“Bon Jovi: Good Medicine”

This last Thursday April 22^nd was one of the best nights of my life. It was the day when I saw for the first time (And I honestly hope this is not the only time) Bon Jovi, my favorite band ever, perform live. It was an incredibly awesome experience. It is very hard for me to talk about this concert or about this band without sounding like a 13 year-old-girl. So be prepared to read the word awesome multiple times in the following paragraphs. In case someone who doesn’t know me well is reading this, maybe I should guide you here so that you understand how it all started. It only took me 15 years to see them in concert after I became a fan! Only 15 years to make one dream come true! But it did come true!

The concert was in Charlotte, NC which is an awesome city by the way. I would dare say it is much better than Raleigh. I went to the concert with my good friend Angie who is the best person to take to a concert because she is up for anything and has a lot of energy. Angie rocked too! So I met up with her sometime before noon and had lunch together on our way to Charlotte. We had a delicious dish of Ravioli di Portobello at Olive Garden. And the waiter was totally hitting on me which was fun and a good omen for concerts, according to me. But a lot of waiters hit on me during that trip which was odd because I was not particularly feeling pretty.

Anyways, after driving for almost 4 hours, we got to Charlotte. Angie had already warned me that concerts in the U.S. are nothing like concerts in Colombia in which you have to arrive to the stadium or wherever it is at least a million hours before the show begins and wait in line for another million hours while you’re pushed and stepped on while the staff people do nothing. Concerts here are a breeze. The staff people are actually doing their job, which is simply awesome. One of the things I love about the U.S. is their organization. We actually sat down at 7 PM and people kept arriving even after 8 PM. Every one was calmed and no one was fighting. And they were even selling cocktails! How fancy is that!

So when we got to Charlotte, it was only 5 PM and the Time Warner Cable Arena opened their doors for the show at 6:30 PM. So how do two girls kill time? If you guessed shopping, you guessed right! We stopped by Target and bought “necessary” concert items like, two pairs of ballet flats, a cute, beige messenger bag, and some underwear which I forgot to pack. We also got water, peanuts, M&M’s and Band-Aids. Then we drove to the Arena and found a parking garage for 15 dollars! There was a group of middle-aged women sipping wine and blasting Bon Jovi music in the parking lot. We parked right next to them. And right there I started to get really excited! From that moment on, I kept squealing and jumping up and down every 10 minutes and saying: “I’m going to see Bon Jovi, yay!”

Dashboard Confessional opened the act and honestly they are a pretty decent band. But in my mind, I kept telling them to go away because I wanted to see Bon Jovi quick!

The lights went off and then the band was on stage. I was so excited at that point that all I could do was scream and jump. I didn’t utter a single coherent sentence during the first 4 minutes of BJ’s performance. I knew the words to the first song but I could not sing along because I was too excited. They opened with “Happy Now” from the new album. But all I could say was: Wooo! Or Ahhh! The lady next to me gave weird looks that said something like “Is this your first concert or what?” And then I gave her another look that said: Well, for your information Lady, it IS my first concert! So I am just going to say Wooo! one more time and ignore you! Ha!

I didn’t sit down during the entire concert except during two songs which I don’t know the lyrics by heart. So I took those two songs as a break from the jumping and dancing. I was so happy I didn’t feel any pain in my ankle. But the next day, my ankle took revenge by hurting worse than it has since the day of the sprain. It still hurts like hell as I write this! It was totally worth it!

Another thing worth mentioning is the vast amount of old ladies that there was in the concert. I am talking gray hair old. Seriously, one looked even like my grandma. Angie and I found that hilarious and even took pictures of them as they danced to the guys’ tunes.

If you asked me what I liked the most about the concert, I would have to say Jon’s energy on stage. That was awesome! He sang for almost two and half hours without stopping. I only saw him stop once to drink water and change his shirt. Oh and his smile! Man, what a smile! That guy is so hot! He looked like he was actually thrilled to be there. He irradiated happiness and that happiness was contagious and I think that was the reason everyone gets so euphoric at their shows.

They sang so many great songs, the oldies, the hits, the ballads and of course the new ones too. He went, “Is there a doctor in the house?!” and right then everyone knew he was going to sing “Bad Medicine”. People went crazy when they played “You Give Love a Bad Name” and he had everyone sing the end of the song. “Runaway” was awesome. That song is as old as I am. Then the floor of the whole Arena was shaking when they sang “It’s My Life” because every one was singing and jumping. And there wasn’t one person who didn’t sing along to “Wanted Dead or Alive”

But when they sang my favorite “I’ll Be There for You” I was ecstatic. It was so awesome! I think I was the only one singing it so loud and passionately. I was really surprised when they sang “Diamond Ring” because it was never a really popular song when it came out on the “These Days” album. But it was a nice surprise. And the last song they performed was “Living on a Prayer” which is pretty much like the band’s anthem I think. To me the set list was perfect. I would have made only two changes. I would have included “Always” and “Love is The Only Rule” which both mean so much to me.

I made a few videos and posted two of them on Facebook. I’m aware that I made a total fool of myself in one them but I do not care. That concert made me so, so happy.  I was in the best mood that I’ve been in so long the following two days after the concert. I can’t wait for the next one! I’m even going to write them a song. And I’m going to call it “Bon Jovi: Good Medicine”