Hey guys, sorry for the silence. I was off in New York learning to be in a new place by myself whilst also celebrating the fact I’ve finished university (and freaking out that I don’t know where the heck I’m going from here).

Anyway, enough of the life crisis for now… Back in November last year, I was talking to my dad about how Bon Jovi were playing in Barcelona this August and how we could probably get cheap flights and accommodation… what I didn’t realise until this conversation was that they were actually doing a cruise around the Med and it was £3-4k per person. Let me tell you, that put an end to the conversation quicker than a moth is drawn to a flame. A couple of weeks passed and suddenly Bon Jovi announced they would be returning to Wembley Stadium, 19 years after being the last and to headline the old Wembley. Easy, that was Dad’s birthday present sorted and one band ticked off my bucket list. Now being the funny gal that I am, I told him by putting this meme on his birthday card and writing “guess who we’ll be seeing on 21^st June” inside. Did he get it? Did he fuck. That’s the last time I make a funny around him…

Okay let me actually start talking about what you want to hear about… A little confession to start with, this was my first ever stadium concert… The first thing that really struck me was how the standing area wasn’t full. I don’t know whether this was intentional or whether I’m just used to smaller venues with everyone packed in. Either way, it was nice to have room to chill. This concert was a bit of a strange one. They started at 8pm and did a 2.5 hour set which was fine y’know they’re a big band. But talking to the others, we all felt that it took about an hour for both the band and the crowd to get into it… They opened with the title track of their tour, This House Is Not For Sale, but it didn’t feel like they truly opened until their second song, Raise Your Hands. This was the one that got the crowd involved and was the song to say “hello yes we are here”. For the first seven or eight songs, so many people would be leaving to go to the loo or the bar. After three songs, I honestly thought something had happened in the middle of the crowd because that many people were leaving. They also had a habit of dragging out the end of each song and I don’t mean like “oooh crowd give me another chorus of It’s My Life”, I mean every. song. The crowd would cheer and clap and then bam 3 minutes later, you realise they’re still playing the same song.

After the serious warming up though, everyone was loving it. Perhaps this was because this was when they started to play their more famous songs such as Have a Nice Day, Bed of Roses and It’s My Life. Jon Bon Jovi had every woman in the audience feeling slightly jealous when he singled out once concert-goer to slow dance with him on stage while he sang Bed of Roses to her. The audience inclusion really showed during Amen, Bed of Roses and Always through the use of lighters and phone torches and through the clapping and singing of Lay Yours Hands on Me in which the crowd were actually the ones to start the song. The encore only consisted of two songs ­– Always and Livin’ on a Prayer. I think it’s safe to say that Always was my favourite song of the night and this was partially due to the fact that I didn’t expect them to perform it during the encore so I gave up hope of hearing it. It’s unusual for a band to perform a slow song as the penultimate song but my god did it work in this case. EVERY. ONE. was involved. It’s safe to say at least 95% of people had a lighter or phone torch and that it completely lit up the stadium. It also got to the stage where the crowd drowned out Jon Bon Jovi which caused my favourite thing at a concert to happen – he just stopped singing and listened to the crowd with the biggest smile on his face.

Throughout the concert, each song had a specific backdrop and they were all cool as shit and clearly thought out no matter how simple. For example, during Wanted Dead or Alive, the backdrop was the sun in a desert that rose at the start and set at the end of the song. Have a Nice Day had smiley faces whilst Lay Your Hands On Me focused on stained glass windows. My favourite was probably We Don’t Run (which I had never actually heard before) which had the lyrics popping up but in the form of protest signs. So like I said, sometimes simple but always clever. It was clear that backdrops were their thing as the lighting was very basic but perhaps both together would have been too much.

As I was leaving, I heard someone say it was the best atmosphere they had seen at a Bon Jovi concert which was slightly concerning for me as I really hadn’t thought the crowd was all that involved for about 50% of the show. Having said this, Josefine made a valid point which is that it must be difficult for the band because all they want to do is continue to make new music and yet all the crowd wants to hear are their classics. So all in all, I did have an amazing time and I’m so happy that I got to see them live as I really didn’t think I was ever going to be able to but I do also feel that now I’ve seen them, I’ve seen them y’know? I don’t know whether my expectations were too high but I think for a little while, I’ll stick to smaller bands in smaller venues and bigger bands at festivals…