Bon Jovi’s nine-show residency at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden has come to an end. It was Legendary. Nine shows full of fan favorites at the World’s Most Famous Arena. We could only wish this tour could last Forever.
Written by Andris Jansons
Alright, I believe I smacked plenty of puns in one opening paragraph, I’ll try to be better going forward. So this Sunday marked the last of the nine Bon Jovi’s shows at MSG. Night 9 was supposed to be special. And it was. We will cover it from the beginning to an end, so hold on. However, this day was not without worries. Night 8 on July 23 was cut short after 90 minutes when Jon Bon Jovi struggled through vocals due to a severe sinus infection, prompting promises to figure out rescheduling for attendees. Just as many other band’s fans I was frantically updating social feeds to see if the show will be postponed. Thankfully Jon got better and the show went on. The sold out MSG arena was buzzing in anticipation of this spectacle.
The countdown started on the giant stage screens, fans cheered, and the excitement hit another level. As it ended Jon delivered a short message on the center screen and the camera cut to the entrance where the band was eagerly awaiting for the door to open. Once it opened and the band came on stage the place went just as loud as when Knicks won the title.
The first three songs covered the first decade of this millennium – Beautiful Drug, We Weren’t Born To Follow and Lost Highway. All high tempo rock songs to get the party going.
I’ve been following the band since I was 12 years old. The first album that I got my hands on was ironically named New Jersey. A little kid living in small Baltic country named Latvia (back then still occupied by USSR) I never thought that I would call state of New Jersey my home, however all these years later I am a proud New Jerseyan with Latvian roots. So, that album is very special to me and I know all it’s songs by a heartbeat. However, the very first song I heard from Bon Jovi and fell in love was You Give Love A Bad Name. That song kicked some serious ass back in eighties and it still does almost forty years later. So that Jon’s exclamation “Let’s put a quarter in jukebox boys, Tico take me to the seat” … and the first drumbeats of the song not only lifted the roof of MSG but mine as well. Damn, that felt good. The memories, the energy, this was the first real firecracker of the night.
The next set of four songs was a mix of old and new. The first of the batch coming from New Jersey album – Born To Be My Baby, followed by the single from the band’s latest album Forever called Legendary, which Jon labeled as his favorite one from the release. After that band eased into Whole Lot of Leavin’ from Lost Highway and went back in time for their hit song In These Arms taken from their “return” album in 1992 called Keep The Faith.
The next song stood out on it’s own as Jon introduced his friends from The War and Treaty to help him with singing The People’s House taken from the bands latest album Forever. That also wrapped the collection of the songs from their latest release. The song was accompanied with social justice images on the big screen, as Jon has never shied away from letting everyone know his beliefs.
To me the next two songs served a sort of a peak of the show. It really felt that we reached that emotional level where you could not get any higher that that particular moment. It all started with a new millennium Bon Jovi fan anthem – It’s My Life. Released in 2000 it captured a whole new generation of fans to Bon Jovi songs. To me at the time it still felt like Bon Jovi that I know, but it had “today’s” vibe that took a hold on newer generation. What a way to connect generations of your fans by following up with arguably one of the all time biggest Bon Jovi hit song Livin’ On The Prayer. So this was that very moment when from this can’t get any better we went to it just did get so much better. Jon felt it, as he sent whole arena into two fan sung encore choruses. Everyone in attendance sang, that was truly a goosebumps moment.
I don’t want to say that after this it lost a momentum, but it felt as you already got what you needed and now everything else is a bonus. Just as you just reached the peak of Everest and now you are just chilling and enjoying the view. Don’t get me wrong, it was followed by such hits as Raise Your Hands, This House Is Not for Sale, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead and Keep the Faith as a closer, with Jon calling out band members during this stretch, leaving Tico and David for finale.
We know how it works. That goodnight at the end of Keep The Faith, wasn’t really a goodbye. Short few minutes later Jon and the band came out to spread some more love with emotional I’ll Be There For You and one more firecracker – Bad Medicine, during which percussionist and backing vocalist Everett Bradley sang the second verse. We knew there will be more. But what? Wanted Dead Or Alive, Bed Of Roses or Always. Unfortunately, none of that, but something much better …. a surprise guest appearance by Bruce Springsteen, who joined Jon Bon Jovi to perform Who Says You Can’t Go Home and The Promised Land. At first the crowd was in disbelief that grew to pure ecstasy as The Boss walked on stage with Bruuuce chant raining down on him. We all know of their friendship that was also explained in Hulu docu-series Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, but we did not expect his appearance tonight. Before they sang the Who Says You Can’t Go Home Jon told the crowd that Bruce says You can’t go home yet, and that kept ringing in my head during the songs chorus at the point where I am not sure if the lyrics were altered or I was just hearing things. As the closing song for the night was Bruce’s The Promised Land. What can I say, the show ended up on a unforgettable and legendary note, with two undisputed Rock music legends and most prominent New Jerseyans (my apologies to Frank Sinatra) joining together to end this Bon Jovi’s MSG residency with the performance that we will be talking about for generations.
Dates that will go down in the history. All were sold out shows with set list being different for every night.
ALL TOUR DATES :
Tuesday, July 7 New York, Madison Square Garden
Thursday, July 9 New York, Madison Square Garden
Sunday, July 12 New York, Madison Square Garden
Tuesday, July 14 New York, Madison Square Garden
Thursday, July 16 New York, Madison Square Garden
Sunday, July 19 New York, Madison Square Garden
Tuesday, July 21 New York, Madison Square Garden
Thursday, July 23 New York, Madison Square Garden
Sunday, July 26 New York, Madison Square Garden
P.S. My two cents that nobody cares about. As pretty much everyone who listens to Bon Jovi I watched the documentary about Jon’s struggle with surgery and recovery after that. A lot has been said by fans and haters, all the positives and all the negatives. I believe that Jon is proving everyone that with the true devotion to what you love you can achieve everything and overcome all the obstacles. His recovery and comeback is nothing short of a miracle. Just by being on the stage takes a courage, then by being on the stage after everything that he has been through and still delivering the outstanding shows to a sold out crowds takes the courage of epic proportions. Yes, I don’t expect him to do the same things he did thirty years ago, age creeps to us all, and we all have to deal with the consequences, and we will never be what we used to be. I hope that Jon will continue to carry on and we will see more performances in years to come.
ABOUT BON JOVI (from the management):
Over an illustrious career spanning more than three decades since their formation in 1983, Bon Jovi has earned their place among global rock royalty and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame. With over 130 million albums sold worldwide, an extensive catalog of hit anthems, thousands of concerts performed in more than 50 countries for more than 35 million fans, and ticket grosses well over $1 billion around the world in the last decade alone, Bon Jovi is the consummate rock and roll band.
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Title Photo by: Rich Fury/MSG Entertainment
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