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Bon Jovi > My show reviews > JULY 13, 2006 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada

My show reviews

JULY 13, 2006 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada

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Jon kept his promise ... 3 years later!

Venue: Parc Jean-Drapeau
Ticket: VIP Pit, First Row (General Admission)
Pictures: Available
Videos: Available

I should know it after all these years... Jon is a liar and he admits it himself! Do I have a screw loose to talk like that? No, not at all, but I learned throughout the last months that Jon also knows how to redeem himself. During the Bounce tour, we had been 15 000 people to hear from Jon's mouth in Montreal that the band would come back in the summer... We had to wait 3 years later before Jon kept his promise! In fact, he had not specified the year of the summer when he would come back with his band in Montreal! Jon, I forgive you with all my heart for lying to us!

So, here we are, on July 13, 2006, a few hours away from the biggest outdoors concert of the summer at Parc Jean-Drapeau. The weather was beautiful, compared to what the weather forecast had called for in the previous days; not a cloud in the sky, but with a chance of shower at the end of the afternoon. Annick, from Salut Bonjour!, had taken the time to specify, during one of her weather bulletins, that if people had an outdoors concert, not to worry at all, because if there were going to have showers, they would be very short and only a few drops. I really don't know what kind of people she was referring to! :)

After planning the last details with Sandra, a fan club girl met during previous concerts, I started getting ready. Since Martin was working all day and I wanted to get to the concert site in the afternoon, I had convinced myself to take a taxi from Martin's workplace where I had planned to leave our car so he could come to the show in the evening. Sandra offered me a lift, since she was going with her boyfriend anyway. I accepted her offer, because it's always more interesting to arrive on a concert site with people we know!

It took me 3 hours to get ready, including the required time to eat a big lunch. Since the show was entirely general admission, it was out of the question to think about going to find something to eat in the food stands on site because we would lose our spot!

Getting ready wasn't an easy task, because I had a good chance of being up front, just beside the stage and I didn't want to look too bad. Fortunately I had made a list of things to bring, because I was way too excited to think intelligently! I was even emotional when I started listening to Bon Jovi albums that morning! I was realizing more and more that in barely a few hours, I would see my idols again for the third time in 7 months! Here is the list of essential things not to forget for an outdoors concert with an uncertain weather forecast:

All these things don't seem useful, but everything fit in a purse and a not-so-heavy backpack. I had the need to use about 75% of the things listed above. European fan club members were of a great help concerning this list, because they are used to outdoors concerts. To ensure not turning bright red too fast on site, I put on sunscreen when I left the house.

In short, around 12h30 pm, I left the house to go leave the car to Martin. Sandra and Steph, her boyfriend, were coming to get me directly at the Pacini on Taschereau boulevard. Martin works above the Pacini and he was waiting for me outside when I got there. I quickly changed my shoes to leave my sandals in the car and to put on my super sneakers which were not sexy at all, but very comfortable for long treks... up on our feet without moving!

We headed for the Longueuil subway around 1h05 pm. When we got there, we noticed major roadworks which prevented us from parking in the usual parking lots. After turning in circles a little to find a parking spot while avoiding going the wrong way in a one-way, we parked Sandra's car near the subway. We only had one subway station to go to get off on Île Ste-Hélène. When we got outside, we saw a few dozens of people who were waiting for the onsite ticket office to open. We followed the crowd a little and we got to the general public waiting line. It was barely 2h pm, and there were already a few thousands of people on site. I had learned in the morning that there were people who had spent the night there to ensure themselves the best spots! What the majority of people didn't know however is that we would get to the site before them!

Indeed, when we bought our fan club tickets, they were in the VIP pit, that part in front of the stage. The fan club had assured us that we would enter before the general public if we could show our fan club card. The day prior to the show, the fan club indicated to us that there would be a separate waiting line from the general public for the fan club and that we would be able to enter the site a half an hour before the other ones, ensuring us the spots up front near the stage.

