Bon Jovi Live in Manchester

What a fantastic weekend I've had. It was the weekend of our trip to Manchester to see Bon Jovi at Old Trafford Cricket Ground. 
 
Three of us (Katie, Nigel & I) took the train up to Manchester on Friday morning from Euston. It's an efficient service, only 2 hours, and fairly cheap if you book your tickets in advance. At the other end our friend Dave picked us up from Manchester Piccadilly station and we drove round to our hotel.

We were staying at the Ramada Javis and after a bit of a cafuffle (see hotel review!) we checked into our rooms and headed off out for some lunch.


With only a couple of hours before we had to head off to Old Trafford we found a nice looking restaurant opposite the hotel called the BlueParrot Bar and Grille. A bright and breezy, Liz introduced herself as our server and showed us to our table. We ordered some drinks and sat back to peruse the menu.  The food was fresh and delicious. Although I wasn't quite sure why my 'build your salad' came with dressing on it when I was asked to choose a dressing (caesar) which also came in a pot in the side?? Anyway it was very enjoyable and Liz was chatty and helpful throughout.

We then packed up our pac a mac's and headed off to the tram stop, handily right next to our hotel.
We arrived at Old Trafford Cricket Ground 15 minutes later with a hefty throng if other people.  The huge stage was set up towards the far end of the ground, so we made out way in that direction, via the bar and the portaloos.  I was quite impressed with the toilets, they were fairly decent for portaloos, although I'm not sure they stayed in this decent state for the rest if the evening. 

At the bar we stocked up on drinks so we didn't have to queue up again so quickly but at £4 a bottle it was clear we were going to need to put more money in the kitty.

Apparently Bon Jovi had done a search of their fans to find a support act. So the first act on were the winners of this - Xander and the Peace Pirates.  They are the resident band at the world famous Cavern Club and they were really good.  After a short break the official support act, Vintage Trouble, came on. Although I'd never heard of them they sounded good with catchy numbers and they went down well with the crowd.
The pac a mac's had come out at this point as the rain began to drizzle.

Shortly after the support act and at least half an hour early, out they came to Blood on Blood and You Give Love a Bad Name as the 46,000 strong crowd came alive.

I'm not a die hard Bon Jovi fan, as in I couldn't tell you the name his first pet or favourite colour, but I do like his tunes especially the oldies. I'm not very up to date on much if his new stuff so was pleased that he played a mix of old and newer ones so there were plenty for me to sing along to. The ones we didn't know so well made a good opportunity to dash to the bar/toilet.

With most of the band under a protective cover, Jon and Richie Sambora braved the rain with the crowd and jammed around the stage rocking out all the hits; It's My Life, Raise Your Hands, In These Arms, Bed of Roses, Keep the Faith and even a Bad Medicine/Shout (Lulu) medley.

A quick break, change of t-shirt and hat and they were back for the encore of Dry County, Wanted Dead or Alive and predictable, yet understandably they closed with a quality performance of Living on a Prayer, supported by 46,000 fans singing along with them. Brilliant.

Buzzing, we herded out of the ground with the rest of the audience on a high. Renditions of the Bon Jovi classics could be heard all around the crowd.

To round of the night we headed back to Piccadilly Gardens, changed into something drier and strolled round to China town for a well needed dinner in The New Emporer.