Review: Bon Jovi @ First Niagara Center, Buffalo, NY 2-24-13

So, Queenie made it to her first concert (and maybe her last, but the jury is still out on that) of the tour.  When I heard the boys were actually coming to Buffalo I was sure I heard wrong.  They haven’t played there since the HAND Tour.  And when I saw when they were coming, well, I was nearly positive I wasn’t going to go.  You see, Mr. Q and I are going on vacation in two short weeks and I didn’t want to lay out the $$ for the tickets and leave us short on vacay funds. 

But, for once, luck was on my side.  The radio station I listen to at work all day, every day was giving away tickets back at the end of January.  So, being the persistent little bitch that I am, I tried every day.  I had a chance three times a day for the entire week.  I won my pair during the lunch hour on that Friday.  I very nearly gave up and hung up the phone but then, lo and behold, the DJ answered the phone, gave the call letters for the station and what do you know?  I was caller 20.  To say I was a little excited was the understatement of the century.  I never win anything.  And that’s exactly what Mr. Q said when I told him I had won the tickets.  “But you don’t win anything!”  Yeah, that’s the love of my life always got my back.  LOL

Anyway…

As concert day drew closer, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, then I started seeing reviews and videos and setlists from the first few shows.  I was not impressed.  Yes, I like the new songs, but other than that, it seemed like the Greatest Hits Tour Redux.  And last night’s setlist was just that.  The greatest hits with a few new ones thrown in just to appease the fans who shelled out the cash to fill the seats.  I can imagine it has to be hard to push the new songs if people don’t know them, but you’re touring for the NEW album, play the NEW songs.  We got five of them.  Because We Can, That’s What the Water Made Me, What About Now, Army of One and Amen.  And really, he could scrub Who Says and my feelings wouldn’t be hurt at all, but it gets the crowd going and I suppose that’s the point of playing it.  That and he’s totally enamored with it.

You can find the complete setlist on the BecauseWeCanTourBlog. 

There wasn’t anything spectacular, save Richie’s solos, the totally awesome jam at the end of Keep the Faith and the beauty that was Amen.  And I have to say, I’m pretty sure everyone had their eyes (read that cameras/phones) trained on Jon, but if they had chanced a glance at the stage, that would have seen what I saw.  Richie was perched on a stool with his acoustic, bathed in a soft spotlight totally immersed in the song.  I wish my seats had been closer (we were up in the rafters – what do you want, they were free?!) and I had brought my camera.  Hopefully one person managed to get a shot of that (I have one and I posted it here, but it’s from my phone and it’s not all that good).  Richie just totally blows me away every time I see him play.

 

 

Jon moved around a bit last night.  He climbed up the video screens when they came up out of the stage like stairs and entertained the crowd behind the stage.  He had some kind of interaction with a fan when he was out on the circle.  It ended up with him sticking his tongue out at the person and him saying “I’m too old for that shit” or something to that effect.

Someday I’ll be Saturday Night was nicely done acoustically with Richie out there in the middle of the crowd, but then they headed back to the stage and Jon didn’t venture out that way again.  He stayed pretty close to center stage.  He seemed to be in a pretty good mood too.  Not very talkative but he seemed to be having a good time up there.   He got the crowd all riled up when he started shaking his tail feathers (his words).  I think I’m still deaf from the woman behind me screaming like a banshee every time he did.

Oh, as a little sidebar, I’m pretty sure we had the youngest ever concert attendee in the row in front of us.  The little guy couldn’t have been more than 2 months old.  Yes, you read that right 2 MONTHS old.  Poor little guy.  We couldn’t believe the parents brought baby with them.  They did have earplugs for him, but still, the germs floating around in there alone are reason enough to keep the baby at home for crying out loud!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled review…

Okay, okay, let’s see, I told you about my tickets, my seats, the setlist, the stage antics, oh yes.  Merchandise.  Yeah, I didn’t buy anything.  I might have given up $20 for a program, but no way was I going to spend $50 for an ugly-ass t-shirt that I would only wear to sleep in.  Not happening.  Other people did, but I was content to keep my $$ in my wallet and save it for a rainy day.  Maybe down the line they will have some better stuff, but until they do, I’ll be hanging on to my hard earned dollars.  Thank you very much.

So, for a free (save parking and dinner and one $7 beer) concert, it wasn’t bad.  I think after the album comes out and I have a chance to listen to all the songs, I may have a better idea if I want to actually spend my hard earned dollars and go see another show.  Maybe by this summer the setlists will be better.  And maybe next time I won’t be up in the rafters and have to sit the entire time.  Yes, you’re eyes are not playing tricks on you, you read that right.  I sat for the entire show last night.  That’s never happened before and I really didn’t care for it, but I didn’t want to chance taking a header over the railing and becoming a spot on the concrete below.  It was better all around for me to stay sitting down.  Trust me.   

And, if you find this review a bit on the snarky side, I apologize.  A late night and an early morning make Queenie a little cranky.  And maybe my feelings about the show would have been different if my seats had been different.  Like the guy we watched in the pit.  He was having a kick ass time down there and we all knew it.  He was not a small guy by any means, and he was shaking ALL that his momma gave him last night.

That’s the way to enjoy a show.