We looked for the fan club waiting line until I remembered that we had passed beside a line of about 30 people in the shadow near the other line for the general public. Therefore, we went closer to see if it were the fan club line. There were a lot of people on site who were supposed to be able to help us, but well, nobody seemed to know. There was a girl with a list of names in her hands, but it seemed like a list for people who would go on stage during the show. Oh yes, even outdoors, there are pits on stage where people selected by contests have the chance of going on stage for a few songs. In short, a security guard finally indicated to us that we had to show our fan club card to him so he would let us in the first barriers. When we got to the fan club line, we went to give our names to Terry, the girl who is always the first one to arrive in the fan club lines. I got number 40 written with a marker on my right hand, indicating my rank in the waiting line. I quickly sat down when we got to the end of the line to keep my energy. We were in the shadow and we were very well. Terry told us that the security guys had just separated the fan club members from the general public! What a chaos it would have been otherwise! Hahaha A few other people arrived after us, such as Isabelle and Christine, two girls met when the tickets went on sale in April. We told ourselves that it would be a good idea to go to the restroom around 3h pm, half an hour before entering the site. Around 3h pm, we went to ask the security guy if we could go to the restroom. He told us that we had to get out and go in the restrooms near the general public waiting line. When we got to these famous restrooms, we saw a huge crowd who was waiting to use them already! We turned around quickly, because we would have never had the time to go before entering the site as such.

Girls arrived in the fan club line who were dressed in weird costumes. We could have sworn that they had come straight from the airport from China or Japan. They almost wore traditional festive costumes from their native country, it was very special.

Around 3h15 pm, Sheena, a girl who had just spoken with the security guard, came to tell us that the band staff was not quite ready and that someone would come pick us up as soon as possible to let us in. We finally went through the second barriers around 3h35 pm. Then, we had to wait for the people who had to search our backpacks to be brought up to speed about the things for which they had to search for. A Bon Jovi crew staff member, Kevin, came to tell us that we would be searched before our tickets would be scanned to save time. So, we got searched, and what a search! The first people searched ended up having their bottles of water, food, etc. confiscated. It was yet specified on the Admission website that we had the right to bring those! When the person who was doing the search came to me, she saw my bottle of water and she was about to confiscate it from me. I asked her if we could keep the bottle if she took off the cap. She checked with other people and it was OK. The thing is that she hadn't seen the liter of water I had brought as well in my bag! Good thing for me, I was able to keep the cap on this bottle at least! The search lasted forever in my opinion! Hahaha

Then, we had to show our fan club card as well as an ID card and our ticket that indicated that we had the right to go in the VIP pit to an event staff person so she could hand us a bracelet that identified us as VIP pit ticket holders. We had a hard time putting on our bracelets by ourselves, because we had our capless bottles of water in our hands! Since the fan club members are very nice, we helped each other putting them on!

Then, Kevin tried to tell us something, but we couldn't hear him. So, he came right beside me since I was about halfway in the fan club line. He told us that he would now bring us to the VIP pit and that if he saw someone run, he would escort them to the end of the general public waiting line! Let's say that with his killer look (very serious look, a pinch beard, really beefed up), we all listened to him. He seems very nice when people cooperate with him however, because he even showed a smile after his speech! Other security people scanned our tickets as we were going forward. All the fan club members listened and it was a very nice walk up to the VIP pit! When we arrived on site, we noticed the magnitude of the stage! It was huge and it was in front of the Parc Jean-Drapeau hill. The first fan club members to arrive in the pit positioned themselves in the middle, obviously. When we arrived, there were the equivalent of about 5 rows in front of the center of the stage. There were still spots available at the barricade on both sides. We looked like children who had just seen the Christmas tree full of gifts on Christmas Day. We headed to Richie's side instinctively. When we arrived, there was little space left at the barricade and Sandra and Steph decided to go see if there were better spots left on David's side. I really preferred not to go on David's side, because I had been there already in December and I wanted to be on Richie's side. I saw a little later that Sandra was well positioned, arms on the barricade on David's side and she didn't move from there for the rest of the day!

I then stayed on Richie's side with Christine and Isabelle. We hurried in putting our backpacks on the ground to ensure having enough space to move until the concert. It was then 3h58 pm when we decided to take the opportunity to go to the restroom. I remember seeing people starting to run in the pit when we turned around on our way to the restroom! We hadn't had the exclusivity of the VIP pit for 30 minutes, but rather for barely 10 minutes! I didn't think it was fair from the staff to have let people get in so quickly! They surely didn't get all searched, that's for sure! Two girls succeeded in inching their way through in front of us at the barricade. We were a little frustrated, but well, that's life! Anyway, finally, they stepped aside a little towards the center, so when the concert began, they were rather beside us. By the way, the barricade is a kind of metal structure which keeps people at a reasonable distance from the stage. Being at the barricade means that we can put our arms on it or touch it without a big effort. To keep it from falling down, the barricade stretches a little on the ground towards the crowd (about 2 feet after its vertical part which allows us to lean against).

