Bon Jovi at the London Palladium - 10/10/16

It's a little after eight when the lights go dim and I sit with a racing heart and the kind of knot in my stomach that I haven't felt for 3,5 years. I am about to see Bon Jovi again, in the heart of London, only a couple of blocks down from where it all ended on the last European tour. I feel excited, I feel overwhelmed and maybe I even feel a tiny bit sceptical of what is about to come. My expectations are high but I decided to go in with as little knowledge as possible. I've heard the four songs that have been officially released so far and only loved one of them. The other three I thought were alright.

Is that a good place to start? I don't know, but there is no time to think about it. Tico takes his position behind the drums, David grins as he steps behind the keys, our saviour Phil and our cool-guy Hugh take their places, Shanks is there too. Jon comes walking on, steady and slow, head to toe in black, big smile on. I smile back at no-one in particular and everyone all at once, thinking I'm home and realising I'm already getting sentimental. So here's what happened next...

London Calling

I can't come up with a sentence to start this blogpost. I keep trying and erasing and nothing feels good enough so I think I'm just going to cut to the chase. I am seeing Bon Jovi in London on Monday. That is right, it looks like the tour-side of this blog is going to be kick-started earlier than I thought.

things I want to happen next tour that probably won't

Jon in London 2013 by me
(the hand representing how I feel when I reach for these wishes)

Now that the new Backstage JBJ went live and with Matt constantly dropping hints about te tour announcement coming soon I found myself thinking about the things that I want to happen on (the European) tour. So that is what this is. An unrealistic list of wishes for the upcoming tour in no particular order.

This House Is Not For Sale: when release-day comes early

 

When the new single of your favourite band premieres one day early most people just give their opinion in a Facebook post. But not me. I had to go and write a blogpost about the unexpected turn my morning took. So read ahead for a little sneak-peak inside my little fangirl mind.

 

Top 5: Bon Jovi concerts (that I attended)

Barcelona 2011 ~ by me

Although you will probably read this much, much later I am currently high above the world, somewhere near Ottowa according to the screens on this plane, trying to ignore the tiniest of bumps that most of the other passengers probably don’t even notice. I hate flying and even though my level of anxiety has been way worse and will be worse than it is as I am writing this, I am still nowhere near relaxed enough to fall asleep. So that’s how I ended up here, because as I am listening to Bon Jovi’s 2013 Cologne show I realise once again that they are the only thing that at least kind of succeeds to calm me down at moments like these. 

I also realised that Cologne probably still is one of the best shows I have seen them play. And that is how we ended up here. So without further ado I present to you my top 5 favourite Bon Jovi shows (that I attended). 

insert every working man-themed lyric Jon ever wrote

Okay, I feel like I can't write this post without starting off with a series of disclaimers, the biggest disclaimer here being that I haven't slept last night, so here we go: I am going to sound selfish and I know people in the USA have been dealing with this for much longer. I honestly am only writing this now because while this was still happening over in the USA, the possibility for me to go was even more unrealistic, but that doesn't mean it hasn't bothered me before. And yes, I know I am not the only one who feels this way. I also know I have been lucky so far for seeing as many shows as I have, especially at my age but that knowledge doesn't make me less sad at this moment.

happy birthday dear JBJ

I love Jon every single day of my life but there are specific moments when I love him even more and since it's his birthday and he is actually 54 years old today, I thought I could list a few of them.

the endless wait for a tour announcement and how to deal with it

It's kind of a strange moment in Bon Jovi world to be writing about them. We know a lot is going to happen. They keep telling us a lot is going to happen. But all we see is pictures of Jon running in a t-shirt he's had for ten years or of him at some fancy event, of which I have no clue why he is there half of the time. David is always out there somewhere playing music with his buds and Tico, well we don't really see him but we accept that he is probably playing golf or making art under the sun. But every now and then, when we really start to accept it's not going to happen any time soon Jon goes and mentions it in some interview. "It's happening and it's going to be big."

So we trust him like we always do, even though he has proven more than once that sometimes we shouldn't. Next month could easily mean next year, or somewhere in the next six. And let's not even talk about how he still believes leathers shirts are a good look for a man in his fifties. But apparently unbuttoned leather shirts and an acoustic remake of all the songs we love are forgivable so we wait.

I'm not saying it's easy and I'm definitely not saying we do it patiently. But there are a few things that I feel make it a little more bearable for us so I decided to list my favourite things.