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Bon Jovi > My show reviews > NOVEMBER 8, 2013 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada

My show reviews

NOVEMBER 8, 2013 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Warning: If I ever find out that the pictures displayed on this page end up on someone's website without my consent, or if some people try to remove the watermarks and try to resell these pictures, they will have to provide some good explanations. I will then have to remove my pictures and other visitors of my website will be deprived of them!

In a world without faith, you're what I believe

Contents:

Get in the mood after a fan club trip: hard!
Pit 1 is on the right now? It's the first time!!
Conniving picture of me and Sandra
Being recognized through pictures on my website: Part 1
Meeting with a fan who already saw 200 Bon Jovi shows
Being recognized through pictures on my website: Part 2
November 8, 2013 set list
Oh no! I don't have my engineer iron ring anymore!!
Overheating my brain to get to the catwalk
I take David's hand!
A woman jumps on Jon while he plays guitar and sings!
My first contact with Jon of the evening
Jon wears a cape brought by a fan
Jon imitates Mick Jagger!
Sandra and I receive a gift when getting out of the pit!
Impressive statistics on my tour

Venue: Bell Centre
Ticket: Circle Pit 1, Row D, Seat 6
Pictures: Available
Videos: Available

The Montreal show on November 8 was announced on the same day as the fan club trip in Toronto at the end of May 2013. The excitement was at its peak among my tour friends and I! I was also stressed out by the purchase of tickets for the show in Montreal, because when the tickets went on sale for the shows in February 2013, my computer had acted weird with the fan club website where we could purchase our tickets. I was also telling myself that it would be very much appreciated to have more pit tickets without VIP packages for the fan club members. I don't know how many there had been for the shows in February, but I evaluate that there were only a few pairs, almost impossible to obtain! I visualized the moment of the ticket sale for November 8 as if I were visualizing a sports event for which I would participate as an athlete!

On June 10, 2013, the morning of the ticket sale, I was still able to work (really work) from home, despite the numerous emails received from Geneviève who was doing a countdown of the number of minutes remaining until 10ham! I got ready 10 minutes prior to the ticket sale with my personal laptop and I called Sandra who was at work. She had warned her coworkers that they couldn't disturb her at 10ham! I was very nervous: heartbeat was going full speed, sweaty hands, dry throat and disturbed stomach. These days, I still cannot believe that it stresses me out as much each time! Sandra and I had a good strategy: she would choose pit tickets with a VIP package and I would choose the option of pit tickets without package. I admit that I didn't have much faith that it would work! At around 9h59am, I heard one of Sandra's coworkers come tell her something and she quickly told him: "No no, not now!" with a very nervous laugh.

At 10ham sharp, the "Buy Now" button beside the city of Montreal on the fan club website where tickets were sold appeared. I then warned Sandra that I had the button, she confirmed that she had it as well at the same time as we were clicking on it. I chose my option of tickets and I had the surprise to see that I now had two pit tickets without package in my cart!! A huge joy took over me, I couldn't believe that I had been able to do the impossible! Sandra also vividly shared her joy of having pit tickets with a VIP package in her cart. She had two tickets in row D of pit 1, seats 1 and 2 (near the central aisle) and I had two tickets in row D of pit 1, seats 5 and 6. We had 7 minutes to decide what to do, after which delay our tickets would be released.

But what to do??!! Pay 450$US (386$US plus fees) and have tickets a little farther from the middle of the stage without VIP package (that is without dinner included, without parking at the Bell Centre, without a picture book nor other merchandise and without a backstage tour) or pay 899$US (I don't know what fees the fan club was charging at that price) and have all that, plus tickets right beside the central aisle?? Another variable in the equation: would there be a second show in Montreal or not? Having known that there would only be one, the question would not have been asked, but we had no idea whatsoever at that time. We really thought that there would be a second show in Montreal and that it would be announced soon. Getting pit tickets without VIP package was a miracle in my opinion, so after discussing it for a few seconds, we came to the conclusion that we would take the pit tickets without VIP package.

I still told Sandra not to release her tickets yet while I was finishing my transaction on my side. When I went to buy them, an error message appeared to tell me that I was not logged in!! Oh no, not the same problem than the other time again when the same message had appeared!! Yet, I had validated with Sandra that she was seeing the same thing as me on her screen right before 10ham and I was logged in correctly! I came back to the home page to log in again, a thing that I did very quickly, because I didn't know whether Sandra's tickets would be released soon or not. Miracle, when logging in again, I came back to the page which showed my tickets in my cart! Phew!! I completed the transaction very quickly and what a relief when I saw a new email from the fan club arrive in my inbox, confirming the purchase of my tickets! Sandra then released her tickets and we let out a relief sigh! It was then 10h03am.

We took the time to send an email to Maryse to tell her what we had gotten. She was really excited and happy, because she had been able to get tickets in the first row of the floor (after the catwalk) dead center, exactly where she wanted to be! I took the time to send a little email to Isabelle S. to tell her know how lucky I had been to get pit tickets without VIP package. I then left the house to go to the office.

When I left home, I was caught by a huge emotion when I heard the first note of the Bon Jovi song that was playing at that moment in the car. I just had the confirmation that I would see the band in Montreal in the pit and I would not have to ruin myself to do it! I shed a few tears before taking over myself and continue my ride towards the office. Purchasing Bon Jovi tickets for Montreal is so intense for me and I was really under the impression that my prayers had been heard! I absolutely wanted to be in the pit for that show and I had just succeeded that exploit! With Sandra and I who each had a pair of pit tickets, it was almost impossible for us not to be there!

When I got to the office, I saw that Isabelle S. had already written to me to tell me that she also had had pit tickets without VIP package! The funniest thing is that she had gotten two tickets in row D of pit 1, seats 3 and 4, that is the tickets right beside ours!! We would be neighbors for a Bon Jovi show! I was really happy! And I got confirmation that the fan club had decided to give us a little more pit tickets without VIP package, because in February, we had had to pay a VIP package to get the tickets in row D of pit 2, seats 3 and 4! Geneviève, on her side, hadn't had the same chance as us. Since she had to subscribe to the fan club to be able to register for the fan club trip in Toronto with a single occupation room, Geneviève had decided that she would take a pair of tickets for her and one of her friends for the show in Montreal (the maximum number of tickets per fan club member for each show is two), so she and Maryse had to buy a pair of tickets each on their side. After trying for half an hour, Geneviève had finally purchased tickets in row E of the floor after the catwalk. She was really disappointed to be "so far away" (fifth row).

My day continued to be extraordinary, because at lunchtime, we were able to welcome Chris Hadfield who was coming back to the Canadian Space Agency after his five-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) during which he had become the first Canadian commander of the ISS. We welcomed him in true hero, by clapping and cheering in the main entrance. Later that same day, other Agency employees and I were able to attend a conference given by Chris. He then announced to us that he was retiring and he was very emotional while doing it, even if he had announced it to the media a few hours before. I was also very emotional to hear the news from his mouth! Let's say that I felt very strong emotions that day!

Tickets for November 8 were on sale to the general public on Saturday June 15 at noon. When the second Montreal show in February had been announced, Bon Jovi's website had announced the additional show the day before the ticket sale to the general public for the first show. Maryse, Geneviève, Sandra and I were thus quite confident that the second Montreal show in November would be announced on Friday June 14... I had to stay home with my two-year-old son that day, because he was feverish and he couldn't go to daycare. To make things worse, the next day, Martin, my son and I were going to my mother's to bury my father's ashes and we would be on the road at noon. Sandra had ensured me that she would take care of everything in the case where the additional show would be announced a few minutes after noon and that the fan club tickets would be put on sale immediately. I had total confidence in her! However, I was hoping that the additional show would be announced before and that the fan club tickets would go on sale before my departure the next day. During the day, Maryse, Geneviève, Sandra and I sent each other several emails while patiently waiting for the announcement of an additional show. At some point, I mentioned to them that my son had a fever and that I would have to undergo the hard ordeal of burying my father's ashes the next day. Maryse and Sandra lost their father a few years ago and they started sending me encouragement messages while including the four of us in their distribution list... At some point, I was crying from seeing their messages and they all, even Geneviève, admitted one after the other during the afternoon that they were also crying because of the nature of emails that were exchanged. We looked like a real group of emotional girls who were each crying on their side! Let's say that Fathers Day was two days later and that the memories of my father and those of Sandra's and Maryse's were resurfacing more easily that day!

The announcement of an additional show didn't come that day, to our great disappointment... All the signs were yet pointing towards an announcement of an additional show in Montreal in the near future: the Bell Centre was free on Saturday November 9 (the Montreal Canadiens were playing in Ottawa on Thursday and in Montreal on Sunday at 6hpm...), Jon had said that there would be another show in Montreal during a Q&A session with fans in England at the beginning of July and even a ticket resale website, billets.com, was displaying in September the possibility to reserve tickets for a Bon Jovi show in Montreal on November 9... The only variable which was confusing the issue was the fact that the tickets for November 8 weren't selling very well... I always had hope that the announcement of the additional show would come one day. My hope intensified when the additional show in Toronto was announced. Throughout the weeks, I was verifying Bon Jovi's website every day, several times per day, for this announcement. But as the weeks were passing by, the chances were diminishing slowly. At the beginning of October, I didn't believe it at all anymore, one month away from the show on November 8... I couldn't believe that there would not be two shows in Montreal, but I had to face the fact!

I was disappointed not to be able to live four Bon Jovi shows in the same week and I was angry at myself for not knowing that there would be only one show. If I had known, we would have purchased the pit tickets with a VIP package that Sandra had in her cart when the tickets for November 8 went on sale, because we wanted to get David Bergman's book, the band's official photographer, which was given away with the VIP package in the pit... Grr... We had two consolations for all that: 1) Montreal would be the last North American city visited by the band before the end of the tour. Being one of the first cities to be visited at the beginning of the tour, it was an honor that the North American tour would end at home before the great departure of the band for Japan and Australia! 2) We received as a gift David Bergman's book during the fan club trip in Toronto at the beginning of November 2013!

I had a little hard time getting myself in the mood for a Bon Jovi show in Montreal in the week of November 4, because I had just come back from the fan club trip in Toronto. I was under the impression of having adrenaline all week. I was tired, but at the same time, I was running like crazy to finish up my review from the trip in Toronto before the show in Montreal the next Friday! The day before the show, I couldn't believe that I would see Bon Jovi in the next 24 hours!

I was very happy to notice that despite all the colds and gastros which were surrounding me in the last weeks, my health was still holding up and I would not be sick for the show in Montreal! I told myself all week that I could become sick starting on November 9 without any problems, but not before! I have to believe that my immune system got scared of what it could happen if it ever failed to fight all the infections that I was exposed to and it did overtime to keep me healthy! Thank you immune system!!