I went to the super chemical toilets of the park with Isabelle while Christine watched our spots. Fortunately, we went at the beginning, because I would not have had the courage to go to these suffocating toilets by the heat and the whole stench of hundreds of people who passed by there before us a few hours later! Hahaha Mostly because there is no way to wash our hands in those! Yeurk!

We got back to our spots after a few adventures to go and come back from the toilets. There were now people around us, but the majority of the people were sitting down. Some girls were already up on their feet near us, but they were not in majority. A guy got closer to us at some point; we asked him what he had in mind. We explained to him that these were our spots and we had arrived before him, because we were from the fan club. He tried to fool us by telling us that he was from the fan club too, but we had not seen him during the day! Finally, he told us that his brother was at the barricade and he wanted to go talk to him. We let him pass by telling him that he'd better go away afterwards. He then told us that he was there mostly for Nickelback and that he would go away after Nickelback so we could be up front for Bon Jovi. Two other girls succeeded in inching their way through in front of us. We had the intention of telling them to go away after Nickelback if they were still there.

We noticed quite quickly that it was not very clean to be sitting on the ground in Parc Jean-Drapeau! I had brought garbage bags to sit on, because I didn't know if the ground would be dry after the rain of the previous day. Christine had brought a towel on which we sat down also. We ate a little, it was about 4h30 pm. I had brought cut vegetables that we devoured. Water was also good, even if it were hot. There was even a guy who was going through the crowd to sell beer in this heat! Christine got tempted, because the beer was cold! France, a girl from Ontario met on the fan club message board, was sitting next to us with two of her friends. I went to take a picture of the VIP pit as seen from the back near a ramp (platform) that was doing a half a circle which the straight side was the stage. Isabelle loved my photographer's talents when I got back to our spot and the pictures that I took for her were off-center! Let's only say that there was a lot more grass than stage on her pictures! I must have been too excited by the fact that I was so close! hahaha

We started having dirt everywhere on our legs, arms, hair, we were so sexy! Since we didn't have much water to drink, we didn't want to waste it to wash our hands! Moreover, I had put on sunscreen to avoid being red at the end of the day, so my skin was already sticky! I could have not put any on finally, because we have been in the shadow from the moment we arrived on site. When we arrived in the VIP pit, the sun was still high enough to be shining on us, but a kind of big cloud came to hide it. Then, when the cloud went away (it was about the last cloud to pass above us!), the sun disappeared behind the stage. I must specify that we were near the stage which was 60 meters wide and 30 meters high, representing the height of a 10-story building! So, the sun was probably still high, but we were too close to the stage to see it.

We noticed one of the beams forming the stage in top of which it was written "Bon Jovi set #3". So, we concluded that there are at least 3 available sets of the same stage for the Bon Jovi shows this summer. By knowing that it took 6 days and 300 workers to build the stage for Montreal, they need at least 3 sets, because there are a little more than 2 shows per week during some weeks in July!

At some point, garbage (bottles of water, all kinds of bags, glasses of beer, etc.) was starting to spread around us. One of the girls who had inched her way through in front of us asked us if we had a garbage bag to pick it all up. I had brought a few extra bags, so we picked up the trash! Hahaha She even told us that it took girls to think about this, because guys don't care at all about living surrounded by garbage! hahaha

Guys passed by at some point on the other side of the barricade near the stage to throw Nickelback guitar picks. I got one on the shoulder which I kept and I got 2 more at my feet which I gave to people around me. It's still not bad to get 3 picks without wanting them! hahaha

We noticed not long before 6h pm that the VIP pit was half full. We were relieved to know that security had not allowed people who didn't have tickets in the VIP pit to go in. In Europe, their pit is usually packed with people and it seems like it is very hard to move!

