Bar naar Bon Jovi

Gisteren avond naar Bon Jovi geweest met Suzanne en het was echt fantastisch!

Abu Dhabi rocks to Bon Jovi

Abu Dhabi: The lights went out and 17,000 people roared, screamed and jumped up and down, and Bon Jovi weren't even on stage yet. Cameras and phones were lifted high waiting for stage lights to reveal the hard rock legends in the Middle East for the first time in their 25-year career. This was a historical moment of sorts, and not just another concert.

"I've travelled a long way to get here tonight, Abu Dhabi," Jon Bon Jovi, the group's lead singer, tells the audience, and the crowd goes wild. Aside from the fact that he could have said anything and the crowd would have still cheered, what makes Jon Bon Jovi more than just a musician but an entertainer, is his ability to engage the crowd.

He signals for the band to stop playing and he puts out the microphone towards the audience. "It's my life. It's now or never. I just wanna live forever," the crowd sings. Even a 15-year-old boy who could hardly see over the shoulders of people in front of him memorised every single song verbatim.This was proof that Bon Jovi's music stood the test of time not just to entertain their generation but the generations to come.

One of the biggest hits of the night was "Runaway". Ironically, this song was written and recorded in 1983, and is arguably the song that brought the group to instant fame after being played on New York radio stations. That connection explains why it's one of the few older songs that they still sing live. After five songs, Jon went back stage to change and gave Richie Sambora, who joined the group in 1983, a chance to sing "I'll Be There For You," which was released as a single in 1988. Jon came back and sang, "Who Says You Can't Go Home," which was inspired by their love for New Jersey and released in 2006. This was hard rock at its finest, bred straight from New Jersey, USA, and it was here in Abu Dhabi. That in its self was a testament to the diversity of this capital.

The setting was spectacular on its own. The changing lights of the Emirates Palace as a backdrop to the stage; a full moon; thousands of people who all seemed to move in synch and a soft breeze that made you forget the 38 degree Celsius temperature. After two hours of live music, Bon Jovi signed off with, "Good night Abu Dhabi."