Unfortunately I missed Paul Laine on Tuesday due to that family illness (I heard it was fantastic
) but I've just got home from Bon Jovi which was a huge consolation
A quick pro/con:
PROS:
- good crowd in (45,000 or so country fans for the second night running - although they did need to discount to fill up the 2nd night. Still a good effort) and when he got everyone to light up their phones there was some serious atmosphere. A wide range of age groups were there - everything from hot young vixens
to the elderly.
- the stage and sound were really cool - the stage was done up as the front of a huge Buick with the bonnet/headlights fixed and with little monitors in the grille and a big monitor above changing the look of the windscreen/scenery etc........very well done.
- Phil X did a good job of replacing Richie both vocally and on geetar....and used a different guitar for almost every song. He also provided the vocal highlight of the night singing You Shook Me All Night Long in full during a little covers medley they did. Funnily enough a number of people who'd sat down all night stood up for the ACDC song
- JBJ put in an energetic performance ,as did the whole band. They certainly weren't on cruise control.
- the show was almost 3 hours
CONS:
- the songs were mostly a snooze. I'd say 50% were from the last few albums and another 20-25% were either more of their country bollocks or their poppy rock (It's My Life, HAND etc...) Nothing from the first two albums at all - songs they did off SWW through KTF were (as best I can recall) ..........Livin On A Prayer, You Give Love A Bad Name, Wanted Dead or Alive, Raise Your Hands, Bad Medicine, Born To Be My Baby, Keep The Faith, Dry County. JBJ looked like Peter Allen shaking his maracas during Keep The Faith.
- JBJ's voice............aside from commercial reasons I can see why he's gone country - his voice is even more shot than I expected. He has the range of Billy Ray Cyrus and when he struggles to even get close to notes on the early stuff it's pretty painful........a monotone whine is the best I can describe it. Whatever range he has vanishes when he tries to sing with power. The modern stuff he handles well enough. Shame - as the band did a ripping version of Dry County
- JBJ also seems to have a bit of the embarrassing old uncle dance moves creeping in that he may have picked up from David Lee Roth. These ex kings of the stage are starting to look their age , although I'm pretty sure his shiny teeth aren't near as old
He likes himself plenty and there were lots of intense pouts at the camera and almost evangelical moments as he worked his flock , but on the whole I think he really came to play and put on a good show.
Overall I'm happy enough with what I got after my 75% discount but also glad I didn't stump up full price. I've never been the biggest Aerosmith fan but this is just another gig that makes me marvel at what I've seen Steve Tyler do live recently - both in terms of singing and stage presence. He blows everyone else away and he's another decade or more older than these guys..
Topic: The official Frontiers Softcock Shit thread (Read 571741 times)