Time didn't pass very fast, but still, 6h pm finally got there. The first band to perform on stage, Ashmore, came on stage at 6h pm sharp. I put on my ear plugs as soon as we got up; we told ourselves that it was the last time we would be sitting for the rest of the evening. Ashmore was good enough for an unknown first act, I was surprised! I must say that it is fun to know that we will be at a Bon Jovi show being so close to the stage! Ashmore is a band from Dallas who won a contest called "The Last Band Standing" held during the Have A Nice Day Bon Jovi tour a little earlier in the year to encourage local bands of each city visited by Bon Jovi. At the end of their set, the drummer threw a drumstick in the crowd and 2 girls at the barricade on our right caught it. They struggled to know which one of them would keep it until a security guard came to break it in two pieces to avoid an argument! hahaha

When Ashmore left, roadies started preparing the stage for Nickelback. Christine took the risk of going to the restroom also during this time if I remember correctly. She came back within a reasonable time, a sign that everything went well to make her way through the crowd! People were very cool regarding this by the way, people who were trying to go through in front or behind us simply had to specify that they weren't trying to steal our spot, but just passing through to go to the restroom: "I'm not stealing your place, I just want to pass through to go to the bathroom and I'm coming back after."

The Nickelback members came on stage at about 6h45 pm and they played until 7h45 pm. They are very good in show, even that sometimes, the music and the voice were so good that I wondered how it was possible to have an almost perfect sound in show! France and her friends had brought signs with all the names of the band members on them and they were showing them one after the other when one of the members was coming our way. The majority nodded and almost all interacted with the crowd who wanted to tell them something with banners. France even wrote at some point on the back of a sign: "We're dirty girls" and the singer, Chad, saw it. He made a big smile and he asked them what all of this meant and he said that he quite liked it! Hahaha I don't know if the girls meant that they were dirty from dirt, that they wanted to pass on a sexy message to Chad or, just catch his attention. No matter what, they had their moment of glory with him, that's for sure!

Nickelback invited us at each song to sing the lyrics if we knew them. The singer even talked to the crowd who was already packed in on the hill at the other end of the site. Chad even specified that it was really nice to do a show under a cloudless sky! Actually, it was then radiant outside and not a chance of shower in sight! The singer and the guitar player even talked to the crowd in French several times! And the guitar player did it with little accent in his voice, I suspect that he speaks French more than to say "allo", "ça va?", etc. Chad also asked us at some point to take out our "devil horns" with our hands during the chorus of a song! He was so funny with his "devil horns"!

Chad, Nickelback's singer, was drinking something on stage which looked like something really nauseating. He even made the comment at some point that it was "a very disgusting drink". He tried to make us guess what composed this drink before telling us that it was a mix of water and olive oil to keep his voice in shape! Yeurk!

Sometimes, the Nickelback members threw picks in the crowd. One hit Isabelle's shoulder and everyone tried to find it without success! There were also people on stage who manipulated cannons which were used exclusively to throw things which looked like t-shirts in the crowd. What is better at warming up the crowd?! At the end of Nickelback's performance, the drummer threw one of his sticks in the crowd on our side and the same 2 girls caught it again! Hahaha I didn't look for the ending of the second friendly battle however!

The roadies jumped on stage once again to quickly unwrap the instruments for Bon Jovi. I was starting to be excited a little bit! The 2 girls who had succeeded in inching their way through on our left side to be in front of us during Nickelback were still there when Christine asked them if we could take back our spots. The guy who had come to see his brother moved aside and the 2 girls took his spot on our left. Isabelle stepped forward at the barricade and Christine and I could put our feet on the horizontal part of the barricade and we put our backpacks on the ground behind us just after the barricade. There was space between Isabelle and the girl on her right, I could have stepped forward a little more, but the space was not wide enough for a full person! So, there was no one in front of me when I was looking at the center of the stage, because Isabelle was really in front of me, a little on the left of Richie.

I don't remember if it's between Ashmore and Nickelback or between Nickelback and Bon Jovi, but there were a few media photographers who could position themselves momentarily between the stage and the barricade to take pictures. A photographer for the Journal de Montréal took a few pictures until she saw a little boy on his father's shoulders. She pointed at him to tell him to put his arms in the air and she took several pictures including one that made the first page of the Journal de Montréal the day after! The photographer wanted to have the little boy's name, so people were nice enough to step aside and make room for the man to bring his son up to the barricade to give the information to the photographer.