In the morning of November 8, I noticed that I was still healthy when I opened my eyes and I woke up quite early, because I still had a few paragraphs to write in my review from the trip in Toronto and I wanted to re-read it as much as possible before getting ready for the show in Montreal. I wrote and read all morning, but towards lunchtime, I came to the conclusion that I would not be able to finish it all before having to get ready! I told myself that at least, the review was written and that I only had to re-read it before being able to send it.

I had very mixed feelings about the show that I would go to in the evening. I couldn't wait to get back to Montreal's crowd so enthusiastic at Bon Jovi shows, but at the same time, I wasn't looking forward to the day to end, because I knew that my tour would end that night... There were only a few remaining dates in Japan and Australia left of the world tour before well-deserved vacations!

After lunch, I took a shower, dried my hair, got dressed, put my contact lenses on, brushed my teeth and put makeup on in a record time! It's true that I knew precisely what I would wear: exactly the same thing as the second show in Toronto! I had less stress, but at the same time, I was under the impression of living groundhog day by putting my custom tank top and the rest of my clothes on! But well, it takes what it takes!

During the afternoon, Sandra wrote to me to tell me that her spouse would drive us to the Bell Centre for the show in order to save on parking fees. She had talked to me about this possibility earlier in the week. She specified to me that he would arrive at her house at around 4hpm and that he would need to take a shower before leaving. I told her that I would be at her house between 4h15pm and 4h30pm in that case, giving me a little more time than usual to get ready and giving enough time for her spouse to get ready without rushing too much.

I thus left my house at around 4hpm to get to Sandra's house. The beginning of my evening started badly when the cube truck that I was following on the road made a metal plate lift from the ground on the road in front of my car. I was following the cube truck too closely to be able to avoid the plate! It thus came to hit the front of my car and when I arrived at Sandra's house, a glance at the front of the car allowed me to see that it now has a few scratches on the front bumper!

We left Sandra's house aboard her spouse's car a little after 4h30pm. There was a lot of traffic to reach the Champlain Bridge and quite a lot of traffic near the Bell Centre as well. Let's say that we usually leave the South Shore of Montreal at around 4hpm and it showed that night that we were later! But the important thing was that we were really early and there was no reason to stress out! A little after 5hpm, Sandra's spouse parked his car at a parking meter on a street a little higher than René-Lévesque, because we had agreed to go eat at the Cibo & Vino restaurant, the same usual restaurant when we don't have a VIP package including dinner. We walked a few minutes on the streets of Montreal to get to the restaurant. It was really windy and with the wind chill factor, it was still quite cold! Mostly that I was just wearing nylon stockings in my shoes once again! But well, I preferred being cold for five minutes than being hot for more than two hours and a half during the show!

A waiter that we often see welcomed us in the restaurant which was then completely empty. I found it strange that there was nobody eating in the restaurant, because it was a little later than 5hpm. The waiter asked us if we were going to the concert and when we answered positively, he asked us if we had an extra ticket, because he didn't feel like working that night! He is really kind! I told him, while he was bringing us to a table, that we were always coming to this restaurant before our shows when we have to have dinner in the surroundings. He thanked us for our fidelity.

Sandra's spouse ate a pizza, Sandra ate penne in a rosée sauce and I ate carbonara penne. What I like about this restaurant are the servings: they are perfect for me! We paid our bills and Sandra and I went to the restrooms before leaving. Sandra's spouse wanted to drive us to the entrance of the Bell Centre, but with the traffic that was still dense in the surroundings, Sandra and I decided to get there by foot... After all, we were only a few blocks away from the Bell Centre! Sandra's spouse thus left us at the first street corner to get back to his car and return to Sandra's house for the evening. He was supposed to come get us for 11hpm that evening. He knew that it was quite hard to know when we would come out of the Bell Centre; with Bon Jovi, we never know!

Sandra and I headed towards the entrance of the Bell Centre near Saint-Antoine Street to be able to pick up our fan club tickets at a table especially dedicated to us. A few people were waiting in line for their tickets when we got in. The table of the tickets without a package was directly beside the entrance door while the tickets with a VIP package had to be picked up a little farther behind a second door. Since I was the one who had bought the tickets, I had to be the one to pick them up. The man at the table was an employee of the Bell Centre, because he was speaking French very well. A quick verification after getting the envelope with the tickets allowed me to confirm that we had the right tickets. Sandra put them in her purse for the time being. It was a little before 6h30pm, the time when the doors of the Bell Centre were opening. We thus waited a little in the entrance before getting back outside to go in the amphitheater.

When I turned towards the entrance door, I saw Isabelle S. who came to pick up her tickets. She announced to us that she, Isabelle L. and Rosy had met Jon and a few band members shortly before when they were coming out of their hotel to head towards the Bell Centre. The meeting was very brief since Jon was in a hurry, but they had still been able to take pictures with Jon and Matt Bongiovi, Jon's brother, was the one who had taken them with their cellular phone! After seeing the pictures, I wonder if I would have really liked to meet the band members in these circumstances, because Jon didn't seem to smile a lot... After picking up her tickets, Isabelle S. asked us if we wanted to join them, because they were at the Cage aux sports of the Bell Centre. When we looked at our watch, we realized that the doors of the Bell Centre had just opened, and since we had already eaten, we kindly declined the offer. We thus said that we would see each other in the pit a little later during the evening.

We went in the Bell Centre a few minutes later. Sandra had a little problem which required a little detour to the nearest restrooms. We then headed towards section 117, because Isabelle S. had mentioned to us earlier that we could fill out a little coupon to get the chance of winning prizes. Indeed, the day before the show, Maryse had sent us an email containing an article that she had seen and which read (what follows is a free translation of the article in French):

"*SPECIAL EVENING ''BON JOVI THANKS THEIR MONTREAL FANS'' WITH PRIZES TO GIVE AWAY!
BON JOVI comes back to Montreal this Friday November 8 to present the last show of their North American tour at the Bell Centre! Following two sold-out concerts in February, the band quickly added this third and last show in Montreal in their "BON JOVI Because We Can - The Tour” tour, for a total of 15 concerts presented at the Bell Centre since 1996. With this impressive hit list of sold-out shows in Montreal, Bon Jovi decided to end their North American tour at the Bell Centre to salute their thousands of faithful fans qualified as "the loudest and most enthusiastic!" To thank them and highlight this last concert of the North American tour, fans will have the chance to win several prizes which will be given out before the beginning of the show. Spectators are invited to get there early."

Since we were in the Bell Centre early and since we knew which section to go to to enter the contest, we had to go! Moreover, I was already a very enthusiastic fan by the only fact that I would attend a Bon Jovi show in Montreal and that I would be able to scream as I wish without having people less used to screams look at me strangely... Too bad for them, the best atmosphere is in Montreal!! We had a hard time getting to section 117, because we could have said that we were going against the current of the crowd already in the Bell Centre. It was very hard to be in such a dense crowd! We finally got to Evenko's stand and we filled out a little coupon to enter the draw. The man who was handing out the coupons told us that the grand prize was a guitar autographed by Jon and there were also some hundred other prizes to win, without giving us more details.

We then turned around to head towards section 124 where there is floor access. Sandra got a call from her sister Linda while we were walking towards section 124 (we still seemed to be against the current and yet, we had turned around from section 117). Linda was attending the show with her spouse Éric that evening... Sandra asked her if she could drive us to the South Shore after the show to avoid having her spouse come get us at the end of the show. From what I could hear from the conversation, Linda could do it, but with their child car seat, we would have to squeeze ourselves a little in the backseat. Sandra then told her that my butt wasn't big and it was not a problem! Sandra was still on the phone with Linda when we went down the stairs to get to the floor. When we got off the stairs, an usher verified Sandra's ticket first and he turned towards his younger coworker while telling him: "Ah, a pit ticket! It's the first one tonight. Look, come see what a pit ticket is!" I had a hard time believing that we were the first ones to get there by this access! But it was such an honor to know that an usher was waiting for the first pit tickets with such impatience!

My mind played a trick on me for the following events, because I remember everything that we did before the show, but I don't remember in which order anymore! I apologize in advance for Ti-pit who took its notes a little everywhere in its note pad, without remembering the chronological order! (To know more about Ti-pit, refer to the review on my fan club trip in Toronto in November 2013.)

We headed towards section 118 where Linda and Éric were. Linda saw us, so she immediately went down from her seat to come see us. We chatted a little near the sound console and where a camera that films the whole show were located. For that matter, we noticed that it was written the word "Japan" on the cases near the camera, so we concluded that these cases contained equipment that needed to go to Japan for the rest of the tour. I then realized that the North American tour was truly ending that night! I noticed that when she was talking to Linda, Sandra had the same accent as her and the same accent as their mother. It was strange for me to hear Sandra talk with a light accent like this, because usually, she doesn't say some words to me the way that she was saying them to her sister! I even passed the comment afterwards that she had changed her accent during the time she was talking to her sister! It was just cute seeing them together!

I also remember that we went to the restrooms on the floor which were located between section 118 and 124 (I just don't remember anymore if we went to the pit beforehand or not, but it seems to me that no, because I believe that I still had my coat on). There was still no waiting line for these restrooms, what a joy!!

We finally headed towards the pit and we had to show our tickets to a few people on the way. I was really looking forward to getting there, to going back to this small space dedicated to very privileged people who had had the huge chance of getting tickets in that place! I asked the security guard to whom we showed our tickets last before going in the pit where pit 1 was. I was sure that we would be in the left section of the pit while looking towards the stage, because in the past, pit 1 was there. To my very great surprise, he told me that pit 1 was on the right!! Oh no! I didn't want to be on that side! It's very hard to go to the catwalk in that section, since we have to wait for Jon to pass at the back of the pit on his way to go on the catwalk before being able to head towards the back of the pit in turn! On the other side of the pit, security usually lets us go there as soon as the lights go off on the stage after Keep The Faith (except in Toronto where security didn't prevent us from going there at the beginning of the song). You can now surely realize that we become very picky on the place where our tickets are... A few meters farther and we are disappointed! In these cases, I should rather think about the people who are in the upper sections of the bleachers to put things back into perspective! Anyway, it's with a small deception in my face that I headed towards the right part of the pit. Sandra made me notice while walking towards our seats that the pit was quite the same size as in Toronto and that it was smaller than before. I could not confirm or contradict it, but indeed, it seemed like there were more seats before in the first rows...

Isabelle S. and Isabelle L. had already arrived and I could see from far away that security guards were verifying the signs of the girls at the end of the second row of pit 1. Both Isabelle were wearing a yellow Slippery When Wet shirt and they were taking out their signs from their purse. We then said hello to each other while we went into the row to put our things down. Isabelle L. told us that they had just distributed sheets on all the chairs of the pit on which "Please sing Never Say Goodbye" was written and instructions at the back were indicating that we had to show this sheet during the last song before the first encore. Other sheets on which "Montréal loves Bon Jovi" was written ("loves" being a heart on the sheet) were also put underneath both Isabelle's sheets. Here is what both sheets looked like (these are the copies that I brought home):

I don't know if both groups of girls had had the same idea or if it were intentional for them to bring different sheets, but I can say that I was seeing people distribute that kind of sheets to everybody in the pit in Montreal for the first time! I already knew that the show would be great with this kind of initiative! Isabelle L. told us that at first, security guards were removing the "Montréal loves Bon Jovi" sheets when they wanted to distribute their "Please sing Never Say Goodbye" sheets and a guard asked them if they had a license to distribute these sheets... From the surprised face that I made when she told me that, Isabelle L. added: "Yeah, a license..." It seems like the guards, after understanding the goal behind these sheets, had put them back on the chairs... It was not publicity, it was just a little something to make the crowd in the pit participate!

