Monday, August 4, 2008

LH Magic Memory #8: These Days in Punchestown

My 8th Magic Memory (noting that they're not being reviewed in any particular order) took place at Punchestown Racecourse in Kildare, Ireland on June 7, 2008. For the record, this was the show in which that crazy fan jumped Jon during "In These Arms". You can watch that here but, while entertaining, I don't want it to detract too much from another, more special moment in the show. Or "This ain't scratch 'n' sniff, baby!" as Jon puts it. :P

Now onto THE magic memory. It was the final song of the night. Bon Jovi had planned to wrap up the show with "Hallelujah", "Always", "Wanted Dead or Alive", and "Bad Medicine", when they decided to give the Irish fans a second encore. After performing a cover of "Rockin' All Over The World", Jon pulled out the title track from what I personally consider to be the band's best album. Richie Sambora had sung his bluesy rendition of "These Days" on most occasions that it was performed on the Lost Highway tour. The reason being, Jon couldn't sing it anymore. Until the Leipzig show when he showed us diehards (again) that he had his confidence back. Well, Jon went one better in Ireland. IMO he sounded stronger when going for the high notes this time around, despite reportedly suffering from hay fever. And it was such a great song for the band to finish on.



The fiddle during the solo is not everyone's cup of tea, but I don't actually mind it since Lorenza Ponce is a talented violinist. And oddly enough, I think it adds an interesting dimension to this song (whereas it was too overbearing in Newark during some of the other classic Bon Jovi songs). That said, my musical background isn't grounded in rock and I can understand purists hating the violin. ;)

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