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Crowds descended on Murrayfield carrying red heart balloons. | Iconic Media

In pictures: Bon Jovi fans travel from far and wide to see legendary group rock Edinburgh's Murrayfield

Excited fans suspect this could be their last opportunity to see the rock royalty live

Bon Jovi fans - many dressed head-to-toe in black - descended on Murrayfield Stadium on Friday night to see the rock band perform their first UK show since 2019.

James Murray travelled from Germany to take his Bon Jovi-obsessed uncle, also named James Murray, to the concert after securing the tickets as a Christmas present.

“He thought it was a tribute at first and then I explained and he just flipped out,” the nephew said.

The gig follows on from the band's recent nine-show residency at Madison Square Garden.

Mr Murray added: “He’s a big Bon Jovi fan. He’s quite deaf, he’s not completely deaf but he loves the music because he can feel it. Bon Jovi’s been his whole life basically. He’s got Bon Jovi posters everywhere in his room and he goes to all the tribute bands.

“He feels the drums and everything, and he just loves it. He wants to get a tattoo, he told me today.”

Germany was far from the furthest fans travelled to watch rock royalty. Pals Kati Lento and Leena Salonen flew in from Finland just to see the rock band live.

Francesca Cartwright first witnessed the rock band live at Wembley Stadium back in 1995 and is now bringing her daughter, Amber, up from Derby to share in the magic.

She said: “I’ve liked his music since I was 15; I’m now 46. She’s 15, so she’s the same age as I was when I first went to my first gig, so it’s quite cool.

“This is her first time seeing him and probably the last because we don’t know if he’ll tour again. He’s just so elegant and graceful and amazing.”

Glaswegian Colin McLeod was also there that night at Wembley.

While 64-year-old frontman Jon Bon Jovi might be a little bit older and the band a little different, he hoped his sixth time seeing the band would be as “amazing” as usual.

“It’s kind of like a goodbye gig because I don’t know when they’ll be back, so I wanted to finish it where it started 31 years ago,” he said.

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