New Jersey's Rock

We went to Night 8 of the ten-night stand of Bon Jovi at the new Prudential Center in Newark this week. I'm not an enormous Bon Jovi fan, but it seemed like a very Jersey thing to do and I wanted to see the new arena for myself.

I was very impressed with the Prudential Center - it feels so open and comfortable. I was a bit concerned about the parking & traffic based on all the hype I had read, but it turned out to be a total non-issue. We easily found parking on the street a couple blocks from the arena and from the time the band walked off the stage until we walked into our house it was a total of 25 minutes, including walking to the car.

It's a shame the area around the arena isn't terribly attractive right now, but I can see enormous potential for restaurants, bars etc for some gutsy investors who are willing to make the first move. I really hope the arena is successful and helps provide some long overdue rejuvenation to Newark. The potential (and convenience) of the area is huge for those of us in South Orange.

Here's hoping that Springsteen chooses the "Rock" when he returns to our area this Spring and shatters Bon Jovi's record 10-night stand.....unless of course he wants to make my life even more convenient and play at SOPAC!