Photo Credit: exposay.comInvoking the specter of other musical giants who have played on Central Park's Great Lawn - Simon and Garfunkel, Luciano Pavarotti, Barbra Streisand - even Jon Bon Jovi himself seemed to be "Livin' on a Prayer" with 60,000 die-hard fans gushing for him.
"Not too many people have ever done it," he said. "What a way to end up. We started 10 nights ago in New Jersey. We end up with the biggest show in New York on the Great Lawn."
Frantic concertgoers sung along to every word as the band belted songs such as their iconic "You Give Love a Bad Name ." [CORRECTION: The name of one of the songs Bon Jovi performed Saturday night in Central Park, "You Give Love a Bad Name," was incorrect in a story yesterday. (A17 ALL 7/14/2008)]
And Bon Jovi was to blame - as the fans gave their love for him a good name, holding aloft banners adorned with the band's album covers and soaking in the musical blades of glory for the estimated two-hour show.
Jacob Fleitman, 25, was the first person waiting in line for the concert, arriving at 6 p.m. Friday. "I'm a die-hard Bon Jovi fan," said Fleitman, of Roosevelt Heights. "My wife is a bigger fan. She made me wait on line."
He spent the night in the company of other eager fans, tossing around a football and playing tunes on a stereo he brought in front of the park's East 72nd Street entrance. When he was allowed in at 2 p.m., he sprinted - with his wife lagging behind - eventually making it to the center of the front row. "It's been amazing for a free concert."
The park was set up in six zones, with staff allowing 10,000 at a time to enter. An overflow zone was set far back by the lake. According to concert staffers, the first quad filled up with 10,000 concertgoers in over an hour.
Other fans fared just as well without having to camp out the night before. Corey Brill, 19, an NYU student from Plainview and his friend Zach Shor, 20, of Manhattan, arrived to the concert line at 4 p.m. and made their way to the front row in a matter of seconds. "We just squeezed in," said Brill.
"I'm a pretty big Bon Jovi fan," said Kyle Atkinson, of Jamaica, Queens, who won his tickets through an online competition and waited in line with his girlfriend.
The concert, which began at 8 p.m., was a gift to the city from the Grammy-winning band and a prelude to the July 15 All-Star baseball game at Yankee Stadium.
Anne Marie Mannente, 43, a teacher's aide from Bon Jovi's hometown of Sayreville, N.J., said she's been attending the band's concerts since the early 1980s.
"He's always fun," she said. "Outdoors, he's even better. And they put on a good show."
Crystal Lopez, 22, an executive assistant from Stamford, Conn., who won her tickets through a radio call-in contest on "Z-100," waited more than an hour to enter the park. "Everyone here is making it so much better," she said.
Source: newsday.com
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