Bon Jovi beats the heat; toughs out leg injury to rock New Jersey fans .

Neither intense heat wave, dehydration, dark of night, or a deep leg muscle pull would keep Jon Bon Jovi and his tireless band of Jersey Rockhammers from their appointed rounds.

It was a performance that would have left an unfit man face-down on the ground gasping for air; but for the ageless rocker, this was his last night in New Meadowlands Stadium---in his house---and fighter that he is, Bon Jovi beat the heat and delivered, with extreme prejudice.

It was a performance shared live, as it happened with vigilant play-by-play on Facebook and Twitter as Jon and Company retrenched, regrouped, and reloaded for their final stadium shows on the U.S. leg of their virtually sold out ‘The Circle’ tour.

Though the usual Bon JoviNation excitement was spilling all over the world on Twitter from the U.S. to Brazil, Argentina and Norway, fans attending the show kept the world informed as the frenetic front man with the rogue pirate’s rock n roll heart shared his treasured hits with the adoring throng.

Stifling heat? What you talkin' bout Willis? Over-loaded power grid and possible power failure? Someplace else, maybe...

In a set list that was Jersey Heart and Soul with such concert rarities as ‘Raise Your Hands’, ‘Lay Your Hands On Me’, ‘Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen From Mars’ and ‘Open All Night’ intermingled with the band’s usual Rock a la Carte of hits like ‘Bad Name’, ‘Livin on a Prayer’, ‘Have A Nice Day’ and ‘It’s My Life’ to name but a few, this unbearably hot and humid night was about thanking the town from whence he came for seeding and nurturing this skinny kid from Sayreville into the living, breathing incarnation of What It Means to Rock.

Twitter was afire with commentary, ranging from the set list to “He doesn’t look good, is he drinking enough fluids?”, to “Hydrate Jonny, hydrate”; or “Tight red sleeveless t-shirt; sigh” to “Oh thank God they usually overdress even in the heat”.

Though the band played their hearts out for thousands in New Meadowlands Stadium, it was a performance felt round the world.

Then, it happened.

During the spirited cover of the Dave Clark Five's hit "Glad All Over", Jon Bon Jovi's left leg slipped on a pivot---something giving way from back of his calf---and Indian-burning it’s way down the back of his leg to his heel. Barely able to walk, he continued to belt out the song while stubbornly trying to will his leg to work properly.

Let it never be said that this Man doesn't have the Heart of A Lion.

Gamely, he gingerly paced the stage like an Olympic sprinter who had pulled up lame; even joking with the crowd, “Hey I’m old”; and then willing himself to the finish line by telling these thousands of fans in the soup with him, “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere”.

With that, his heart-red sleeveless tank top matted to his body like a second skin, he put more weight on his good leg, and began to spar with the butter-thick humid air separating him from fellow Jerseyites.

It was a moment straight out of ‘Rocky’; and with that red shirt seemingly getting brighter as the strength within him raised the collective temperature to crazy-from-the-heat, Jon Bon Jovi grabbed hold of that white mic stand with both hands—at one point whipping the mic stand aloft over the audience like a wizard’s staff---imploring, ‘New Jersey, I need you….”

And as they’ve always done, Bon Jovi and Jersey joined hands, and together they made it.

We swear.


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