It was such a relief to take out my ear plugs after Nickelback, because they were putting pressure on my head which was soon to worsen into a headache. I noticed that the fact of always having the head tilted backwards doesn't help to feel good in heat and humidity. I even had to regain control of myself by looking down during most part of the "interlude" between Nickelback and Bon Jovi! Hahaha

Another detail that fascinated me was how much we were organized in the fan club. All the girls I spoke to during the day had brought their antiperspirant, just like me! Let's say that we freshened up our arm pits just before Bon Jovi came on stage! Hahaha We looked so intelligent with our "freshening up" technique! Mostly when we had spent a few hours sitting down on the ground and our hands were all dirty with soil. We had no way to wash them, we were keeping water for physical safety reasons! So, we had to make sure that we didn't put our hands in our face for nothing!! Moreover, I had some 40 written a little everywhere on the opposite arm from the hand on which my rank in the fan club line was written! Oops! Very, very sexy! HA HA HA

We were several to take out granola bars from our backpacks between Nickelback and Bon Jovi to eat a little something before the concert. Let's not forget that we had not had dinner and it was 8h pm. I wasn't hungry at all and frankly, I gulped down my granola bar more by safety so I would not faint rather than because I was hungry! I even saw girls who helped each other to tell where they still had crumbs between their teeth to be perfect when the boys would come on stage!

Another detail surprised me a lot regarding the girls in the VIP pit. Several of them were wearing a bikini top as their only piece of clothing above the belt as well as high heels or sandals. I would have never dared wearing either a bikini top or sandals in fear of having an accident if someone pushed me resulting in me flashing Jon without wanting it! Hahaha In fact, if I had known that people would not push, I would have worn a bikini top and sandals! I think back more specifically about the girl on my right at the barricade, she was wearing a bikini top which revealed quite a lot on her anatomy and she exploited it thoroughly during the whole concert to ensure giving an eyeful to Richie! Hahaha

When 8h15 pm came, we noticed that the background music got louder, like it did during the concerts in December! The adrenaline pumped in my body like a breath of warm air in my veins!

Bon Jovi came suddenly from the back of the stage and the crowd in the first rows of the floor and also in other places went crazy. When the first notes were heard, I thought I recognized a song that they don't play very often. When Jon started singing, I immediately recognized Rockin' In The Free World! The last time they played that in concert, I was 15 years old! Hahaha

How can you not be a little excited when your idol starts going around on stage and the camera is able to capture a picture such as the one shown below?? I was realizing a dream of being in the first row at a Bon Jovi concert!

Bon Jovi - Parc Jean-Drapeau, Quebec, Canada (July 13, 2006)

Before I forget to mention it, here is the list of songs played by Bon Jovi during this magical night which lasted from 8h15 pm to 10h30 pm:

Encores:

Jon looked at me during a few seconds at the beginning of the concert, eye in eye; I tried with all my heart to stay calm as much as possible! In fact, I froze and I let myself travel a few meters away from where I was to let me believe that I was in his arms for a fraction of a song!

Martin had asked me to record You Give Love A Bad Name and Livin' On A Prayer with my camera. I knew that they usually play You Give Love A Bad Name as the second song, so I got myself ready and I made a video of everything, from the first note to the last one! Let's say that I was proud of myself! The hardest is to try not to scream or sing too loudly when I record... Let's say that I didn't succeed in achieving my challenge! Hahaha

The first time Jon came to see the people who were on my left on the stage, a person reached out with her arm to him and Jon took a lanyard which had Italian colors. He wore it afterwards until he went to change his clothes!

Jon made the girls in the pit on the right of the stage go crazy the first time he went there. A few of them were trying desperately to find a way to steal a kiss from him! I think that a girl succeeded, because they showed her on the giant screen and she seemed in a trance state! hahaha

The concert went by so quickly that at the end, I even asked myself if I had dreamed! Hahaha I looked at my watch around 9h50 pm, I couldn't believe that there was little time left to the show!!! The show was really shorter than the ones we are used to in Montreal. They only played their biggest hits and I understand them also; a 30 500-people crowd packed in to see Bon Jovi is not composed solely of fans as big as fan club members!

During Born To Be My Baby, I tried to jump up and down and to my great surprise, I didn't step on anyone with my big feet! When I was putting my elbows at the same height as my shoulders, I was touching the girls beside me, so we were not as much packed in one against the other as expected. Anyway, not in my area. It also depended on the songs, because sometimes, we could have said that some songs were making us closer from one another.

I was looking at my backpack behind me often and I put it back when it was too close to France who was behind me during Bon Jovi.

Jon made his usual countdown before playing Runaway, to bring us back in time like he says it so well. He then counted the years from 2006 to 1982. He then told us that it was that year when he begged a DJ to play his song. The crowd went definitely wild! The whole Bon Jovi career would not have been possible if a DJ had not sensed the talent at the beginning!

