Mohegan - In My Own Words...

So, if you read my post bright and early Saturday morning, or at anytime that day really, you know I jetted off to Boston to Hath’s so I could join her, Willow and Bonnie for the show at Mohegan Sun Casino Saturday night. Boy am I glad I did. I had the best time, even if my flight did get in an hour later last night that it should have and I am dragging ass today. :)

I made it to Boston Saturday morning with nary a hiccup in my travels. I think we even landed early at Logan. How did that happen? I still don’t have any idea.

The girls, with the Hathlet in tow, showed up in Hath’s Darlin’ and off we went. Our first stop, breakfast! I was lucky I managed to get myself out of bed and dressed by 4:45 that morning to head off to the airport. I was slightly hung over (three double ‘ritas probably not a good idea the night before traveling) and food really was not a priority at that point. But by the time I landed I was starving. Luckily the girls hadn’t eaten at that point either, so we stopped at Bickford’s Grille and had a pretty decent breakfast.

After we chowed down we were off again to casa de Hath. After stowing my stuff (I roomed with Willow) and laying out what I planned to wear to the show that night we took over the upstairs living area of the house and sprawled on comfy couches/chairs and just lazed away the late morning/early afternoon taking some pictures, looking at pictures from the show the night before that the girls had taken and just basically catching up with each other.

And how cute is the Hathlet? He looks like his momma and just as charming as can be. Not only did he make a sign for me for when they came to the airport, when he found out that I had forgotten my necklace for the show that night, he piped right up with “I can make you one!” And off he went to momma Hath’s office and with a little Goddess help, he whipped me up a lovely bit of bling to wear. Can I say it again? He was just too cute. Momma Hath should be very proud. :)

By the time the four of us showered, dressed and made ourselves beautiful and piled back into Darlin’ it was heading toward 4:00. After a stop for gas and a return trip to casa de Hath (Willow’s fault, she forgot her wallet) we were off to Mohegan!

The car ride was uneventful. We kept up a steady stream of chatter and laughter with the boys ever present providing the background music for our road trip. We ran into traffic just outside the exits for the parking for the casino. No valet for the girls tonight. They were all full so we found a spot in the open lot right near a shuttle stop. It was pretty much door to door service and it was free!

After making our way to the Arena so Bonnie could check in with Backstage to get her ticket we wandered toward the restaurants so we could fuel up before the show. We ran into Chris (Rutpop) briefly before heading over to Johnny Rockets (or, for those of you following Willow on Twitter, Johnny’s Rocket) for some much needed sustenance.

We made it back over to the Arena and through security with only one major hitch. Willow was made to leave her camera at the baggage check. The security guard was quite the bitch with her and escorted her over and made her check it. So, no pictures from Willow from Saturday night, but she did get some video. You’ll have to look for her vids on YouTube.

After getting our swag and a beverage so we didn’t have to leave our seats during the show we bid farewell to Bonnie, stopped in the ladies room and, just as we started to the far side of the Arena to our seats, we heard the intro music! What the hell, they were early!!

Now, all of you that have been to a show know that feeling you get right before the guys appear. You’re there, in your seat holding your breath for the show to start and then you blink! When your eyes open again, there they are! The roar of the crowd is deafening as they tear into the first bars of a two and a half hour non-stop ride of your life. But, how do you explain that feeling to someone? I have had more people ask me, why Bon Jovi? What is it with them? Why do you like them so much? I have never been able to explain that to anyone. I don’t know if there are words to describe the energy that comes from being at one of their shows or the electricity that flows around the arena in those seconds before they burst onto the stage.

Their music alone is enough reason for me to be a fan, but there is just something about seeing them live that really brings it home. I don’t know that there is a better front man out there than Jon. He just goes and goes, even when he’s not feeling 100% he never gives you less than his best. We saw that Saturday night. Though I felt bad when he had to yell at the crowd to get up out of your seats.

He shouldn’t have to work that hard to get everyone on their feet. Me, personally, I didn’t fold down my seat until they left before the encore. I needed that 90 second rest to catch my breath. The rest of our section sat for the better part of the show. We had a couple who felt the need to chat the whole evening behind us and the chick behind Hath texted the whole time. WTF? You paid $212 for that seat and you’re texting? Sit home on your couch and give that seat to a real fan if that’s what you’re going to do.

Okay, rant over, on to the rest of the review. :)

We ran and found our seats just in time for Last Man Standing, only my favorite song from Have a Nice Day. After that to start I had a feeling it was going to be a good show.

We got all the staples, We Weren’t Born to Follow, Bad Name, Whole Lotta Leavin’, Born to Be My Baby. If you’ve been following along on Twitter and/or the BJCT Blog, you can probably recite the set list by now. There weren’t a whole lot of surprises. They did stick Captain Crash in there which, for me, was a nice treat as I have never heard that one live before.

I had three Oh My God moments Saturday night. The first came when Jon headed out through the pit and on to the circle ramp. He gave us the most beautiful version of Hallelujah. I know he’s been singing that one since Lost Highway but, when I saw my only show on that tour, he didn’t do it. I was in awe. He is just magnificent on that song. That last note… gave me chills.

Second OMG moment, Miss Fourth of July! I won’t tell you I wasn’t hoping for NSG, but after they did it Friday I wasn’t sure what we were going to get. I’m glad they picked this gem from the box set. I absolutely love it when they go acoustic and this song was just amazing. I still can’t stop humming it. No one harmonizes together better than Jon and Richie. No one. Period.

Third OMG moment, Love’s the Only Rule. First time I played The Circle CD this song was the track that really struck me. You know it’s that one track that you hear and go, yup, that’s the one. That’s the track seven that makes you want to buy that record. Seeing it live is so much better than watching a video of it on YouTube. The energy and passion that Jon puts into it is simply amazing. Then he goes wading through the pit getting everyone to sing with him and kissing all the girls. This is why I need to win the lottery. So I can afford the pit tickets.

They gave us so much Saturday night I just know I’m forgetting a lot.

Richie on Homebound Train was incredible. He’s got that beautiful, bluesy tone to his voice that works just perfectly with that song. And of course we did the whooo whooo train noises for him. Who loves ya Rich? Did I mention he looks freaking amazing?! Have you seen his arms of late? Working out certainly agrees with him.

From our seats (Section 105) we had a great vantage point. We could see the workings going on behind the scenes so to speak. By the end of the night, after their National Anthem (Wanted, and if you didn’t know that, shame on you!) (go read Hath’s review for his amusing speech to the audience for their impeccable timing on that song too) Jon stepped back to hand off his guitar and to get a drink. We could see him, rubbing his eyes and forehead, just digging down for the energy to deliver Prayer. He didn’t disappoint. He delivered that song with more than a little help from us and you could see by the look on his face at the end that we did him proud with that one.

What else, what else? I got video of the Banter/Hot Legs portion of Bad Medicine. I was playing with my new camera and it actually came out pretty good. I have to edit it, along with my pictures, but I will share them. Promise!

All in all it was a great show and to Jon’s credit he told us we’d be a sweaty mess by the time he as through with us. He wasn’t far off the mark. I was glistening by the time we got back down to meet Bonnie. And my throat is still scratchy from all the singing/screaming I was doing. That is s true testament to a great show. If you don’t have a scratchy/sore throat or no voice left at all the next day. You didn’t do it right.

How many more days til The Meadowlands? :)