Post by: Dan The Internut 9 December, 2010 - 5:29 AM
All hail the return of the rock star... The summer of rock officially started in Perth last night, as Bon Jovi, the consumate rock stars, hit the stage at Paterson's Stadium for the start of the Australian leg of The Circle tour.
The house lights went down as the 400 m2 screen (yes, you read correctly) played the opening credits of what is fast becoming the norm for these rock concerts. The rock show with added screen interactivity. Awesome!
The crowd went bananas as the band hit their straps on the very first song of the night, the band (and Jon Bon Jovi in particular) looking in fine form. What is it about rock stars? They just don't seem to age.
When the band hit crowd favourite "It's My Life", something obviously kicked in for Jon. "Now they're waking up", he remarked to the band. You've got to give it to Jon Bon Jovi, he is the front man's front man. Jon was forever inciting the crowd to put their hands in the air, and even cracking out some Daryl Somers-style moves to keep the band in check. Just like Daryl, only way cooler.
"Sleep When I'm Dead" had an interesting segue into the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up", complete with Jon striking an impressive Mick Jagger pose or three. "If you don't have fun doing this, you may as well be dead", Jon tells the crowd.
He added: "If I get going you'd better look out Perth. I'm a dangerous man tonight." Obviously, the crowd did everything it could to make this a reality, they were literally eating out of the palm of his hand.
"Bad Medicine" did what you expected it would, tear the house down. We weren't even half way through the show and the only signs of slowing down were coming from the crowd. The band are fit, and in form, rocking out for over two-and-a-half hours.
"Lay Your Hands On Me" showcased the awesome vocal talents of Richie Sambora, who did a brilliant job as stand in frontman. The band then decided to step it down a notch, getting all intimate with the crowd at the peak of the circle, tackling "Something For The Pain" with Jon and Richie joined by Tico playing an old-school rythym box and Dave sporting a piano accordion. I kid you not.
If there was one criticism (and it's only minor), the show wound down with probably one too many slower tunes. Although, maybe it was just part of Jon's master plan, as when the band hit the first few notes of "Livin' On A Prayer", that lost energy came flooding back in droves. And there's nothing like 30,000 screaming fans singing along to one of the best sing-a-long choruses there is.
All in all, if Bon Jovi is just a taste of what's to come this summer, then let's hope this summer never ends. Rock on!!!
Setlist
Blood On Blood
We Weren't Born To Follow
You Give Love A Bad Name
Born To Be My Baby
Lost Highway
Whole Lot Of Leavin'
When We Were Beautiful
It's My Life
No Apologies
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (Start Me Up segue)
We Got It Goin' On
Bad Medicine (Shout segue)
Lay Your Hands On Me
What Do You Got?
I'll Be There For You
Something For The Pain
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Work For The Working Man
Raise Your Hands
Have A Nice Day
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Keep The Faith
Encore
Always
Wanted Dead Or Alive
Livin' On A Prayer
No comments:
Post a Comment