When I heard the first notes of the song that followed Runaway, I told myself: "Did I hear right??" Oh yes, I had just heard the first notes of The Radio Saved My Life Tonight, a song from the box set released in 2004. In December, I had been disappointed that the band didn't play one song from the box set! I was so happy that I almost became hysterical! Hahaha The last time I screamed as much for a song was when I was 13 years old! Isabelle even told me that she didn't understand why I was screaming so much during a very unknown song! Hahaha I also realized how much I love this song and how I can remember the time when I was 12 years old and when the radio (in my case, it was more TV!) saved me from my teenage years which were becoming more and more difficult emotionally in my opinion! I only have to remember this moment, and I still have a pinch of joy in the heart to have heard this song live! The band will never know how much I adore this song!

I remember that Jon thanked us in French for our welcome. Jon was often putting his right hand on his heart and it was not because he was suffering from cardiovascular problems! He even guessed the 45 000 mark to indicate the number of people at the Parc Jean-Drapeau. (It turned out to be a very optimistic assessment!) He seemed very touched by the Montreal crowd, like always for that matter!

I also succeeded in catching Jon's real eye color on a picture! I was so proud of myself that I want to share it in this review! The blue of his eyes is really unbelievable!!! The original picture is A-WE-SOME and is now my wallpaper on my computer desktop!

Bon Jovi - Parc Jean-Drapeau, Quebec, Canada (July 13, 2006)

At the beginning of Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars, I started swinging my arms in the air to the beat. A few other people followed by swinging their arms on the same side as me and Jon started doing it at some point as well! This song could be played repetitively and I wouldn't stop having fun!

Just before Just Older, Jon told the crowd that he was starting to be old, because his knees, back, etc. hurt. The crowd, to say the least, grumbled to tell him that he was not old at all! During Just Older, the crowd was really up on their feet and I screamed with all my strength "I LOVE YOU" just before the solo. The people around me heard it very well, I'm sure of it! Hahaha Obviously, when Jon sang: "I still believe I'm just...", I screamed with all my heart "OLDER" and once again, the crowd surrounding me reacted in large numbers, because it's a strong moment in the song where Jon says that he's not old, but older and it's alright with him (not old, just older).

I got my picture taken precisely during Just Older to have a proof of being so close in case I wouldn't remember the next day! Big thanks to Christine who accepted taking a picture of me! I hope that my veins on my forehead didn't show as much as this during the whole concert! Hahaha

Marie-Hélène Cyr - Bon Jovi show at the Parc Jean-Drapeau, Quebec, Canada (July 13, 2006)

The first notes of In These Arms made people go crazy on Île Ste-Hélène! Hahaha There is something magical about this song. If I remember well, Jon went around the half circle to say hello to people further away in the crowd. He even took someone's fabric banner that read: "Montreal Loves Bon Jovi" and made himself a kind of headband with it before throwing it back in the crowd! A nice memory for the fan who made it, if she were able to get it back!

Jon then made room for Richie for him to sing I'll Be There For You like a big guy while Jon was changing his clothes. Richie brings a whole special touch to this song and I quite love the vocal arrangements that he does. He got the crowd started at the end to sing the "wo oh oh, wo oh oh, wo oh oh oh", a thing that all the fans there did! The first rows, like mine among others, continued singing until the end of the song. We are so well when we can participate a little! Hahaha I even got emotional during the song! My voice broke since I had so much emotion that wanted to get out of me!

Some fans tried to sing loudly enough to wish Richie a happy birthday towards the end of I'll Be There For You, but they didn't sing loudly enough. Richie's birthday was on July 11, so 2 days prior to the concert. When the lights went off and Jon came back on stage, we sang the whole happy birthday song to Richie! Jon looked at us at the end and he shrugged like he meant: "Well, you sang without us asking you??" Richie also nodded at us to thank us! It's too bad we couldn't catch the whole park's attention, it would have been fabulous to hear more than 30 000 people sing happy birthday to the guitar player! Hahaha

Have A Nice Day, Who Says You Can't Go Home and It's My Life triggered a reaction like I had never seen before! I was under the impression that everyone was singing! I remember jumping during one of these songs, but I don't remember which one anymore! Hahaha

During Who Says You Can't Go Home, France and her friends showed signs saying "It's alright", like in the song. The giant screen camera even showed them on the screen at some point!