Both Isabelle were talking with a woman who was in the pit and she was trying to take a picture of them in front of the stage. However, she seemed to have a hard time obtaining a clear picture, so I proposed taking one with my camera. After all, I regularly send emails to Isabelle S., so I knew well that she would have the picture quite quickly after the show! After taking a picture of them, Isabelle S. asked me if I wanted to have my picture taken with Sandra in front of the stage and I said yes. When I turned towards our seats, I saw that Sandra was talking on the phone. I learned afterwards that she had called her spouse to tell him that Linda and Éric would bring us back to Sandra's house after the show. I waited for her to finish her call and I signaled her to come to take a picture. I love the picture that Isabelle S. took of us two so much that I insist on putting it in this review! Sandra and I did so many things together, mostly during the previous week, that I can feel a sincere complicity on this picture!

Sandra made Isabelle S. notice after the picture that she was wearing the same top as when Jon had told her: "Wo, baby!!" the previous week and I also mentioned that I was wearing the pants that I had talked to her about. I really love these pants and I feel really beautiful in them! I find that they give me the style of a rock band fan!

While looking casually towards our seats when discussing with both Isabelle, I noticed that security guards had their signs in their hands and they were unrolling them! A little alarmed, I told Isabelle S. that the guards were looking at their signs... She immediately said: "Isa!! They have our signs!!" while pointing at the guards with her index finger. Isabelle L. then headed towards the guards very quickly to find out what was going on. I didn't understand their conversation, but the security guards seemed to say that banners were prohibited. Both Isabelle were able to convince them that they would show them briefly at the level of their chest and that they would not hide anyone. Pleading in their favor, I insisted to say to the guards that I knew them and that they were usually very respectful of people behind them with their signs. One of the guards made me a big smile, but he didn't say anything.

When we got back to our seats, I showed Isabelle L. a sheet that I had printed during the afternoon, after Isabelle S. had mentioned to me that she and Isabelle L. would try to get up on the stage to sing Who Says You Can't Go Home with Jon. I had shown it to Isabelle S. when we had picked up our fan club tickets during the evening and she had seemed touched by what I had done. Isabelle L. made me a big smile when she saw that I had written "Please let our friends here sing with U". The only problem with my sheet is that I had put an arrow to the left on the sheet, because I was convinced that we would be in the left part of the pit and I then knew that they would be on our right. Being completely on the other side and they being on our left, the arrow was not on the right side at all! Oops! I shared my deception of being in the right part of the pit to both Isabelle and they had reacted the same way when entering the pit...

While I was settling down at my seat, the woman who was talking to both Isabelle when we had gotten into the pit came to see me and she told me: "You are Marie-Hélène Cyr, aren't you?" A little surprised of being called by my full name, I answered positively and she continued by telling me something like: "You don't know me, but I know you through your blog... I just want to tell you that it's crazy! I read everything and it's just crazy how I feel the same way as you for Jon, it seems like you write about what I live!" I was really flattered by such a testimony! People who come to me in that way sometimes seem a little shy to do it, but it's a tremendous pleasure for me! I asked her her name and when she said: "Karine Champagne", I was really under the impression that I had already seen or heard that name somewhere... I still told her that her name was ringing a bell and she was surprised in turn... I then told her: "Anyway, it's a pleasure meeting you! In a few weeks, my review of my fan club trip in Toronto and the one of tonight's show should be online if you are ever interested!"

Isabelle S. also introduced me to Eve, a woman who I've recently known, because I knew that she was coming to the second show in Toronto the previous week and we had exchanged a few emails. I had also "liked" her Facebook page. Eve and her friend were in the row in front of us that night.

I saw Afsha and Gayle arrive in the pit at some point. I hugged Afsha when I saw her and when Gayle saw me, she told me: "Do we know each other?!" with a puzzled look in her face... I answered to her that we had seen each other at the fan club trip in Toronto the previous week. I saw a light bulb turn on in her head just by the face that she made and she told me: "Oh yeah! Of course! Hi again!" while laughing. For that matter, the more people were arriving in the pit, the more I realized that I recognized at least half of them, either by name or their face rang a bell from the people who were in Toronto the previous week! It's the first time that I was under the impression of recognizing as many people! I told myself that it was great going to enough shows during a same tour to be able to recognize as many people! Sandra was under the same impression as me (that most of the people we had seen in Toronto were in the pit that evening)!

After taking my scarf and cardigan off, both Isabelle, Sandra and I decided to go back to the restrooms a little later than 7h30pm. When I got out of the pit, I saw Albena, a woman who had contacted me through my website a few months before, who was in the first row after the catwalk. She had told me when buying her ticket in June that she would have never hoped of getting such a good ticket for a Bon Jovi show. Usually, she purchased her tickets through Evenko. She waved at me with her hand when I passed in front of her and maybe I sounded a little grumpy with her by saying hello briefly, but I wanted to ensure to have enough time to go to the restrooms one last time before the show! I told myself that I would stop to see her on my way back.

I was almost shy of wandering around with my custom tank top along the floor, I don't quite know why... I remember that I was going around with my arms crossed in front of me. I completely had the right to wear this kind of tank top and after all, I still had more chances of having Jon see it than any other clothes that people at the back of the floor were wearing... Yet, I felt like people located at the back of the floor were looking at me more with my tank top than people in the pit!

There was still no wait at the restrooms, so it was quite quick for me to go in and come out. Sandra took a few additional minutes and while I was waiting in the Bell Centre hallway, I started thinking about my tank top, about what I had told Jon during my picture with him in Toronto the previous week and I wondered if I would hear Bed Of Roses that night... I was literally freaking out alone in the hallway! Moreover, I was anticipating that night's show with great excitement, the return home for me and the possibility to enjoy it to the fullest with an enthusiastic crowd! When Sandra came out of the restrooms, I told her that I was very nervous and she didn't quite understand why. I was ready to run a marathon because I had so much energy! Adrenaline had been released in my veins, I couldn't get a hold of myself!

When coming back from the restrooms, we came across Maryse and her friend Julie in the "passageway" between the board and the first seats of all the rows of the floor. Maryse and Julie had dead center tickets in the first row after the pit. Sandra immediately said: "Oh, you are Julie who got into our email distribution list from time to time!!" Indeed, when Maryse was sending us emails about the Montreal show or just to talk about Jon in general, she was sometimes copying Julie in her emails and we had wondered, Sandra and I, who was this Julie! It was a pleasure being able to meet her officially and put a face to the name!

While continuing our way towards the pit, I told Sandra that I would stop to see someone while passing by. At the same time, she saw Rosy in the bleachers and she went to see her. I then headed towards Albena's seat and I slightly tapped on her right shoulder to make her turn around. I was happy to meet her and be able to talk to her a little. She seemed very happy with her seat and I indicated to her where I would be in the pit. She asked me if I would try going up on the stage to sing with Jon (anyway, it seems to me like she asked me that question...) and I told her that that evening, I had a sheet that invited Jon to bring up my friends to sing with him during Who Says You Can't Go Home. She seemed really surprised that I was putting my friends' dream before mine. In fact, I was telling myself that if I had to see my dream being realized, it would happen at the catwalk while Who Says You Can't Go Home would be played afterwards. I didn't feel in competition with both Isabelle at all, we had two different dreams on different songs! After wishing her a good concert, I turned around to go see Rosy who was near where I was. She hadn't seen me, so I had to gesticulate a little to catch her attention. When she saw me, she made me a nice smile and she said hello to me. I thus instinctively said: "What are you doing so far away??!!" And she told me: "No more money!" and we bursted into laughter at the same time! I wished her a good show and I returned to the pit.

When I mentioned to Isabelle L. that I had seen Rosy in the bleachers while saying to her that it was too bad that she was in the bleachers, she told me: "I had told her to wait before purchasing her ticket and that she could be in the pit, but she didn't want to take the chance..." I can understand her as well for not wanting to wait, but on the other hand, Isabelle L. was right in some way. I told her that Geneviève had precisely purchased her tickets a few weeks before the show, but she had been lucky, because the pit tickets were sold out very rapidly (in a few minutes) when Evenko released them without VIP packages. Isabelle L. also mentioned to me, while standing up, that her kids were there that evening, in a section in the 400 level and that it was their first concert. She wondered how they would like it, while looking at the bleachers to try to spot at least the section where they were.

Isabelle L. also showed us, Sandra and I, a red Montreal Canadiens t-shirt that she had customized by writing the name "BON JOVI" at the back. She was hoping that nobody else had had the idea! She mentioned to us that she didn't want to spend 200$ for a real hockey jersey, because she didn't even know if Jon would want to wear it! Sandra told her jokingly that she didn't want Jon to catch bugs with her shirt! Isabelle L. wasn't aware of Sandra's hatred for the Montreal Canadiens!

I felt so at ease in the pit, among people who didn't know me necessarily well, but whom I had still already seen. At some point when I wasn't at my seat, I saw a very special fan standing up in front of the first seat near the central aisle in pit 2. I knew that she was called Sandra. Earlier that week, she had worn a tank top on which it was written: "This is my 200^th Bon Jovi show" and Jon had made her come on the stage to sing the end of Who Says You Can't Go Home together. Maryse had sent us a video of the moment and I had adored Jon's attitude towards her. He was very caring, he had described her as being his great friend and his worst critic while specifying that she was doing a thumb-up or thumb-down during all the shows she goes to to tell him if she loved the show or not. He had also specified that he had already wanted to get her up on the stage in the past, but it seems like she was always shaking her head from side to side and making a similar gesture with her arms. He had smiled while saying that that evening, he had gotten her and he would now sing with her on the stage. Anyway, I had seen Sandra at the fan club trip in Las Vegas in April, I had seen a picture of her and Jon in Europe the past summer, she had had another picture in Las Vegas in October and she had been with us in Toronto the previous week! All of her pictures with Jon are extraordinary! I couldn't pass on the opportunity to go see her! I thus came close to her, she was facing the stage and I put my hand gently on her upper back for her to turn around. When she turned around, I froze a little when I saw that she was looking at me and I didn't quite know what to tell her anymore! I simply asked her: "You are Sandra, right?" She looked at me a little skeptical while answering positively, as if she were surprised to know that I knew her name. I continued: "I saw a video of you and Jon from earlier this week when you went on stage to sing with Jon! I was so happy for you!" She had then a big smile on her face, she didn't quite know what to say and I remember that she told me a few words in English with a strong European accent. I was really honored to talk to her at least once during the tour! I even felt bad at that moment for not having gone to talk to her during both fan club trips that I went on! I left her while saying: "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how happy I was when Jon made you go on stage!" And she told me: "Oh, thank you!" with a big smile. I was really happy for going to see her!

