Legendary band offered an explosive performance in Constitution Square.
Bon Jovi was everything their Romanian fans had hoped for. Eagerly anticipated as the musical show of the year, the Sunday night concert brought on the Constitution Square stage, in front of a 50,000-strong audience, a band in top shape, a tireless, forever young, Jon Bon Jovi, who was at one with the public, repeatedly addressing everyone present as “my brothers and sisters”. “I hope it’s hot enough for you.
I’m here to turn the heat up,” the artist said before singing “It’s My Life”, an ironic reference to the very hot weather.
The show started exactly at the scheduled time, 8pm, and lasted three full hours, including two encores. The concert kicked off with “Raise Your Hands”, followed by “You Give Love a Bad Name”. The show also included songs like “We Weren’t Born to Follow” – during which a selection of pictures, representing the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Martin Luther King, Bob Dylan, etc., was shown on the huge screen on stage -, “Lost Highway”, “It’s My Life”, “In These Arms”, “Runaway”, “We Got It Goin’ On”, “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”, “Have a Nice Day” or “Keep the Faith”.
The guitarist Richie Sambora, who turned 52 yesterday, was celebrated during the show. The fans, alongside his band-mates, sang him “Happy Birthday”. The wishes were renewed when Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi played on a platform, in the middle of the audience, “Bed of Roses”. During the song, Jon Bon Jovi picked up a Romanian flag, with the band’s name sewn on, from the public, and put it around his neck.
After nearly two hours, the band said their goodbyes, but came back even more energetic when the fans called for the first encore. The encore was, in fact, a most unusual one, as it lasted quite a lot and could count as the second part of the concert. It included, among other songs, “Livin’ on a Prayer”, “Wanted Dead or Alive” and “Dry County”. After these hits, Jon Bon Jovi introduced his band mates to the audinece and they came together to say goodbye. The huge screens by the stage showed Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora smiling discreetly. Their dialogue ended with a shrug of the shoulders, which could be read as “oh well, if you insist”. And the concert continued with a second encore, including the much-awaited “Always”, which got the public in rapture, as well as “These Days”. At the very end, the band delighted the public with a cover of “Twist and Shout”.
The band’s frontman promised, twice, that they would undoubtedly return to Bucharest. “We’ll see you soon. Like, tomorrow, for example, I’m not doing anything,” Jon said, with a laugh, at the end. “It’s great you’ve been waiting for us for three decades. Thank you for your patience,” he added.
The concert was opened by two Romanian bands, QuantiQ and Stillborn, selected, following a competition, by the organizers.
For the time of Jon Bon Jovi’s stay in Romania, the organizers prepared, among other things, 200 towels, mostly black, three trees in pots, six golf carts, as well as a mobile kitchen, according to stirileprotv.ro. The star only eats food cooked by his personal chef, whom he brought along to Romania. Bon Jovi concerted on a stage 54 metre-long and 25 metre-deep, with a sound system 15,000 Watt-strong. The stage included an approx. 40 metre-wide screen, fitted within its arch. Over 500 people were involved in the production of this event, considered “the musical show of the year” in Romania. Before the Romanian show, the band concerted, on Friday night, in Istanbul, and their next show is scheduled to take place tomorrow, in Düsseldorf.
