(Note: This details my whole day's worth of ups and downs, if you just want to read the show review go down until you hit THE CONCERT ITSELF)

Well, the Central Park concert was quite an interesting experience to say the least. We left Staten Island on the 5 o'clock Ferry, and there we discovered the first problem of the day: Lauren and Greg's (Two of my friends) tickets were East Side, and Teresa's and mine were West Side. After freaking out about this the entire cab ride down to 72nd Central Park West, we learned as soon as we arrived that the East and West Side distinctions meant absolutely nothing. So, quite relieved, we took our spot within the fist twenty spots online.
At this point, a news reporter from WABC 7 asked us and the group behind us if we'd be willing to sing a Bon Jovi song live on TV. We did, and it went over so well that we ended up appearing on 6 different live TV broadcasts on four different networks, and on three different radio stations. Surreal was the understatement of the century right there.
After our little foray with celebrity ended, we waited for 2 PM, when we were supposed be let into the park. When said time did finally come, every fear we've all had about the organization reared their ugly heads. The crowd up-rushed, and everyone's places in line became almost for nought. Once the security checkpoint arrived, our group forced our way back o the front, as we would not let our waiting go in vain. Security did end up taking my camera, which at first I wasn't that upset about.
After said checkpoint, we walked the rest of the way to the Great Lawn, where they held us for several minutes, before letting us loose Free For All style, with everyone charging for the front. We didn't run, but we did end with a spot about 9th row center at a real show. The organization on the field was even worse, as NONE of the sections were blocked off, and people kept packing into the front all day, even when there was no real room. I also began to notice that almost everyone around had cameras, which really pissed me off since my camera had been taken away. Add on to that the fact that this is the closest I've ever been at a show, and I was really upset about how so many great pictures I could have had. I still want to know why they stopped confiscating cameras, but I digress. In any case, we sat their waiting until about 7, when everyone in the crowd stood up and crowded into standing positions, which put us about 8th row center.

THE CONCERT ITSELF:
I don't know what went wrong in Sarnia, or in Detroit, but I do know the band I saw tonight was absolutely ON FIRE.
New York, New York - Central Park - 7/12/08
LIVIN' ON A PRAYER
YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME
LOST HIGHWAY
BORN TO BE MY BABY
RUNAWAY
SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD w/ Twist & Shout
BLAZE OF GLORY
WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN'
IN THESE ARMS
WE GOT IT GOIN' ON
IT'S MY LIFE
I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU - RICHIE VOCALS
HAVE A NICE DAY
KEEP THE FAITH
WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME
BAD MEDICINE w/ Shout

ENCORE:
ALWAYS
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
I LOVE THIS TOWN

The set itself was perfect for the venue, and perfect for the audience. Prayer absolutely worked as an opener, and while I still think it shouldn't be on regular basis, it really set up the crowd. Bad Name came in and knocked us all on our asses. LH sounded rockier than the last times I've seen it, but lost a bit of the casuals. BTBMB won them right back however. Runaway, while still not one of my favorite song, was tighter than I've ever heard it personally. The lack of Time Warp intro didn't hurt either, as I can't stand that thing anymore. Sleep went over big, and the crowd exploded for Twist And Shout, which works so much better in Sleep then on it's own. I blew up when Blaze started, as I'd never heard the real version live before. I was breathtaking, and I honestly thought that would be the easy highlight of the night for me. Little did I know what would happen later. First though, WLOL went over better than LH, though again lost people, and Jon really hammed the "Do we got it anymore?" line. ITA brought the crowd all the way back in, and was great minus a Bobby B. solo. WGIGO was the only new song that lost no one, as everyone seemed to be way into. It's My life was deafening, literally. I could barely hear for about a minute after the song ended. I've waited until IBTFY to even mention Richie's name in this thread. The man was on fire tonight, best I've ever personally seen him by far. And whatever was wrong with him illness wise seems to have passed, as he nailed IBTFY. And before you ask, the outro solo was delivered perfectly by Mr. Sambora, as it always should be. HAND came out of left field as I expected a slow song (MaM maybe, or I dared dream Always), and it again was deafening. Who Says came next, and was it's usual elongated self. At this point I started thinking about the encore, since I figured BM would finish the main set when Jon finished "alrighting". Obviously Wanted would be played, and I figured ILTT would follow, since it was an MLB event. I even texted JJx23 that prediction, as we'd been texting back and forth all night. BTW, Bad Medicine was almost as deafening as IML, though once again would be better served minus Shout. As the band readied for the encore, I figured it would be Wanted and ILTT, for the reasons I said before, but still hoping blindly for Always. In fact, so strong was that hope that when the band got into their encore positions, I was saying aloud "Please hit it Tico, Please hit it Tico, Please hit it Tico." Sure enough he did, and I screamed my ****ing head off. The band launched into a stunning version of Always. I couldn't believe how good it was, and that I was finally hearing it after all these years. Bumped Blaze right down to the number 2 slot for the night. After Always, the encore went exactly as I predicted. Wanted was great as per usual, and while I don't care for ending on ILTT it made some sense for this gig, and Jon made a lovely speech about NY firefighters and police officers post 9/11. Besides I got Always, everything after that was cake.
So all in all, it was a long day, and I need to sleep soon, but in the end it was a great show performance-wise, and even though the set was vanilla, I got two ABSOLUTE GEMS that I'd never heard before, while sitting as close as I've ever sat. Not to shabby I'd say, though I still wish I had pics.