A little after 8hpm, I was still in the central aisle of the pit (I don't remember to whom I was talking to anymore...) when a security guard (that I had already seen in the past during previous concerts) asked me to go back to my seat. I quite wondered why he wanted us to go back to our seats so fast! The show was going to start when the AC/DC song called Hells Bells would play, at around 8h15pm, so there was no stress!! Anyway, I obeyed to the guard and I went into my row to go join Sandra who was already sitting down on her seat.

I was in the middle of positioning my purse underneath my seat and getting ready for the show when a woman sitting down beside me shouted out: "You are Marie-Hélène Cyr?!" When I answered positively, she continued: "Oh wow! I cannot believe that I have the seat beside you!" with a big smile. I looked at her with a smile and she then told me: "I know you, but you must not recognize me... I recognized you through your website..." I then looked at Sandra who was on my left; she was smiling with a hand in her face meaning that she was "discouraged" to know that someone else had recognized me! The woman told me: "Maybe you don't remember, but I had sent you an email..." She really piqued my curiosity, so I asked her her name. When she told me that she was called Patrizia, I immediately figured out who she was! I then told her: "Oh yes! I remember... You were looking for pit tickets, but you could only purchase a pair and you were alone, so you were looking for someone with whom to go... I see that you succeeded!" while making her a big smile! She then told me: "Anyway, you must have thought that I was weird, because I had asked you to call me..." I continued: "Well no, I answered you, didn't I?! I didn't need to call you, because I told you that I already had my pit tickets and I thus couldn't go with you..." She seemed to hesitate to say that she had received my email, but finally, she told me that she had received her. She also told me that by calling Evenko, they had let her purchase one single pit ticket, so this is why she had been able to purchase only one and be in the pit that evening. She still couldn't believe that we were neighbors for the show... However, while talking to her a little, she realized that she was in pit 2 instead of pit 1, so she had to go back to her real seat. Too bad, it would have been fun to have her as a neighbor!

At some point while looking at the stage, I saw a woman in the first row wearing a white shirt with a message to Jon written in black. I told myself: "Well, this is it... I'm really under the impression that I started something with my tank top..." However, I comforted myself by telling myself that my message was still quite unique and I had been one of the first ones to do it... After all, who can brag about listening to the same song 3876 times in one year and really doing it?!

Geneviève arrived in the pit with her friend and they sat down two rows in front of us, quite at the same level as my seat. When she saw us, Geneviève waved at us with conviction with her hand while making us a big smile after making a surprise expression with her face to see us so close to her! She even took a picture of me and Sandra to immortalize the moment! As I was saying, everywhere I could look in the pit, I could see familiar faces! I wondered at some point if people in the bleachers could see how several people were talking to other people in the pit and in the first rows of the floor. I was under the impression of being part of a small community in the pit. If Maryse and Rosy had been there, we would have had quite a party!

I was finalizing my last preparations for the show when Sandra told me to look behind me. I saw that the people behind me were two men and a woman and the woman already seemed drunk! She and the man beside her had a drink in their hand... Sandra made me notice that both of them seemed drunk and I told myself that it was not good news... Our coats were on the back of our seats and I didn't feel like getting alcohol on mine, because I have to dry clean it when it's dirty and it was my coat for this time of the year... Apart from my heavy winter coat, I didn't have another one to replace this one while it would get dry cleaned! Moreover, having drunk people behind us often means that we would get beer or another alcohol on us and I didn't feel like it at all!! I then prayed the show gods so they would keep them quiet without having them do stupidities! I also told myself that it would be hard to let them understand that I wanted to go to the catwalk! They were the only people separating me from the catwalk and in their state of inebriation and the fact that two out of the three people were men, they would certainly not understand that I would like to go over their seat to get to the catwalk! For that matter, throughout the show, I had the feeling that these people were really not used to being in the pit, just by the way they were reacting (or not reacting)... I also passed the comment to Sandra that there were still quite a lot of men in the pit and I was really surprised to see that!

I saw a few photographers at the back of the pit while looking around me. I told myself that at least, there was media coverage, because media hadn't seemed to talk about the show at all in the morning on television... I was very disappointed to notice that! I had hope that there would be articles in the newspapers about the show on the next morning...

The characteristic clock ticks of the AC/DC song called Hells Bells started playing and most of the people in the pit rushed to get to their seat. I stood up immediately, after verifying and verifying again that all my things were well positioned in my purse underneath my seat, that my Bed Of Roses banner was on my chair, hooked by the strap of my purse, and that I had my camera around my neck. Talking about my camera, Maryse had given us settings which supposedly made very nice pictures without them being blurry, but I had tested some settings during the day and I wasn't comfortable with these settings. Sandra had asked me a few minutes earlier if I had decided to use Maryse's settings. As I made her notice, I had very nice tickets that night and I was confident that I would take nice pictures. I didn't want to risk losing time during the show to try new settings and waste time finding the best ones with the room lighting. I thus stayed in the good old shutter mode while specifying to Sandra that I would wait the next tour to try these miracle settings.

Lights went off in the Bell Centre, triggering a reaction from the crowd that was already better than in Toronto. I told myself that all of those who had seen the Bon Jovi shows in Toronto would see that evening what is an enthusiastic crowd! Sandra turned on her iPhone to see what time it was and she signaled me to look at it. I surely had a weird face, because she just told me, while the show introduction music was playing: "It's for your review!" It was then 8h18pm. The spotlights focused on Jon's microphone stand, as usual, while the band members arrived slowly on the stage, triggering sincere screams in the pit. At the first notes of That's What The Water Made Me, Jon arrived on the stage with a bang, literally triggering the crowd to go crazy! After starting to scream to accompany the crowd, I told myself: "Ah! The Captain America vest! I suspected it!! But that time, he has the same red shirt as in Toronto underneath his vest! Grr!!" I was less frustrated than at the beginning of the second show in Toronto, because deep inside, I expected to see Jon wearing this vest in Montreal... And after all, I was in the pit in Montreal, life was already beautiful and it wasn't a Captain America vest that would ruin my evening!

The list of songs played was:

• That's What The Water Made Me
• You Give Love A Bad Name
• Raise Your Hands
• Runaway
• Lost Highway
• Whole Lot Of Leavin'
• It's My Life
• Because We Can
• What About Now
• We Got It Going On
• Keep The Faith
• Amen
• Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
• Diamond Ring
• (You Want To) Make A Memory
• Born To Be My Baby
• We Weren't Born To Follow
• Who Says You Can't Go Home
• I'll Sleep When I'm Dead including Great Balls Of Fire with David singing, Rocking All Over The World with Jon singing, Start Me Up with Bobby singing and Taking Care Of Business with Phil singing
• Bad Medicine

Encores:

• Captain Crash And The Beauty Queen From Mars
• Have A Nice Day
• Wanted Dead Or Alive
• In These Arms
• Always
• Livin' On A Prayer
• Never Say Goodbye
• I Love This Town

There you go! A 28-song show, worthy of a show in Montreal! Even if the set list looked a lot like the one for both shows in Toronto one week prior, it was, with the show on February 14, 2013 in Montreal, the best show of my tour. You will understand why while continuing to read my review... The show lasted from 8h18pm to 11h10pm, so very close to three hours! I was really happy when I saw the time when the lights turned on at the very end of the show! The band had made a little special by staying a little longer and we took it all well... I took 1534 pictures and I made eight videos only. It goes without saying that I savored this show a lot more than the others with the small amount of pictures that I took even if I were near the stage! I decided to share with you my best pictures of that evening.

I rate this show in the top 2 of my best shows of the tour in most part because nobody was blocking my view for once! A quite older woman stayed down on her seat for almost the whole show in front of Sandra (we had recognized her from the fan club trip in Toronto) and Eve and her friend who were in front of me were a lot shorter than me. A woman of my height was in the row in front of me, between the older woman and Eve, but she was quite OK throughout the show. She rarely blocked my view! Who says nobody taller than me in front of me also says less distractions to prevent me from enjoying the show to the fullest!

I believe that it's during That's What The Water Made Me, but it could be during You Give Love A Bad Name as well (Ti-pit was still too flabbergasted from the crowd's reaction to remember this detail, because it fell off of its chair while it was written...), I heard a wave of screams coming straight from the back of the room and flowing down towards the stage. I was so impressed to hear this wave of screams, it must have been even more impressive to be on the stage and hear it arrive! In the pit, I noticed that when one of us four, Isabelle S., Isabelle L., Sandra or I, was starting to scream, the others around us were starting to do the same, triggering several times episodes of intense screaming.

Before starting You Give Love A Bad Name, Jon said something along the lines: "Welcome Montréal, Québec!" triggering a wave of screams in the Bell Centre. He also said his famous: "This ain't television baby! Get up off of your seats!" to the crowd, but he had to say it a little less longer than in Toronto. While taking a quick look on my right, I could see that the people were almost all standing up already. At the end of the song, Jon took his microphone and he said: "Now... me and you..." before letting us sing without music. The crowd's singing was impressive! What a crowd we were, I was proud of us!

The crowd vividly participated during Raise Your Hands to Jon's request. Indeed, people in the pit were raising their arms in the air during the chorus and when I turned around, I noticed that the people in the bleachers were raising their hands joyfully, even in the highest sections and at the back of the room, as well as the people behind the stage! For that matter, I must congratulate people behind the stage, because they danced a lot for most of them throughout the evening without having direct interaction with Jon!

Little downside to the evening: I noticed during Raise Your Hands that I didn't have my engineer iron ring on my little finger of my right hand!! I looked quickly on the vest that was on the back of the chair in front of me to see if I had not lost it when raising my hand rapidly at the beginning of the show. It didn't seem to be there. I then took out my iPhone and opened the flashlight application to look quickly on the ground around me and in front of me. I remember that Jon said at this moment: "From Montréal to Tokyo" instead of "From New Jersey to Tokyo" during the chorus, triggering another wave of screams in the crowd. Anyway, I wasn't able to spot my ring by looking with my iPhone's flashlight... I told myself: "Either it is in my purse, a thing that often happens when I slip my cold hand in my purse, either it's in the crowd somewhere!" It didn't prevent me from enjoying the show, but at first, I was really under the impression that I had lost it for good this time! Worth 20$, I didn't care too much! However, this ring is priceless to me, since I wear it since I graduated from university in 2003 and because of its significance towards my professional responsibility... It wasn't the first time that I was losing it and I had little confidence that I would be able to find it after thinking about the possibility that it was maybe in my purse!

