REVIEW: Lost Highway found its way to Vancouver - Dec 15, 2007

Bon Jovi came to Vancouver on the weekend and man, what a party they threw!

A fan since the Slippery When Wet days, an album recorded here in Vancouver (along with 2 others), this was my first time seeing them live and all I can say is it was so worth the wait. I kinda got the feeling it was gonna be a fun night when as we were driving by the No. 5 Orange, a well known strip joint in Vancouver that the guys visited frequently during their days in Vancouver and out of which the title Slippery When Wet was born, the marquis read (paraphrasing) "Bon Jovi Tonight – Welcome Back Guys". ;-)

In a pre-show interview Richie Sambora remembered fondly their days in Vancouver. "At the time, where we came from in New Jersey, they didn't have nudity. So the first time we walked into a go-go bar in Vancouver, and these girls took off all their clothes, well, you can imagine our amazement," guitarist Richie Sambora explains with a laugh. "We fell in love with that city very quickly and, consequently, I think that we are honorary citizens of Canada. We lived in Canada, up in Vancouver, through three records."

And you could tell that their love of Vancouver hasn't left them, they seemed genuinely glad to be here, remarking that in many ways the band was born in Vancouver and when the crowd started singing 'Livin’ on a Prayer' without any urging – Jon Bon Jovi yelled "this is why we love coming to Vancouver!!". (Ya ya, so he says it at every show...who cares!) ;-) He told the crowd about the days of recording with legendary Producer Bruce Fairbairn – how they were sitting in Little Mountain Sound and played a song for Fairbairn and through the studio glass he got on the mic and said "that sucked (shit)". Let's go downtown and have a few margaritas and come back and see what we got, so they went downtown, had a few drinks, went back to Little Mountain – the end result, the hugely successful 'Wanted Dead or Alive', which they *killed* on Sat night and dedicated to Fairbairn.

On Sunday night they opened the show by saying "if any of you have to go to work tomorrow or if your mommas are picking you up after the show, you better text them now cuz we ain’t going anywhere for a while". ;-) And it’s no wonder, with set lists like these:

DEC 15, 2007
INTRO, LOST HIGHWAY, YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME, RAISE YOUR HANDS, RUNAWAY, JUST OLDER, KEEP THE FAITH, WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN', TILL WE AIN'T STRANGERS ANYMORE, BORN TO BE MY BABY, WE GOT IT GOIN' ON, IT'S MY LIFE, BAD MEDICINE W/ SHOUT, STRANGER IN THIS TOWN - RICHIE SAMBORA, (YOU WANT TO) MAKE A MEMORY, DIAMOND RING, SOMEDAY I'LL BE SATURDAY NIGHT, MYSTERY TRAIN, BLOOD ON BLOOD, I'LL SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD, WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME, LIVIN' ON A PRAYER.
ENCORE: I LOVE THIS TOWN, WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE, SANTA CLAUSE IS COMIN' TO TOWN, RUN RUN RUDOLPH, GLAD ALL OVER (DAVE CLARK FIVE cover tune), TWIST AND SHOUT, TREAT HER RIGHT.

DEC 16, 2007
INTRO, LOST HIGHWAY, SUMMERTIME, WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN', LAST NIGHT, (YOU WANT TO) MAKE A MEMORY, ANY OTHER DAY, TILL WE AIN'T STRANGERS ANYMORE, SEAT NEXT TO YOU, ONE STEP CLOSER, EVERYBODY'S BROKEN, WE GOT IT GOIN' ON, I LOVE THIS TOWN, LIVIN’ ON A PRAYER, YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME, KEEP THE FAITH, RUNAWAY, IT'S MY LIFE, BORN TO BE MY BABY, KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR Bob Dylan Cover Tune), BLAZE OF GLORY, HAVE A NICE DAY, I’LL SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD , WHO SAY'S YOU CAN'T GO HOME, BAD MEDICINE W/ SHOUT.
ENCORE: SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN, RUN RUN RUDOLPH, SOMEDAY I’LL BE SATURDAY NIGHT, BLOOD ON BLOOD, WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE, TREAT HER RIGHT, TWIST & SHOUT.

I so wish I had gone to the second show and am now scouring the tour schedule for the next leg of their North American tour to see if I've got friends in places that they're playing. I don’t think anything will ever top 1985's "Born in the USA" Springsteen concert in Vancouver, but Saturday night, Bon Jovi definitely tied the Boss for the title of best concert I've seen. It was fun, it rocked, it was cool to see how much fun they're still having after all these years, and the grin on my 19 year old niece's face as we left the arena said it all.

Trust me, *RUN* don't walk, to get tickets to Bon Jovi if they’re coming to your town!

Click here for pics and some quick video clips of the show - Warning: May take a while to load, especially the video page.
(Unfortunately, I didn’t want to risk taking the SLR with me, so the pics are from my little point and shoot digital camera.)

Sly