Jon surprised us by singing a part of Shout during Bad Medicine! Pure craziness in our section! I jumped a little, but everyone had come closer and I had a hard time moving with Isabelle who had stepped backwards on top of it!! Hahaha

I saw myself a few times on the giant screen, because I was near a guy wearing an orange shirt who was very visible on the screen and Isabelle has a nice curly blond hairdo, so when I was seeing either one of the two, I could also see myself with a little delay caused by the time I realized that I was there also! Hahaha

Since it was an outdoors concert, we had to expect to see flies/moths, etc. and there were some! Jon couldn't stop on spitting on stage, because he possibly swallowed a few! Oops! At some point, we could see so many bugs on stage under the spotlights that I asked myself how the band members could endure them!

I saw Jon turn around towards the drums at some point during the concert and he unbuckled his belt to adjust it and buckled it right after. A little detail that made me smile, because when we are far away, we don't see this kind of details! Hahaha

A few times, we felt a very cold breeze during the show. It was pleasant, because I must admit that I felt a little dizzy a few times by looking up and being hot! All of this is hard on the neck and the head!

There was a camera perched at the end of a long arm which went around in the crowd during the show. Sometimes, the giant screen showed images from this camera and we could see that a little further, people had plenty of room to move! This camera was really cool! I must admit that security was quite good, because even if we had been more packed in, I don't think that I would have been more afraid of having someone bump into me. Security guards didn't tolerate, among others, people who climbed on their friends' shoulders for long. This practice is dangerous and moreover, these perched women prevented the others behind them from seeing anything on stage!

A few beach-balls went around the crowd at the beginning of the show and at some point, one of them hit me in the back! Hahaha It got pushed closer to the center of the stage and a girl threw it on stage! Hugh, the bass player, quickly kicked it back with his foot in the crowd while continuing to play!

I surprised myself, during a few songs, to have both my hands together and I had both wrists resting between my shoulder and my neck. I think that I was simply swooned over my idols, just like several girls were doing during Elvis' concerts just before they would lose consciousness! I had all the required energy to stay conscious however, but my head couldn't turn away from the stage!

Jon didn't go often to see the people on stage who wanted to catch his attention so much! I think that a group on my side didn't even have the chance to shake hands with Jon, because the few songs during which they were there, Jon was busy playing guitar and he could not really move! That's why, among others, I would have preferred keeping my spot at the barricade than going on stage for a few songs if I had had the choice between both options.

Richie was directly in front of me, I took several awesome pictures of him during the show. Here is a little overview of what I was seeing:

Bon Jovi - Parc Jean-Drapeau, Quebec, Canada (July 13, 2006)

We raised our arms very much during Raise Your Hands. We were starting to be a little packed in, so I was keeping my hands on my head between 2 chorus to be ready when Jon was singing: "Raise your hands".

The lights went off afterwards and I had a feeling that they would play Livin' On A Prayer. I got my camera ready to record and as expected, the lights turned back on and Jon started singing a cappella: "We've got to hold on, to what we've got..." I was so proud of myself in succeeding to sense the beginning of the song like that! However Jon didn't seem to appreciate towards the end of the song, because he seemed to look at me and shrugged like he meant: "Come on, stop recording!" I hope with all my heart that I'm wrong and that he was looking at somebody else with another type of message behind his shoulder gesture! Don't worry Jon, I only record for my personal pleasure! I will not make money out of it, believe me!

I remember screaming at some point and Christine told me: "You still have your voice??" hahaha I admit that I surprised myself in having so much voice towards the end of the concert!

The band disappeared after Livin' On A Prayer to tell us that the encores would start soon. The crowd started chanting the "ole ole ole ole" that the Montreal crowd loves to sing at hockey games and during concerts. The first rows started chanting: "Bon Jovi! Bon Jovi! Bon Jovi!" at some point. The stage was lit in a really extraordinary way when the lights were off. We could have said that it was skyscraper lights! I think that the desired effect was to make us believe of a city lit at night! Hahaha

The encores didn't last very long and it's too bad, because I could see that the show was made to not contain more songs than the ones played. Usually, we always get one or two surprises from the band in Montreal! But, like I said before, I will not say anything bad about the list of songs played, because it was a blessing having the band in Montreal this summer and it was one of the most magical concerts I've been to. It just went by too quickly in my opinion! :)

During Keep The Faith and maybe even before, we got ourselves bumped by a kind of big idiot who decided to come up front to listen to the rest of the concert. He seemed really drunk and nobody welcomed him in a good way. We tried to catch the attention of 2 security guards who were near us by pointing at the concerned guy. He was jumping everywhere and he was trying to show his joy to the band. One of the guards was looking at him very very closely and the moment when he pushed a girl against the barricade, he came to tell him that he had to leave. The guy grumbled a little, but finally, he shook hands with the security guard and he left. What a moron anyway, because he spoiled our fun and harmony!