Before starting Runaway, Jon made the comment that this song was really old! At the first characteristic synthesizer notes of this song, Sandra was already hysterical! I had hope to hear a set list a little more varied from the one in Toronto, because Runaway had been played during the encores the first night and not played at all the second night...

I remember feeling a little weak during the first songs of the show, this light-headed feeling which sometimes means an imminent loss of consciousness. I calmed myself quite quickly without having to sit down. I could still see clearly without black spots in my field of view, so when I stopped all activities during a few seconds, I was able to go back to a normal state of mind. I told myself at that moment that I was really tired and there was a limit to the capacity of adrenaline to keep me up and in shape! Let's understand that I was at my 25^th Bon Jovi show in 20 years and a half that night and that I was now used to being close to the stage... I was over the time when just the fact of seeing Jon from up close made me weak in the knees! My weakness could only be explained by tiredness!

Sandra also made me notice early during the show that it was really hot in the pit and I must admit that she was right! She had told her spouse before dinner that she had not been hot in the Air Canada Centre, even in the pit, and that it wasn't usually the case in the Bell Centre. I can testify that we were hot during the evening in Montreal! And Jon as well, because his Captain America leather vest was soaked in his back only a few songs after the beginning of the show! I told myself at that moment that he would have no choice but to take it off soon!

Jon interacted a lot with the crowd in the pit. I saw him look well at at least two signs that Isabelle S. and Isabelle L. showed him, while making a smile afterwards each time. I'm quite sure that he recognizes them after all the shows they went to this year!

I never have a lot of memories of the songs Lost Highway and Whole Lot Of Leavin', but I remember that that evening, I sang both songs at the top of my lungs and I took a significant amount of pictures, because Jon is usually quite quiet on the stage with his acoustic guitar!

Right before playing It's My Life, Jon talked to us again by saying that it was the last show of the North American tour and he added: "And we saved the best for last!!" Is it necessary to tell you that when saying these words, the Montreal's crowd's screams were deafening?! Even if he must say that each time the band finishes up a North American tour, Jon seemed particularly sincere while saying it and he was very happy to hear the crowd's reaction. For that matter, I was under the impression several times during the evening that Jon had missed such enthusiasm from a crowd! He said something else, but people were screaming so loud around me that I didn't understand anything! And he said that he would not talk much, because we had "a long way to go". When he turned around after this sentence, the first notes of It's My Life triggered the crowd to go crazy in the Bell Centre once again.

I had a moment with Jon during It's My Life; for that matter, I had often had one during this song throughout this tour... I will start believing that he thinks that it's my favorite song despite what is written on my tank top! Unless he really insisted on looking at the men behind me, I'm quite convinced that he looked at me in the eyes and that he glanced at my tank top during this song! I was happy for not having anyone taller than me that night for that, because my tank top could easily be read! I was also under the impression of having other moments of visual contacts with Jon during the evening, but when Jon was coming on our side, a big spotlight would blind me, so I cannot know for a fact the number of times he looked at me, but I know that he did it a few times... I also had a little thought for Maryse when I saw that I had regularly a spotlight in my eyes; I could see the tunnel in which Jon was several times during the show! Was it paradise? Maybe... One thing is for sure, even if I were often blinded, I quite liked being in a spotlight! This means that I was close enough to the stage!

I noticed a phenomenon during a song when people had to clap their hands, I don't remember which one anymore (it was maybe during Because We Can). When I turned around and looked at the people completely at the back of the room, I saw that there was a little delay between the time when we were clapping our hands compared to the people at the back of the room! The Bell Centre is not that big, but it is probably big enough to introduce a little delay in the propagation of sound!

At some point during the evening, I smelled a quite strong smell of cigarette... I told myself: "Oh my! I hope that it's not one of the men behind me!!" When I turned around, I looked at the man who was directly behind me and he seemed shady with his hand in front of him... I'm sure that he was the one holding a hidden cigarette. I had a pinch in the heart, because first, I hate the smell of cigarette and I knew well that it would be impossible to drag a security guard's attention without missing a few minutes of the show and second, with the alcohol that he had drunk and the proximity of his hidden hand to my coat, I was really afraid that he would set it on fire!! At the end of the show, I clearly saw cigarette butts on the floor behind my chair, so it was really him! Sandra told me that she didn't smell anything and that if she had smelled anything, she would have told on him. She couldn't believe that I didn't say anything with my intolerance to cigarette smoke... Maybe I'm too kind with smokers during a show... Next time, I give myself the mission to try to tell on illegal smokers in the Bell Centre more actively!

We Got It Going On was once again excellent, Jon had a lot of energy and he went to see the fans behind the stage as usual, making them hysterical! I thought about my two-year-old son once again when Jon made us raise our hands in the air at the beginning of the song...

At the very beginning of Keep The Faith, while I was looking at Jon and David afterwards, I told myself: "But what will I do if they really play Bed Of Roses??!! I almost hope that they will not play it to avoid being stressed out even more! My chances are so low of getting to the catwalk with the ropes of the central aisle and the men behind me! What is the best strategy to get to the catwalk?! If I stay behind, but near the central aisle, would I have a better chance of dragging Jon's attention if he turns around at the right moment?" I was really stressed out by all of that and I had a hard time thinking about anything else! I still took a few pictures of Jon and his maracas during the song, but I didn't feel like taking pictures at all! My thoughts were going through my head at a 100 miles per hour: how would I reach the catwalk?? I still took my Bed Of Roses banner in my hands to have all my "tools" when the time would come for me to go to the catwalk... Both Isabelle had already left their seat to head behind pit 2 on their left. I was telling myself that it was not stupid to do that, because security was usually a little more permissive on the left side... However, security made the people who had already gathered at the catwalk behind me turn around, because Jon had to pass there.

Talking about security, it was a lot stricter in Montreal that night than in Toronto the previous week! As I described previously, guards verified most of the signs brought by people in the pit, they were making people who were getting a little too far away from their seat turn around, Isabelle S. even told me that a little later during the evening, when the band was on the catwalk, Matt Bongiovi, Jon's brother, had to go warn a security guard to take it easy a little, because he was taking away all the cartons that fans had at the catwalk without any reasons...

Well anyway, security guards were still not bringing the ropes to contain the people in the pit to keep the central aisle free and the song was coming to an end... When Jon disappeared from the stage, Bobby and Phil started doing their usual solo and I had just the time to see Sandra snake in and out like a cat through the people and cross the main aisle to go take refuge right beside the staircase at the back of pit 2 on the left while looking towards the stage (on the right while looking towards the catwalk). Immediately after, I saw guards bring the black ropes... She was lucky of being able to snake in and out like that. I then looked at one of the men behind me, he looked at me as if he had no clue of what was going to happen! The lights went off, I saw Jon arrive in the pit, he passed one or two meters away from me, our eyes met briefly, I didn't want to insist to touch him even if I sincerely believe that it would have been possible; he was so close! I think that the man behind me didn't even notice that Jon passed beside him! While Jon was climbing the stairs of the little staircase at the back of the pit, I looked at the man behind me, he didn't seem to know what I meant and wanted to do. I thus brought my hands to the side as if I were trying to tell him to step aside, but he still didn't understand. I then said: "I want to pass!!" and I started stepping over my chair and he stepped aside right on time for me to put my foot on his seat to step over his chair. It seems to me that it took me so much time to step over both chairs, mostly with my high heels... I was then telling myself that I would never get to the catwalk on time with all the people from the edge of the other rows who could get there way before me! When I finished stepping over the chair of the man behind me, I stretched my arms forward and I then saw that there was nobody at the catwalk in a width of a few meters! How was it possible?? I grabbed the corner of the catwalk with both my hands and the rest of my body followed. I was expecting to get pushed, but nothing like that happened. Other girls arrived on each side of me and behind me without nobody wanting my spot. It had been too easy and I couldn't believe that I was there, elbows on the catwalk again! What a chance! I don't know what happened, honestly, to have nobody at the catwalk where I was when I arrived! Maybe I'm more enthusiastic than others to go to the catwalk also!

I was still in shock of getting at the catwalk when Jon said that they would now play a song from their latest album. While Jon was starting to sing Amen, I started looking at the people in the first row of the floor who were now in front of me. I realized that Maryse and Julie were completely swooned on Jon; they were directly in front of him! However, I had a hard time taking pictures of them, because there was a spotlight hooked to the catwalk between them and me. I started taking a few pictures of Jon. The woman on my right smiled at me at some point while I was taking pictures and she told me: "You'd better get his nice little ass on the picture!" Her comment really surprised me! I then played the game and I started taking pictures of Jon by making sure to get his butt on the pictures. I then put my camera in view mode and I told her: "Is it good enough for you?!" while showing her one of the pictures that I had just taken. She then told me: "Yes! Perfect!" while making another big smile.

I also tried to understand how the catwalk was made, because I seemed to have my left hip leaning against something solid but flexible at the same time. While palpating the vertical part of the catwalk with my right hand, I noticed that there was a band not too wide which seemed empty not far away from where I was and I thus concluded that it must have been some panels of a narrow width. My interest to understand how things are made follows me even during a Bon Jovi show to a point where I get distracted from the main action a few meters away from me!!

I wasn't focused at all during Amen, I barely heard it! I took other pictures of my hand resting on the catwalk. (I think that I created a new tradition by doing that two shows in a row...) When I took the pictures of my hand, I noticed that Matt Bongiovi, Jon's brother, was right in front of me, sitting down or crouching not to block the view of the people in the first rows of the floor. I also took pictures of him, since I was there! By looking at Jon a little more carefully, I also noticed that he had a towel at his feet. It's crazy how I had never noticed that the towel that he uses at the catwalk was on the catwalk! I was sure that someone from the crew members was the one who was holding it up until he needed it! I took pictures of that too, to be sure to remember this detail...

Towards the end of Amen, I noticed that several people in the Bell Centre had turned on their cellular phone and the effect was really beautiful with Jon at the catwalk... At least I had the time to realize that nice moment and take a picture! Maryse and Julie will be happy, because I was even able to include them in the picture: Julie is on the left of the spotlight in the lower left corner and Maryse is right on the other side of the spotlight on the right, beside the man wearing a burgundy shirt!

There was a little silence after Amen... For a fraction of a second, I told myself that this was maybe it, because Jon seemed to want to stay alone... He's alone when he sings Bed Of Roses at the catwalk... However, my hopes vanished when he took his guitar, put a knee on the catwalk to touch the hand of some fans as he does quite often at the catwalk (I learned afterwards that Jon stretched his hand to specifically take Maryse's hand, but when I realized his gesture, a few hands were already on Jon's) and invited David, Tico and Bobby to come join him at the catwalk. I then positioned myself correctly not to miss my chance of touching David, the only one who goes on the catwalk whom I hadn't touched in one week... I saw him arrive, I put myself on the tip of my toes and I stretched my right arm up. He passed in front of the women on my left while touching their open hand and when he arrived in front of me, I touched his hand and mine closed on his. The moment lasted for a fraction of a second, but I was still able to squeeze his hand longer than most people. I was really happy with my shot! This was it: in seven days, I had had direct contacts with Jon, Bobby, Tico and David!

