So here I
am, writing from my own bed again. This trip went even faster than the first
one, and real life is around the corner. Another show done, more memories made.
I’m already having tour withdrawals but everything about this trip was just
perfect. I’ll try to talk you through show day even though I’m dead tired right
now. I just need to get it off my chest and it’s a perfect excuse to think
about it some more. Not that I need an excuse for that though…
Show day in
Manchester started at a lovely five am, but it was alright. Especially after I
took a nice hot shower. I already packed my bag and decided what I was going to
wear the night before so all I had to do was dry blow my hair (I really need to
make an appointment at the hairdressers this week btw otherwise I won’t be able
to see anything at all in Cologne at all) and put some make-up on and we were
ready to go. We already figured out the day before that we could take a tram to
the station but we were impatient and took a taxi. By the time we got to the
stadium it was 6:15 or something like
that and we got our numbers. 16 and 17. Happy times!
The first
roll call was at eight and after that we went back to the hotel to have
breakfast and relax a little. Long live the fanclub! ;-) By the time we got
back around 10:30 it had gotten a lot busier and we stayed around and had a lot
of fun with friends and especially with our fellow Dutchies. The sun
was out all afternoon and it was really hot so I was glad I brought my Bon Jovi
hat. I really want to buy the red one they are selling this tour by the way, I
love that one! More than I love the t-shirts this tour. I know I’m gonna have
to buy one at some point but I really don’t know which one. Anyway, the day went by
quickly but as time passed and more people started arriving it all started to
look a bit chaotic and I started to wonder if all would be alright with the
queues.
Eventually
we ended up being part of the group that was responsible for it as we helped
out with the Golden Circle queue. They split the Diamond and Golden queues
after we picked up our tickets (beautiful tickets!) and they put us miles away
from the Diamond queue. So once again we found ourselves answering questions
and making sure everyone was in the right order and side by side and back on
time to go in at around four. Even though we swore we were never going to do it
again and this time when I say it I really do mean it. For real! This was the
last time I helped out with the FC queue. It’s too stressful for me and I
really don’t need more stress on days like that. Eventually we did alright
though.
It was
definitely a lot later than four o’clock when we finally could get in though and
we got ourselves a perfect spot right from the middle at the catwalk. We sat down
and even had an opportunity to go to the toilet and buy some food and after
that we entertained ourselves with magazines. The first support act came on at
six but I didn’t really enjoy it, the second support act was a whole lot
better. I remember thinking all the way through that the voice of the singer
sounded so familiar and that it was beautiful and eventually the guy said his
name was James Walsh and he used to be in Starsailor. Of course! I love that
band! I even got to hear Four To The Floor live, which was a nice surprise as I
didn’t expect. I mean, I didn’t even know there were going to be support acts
at all. If only I had known… I should have made a banner to request In The
Crossfire. I love that song!
Anyway by
the time James Walsh and his band were done the screens told us it was 35
minutes until show time and that was exactly the time we had to wait until the
guys came on. When the intro started I felt like crying again. That just
happens every single time because the feeling you have right before you see
them again… It’s just something so big. Again they started with Water (LOVE),
which went into Bad Name and I think it was right after that song that Jon told
us: ‘it was going to be one of those nights’ and actually I’d had that feeling
from the start as well. It was different in Munich, this was just one of those
shows of which you knew it was going to be special straight away. And it
definitely was.
They could
have skipped Born To Be My Baby, Raise Your Hands is always fun but then
something really unexpected happened. An intro started and I remember saying to
Nikita: “OMY they’re doing I’d Die For You” and she was like noooo… right? Noooo…
but the band was definitely like yessss because they did. They played I’d Die
For You. I’m sure I heard it live before although I don’t quite remember where.
It was amazing though. Then the show went on with the familiar songs but there
was a special moment during Because We Can. The crowd had been really loud all
the way through until that point but when the intro of Because We Can started
everybody seemed so happy to hear that song live, and I didn’t really expect
that. Jon noticed it as well though because after the song was finished he
started playing on his guitar and the whole crowd sang the chorus again. And
the look on JBJ’s face at that moment… just so happy. I loved that. And I also
love the little dance Nikita and I made up for it, really you should see it. ;-)
Then the next thing I just have to mention is
of course the actual highlight of the night, for me anyway. Keep The Faith with
the Robbie Williams cover. I mean, where did that come from?! Sure it was
Manchester and Manchester will always be related to Robbie and Take That but I
didn’t expect Bon Jovi to pay attention to that!!! When David started playing
the intro tune I was like hey this sounds really familiar but it wasn’t until
Jon actually started singing the first few lines that I realised what they were
doing. Let Me Entertain You. What the actual fuck! It was so so so amazing
though. The crowd loved it and so did the band. I couldn’t believe it and a
little later in the show Jon himself was also like: “You know what’s going
through my mind right now, why the fuck did we just play a Robbie Williams
song? That’s like playing Bon Jovi in New Jersey.” Or something like that, but
he also said he loved that song and Rob as well.
Then I’ll
Be There For You. Well, I’m not going to say much about it but that wasn’t fun.
Actually that was just really hard and I couldn’t enjoy it. Not without Richie.
The magic wasn’t there and I’ve said this before but that song is just Richie’s
song right now and maybe it would be better if they don’t play it as long as he
isn’t around. I felt it even stronger than during Wanted and even though I love
that song so so much, I really hope I don’t have to go through it again without
Richie. It’s wrong. And Jon must have felt it as well.
Oh gosh,
this is going to be a really long post, I’ll try to cut it down a little… Let’s
move on to SWID, an amazing version with Roadhouse Blues and Rocking All Over
The World again, I just love the energy when they play that song with Jon on the
electric guitar. Then there was Garageland. It’s one of my favourites from the
boxset and I was so happy to hear it again. I didn’t expect it at all and the
crowd went a bit dead at that point but it didn’t matter. Not for me anyway.
The show
ended with the amazing Prayer, Saturday Night, These Days and eventually
Always. Beautiful encore if you ask me. I was kind of hoping for Blood on Blood
as well though, but I’m sure I’ll hear that at some point.
All in all
I enjoyed this show even more than Munich. The band was in such a great mood, David
was dancing, Tico, Hugh and Phil were smiling, Bobby was being his usual self, the
setlist was amazing, the crowd was really loud and wild and Jon was beautiful,
happy, smily and dancy. But the better the show, the harder you crash down when
you’re back in real life. I’m feeling happy and sad at the same time right now.
the good news is that it’s not for long this time. Just 12 more days until we
are off to Cologne and “somehow I’ll survive” ;-)
Good night,
thanks for reading and see you soooon!
Love,
Anjelica ♥
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