MOG

When Bon Jovi were scheduled to play a stadium gig in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in June, they bumped into an inconvenience: 50,000+ tickets to sell on a night that the Dutch national team play France in the European Soccer Cup.



So the powers that be have come up with a solution.

They've attracted VanVelzen to perform as the opening act. Unknown outside The Netherlands, perhaps, but within the country this singer/songwriter is already a huge star (in popularity terms, not in terms of height; he's only about 5 foot tall) and set for even bigger success solely on the back of a belter of a song due out soon as a movie soundtrack. The guy could possibly even sell out the venue in his own right.

That's not all. They're actually going the show the entire football match too, on the video screens..... not during the gig, but actually in between the gig.

Yes, I really said that.

They'll be putting on VanVelzen to do a full set before kick-off, then they'll be showing the full match on the video screens, and Bon Jovi won't start their set until after the final whistle.

So if you got tickets, prepare for a long night, as they don't expect to finish until 1am. Must be a gold mine for all those overpriced food and drink outlets inside the stadium, though.

Yet still, tickets are available plentiful, even the rip-off 'experience tickets' (685 euro for 3 songs on the side-stage stand; they used to give out those tickets for free in fanclub competitions, other bands still do).

With the line-up they have now, if the place doesn't sell out.....

.....Does anyone actually still want to see Bon Jovi perform live?