While the band was getting comfortable to play Someday I'll Be Saturday Night, I looked around me and I noticed Patrizia who was near the staircase leading to the catwalk. She saw me if I remember well and she smiled at me. I imagine that she was very happy for ending up there! I was quite happy for her anyway...

It's really weird to have reacted that way, but when the band started Someday I'll Be Saturday Night, I realized more and more that I would not hear Bed Of Roses that evening and I was relieved in some way. As long as I don't hear this song when I'm at the catwalk, the longer I will continue to believe that my dream can become true. If I had heard Bed Of Roses that evening and if Jon hadn't done anything yet despite that I was almost perfectly positioned and that I had expressively asked him one week before to dance with me in Montreal, I think that I would have taken it personally to see him not do anything... Anyway, I felt guilty thinking about that and I hope that the day Jon sees this review, he will realize how much I care about this dream, but also how terrified I am by the fact that he could make it come true! "Be careful what you wish for, you might get it" they said... When I hear Bed Of Roses in my car and the solo starts, I see myself being pulled up to go dance with Jon at the catwalk... I still have hope, I just know that it will need to wait more! I still got less stressed out at that moment and I was able to enjoy my time at the catwalk with more serenity.

I remember hitting the catwalk with my open hand to follow the beat during Someday I'll Be Saturday Night. I then told myself that it must have been during this song that I had done the same thing during the second show in Toronto the previous week. What a nice feeling to be able to do that! I also had a fixation on David's shoes who was still quite close to me. I realized that Jon already had similar shoes, but David's shoes seemed really bigger to me than Jon's! Don't try to understand why I thought about this nor how I remember it. Ti-pit simply decided to write this in its note pad...

During the first moments when Jon was on the catwalk, I had seen a woman in the first row of the floor with a sheet on which it was written: "YOUR PICK: Marry me? Give me your guitar pick?" with a box beside both choices that the woman was suggesting to Jon... Obviously, Jon is already married, so he figured out that she wanted his guitar pick... At the end of Someday I'll Be Saturday Night, I saw that Jon stretched forward again and he went to take the woman's hand while putting his guitar pick in it at the same time as she was holding her sheet with the other hand! It goes without saying that she seemed to freak out because of the gesture!

Jon said afterwards that they would play a song from the These Days album. I don't know why I looked at the crowd in the pit, but I looked on my right and I noticed that a man was holding up a bright yellow sign on which a very special message was written... I don't remember the exact message anymore, but it was similar to: "The ring is in my pocket. At the end of Diamond Ring, I will propose." His spouse seemed in front of him, so she didn't seem to know his intentions! Tico saw the sign and he smiled at the man while he tried to drag Jon's attention, by stretching an arm towards him. Jon was then focused on looking in front of him... Unfortunately, Jon didn't turn around and Tico signaled the man with a face a little disappointed that seemed to mean: "Hum... Not sure that Jon will do something for you two..." Indeed, at the end of the song, Jon didn't do anything for that couple, but I bet that there was an additional woman in the pit with a ring on her ring finger after this song... I wish them a lot of happiness!

When Diamond Ring finished, Jon was the only one to stay at the catwalk. David passed in front of me while running to go back to the main stage as fast as possible, so it was out of the question to touch him again! I was still proud and entirely satisfied with the physical contact that I had had with him earlier in the evening! When I heard the first notes of (You Want To) Make A Memory, I realized that Jon would pass on our side to get back to the main stage after the song! I figured out the benefit of being in the right part of the pit at that moment; it's harder to get to the catwalk, because we have to wait until Jon passes at the back of the pit beforehand. Indeed, Jon passes a few centimeters away from us in this part of the pit but he also gets back to the main stage from the catwalk on the same side!

When Jon started singing (You Want To) Make A Memory, I saw a woman run towards Jon on the catwalk. She had a VIP badge around her neck and she was very determined to go see Jon! When she arrived beside him, she jumped on him straight and Jon completely stopped playing guitar and singing! My eyes stopped on Jon's left hand which was hanging against his body and while I was holding my breath, a security guard got to the woman at the same time as Matt literally leaped to go help the guard to take the woman away. Matt didn't need to jump on the catwalk, because the guard was able to free up Jon from the woman's grip. Jon didn't seem happy at all to see the woman jump on him like that! Honestly, I didn't have the time to see what the woman did to Jon, but I think that she forced a kiss on him. I remember seeing the woman being evacuated from the catwalk afterwards at the speed of light and the crowd reacted by screaming. Maybe I was the only one not to find this funny, because I didn't feel that it was appropriate to scream for this gesture. I was just relieved that it didn't get any worse! I learned afterwards that the woman got escorted out of the Bell Centre at that moment and when I learned that, I told myself that there was justice in this world! Little message to the women who would like to attempt the experience: IT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!! The people who can go on the stage or on the catwalk must be invited by Jon, that's it! There is no glory in doing what the woman did that night, let's say it! Jon seemed to be hesitant in doing other physical contacts with fans for the rest of the evening and a part of me still thinks that it's because of this incident!

Jon headed towards us at the end of the song, but his hands didn't quit his guitar while he passed in front of me. He was just a little passed where I was when the few women who were beside me and I decided to move together towards our left where Jon then was. I told myself: "I cannot believe that I will not touch him!!" and while saying that, I stretched my body and my left arm right on time to touch very briefly the bottom of his pants gently without grabbing anything not to hurt him. This is really not the kind of physical contact that I wanted to have with Jon, but well, it was better than nothing! I was proud of myself for not wanting to touch Jon by taking a part of his body in my hand as I was doing before. Was my annoying habit of "grabbing" Jon cured and could I be satisfied with physical contacts with the palm of my open hand without closing it??!!

I came back to my seat using the central aisle, because I didn't really think that it was a good idea to ask the man behind me in the pit to step over his chair... Back at my seat, I was able to realize that a glass of water (because it didn't smell like alcohol and the floor didn't seem to be sticky) had tipped over near my seat; there was a small flood at my feet! Yurk... But well, fortunately, it was just water and when I felt drops of water splash on my pants or my nylon stockings when I was jumping and dancing, I knew that I would not smell beer when getting out of there! Fortunately, my bottle of water was still standing and available for me to drink.

During Born To Be My Baby, the woman at the end of our row near the central aisle had a banner from which I didn't have the chance to read the message that was displayed on it. I just know that during the song, Jon signaled the woman and she went to give him some sort of cape with Jon's face from the 1980s on it. He took it in his hands and he stopped singing while he put it around his neck as a cape by holding it with one hand to prevent it from falling down! He even walked on the stage with his back against us on purpose for a few seconds to show the people what was on the cape. He then tightened it more solidly around his neck to free up his hand that was still holding it. However, a little later at the end of the song, it got loose, so he showed it correctly during the "na na na na, na na na, na na na na". He took out a permanent marker from his right back pocket, he removed the cap with his teeth and he SIGNED the cape while taking his time!!! I was seeing Jon do that during a concert for the first time! He then threw the cape on the stage, he went to pick it up to throw it in the crowd so the woman could get it back. He also threw the marker in the pit, while making a face that meant: "Well what?! I'm entitled to do it!"

During We Weren't Born To Follow, I realized that I was really physically drained! I was so tired, I wondered how I would still stand up for long! I was nauseous from being exhausted! Yet, towards the end of the show, I was so in shape, we would have never said that I got so tired!

I don't remember when anymore during the second half of the show, but I saw Sandra check the battery of her camera at some point. She seemed to have problems, so I asked her what was the matter. She showed me her camera and I saw that the LCD screen was completely black even if the camera seemed on. I could see that she was a little panicked, so I asked her to see it. When I took it in my hands, I tried a few basic things to try to "wake it up", without success. When I handed her the camera, a light bulb turned on in my head... If the camera were on and if the LCD screen were black like this, maybe she had hit the button to transfer the image to take a picture of in the visor instead of the LCD screen. One of my nephews had made me discover this mode with my camera at the release of my sister's book a few weeks before. I then looked quickly in the visor of Sandra's camera to realize that indeed, I could see something. I then asked to take the camera in my hands and I pressed on the button to bring the image back to the LCD screen. When Sandra saw that everything was fixed, I literally saw her let out a sigh in relief!

During the show, I tried quite hard to drag David's attention (he was right in front of me) for him to stop moving while I would take a picture of him without having his hair be blurry on his face, but he didn't seem to look at me long enough for me to ask him. I was still able to take a few nice pictures of him during the show. I know that he looked in my direction a few times during the evening, but he seemed more amused by the fact that I was often screaming and that I was giving all I had to sing and dance than wanting to stop moving for a picture!

After being back at our seats after the part of the show at the catwalk, Sandra made me notice at some point that David Bergman was behind us at the back of the pit. When I turned around, I saw him with his black shirt on which embroidery said "STAFF" and he was looking at me. He was surely taking pictures from the pit and I wondered if he had been looking at us like that for a long time!

At the end of We Weren't Born To Follow, I looked in both Isabelle's direction, they already had their signs to ask Jon to go sing Who Says You Can't Go Home on the stage with him and they went into the main aisle to give themselves a little more visibility. When Jon said: "It's alright! It's alright! Who Says You Can't Go Home!!", I immediately headed as close as I could towards the aisle without setting foot in the aisle and I showed my sheet on which it was written "Please let our friends here sing with U". I don't even know if Jon saw it, because he didn't seem to look in my direction at all, and I'm not even sure that he looked at the Isabelle's signs as much neither. When I saw that he was starting the song without making any illusion to people who wanted to sing with him in the pit, I went back to my seat immediately... He had decided not to sing with anybody that night... Isabelle L. tried to drag Jon's attention several times during the song with her custom Montreal Canadiens shirt, but he never signaled her to let her know that he wanted it! Unfortunately, better chance next time!

