com for the official and absolutely brilliant images by David Bergman from all the Australian tour shows (and beyond) Bon Jovi photos - they are really well priced and arrive incredibly quickly once you order them.