Wembley Stadium, London, UK, 19th August 2000
The second last concert ever to be held at the world famous Wembley Stadium was always going to be something special. Who better than Bon Jovi to put the venue through it's paces one final time?
Unlike the previous tour, the support bands this time were excellent. New-comers Dum Dums opened the show at 5:30. Despite the band being very nervous they were generally very well received, with the band being pleasantly surprised when their singles were recognised and cheers at. Singer/Guitarists Josh apologised for his guitar playing not being as good as Richie's, but it didn't matter.
Following the Dum Dums were main support act, Toploader, who were supporting BJ all over Europe. They played for about 45 minutes and again were very popular with the crowd. Their singles were dutifully noted and sung along to.
Once they finished the air was electric with anticipation. After all this was the 2nd last gig ever at Wembley as well as being Bon Jovi's first UK concert for over four years. At about 7:45 the huge screens on either side of the stage came on, the words "satellite link established came on" then we got our first view of the boys, a camera was placed backstage which showed the band joining hands, wishing each other luck and walking onto the Wembley stage.
The concert opened with a real surprise, a rocking cover of London Calling by the Clash. This went down very well with the audience. After this came the usual openers, Livin' On A Prayer followed by You Give Love A Bad Name. At this point I was worried they were going to repeat the last gigs at Wembley, on the Crossroad/These Days tour. I was proved wrong with a excellent version of Captain Crash And The Beauty Queen From Mars with Jon looking out to the crowd and pointing a girl out to Hugh and Richie. Sadly the sound was a little dodgy during the song which spoilt it slightly, but the problems were quickly fixed. This was followed by latest single, Say It Isn't So. While this was playing some clips from the video were shown on the screens beside the stage. Another Crush track was next, One Wild Night. This is amazing live and the crowd were jumping up and down, clapping, dancing and singing along. The next song was a bit of a surprise, Born To be My Baby. This fitted the set nicely, though I recall a fairly recent interview where Jon said he'd be happy never to play it again. I guess something changed his mind.
Previous single It's My Life followed. The crowd went wild at this point and sang along with every word, stomping their hands and feat in time to the music.
The set was slowed down slightly next, echoing the more ballad based 96 shows. A new slow version of Runaway confused the crowd at first, until they recognised the words. This version had only Dave on keys and Hugh on bass. Jon sang the words with such passion that the stadium was quiet, with lighters held high and swaying in time. An amazing rendition of Bed Of Roses followed immediately after. During the guitar solo Jon made several thousand woman green with envy when he danced with a girl who was on one of the on-stage bars.
The show moved back into a rock show straight afterward. Tico got a chance to show off a little with his drum solo as a introduction to Wild In The Streets. Everyone was clapping along and singing happily. The song flowed straight into Just Older. During this Jon and Richie stood shoulder to shoulder playing their guitars and looking like the happiest people on earth, a feeling mirrored by the 72,000 people in the crowd.
Once again the set borrowed from the 95 set and Lay Your Hands On Me was performed. At the start of the song, two giant hands were inflated to point at the top of the stage. Jon gave his usual speech about Johnny's church of rock and roll while the crowd sang "Lay Your Hands On Me" in time. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead was next, during which Jon gave us a speech about he had gone "all Hollywood" and it took Richie, Hugh and Dave to drag him back to rock and roll. Rockin' All Over The World was performed as a medley with the song. Bad Medicine was the song to end the main set, again the crowd sang along, cheered and it went down a storm, Jon got a chance to show off his vocals talents with an amazing rendition of Shout immediately afterwards. Once this was complete the band walked off the stage.
After about 5 minutes the band came back on stage for the first encore. Another Crush track lead, Two Story Town. This went well, although not as many people knew the words to this one. Jon's acoustic intro to Blood On Blood lead to another bout of crowd singing, at times being much louder than the band. After the song Richie left the stage and came back on with his double headed guitar, the screen showed a sepia picture of Jon and Richie standing shoulder to shoulder on the stand, where they proceeded to play Wanted Dead Or Alive. The crowd clapped along to Tico's drumbeats and sang every word. Wanted finished the first encore.
After another five minutes the band came back on stage straight into a fantastic version of Next 100 Years. Again the crowd loved this song and knew all the words. Richie's guitar solo's received huge, well-deserved cheers and everyone sang the na-na-na-na-na-na's with Jon. Hugh's bass introduction to the next song also made the crowd roar, as Keep The Faith was the final song of the show, along Sympathy For The Devil did make a surprise appearance mid-song, the same way Jon performed the song at Wembley 3 years earlier.
Final verdict: Absolutely amazing. A perfect ending for Wembley stadium and two and a half hours of the best music money can buy. Oh, and they did it all again the next day.
Set List
London Calling
Livin' On A Prayer
You Give Love A Bad Name
Captain Crash And The Beauty Queen From Mars
Say It Isn't So
One Wild Night
Born To Be My Baby
It's My Life
Runaway 2000
Bed Of Roses
I Got The Girl
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Wild In The Streets
Just Older
Lay Your Hands On Me
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead ~ Rockin' All Over The World
Bad Medicine ~ Shout
-----------
Two Story Town
Blood On Blood
Wanted Dead Or Alive
-----------
Next 100 Years
Keep The Faith ~ Sympathy For The Devil
 Home |