I enjoyed myself a lot during I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, mostly at the beginning when Jon made us clap our hands to the drum beat, a little faster afterwards while bouncing, when he made us say the "one... two... one... two... one, two, three, four" at the beginning of the song... A party was going on in the pit at that moment! And we got such a mix in the middle of the song! Jon first started to say that he needed jukebox music. He mumbled a few sentences and then, he said: "Jukebox music! We need good jukebox music!... I need to stop talking!" It was really funny when he said that, because it seemed like he had just noticed that he was talking and talking without doing anything else... He continued while saying: "All right, who wants to go first? Who's first? Who's first?" and he then designated David as the person who had something for us. As I suspected it a little with my experience of the first show in Toronto one week before, he sang Great Balls Of Fire, triggering the crowd to go crazy in the Bell Centre. After ending this song, David pretended drinking imaginary shooters that he was taking from his keyboards! Jon continued while singing Rocking All Over The World, triggering the crowd to go crazy once again. When he stopped singing, he said: "Wait a minute... Wait a minute... Wait a minute! I might start scaring these people because we could do this kind of stuff all night long, you know?" Another wave of sincere screams was heard in the crowd. I had a nice surprise when Bobby started playing the characteristic guitar notes of Start Me Up from the Rolling Stones! I think that it was the first time that I was hearing it in concert! Bobby sang it and in the meantime, Jon decided that he was imitating Mick Jagger, triggering the crowd to go crazy in the Bell Centre. It was so funny seeing him sway his hips and go around on the stage like Mick does and seeing him do the same facial expressions! We have to believe that Jon already observed him long enough to be able to imitate him like that! Jon really seemed to enjoy himself on the stage at that precise moment, because he couldn't stop laughing. He even knocked on his head with his fist after imitating Mick the first time, as if he wanted to say: "Come on, do I have all my head to imitate Mick?!" Jon finally told Phil: "Put a quarter in the jukebox! Something Canadian!", a sentence that once again triggered a wave of screams in the crowd. People reacted very well to Taking Care Of Business that Phil sang brilliantly!

Jon triggered the crowd to go crazy in the room when he decided to take off his leather vest at the end of l'll Sleep When I'm Dead if I remember well, showing only his black long-sleeved shirt. The gesture was sensual, but well, he was still wearing a long-sleeved shirt underneath, there was not much to get ourselves excited like we did!! Ah feminine hormones with an handsome male, it's stronger than us to react irrationally!!

I remember singing really loud the beginning of Bad Medicine and the crowd in the pit was particularly in shape for this song as well! I saw Sandra leave for the catwalk again (I don't remember anymore in which direction however, she left at the speed of a gazelle) when Jon headed towards the right side of the stage. In Toronto, he had started his round on the catwalk on the left (while looking towards the stage) and that night, he would clearly do it on the opposite direction, starting on the side where I was. I then turned around and I signaled the man behind me that I wanted to pass. I don't remember anymore who stepped over a chair that was right beside the man, but it was a woman in front of me or in the same row as me. The man thus held the chair to make a space large enough for me to slip my leg in the space instead of stepping over the chair once again. Both chairs between which I passed through were not really hooked together anymore, so this is why it wasn't hard for the man to keep one a little apart from the other one. I arrived at the catwalk once again right on time to see Jon arrive. I couldn't believe that I was able to get to it again with all the women in the first rows of the pit who surely had thought that he would go around the catwalk! When Jon arrived at our level, I stretched my right arm up if I remember well and I waited for Jon to touch my hand, a thing that he did! I let my hand go downwards afterwards and without doing it on purpose, I found myself with the palm of my open hand sliding along a part of Jon's leg, it seems to me like it was along the outside of his thigh... I told myself: "Oops, what did I just do??!!" but at the same time I told myself: "Oh yeah!!! I'm no longer a grabber! I was able to touch him twice without grabbing him!! I'm definitely cured!!" After all the times when I touched Jon during the last years, I have to believe that it's not that exceptional anymore and my reflexes are starting to react better to Jon's contact! I was really proud of myself!

At the very end of Bad Medicine, both Isabelle took their "Please sing Never Say Goodbye" sheet in their hands and I did the same, at the same time as a few other people in the pit. I think that Jon had the time to see these sheets before leaving the stage, but I'm not sure of it... Jon wished us good night and the band members left by the staircase at the back of the stage. The crowd screamed and screamed, without doing the Montreal's characteristic "ole ole ole ole" (well, I didn't hear them!) and the background rock music started playing after a few moments. It was loud enough for the screams of the crowd not being able to bury it. I decided to go get my iPhone that was in my purse to hook it to my waist so it would be ready to be turned on at the beginning of Wanted Dead Or Alive...

When the band members came back on the stage, delirium was at full strength in the Bell Centre and even more when Sandra and I recognized the first notes of Captain Crash And The Beauty Queen From Mars!! Geneviève was already swaying both her arms in the air to the beat of the song and Sandra and I started doing like her, at the same time as several people in the pit. I have no pictures nor videos of this song, because I was way too busy savoring this song! When Jon swayed his guitar from side to side during the solo to invite people to do the same thing as us, I turned around to realize that almost everyone in the Bell Centre was swaying their arms to the beat, even the people behind the stage were doing it! It was simply magical once again!!

I sang at the top of my lungs during Have A Nice Day, faithful to my personal tradition. I also took a few pictures, because I quite liked the effect of spotlights which were making Joe V appear (the characteristic mischievous smiley of this song) behind the stage. When the song finished, I took my iPhone in my hands.

Before starting Wanted Dead Or Alive, Jon made another nice speech which looked like this: "This is our third time in Montreal this tour and uh, it's been 30 long years of your kindness towards this band, your friendship and your support, especially your patience... This is the last night of a tour in North America, we're off to Japan and Australia in the next few weeks. And I just want you to know that not a song goes by on any given night, that we don't sit up here grateful, for the chance to be able to do what we love to do for you and you allow us to do what we love to do. And especially I want to thank you, me, Tico and Dave, with Phil that's been helping us out 75 times so far, Bobby, Hugh, Richie and Alec, because they're out there somewhere with us too." The crowd's screams were well felt when Jon said: "Richie and Alec". He continued: "As I look out I notice everybody with these cellphone cameras on this tour. I realize that we're all in this kind of moment together, it'll never happen again. And there we were (? not sure that's what he said). So if you got one of these cellphone cameras, turn it on, hold it up, let's light this place up tonight. One more time... Let's see... Yeah... So when you go back to school on Monday or go back to work, and your boss, and your teacher, your husband, says: "Where the hell were you?" You could say you spent the last night with Bon Jovi! One, two, one, two, three, four..." Jon then started playing the beginning so characteristic of Wanted Dead Or Alive. Several people, including me, were filming the effect that all the cellular phones were making in the Bell Centre and we all seemed amazed. Anyway, I was amazed to a point that I wanted to cry. Everything seemed calm in the arena, nothing was more important that being in the present moment, being a part of this privileged moment with Bon Jovi. I had asked Martin the previous day how to turn on my iPhone's light on the side and he had told me to download the flashlight application. It did the work fully that night, because I could participate to this moment of pure serenity...

Jon let us sing the first verse of Wanted Dead Or Alive under the lights of the smart phones turned on for the occasion. The moment was simply sublime! I was very surprised to realize that Jon was playing alone a good part of the song with Phil who was patiently waiting to play his part. I had been right in Toronto when I had the impression that Jon was playing alone...

I looked at Sandra at the end of Wanted Dead Or Alive when the band members left the stage once more! But what were they doing leaving again? And what about Livin' On A Prayer?? I was relieved when the band came back, but very puzzled when I heard the first notes of In These Arms! In Toronto, they had ended the second show with In These Arms and Always, after playing Livin' On A Prayer beforehand!! I looked at Sandra and I told her: "I'm afraid that they forgot Livin' On A Prayer!!" She looked at me with a little bit scared look while telling me: "Come on... no!" I had a hard time believing that they had not yet played Livin' On A Prayer!! I think that Eve's friend, who was not far away in the row in front of me, was the one that Jon pointed at very clearly while he sang: "Everything here reminds me of you!" Judging by the scream that she let out when Jon pointed at her, I imagine that he made her day!!

During the encores, I noticed that a woman came to bring water to Jon on the stage by climbing discreetly the staircase at the back of the stage. I rarely see these people come bring something to Jon, apart from the man who brings the different guitars to Jon between the songs.

The Bell Centre trembled under the crowd's screams at the first drum beats of the beginning of Always! Jon seemed so tired at the beginning of the song, I was under the impression that he would have a hard time singing it. He couldn't stop putting both his hands in his face and I could clearly see that he was on his backup energy... Sandra was very nervous during Always and she finally asked me at some point if we were going at the back of the pit... I knew what she meant... A few days before, Jon had gone around the catwalk while singing the song... However, just by how Jon was on the stage, I didn't feel like he would do something that evening and I was right...

A few people in the pit showed their "Montréal loves Bon Jovi" sheet after Always, but several others also showed their "Please sing Never Say Goodbye" sheet. When Jon came back at the microphone with his acoustic guitar and when I recognized the first notes of the acoustic version of Livin' On A Prayer, I was relieved! Phew, they had not forgotten it!! I still sang with everything I had deep inside me throughout the song and particularly at the end when Jon invited us to sing alone. People were singing really loud in the surroundings!! When I turned around, I also saw that a few people had already left in the row behind me!! I don't know what is the idea behind paying so much money and not stay until the very end!

At the end of Livin' On A Prayer, the band took a final bow. The crowd was so wild that Bobby made a suffering face because the screams were so piercing! I heard crackling in my ears and I told myself: "This is it! We scream so loud that it's crackling!!" I saw Geneviève holding up proudly her "Stay just a little bit longer" banner and several people, including me, were holding up their "Please sing Never Say Goodbye" sheet at arm's length. Here is a preview of the effect that it made to be in the pit while several people were holding up their sheet:

Jon didn't take off his ear plugs immediately, he asked to get an acoustic guitar (he had gotten rid of his after the short acoustic part of Livin' On A Prayer) and I couldn't expect the joy that I felt when I recognized the first notes of Never Say Goodbye with Jon who started singing the song very soberly with his guitar and the minimum amount of drums that there could be! I screamed so loud, I thought that I would split my vocal chords! The woman in front of me even turned around during my burst of piercing screams to tell me to stop screaming like that! Sorry, but I was so happy to hear it!!! I looked at both Isabelle and they were as euphoric as well! I got so emotional during Never Say Goodbye, because I was hoping so much that what I was experiencing was goodbye and not farewell. Indeed, several people are nervous about what the future holds for us about Bon Jovi...

The band ended the show with I Love This Town, triggering the crowd to frankly go wild in the Bell Centre one last time. I couldn't believe the number of encores that we were getting!! I thought about my son once again during this song, because we taught him to raise his hands in the air after the solo exactly at the same moment as Jon usually asks us to raise ours... Ti-pit won that evening; even if the angel on my shoulder were telling me to savor the last moments of my tour without my camera, Ti-pit pinched it away from my conscience and it told me to make a video of a short part of the song for my son...

At the end of I Love This Town, I and several people held up our "Montréal loves Bon Jovi" sheet and Jon seemed really touched by the gesture. I also showed a sheet on which I had written: "Thank U for a great tour! See U soon!", but I'm not sure that any of the band members saw it with all the other sheets which were in the air at that moment... It's not too bad, I still transmitted my message! With a peak of emotion in his voice, Jon finally got back to his microphone to tell us something along the lines: "See you soon I hope! Drive safely, take care and good night!" before taking a final bow again with the band and leaving the stage, not without looking at the crowd one last time before going down the stairs of the staircase at the back of the stage, followed by the other band members.

