Bon Jovi, 2008-05-31 - Rock In Rio, Lisbon

The 31th of May was the day I start the "Lost Highway Tour" of Bon Jovi with 8 amazing shows.

It was an amazing tour. Where I went to Lisbon (Portugal), Barcelona (Spain), Vienna (Austria), Dublin (Ireland), Bruxelles (Belgium), Glasgow (UK) and the final 2 shows in London (UK). The Bruxelles was my favorite show of the 8 I saw. But in another post I will write about that one.

Below are the dates of the shows I went:
Sat, May 31, 2008 in Lisbon, Portugal @ Parque da Bela Vista (Rock In Rio)
Sun, Jun 01, 2008 in Barcelona, Spain @ Olympic Stadium (Estadi Olímpic)
Wed, Jun 04, 2008 in Vienna, Austria @ Magna Racino (Racino Platz, Ebreichsdorf)
Sat, Jun 07, 2008 in Punchestown, Ireland @ Punchestown Racecourse
Sat, Jun 14, 2008 in Bruxelles, Belgium @ King Baudouin Stadium (Stade Roi Baudouin)
Sat, Jun 21, 2008 in Glasgow, UK @ Hampden Park Stadium
Fri, Jun 27, 2008 in London, UK @ Twickenham Stadium
Sat, Jun 28, 2008 in London, UK @ Twickenham Stadium

With this 8 shows I saw I made it 20 in total.

Let's start with the story of the Lisbon show. I will write about the other shows in other posts.

"Sat, May 31, 2008 in Lisbon, Portugal @ Parque da Bela Vista (Rock In Rio)"

I arrived at Parque da Bela Vista at midnight of the day before.

I still heard on the outside of Rock In Rio Lenny Kravitz (he was playing on the day before).

Rock In Rio is a big festival. This was the third time it was in Lisbon. 2004 and 2006 were the first 2 editions. 2008 is the last edition in Portugal. This time Rock In Rio was also in Spain.

After 5 am my portuguese friends start to arrive. Till 4 am I saw many people leaving the Rock In Rio. I didn't sleep as you can imagine.

We start to queue. On the afternoon I was interviewed with some of my friends by a reporter of the offical Rock In Rio site.
Here is the link:
http://videos.sapo.pt/j3Ct8dT5Dj6TVk2HGUPm
And the video:


At 4 pm we finally got in. I run a lot. To enter the Rock In Rio we had to pass through various securities and to go up a road, about 150 meters. And then on the main entrance we had to stop. I was front row there after I burn myself on the race before. Very crazy people. Well we finaly got in and I went first row on the left side of the stage near the middle.

As you know in a festival we had many bands before the main event.

Skank was the first band playing. They are a brazilian band. I like them, very nice guys and with at least 2 songs I knew before. Not bad. They played for 63 minutes. They made a good show.

Alanis Morissette was the 2nd singer playing. It was my 2nd time I saw her live. The first was on the 29th of June 1999 in Pavilhão Atlântico (Lisbon) with Furslide (playing before).
This time she played for 60 minutes. I love her music, and I loved the new song. I didn't like her show in the stage. She was a little strange. This is only my opinion. I was a little amazed. But as I said before I loved the songs she played. I am a huge fan of her you can believe it. I have all of her CDs. And her songs are amazing. I love the lyrics.

Alejandro Sanz played after Alanis and before Bon Jovi. As you can imagine my day was very tired. I just wanted that Alejandro played faster and got out of the stage, hehe.
I didn't like his show. Very boring. It was cool when Ivete Sangalo appeard on stage to sing one song with Alejandro. Alejandro Sanz played for 71 minutes.

Finally was almost time of Bon Jovi. They appeard close to midnight and played for 120 minutes.

What an amazing show it was. I will write here the setlist and then talk about the show:

LOST HIGHWAY
BORN TO BE MY BABY
YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME
RAISE YOUR HANDS
RUNAWAY
I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD / Mercy / Start Me Up
WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN'
IN THESE ARMS
ALWAYS
WE GOT IT GOIN' ON
IT'S MY LIFE
KEEP THE FAITH
I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU (Richie Sambora on Vocals)
BLAZE OF GLORY
WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME
HAVE A NICE DAY
BAD MEDICINE / Shout
LIVIN' ON A PRAYER

ENCORE:
SOMEDAY I'LL BE SATURDAY NIGHT
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

I love the show. the 4th time Bon Jovi played in Portugal. The first was in Pavilhão Dramático of Cascais in 1989, the 2nd in Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon in 1993 (with Billy Idol before) and the 3rd on Alvalade Stadium again in 1995 (with Crown of Thorns, Little Steven, Ugly kid Joe and Van Halen before).

The band here in Rock In Rio was really amazed by the 100.000 people (more or less a thousand) in the audience.

Jon was really amazing. On one of the songs he come down to the audience. Really awsome to see him on our side touching everybody (not me this time).
On the encore he was with a portuguese soccer shirt that a portuguese fan gave to him before the show. The shirt had Bon Jovi written behind with the number 31 below (the day of the show).

Here are some videos I made of Bon Jovi in Lisbon (hope you will love them):

Bon Jovi-Lost Highway, Lisbon, PT, 2008-05-31
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4czxvV3ukE
And the video:


Bon Jovi-Always 1, Lisbon, PT, 2008-05-31
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ0I666vkB0
And the video:


Bon Jovi-Always 2, Lisbon, PT, 2008-05-31
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNK5GXY8RZ0
And the video:


Bon Jovi-Always 3, Lisbon, PT, 2008-05-31
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7iLNdfBp5A
And the video:


Bon Jovi-Blaze Of Glory 1, Lisbon, PT, 2008-05-31
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1V71-IUidQ
And the video:


Bon Jovi-Blaze Of Glory 2, Lisbon, PT, 2008-05-31
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw-XAdNNv78
And the video:


After the show I leave the Rock In Rio to get ready to catch a plane to see Bon Jovi in Barcelona 7 hours later.

The show was live and direct on TV on SIC Mulher. Only the first song "Lost Highway" was not transmitted.

After the show the critics on newspapers, TV, sites were really amazing. I think finally Portugal will agreed that Bon Jovi are one of the best rock bands in the world.

I hope you like the videos.

Next post is from Bon Jovi in Barcelona on the day after Lisbon. I was there. My story of that show will be on the next post.