I touched Jon Bon Jovi!

No really! It wasn't even a dream. For real. At the Bon Jovi concert last night at the Rose Garden.

Yep, touched the Jon-Jon! (How's that for improved stalking abilities??? ;))

And I didn't even get arrested for it! Whoo hooo!

Actually, last night wasn't so much the "stalking" abilities as the "holy cow, we got lucky" abilities. Because T2* and I had crapass seats for the show. Row 43 on the floor. Which y'all know, means you'll be watching the big screen all night because everyone's big heads are blocking the view of the stage.

I knew this going in, and was prepared for it. (don't get me started on the cursing of the Ticketmaster presales)

But what I didn't know was that Row 43 was the very, very, very last row on the floor. Which, interestingly enough, turns into the front row when Jon decided to open the show with a song from the back of the arena!!!

That's right ... front row.

AND ... as luck would ALSO have it ... we were on the side he was using to get to and from this makeshift stage in the back. Had we been Row 43 on the OTHER side of the arena ... there would have been no touching of this Pretty.

(I'm tellin' ya, I really should buy a lotto ticket this week because rarely, rarely, rarely do I ever have this much luck fall into place at one time.)

But sadly enough, a little luck will only carry you so far, I found. Apparently talent would also be a good thing to have. More specifically, the talent of coordination. Because apparently I still can't touch The Pretty, excitedly jump up and down, hyperventilate, AND take a decent picture all at the same time. (trust me on this ... I've tried!)

Which is how I only ended up with this shot..... ya know, after Jon had already turned away.

I mean, it's a good picture if maybe you're a hair dresser and want to analyze Jon's highlights. But pretty bad if you want a close up picture of his smiling face (good God that smile! It just melts me). Sigh.

But did I mention that I DID get to touch him? (Okay, just checkin'! ;))

Anyway, I'll try to work on the coordination. I promise!

In the meantime, how about some concert roundup and tons-'o-pics?

Here are some shots** of Jon singing the first song at the back of the arena. (as always, click to enlarge the pics for maximum drooling)

At another point during the show, Jon ended up singing a song in the first tier on the right side of the arena (it's okay, you can hate the women that were standing RIGHT THERE while he sang. I do!)

But then for the next song (Bed of Roses) he slowly meandered his way off this platform and down the arena aisle. Slowly singing and greeting all the folks right there. With only one little ole bodyguard trailing several feet away.

I thought that was awesome! He even cut through some of the rows and no-one mauled him. (which may not have been the case had I been over there!! ;))

(I especially enjoy the blonde in the picture checking out his ass (you go, girl!))

Anyway, well done Bon Jovi fans!!! I still hate all y'all for getting to touch my Pretty ... but really, well done.

A big highlight of the evening was getting to hear the band play "Runaway". You know, the song which started it all. The house was ROCKIN', I tell ya ... rockin'! It was awesome!

Another highlight and yet lowlight was Richie Sambora's solo of the evening. Y'all know Heather Locklear filed for divorce from him, right? (no, I don't know what she was thinkin'.).

Anyway, T2 notices early on that Richie isn't wearing his wedding ring and we give each other the boo-boo face. But THEN ... she notices that he is wearing it on a chain around his neck. And then we REALLY pout. Because, uh ... yeah ... oh so sad!

But wait, it gets worse!

So Richie steps up to sing one of the songs like he's known to do. And the song he chooses ... wait for it ... wait for it .... is "I'll Be There For You". OMG!

To those of you unfamiliar with the song ... here are the first couple of verses and the chorus:

I guess this time you're really leaving
I heard your suitcase say goodbye
And as my broken heart lies bleeding
You say true love it's suicide

You say you're cried a thousand rivers
And now you're swimming for the shore
You left me drowning in my tears
And you won't save me anymore

Now I'm praying to God you'll give me one more chance, girl

I'll be there for you
These five words I swear to you
When you breathe I want to be the air for you
I'll be there for you
I'd live and I'd die for you
Steal the sun from the sky for you
Words can't say what a love can do
I'll be there for you

I know you know we're had some good times
Now they have their own hiding place
I can promise you tomorrow
But I can't buy back yesterday

And Baby you know my hands are dirty
But I wanted to be your valentine
I'll be the water when you get thirsty, baby
When you get drunk, I'll be the wine

Does it GET any sadder than that? ARGH!

Man, had I not got to touch Jon earlier I'da been so sad for him that I'da just melted into a pity pool on the arena floor. But luckily for me (and for the maintenance crew who'da had to clean me up), I HAD touched Jon and still had that Jon-high to offset the Richie-low! ;)

But it was interesting, because Jon was commenting on how beautiful the women in Portland were at the show and says to Richie, "maybe you can find the next Mrs. Sambora here". To which I screamed like the crazy rock-n-roll whore I am! ;)

And again, later in the show, a fan had tossed a flower up to Jon. He plucks a couple of the petals and says as he looks at Richie, "she loves me .... she loves me not ..... (insert pause) ... bitch!" to which Richie smiled.

So it was nice to see that Richie had Jon in his corner offering up support.

Still sad though.

So uh Richie ... if you decide to move on and maybe try someone not famous, not rich, not popular and not drop-dead gorgeous ... give me a jingle, eh?! Because, lord knows I'm available!!! ;)

Okay, back to the concert photos.

Here are some more for your viewing pleasure. Now please remember I was in Row 43. So most shots should look like the following (note the live band members are the ant-like specks on the bottom! Jon is being shown on the big video screen):

But instead, through the wizardry which is me (!), I offer up:

That's right ... I know how to work the system!! ;) So please enjoy these shots taken off the big video screen!

FINALLY, towards the very end of the show, Jon stripped down a little bit. And so I present the following pic:

Can I get a "mmmm, mmmm, mmmm"?? That's right. :)

And last but certainly not least (being that this is my favorite and I CANNOT believe I got this quality a photo off the big screen) ........

I lovelovelovelove that picture. So much so that I would marry it if I could. But alas, I cannot. Sigh.

So there you have it. A Bon Jovi's "Have A Nice Day" tour roundup! Not only a great show .... but... have I mentioned?... I got to touch Jon Bon Jovi!!!!!

* who would also like me to note here that she also touched him ...with both hands.
** thanks to T2 for some of these shots as well. We were both snapping shots as quickly as our cameras would allow.