A lot of banners were shown to the band during the concert, the majority was coming from the first rows. One that made me laugh read: "No, we're not drunk"! hahaha Or one more which contained a "subliminal message" for David and Tico for a small golf game the next day with the authors of the banner!

Another banner said: "See you in New Jersey". Bon Jovi will do, in the next days, 3 shows at the Giants Stadium in their native New Jersey and for some, it was imperative to go to at least one of them! Lucky ones!

I was under the impression during the encores that Jon would dare jumping off the stage to come shake hands with the people at the barricade. It was a fantasy that unfortunately didn't come true! It wasn't that night when I would finally touch Jon to prove to myself that he really exists and that it's not only my head which is doing tricks to me!

After Keep The Faith, the band members took a bow and they pretended leaving and as usual, Jon waved his hands like he meant to tell us: "Hey, it's over, leave, you have too much energy... stop!" and when the band came back to play Wanted Dead Or Alive, their return triggered such a crowd's reaction! Hahaha I was emotional at the end of the song, because I knew that it was the last one they would play. A few tears filled up my eyes, because I had just realized how much I had enjoyed my evening and how lucky I had been to be so close!

At the end of Wanted Dead Or Alive, they took another bow and they left for good. The roadies came out straight after and they started breaking up the stage, so it was really over!

I didn't show my banner once to Jon because I was busy doing something else! It stayed well positioned in my shorts back pocket! It's going to be for a next time; anyway, it was the same as last time, so chances are Jon would have found me a little redundant with my thoughts! hahaha

It took time to leave the site, we didn't turn where we had to to go back to the subway, so we had to turn around. We arrived somewhere where there was a sea of people; it was the road to follow to go to the subway! Before figuring out that it would take us less time to arrive at the subway if we walked more on one side of the road, we had already lost quite a while! In short, I arrived at the Longueuil station where Martin was already waiting for me for a little while, and I was dead tired. I even almost lost my voice after the show, because when I stopped screaming and singing, it seemed like my body said: "Woah, ok, you screamed enough as it is." I had a hard time with my voice up until 2 days after the show!

I put my best pictures on this page to share them with you all.

When I got home, I had to clean myself! I hadn't realized how dirty I was!!! With the sunscreen, the soil dirt had stuck on me and with the sweat, I had to wash myself more than once to feel clean! HA HA HA Let's say that one of the big disadvantages of outdoors concerts is the dirt we accumulate without knowing it. Imagine now also the smell of cigarette mixed with the rest of the filth, I would have been ashamed if I had met Jon like that! :)

The day after the show, I didn't feel bad in the morning, so I went to work. However, in mid-morning, I started feeling bad, I was nauseous, I was hot even with the air conditioning and I wasn't hungry, me who is usually always hungry at 10h am! A coworker who was finishing her shift at 1h30 pm brought me back home, because Martin had the car and everyone I was running into in the hallway was telling me that I was as white as a ghost! When I got home, I laid down even if I were on a high since the previous night (I had almost not slept after the show) and I slept for 2 hours! I'm still nauseous when I'm about to eat, even 2 days after the concert. It seems like I suffered from a mild dehydratation despite the fact that I still drank quite a lot during the day! Several people whom I've spoken with felt the same way. We must believe that we are sick from seeing Bon Jovi come back to Montreal! Hahaha Moreover, it is not good for the human body to spend 8 hours without going to the restroom or spend 5.5 consecutive hours standing up!

I miss them already and I think that it will take me time to recover from this tour, though it was not so bad in terms of shows: 3 shows in a 7-month span, but it seems like the more I see Bon Jovi in concert, the more I want them to come back quickly! Jon, Richie, David, Tico and Hugh, thank you for having rocked my world during these few hours when I was in the same room as you!! We'll see each other in a few years at most I hope!

Copyright © July 15, 2006 Marie-Hélène Cyr

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