A very disappointing gig. Not enough tunes, a short set, one encore, a crap covers band supporting and a poor stage show too...... Good job I got the ticket cheap....

It was a hot day and after finishing work it at 4pm, I made a mad drive home in the car amongst all the crazy drivers on the road. I got myself a bath and grabbed my cash tickets camera etc... Oh and Panee and we took a walk down to our local bus station. We went to McDonald's on route for a bite to eat. We queued for the bus along with all the other people going to the gig. Couldn't believe there were no extra buses put on, but what's new?
Anyhow the bus got stuck about 1/2 a mile from the stadium so we all decided to get off and walk. We called in at a club near the arena and had a couple of beers. £6 for 2 beers and a small bottle of wine, can't go wrong. Arena prices had to be in the 3 to £4 region for a pint. I know a small bottle of water was £1.50. Anyways we headed to the gig a little later than planned and by the time we got into the stadium Nickleback were just starting the 3rd from last song. The stadium was not so full at this point and the sound was pretty echoee. I thought to myself 'I hope Bon Jovi don't sound like this!' The size of the stadium quite surprised me. I'd not been to a big gig like this in many years, so maybe that's why I was surprised by the size. Anyhow Panee pushed us both forward as far as we could go in the standing area we were in.
Bon Jovi hit the stage at exactly 8pm. The band appeared on the main stage at the front while Jon Bon Jovi, complete with guitar, strolled out on a platform out into the audience just out in front of where we were stood. Panee couldn't believe how close she was to a major Rockstar!, remebering this was her 1st experince of going to a rock gig on this scale. She could never dream of going to a concert like this in Thailand and being this close would never of happened. They kicked off with Last Man Standing from the current Have a Nice Day Album. They then proceeded to play 'Rocking all over the World (yes the Quo song)' The sound had improved drastically at this point and the stadium had also filled up.
They played for 2 1/2 hours and played just about all the classics and stuff from the latest album. The band also seemed to be making the sound rather larger sound by the inclusion of an extra keyboard player and a guy who swapped between playing extra guitar and even 2nd bass, which was noticeable on 'Keep The Faith'.
The light show was something else, although no pyro technic's. Mr Bon Jovi came out into the audience again before the night was through. There was plenty of audience participation also which is to be expected with the singalong style of songs that Jovi play. I had not seen them in over 12 years (Milton Keynes last time) and they were as good if not better! Richie Sambora took over on lead vocals on a couple of songs in the set also. My only complaint was that they didn't play what I call mine and Panee's Bon Jovi signature tune, One Wild Night, and Bounce, one of my ffff.. favourites! But we certainly had 'One Wild Night' and yep we would go again even though it took us an hour to get home!

Oh and just to top off a perfect gig, I got a e-mail I wrote, commenting about how good the gig was, printed in our local newspaper!

I often talk about my wife Panee on here, and say she is my soul mate. I still find it so amazing that we are togther. Well this following account takes in the day I came to meet Panee. It actually stops at the point we met as it is still something I have left to complete. So many things to write and all that. It's taken from a private diary that I wrote over a short period in my life. There is a lot more but some I would not post as quite personal stuff. So enjoy!
My 1st trip to LOS (The Land Of Smiles) was back in December 2001. I went there with some friends for a wedding. I had no idea what to expect and was quite overcome by Thailand. I had never imagined in my life I would ever go to a country on the other side of the world. To go on holiday with my friends in itself was something new to me. The furthest I had been abroad before, had been to Spain with my family. And what followed charged the course of my life forever!
So I went to Thailand with the expectations of late nights, good food and partying and sunbathing, and all in the good company of my friends. Of course we also had a wedding to attend and our itinerary meant we would be travelling around Thailand a fair bit.The trip took me to Bangkok, Koh Samui and Hui Hin.
Bangkok is obviously the 1st place you will hit upon your arrival in Thailand. After probably taking an age to get through Thai customs. I am told probably the longest wait to get through customs, you can expect any where in the world , although apart from my 1st visit I've managed to clear it fairly quickly. I learnt how to jump the que a little.

The 1st thing that hits you upon leaving the airport is the heat and secondly the smell in the air from all the food that is cooked on the 100's of food stalls that inhabit more or less every street corner in Bangkok. Another thing that you cannot miss as you exit the customs area, just beyond a barrier on your left as you come out, are all the taxi drivers and their representatives looking to get some fares and take you into downtown Bangkok to one of the many hotels.

We arrived in Bangkok about mid day. We were met at the airport by Rico's cousin who had, what I can only describe as a minibus. We loaded up and got onto the freeway heading for downtown Bangkok towards our hotel, The Tong Tara. We checked into our rooms and got freshened up. I was sharing with Iain, while Paul shared with Kants, in the room next door. We all headed down to the hotel reception and sat down for a chat and a beer. Taking in the beautiful view of the waitress that served us. One of Paul's friends that joined us, had already been there a day before us, and had a few ideas as where to go out for a meal and some beers. He knew of a bar that was hassle free (meaning that no-one hassled you to buy drinks for them), in the Patpong area of Bangkok. We all went out for a walk and ended up jumping in a cab. We found ourselves in an area with a KFC and McDonald's. l found myself having a KFC, before we returned to the hotel to freshen up a bit and grab 40 winks.
We all then met up in the foyer of the hotel. A couple of beers and an ogle of the waitress and we were ready to venture out into the unknown again, and took a stroll down the street. It was early evening and the sun had gone down. It was still very warm and there was a heavy smelt of cooking in the air. The five of us walked for a while, before hoping into a taxi and going off to a restaurant, Kants knew of. Upon finding it, only to discover it was closed!
We took a walk down a further street which took in the sights of the stalls selling all sorts of merchandise Unbeknown at the time but the street we were on led to the infamous red light district of Patpong. I recall that we went off the street a little to this rather posh dining area, where we stopped for a meal and a few beers. The meal was great although I was unsure what Thai food to try. I decided on a curry dish in the end. Not sure though if it was Iain's curry or mine, that came inside a coconut.
After the meal we headed back down to the street again and continued walking into Patpong.
We were greeted by hundreds of neon bar sign lights as we entered Patpong. We were immediately pounced on by girls outside the clubs and bars. They were wanting us to go in for drinks an to see the girls performing shows an dancing. It was very busy with people and market stall traders, selling their merchandise. We eventually reached this bar that we had heard about, situated on a corner. The bar was called the Musik Café. It was packed with people and there was a live band playing cover songs. One song from that night that stuck out for me and summed up the night by the end was Bon Jovi's 'One Wild Night'. I seem to be humming it for weeks after. There were waitress's getting the drinks for us. We all stood outside drinking ,although there were tables and chairs to sit at. Inside the bar there was a small dance floor with people dancing.
To Be Continued...........