Friday, July 9, 2010

Live from Bon Jovi










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This is going to be more a review of the actual experience, than of the concert itself, as this was my first time attending one, and I am not much of a music guy. So, here goes!

The first thing to do was set an arrival time. Since I wanted to ge some shots of the Race Taylor broadcast, we arrived around 3:30. Unfortunately, they were broadcasting inside, and even with my semi un-official PLJ status, would not be able to get into the stadium. So, back to the car it was to kill an hour and a half of time.

But first, we had to find our ticket lady. The PLJ guys had sent an intern out to give us our tickets, and at first we were supposed to meet her at a loading area. We found the loading area, but no intern.....only a bunch of busy security guys probably wondering what we where doing waiting around their area. So, we walked almost around the entire stadium, and no one in a PLJ shirt. We did, however, run into a nice lady and her son who were equally as clueless as to what was going on...After a few minutes of waiting, they wandered off, we did a 180, and finally found our intern....Tickets acquired!

5:30 rolled around and the gates opened. Made sure to be first in line to be patted down. In an OCD generation, do not want to be last after the gloved guys and gals decide to do a few strip searches on people before you arrive! It was pretty funny watching the reactions the works had when listening to the announcements over the loudspeaker. He was nodding his head over and over as he has already heard these things ad nauseum!

Gates open, crowd files in. Ask half a dozen people on where we are supposed to be going, wound up on an escalator, down a few flights of stairs, and found Race on the first floor. He had a decent crowd during the live breaks, went off to do an interview with Richie Sambora, and after an hour, we went to find our seats.










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Now, as for the actual concert experience...Our section didn't fill up until well around the time Kid Rock Showed up, so we had ample time to eat our fries (not bad) and get comfy... About 30 minutes late, a lady from I Think Q 104 came on stage, introduced the house band. Must be a thrill for them, but the lead singer knew full well that he was only a warm up for the main act, and played on that fact with the smattering of applause they received after each song with the small crowd there. They lasted on stage for an hour, then a recording of a Kid Rock song came on. The music was recorded, but as it turned out, the vocals where live. after the first few verses, the music stopped, and out came Kid Rock from underneath the stage.

Now, here is the problem I have with concerts. Especially in a bowl-shaped stadium like this. The music is sound is so loud in such a confined space, that It's really tough to understand the lyrics of certain songs. Add to that crowd reaction, and it makes it almost impossible to hear anything other than music. So, that's what I focused on. I had no idea what he was saying for most of the songs, but the music was enjoyable. Kid spent most of the show on a little walk out platform that put him behind in front of a small 'orchestra pit' of concert goers and right into the main crowd.

Kid Rock also lasted an hour or so, and by that time the sun had set and it was time for the main act. Also around this time, the PLJ listeners had filled up our seats, and we where all watching the daredevil stage hands pulling themselves up wires to reach the top of the stage area, where the lights were housed. Most probably to take down the huge glowing Kid Rock sign for Bon Jovi's arrival.

After about 30 minutes, the sun was gone, the lights turned off, and the screen displayed four guys walking 'toward us' in silhouette. Needless to say the crowd went wild, and when the decibel reached their peak, out came Bon Jovi. If the lyrics where tough to hear during Kid Rock, even the music got drowned out when bon Jovi played.

By this time, it was nearing 10:30. We stayed for four Bon Jovi songs (Much more enjoyable sitting down, than standing out in a parking lot. We attended the kick off of the stadium last October), and left when he was playing Superman Tonight.
Somehow, we found our way out of the stadium, avoided a potential police scuffle with a lady so drunk, she not only couldn't walk straight, but was bawlling her eyes out over the fact that three policeman where shadowing her out of the stadium.

So all in all a succesful night out....might do it again, but as stated before, not a concert guy :)

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