The lights turned on quickly in the Bell Centre and I had had the time to see that a tour crew member had already gone on the stage to take out Jon's microphone stand even before the lights turned on!! I gathered my things, while wiping off the bottom of my purse with my cardigan, because the bottom was soaked in water because of the water on the ground. Sandra had gone to find an official set list and she came back with a copy in her hands once again. When I quickly took a picture of it before leaving, I saw that Livin' On A Prayer was included after Always, that Never Say Goodbye was not on it and that I Love This Town was there.

When we returned to our seats to get our coats, I saw that Isabelle L. was coming back to her seat with a chair from the first row in her hands. People who were in the first row could go back home with their souvenir-chair... I told her: "How come you are returning with a chair?!" She smiled at me and told me: "I had a deal with a girl in the first row, she was front row for the 15^th time! Let's agree that she didn't need it!"

Before leaving, despite the fact that security guards were telling us to leave, I mentioned to Sandra that I had lost my engineer iron ring and that I didn't know if it were in my purse or on the ground in the pit. When she told me to open my purse and look inside, I told her that I would not do that there, being afraid of losing something else! She then told me that we had to search in the pit to retrieve it. While looking with the ambient lighting, I absolutely couldn't see anything that looked like an engineer iron ring on the ground, so I told myself that it had to be in my purse!

I also learned how the vertical part of the catwalk was made, because people had already removed the black sheet that was covering up this vertical part... It was finally plexiglass panels which were so malleable!!! And I just happened to be between two panels during the show when the band was on the catwalk, which had made me believe that the panels were a lot narrower than what I had felt with my hands! When I lifted my head, I saw that Mélanie and her mother Nicole, women whom I had met in February 2013 during the fan club VIP party, were on the other side of the catwalk. Mélanie waved her hand to tell me that her mother was there and wanted to say hello to me! I was really happy to see them, because I hadn't had the time to go talk to them before the show.

Sandra and I headed towards the pit entrance that we had used to enter the pit before the show. We realized that the entrance was completely blocked by cases of stage equipment! Oops! How would we get out of there now?? A security guard saw us and he told us to head towards the other exit near where we had spent the evening. When we got closer to the other exit, I saw a woman with a big smile get out of the pit, while saying: "It pays off to stay longer sometimes!" She seemed to have a set list with hand-made corrections on it, maybe Jon's original set list? When we got out of the pit behind the woman, a man whom I have already seen somewhere (I'm pretty sure that he works for the fan club and that he had distributed the fan club tickets in February 2013) asked us in English if we were fan club members. Sandra and I immediately said yes and he asked us if we had had a hat with our package... I imagine that he thought that we had VIP packages without thinking about the possibility about us having purchased pit tickets without package... Sandra immediately said no, so he took out two hats from a bag full of hats that he was holding in his hands and he gave one to each of us while telling us that there were many left! Wow, another free gift on top of it all!! It's indeed profitable to stay longer in the pit sometimes! Sandra and I were very happy with our hats!

We went up the stairs in the bleachers to get to section 118 where Linda and Éric, Sandra's sister and brother-in-law, were waiting for us to get us back to Sandra's house. The crowd was very dense, but we were finally able to spot them after Sandra took her phone to call Linda. We went outside and we headed towards Linda's and Éric's vehicle that was parked farther in the streets near condos near the Bell Centre. My feet were hurting really badly at that moment, and most particularly my right big toe that's been hurting since nearly two years now, mostly when I wear high heels and I stand up on my feet for a long time! We got back to Sandra's house in a very reasonable delay.

When I drove from Sandra's house to mine, nostalgia got to me, because my tour was finished. The tour during which so many memories were created, the tour that made me meet Jon twice in the same year, the tour that allowed me to forget my stressing life and my daily hurting for a few hours... Each time a tour ends, I tell myself that it was the best and yet, the subsequent tour is even better! What does the next one have in store for me, I don't know!

When I got home, while putting away some of my personal things, I took the opportunity to empty the contents of my purse... to find my engineer iron ring comfortably installed at the bottom of the purse! I can no longer count the number of times when this ring slipped from my right little finger without my knowing it since I got it in December 2003, but I have still never lost it for good!

It's now three days after the Montreal show that I loved so much! Throughout the weekend (the show was last Friday evening), I had a very hard time with my voice. For one of the rare occasions, my voice is still hoarse and I'm in no rush for it to become normal again... When I washed my hair yesterday, I realized that it was the last part of me that I was washing since the end of my tour... It's crazy how a gesture that is so simple can have memories attached to Bon Jovi in some circumstances... I'm slowly coming back to my normal life, while realizing that I want to get back to all my projects that were put aside a little during the last weeks...

For statistics lovers, I decided to compile a list of numbers that is quite impressive about my tour... Since February 2013, that is since the last ten months:

• I saw the band 6 times;
• I wrote 215 pages worth of Bon Jovi show reviews in French;
• I wrote 204 pages worth of Bon Jovi show reviews in English;
• I took a little more than 11 000 Bon Jovi pictures;
• I made 87 Bon Jovi videos;
• I paid a little more than 6000$ for my tickets and my fan club trips (without taking travel into consideration);
• I was with Bon Jovi for about 15 hours.

I hesitated a long time to give a title to this review... I would have loved to hear the song Thick As Thieves which is on the What About Now album, the album behind the current tour. The band had played it right before the shows in Toronto and Montreal, but unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to hear it before the end of my tour... I decided to give the review a title relating lyrics of this song: "In a world without faith, you're what I believe" to remember the song that I will never hear live... I could have given the titles "United we stand" as well to talk about the participation of the people in the pit that evening to convince the band to play a significant song under the circumstances or "The last call of the dream tour"... See you soon, boys, thank you for making me so happy again like when I was a teenager...

Copyright © November 11, 2013 Marie-Hélène Cyr

• Home

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• Orthodontics - Orthognathic surgery

  • Introduction
  • Surgical patient's guide
    • Tips and advice
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    • Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
  • My story
    • OCTOBER 20, 2006 - The installation of my first braces
    • DECEMBER 8, 2006 - The installation of my lower braces
    • DECEMBER 13, 2007 - The removal of my wisdom teeth
    • MARCH 15, 2008 - My surgery (2 days before my first surgery)
    • MARCH 17, 2008 - News about Marie-Hélène (email sent by my husband)
    • MARCH 19, 2008 - Update (email sent by my husband)
    • MARCH 19, 2008 - Update (Take 2) (email sent by my husband)
    • MARCH 21, 2008 - News from the surgical patient!
    • MARCH 25, 2008 - Other news and first new pictures
    • APRIL 1, 2008 - Nothing but good news
    • APRIL 8, 2008 - Latest news
    • APRIL 14, 2008 - Not so good news
    • APRIL 15, 2008 - RE: ** UPDATE ** Not so good news
    • APRIL 15, 2008 - News from the second surgery (email sent by my husband)
    • APRIL 18, 2008 - News from the one that is slowly recuperating from her second surgery
    • APRIL 22, 2008 - News... again!
    • MAY 1, 2008 - After 6 weeks of appointments...
    • JUNE 6, 2008 - On the right track
    • AUGUST 27, 2008 - News!
    • NOVEMBER 17, 2008 - Another ordeal
    • DECEMBER 17, 2008 - Good news before Christmas
    • FEBRUARY 10, 2009 - The ugly duckling turned into a swan
    • FEBRUARY 9, 2012 - My teeth are acting up again!
    • FEBRUARY 13, 2012 - Appointment with my surgeon for my jaws
    • MARCH 20, 2012 - I will probably get out of it without braces!
  • Pictures & X-rays
    • Before/after the treatments
    • Before the braces/surgeries
    • After the surgeries
    • After the braces
    • X-rays

• Bon Jovi

  • Introduction
  • My show reviews
    • DECEMBER 10, 1993 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • AUGUST 3, 1995 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • NOVEMBER 28, 2000 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MAY 19, 2001 - Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
    • JULY 19, 2001 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • FEBRUARY 21, 2003 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • DECEMBER 14 & 15, 2005 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • JULY 13, 2006 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • NOVEMBER 14 & 15, 2007 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MARCH 19 & 20, 2010 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MAY 27, 2010 - East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA
    • JULY 24, 2010 - Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA
    • FEBRUARY 18 & 19, 2011 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MAY 4, 2011 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • JULY 9, 2012 - Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
    • FEBRUARY 13 & 14, 2013 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • APRIL 20, 2013 - Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
    • NOVEMBER 1 & 2, 2013 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • NOVEMBER 8, 2013 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • APRIL 7, 2018 - Newark, New Jersey, USA
    • MAY 17 & 18, 2018 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  • My Bon Jovi pictures
    • DECEMBER 14, 2005 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • DECEMBER 15, 2005 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • JULY 13, 2006 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • NOVEMBER 14, 2007 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • NOVEMBER 15, 2007 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MARCH 19, 2010 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MARCH 20, 2010 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MAY 27, 2010 - East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA
    • JULY 24, 2010 - Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA
    • FEBRUARY 18, 2011 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • FEBRUARY 19, 2011 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MAY 4, 2011 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • JULY 9, 2012 - Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
    • FEBRUARY 13, 2013 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • FEBRUARY 14, 2013 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • APRIL 20, 2013 - Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
    • NOVEMBER 1, 2013 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • NOVEMBER 2, 2013 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • NOVEMBER 8, 2013 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • APRIL 7, 2018 - Newark, New Jersey, USA
    • MAY 17, 2018 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MAY 18, 2018 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  • My Bon Jovi videos
    • DECEMBER 14, 2005 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • DECEMBER 15, 2005 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • JULY 13, 2006 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • NOVEMBER 14, 2007 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • NOVEMBER 15, 2007 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MARCH 19, 2010 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MARCH 20, 2010 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MAY 27, 2010 - East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA
    • JULY 24, 2010 - Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA
    • FEBRUARY 18, 2011 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • FEBRUARY 19, 2011 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MAY 4, 2011 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • JULY 9, 2012 - Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
    • FEBRUARY 13, 2013 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • FEBRUARY 14, 2013 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • APRIL 20, 2013 - Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
    • NOVEMBER 1, 2013 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • NOVEMBER 2, 2013 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • NOVEMBER 8, 2013 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • APRIL 7, 2018 - Newark, New Jersey, USA
    • MAY 17, 2018 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • MAY 18, 2018 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  • My texts and poetry
    • That Power Called Love (1997)
    • For My 5 Years of Devotion (1998)
    • 6 Years (1999)
    • I Love You Because (2000)
    • 10 Years - One Decade (2003)
    • Already 10 Years of Love (2003)
    • Deception of a Fan (2003)
    • Living In a Dream (2003)
    • You and I (2003)
    • Time Goes By Fast... When You're in Love (2004)
    • For Half My Life... (2005)
    • Have a Nice Day Farewell (2006)
    • 15 Years Ago ... on February 21, 1993... (2008)
    • My Love Celebrates Its Sweet 16 (2009)
    • What You Mean to Me (2011)

• Literature

  • My books
  • My dental articles
  • My miscallenous texts

• About me

  • Biography
  • My professional achievements
  • My meetings with Canadian astronauts

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