For Christmas, a couple of friends bought myself and Carmen some tickets to see the Bon Jovi Forever tour at Wembley. It was certainly a surprise, but a welcome one, and would be the first time we'd been to a concert together. I've never been inside Wembley stadium before, but I had a rough idea of just how busy it would be from having been to smaller venues like the NEC Arena. The organisation is really good, with queues for different turnstiles around the stadium, and then easy access to the seating area from there. Inside, the crowds weren't so bad.
Both inside and outside the stadium, there are merchandise stalls to get Bon Jovi t-shirts from, but unlike many concerts and events, this one has no program available. I bought an event t-shirt, but didn't realise it wasn't Wembley specific at the time I bought it unfortunately. For £45 it felt overpriced, but then, so did the drinks and I wanted to bring back something from the evening like I have done many times before. A bottle of orange tango costs £4.95 at the stadium, and they don't let you have the top for the bottle either - so of course I knocked my bottle over within twenty minutes of getting it - losing most of the contents. If we'd wanted to eat, they'd got a choice of either chicken or falafel with fries in a tub. I also noticed one stand selling 'Runaway Dogs' - I assumed the Runaway part of the name was in reference to Bon Jovi's debut single 'Runaway'.
A little after 18:00, James Bay took the stage, and started his set. He had to interrupt it a couple of times for First Aid incidents on the front row - though the second one he called off when he realised they were okay. As you're not allowed to take DSLRs to events like this, I bought a lens for my phone, one that could be used on any smartphone so it'd still work if I decide to upgrade my phone in the near future. I went for the APEXEL Telephoto 10x lens that comes with a screw-on macro lens too. It's not the easiest thing to use, and requires manual focusing, so I used James Bay's set to practice with this - since there was still some daylight. I found it almost impossible to use without a tripod though - something not allowed in the stadium either. I tried my best to rest it on my knee to steady it, but for long periods of time, the people in front were standing instead of sitting, so it wasn't really worth trying to use.
James Bay warm-up Setlist
- Up All Night
- Peer Pressure / Craving / Pink Lemonade (medley)
- If You Ever Want to Be in Love
- Us
- Let It Go
- You and Me Time
- Wanderlust
- Best Fake Smile
- Hold Back the River
Once the warm-up act was done, it took a while for them to then set the stage up for Bon Jovi, but at 19:20, a countdown appeared on screen. We thought that would be the countdown to them appearing on stage, but was actually a pre-recorded intro video. At the end, they then walked on stage through some doors at the back, and got straight into playing their set. Going into this, I knew they'd said they'd play a slightly different set each night, but hoped that some of the key classics would be included every night.
I hadn't realised that Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora had another falling out over a decade ago and was no longer part of the band, so it came as a surprise he wasn't there. However David Bryan and Tico Torres were still there, as well as four other band members that were introduced that I'd not heard of previously.
Bon Jovi Setlist
- With a Little Help From My Friends (The Beatles cover)
- Beautiful Drug
- We Weren't Born to Follow
- Lost Highway
- You Give Love a Bad Name
- Born to Be My Baby
- Legendary (with James Bay)
- Whole Lot of Leavin'
- Bed of Roses
- Have a Nice Day
- These Days
- This House Is Not for Sale
- It's My Life
- Livin' on a Prayer
- Raise Your Hands
- I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
- Hey God
- Keep the Faith
Encore: 19. I'll Be There for You 20. Wanted Dead or Alive 21. Bad Medicine 22. Always
I know people have said things like "Bon Jovi's voice is shot," and "it's just fan service now there's no good new songs." I'd have to disagree though - this is his first tour since vocal surgery a few years ago and was belting out the old songs a lot better than I expected. I'd remembered how there were songs he had to tackle differently due to the damage he'd done to them from years of singing, but it really wasn't obvious at all. I think across the entire night he performed two or three songs I've never been a fan of (they are admittedly newer tracks), but other than that I enjoyed the other nineteen tracks - both new and old. The crowd provided plenty of support with very little encouragement, singing along to most of the songs as loudly as they could.
Jon Bon Jovi also shared some stories of previous times they'd played in Wembley, including their last time before the old stadium was pulled down… and they happened to point out they been performing for 43 years now. On one of the very few lacklustre responses from the crowd, he pointed out "This is London, England. Wembley Stadium. You've come to see Bon Jovi" - the implication was clear - Wembley is well known to rock bands for the responses that the crowds can give. I think it's fair to say the crowds didn't disappoint him again!
When leaving Wembley, if you're heading to the tube station then it's likely you'll need to wait at various stages whilst they control the flow of traffic into the station.
Whoa, we're half way there Whoa oh, livin' on a prayer Take my hand and we'll make it, I swear Whoa oh, livin' on a prayer
It started small, and grew to encompass the whole crowd of hundreds of people waiting patiently, singing in hushed tones put of respect for the residents in the flats around this area. As we got closer and closer to the station, the songs continued with ones such as 'Always', providing a post-concert experience unlike any I'd ever had. I've seen Queen + Adam Lambert, and I saw Kiss on their farewell tour - it's fair to say that neither of them had been anything like this.