Bon Jovi's 'Saturday Night' rocks 100,000 fans<\/p>\n
By Johannes Simbolon<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Some Day I'll Be Saturday Night
\nBon Jovi sings. And what a fine Saturday evening last night was
\nfor the 100,000 spectators at the band's concert at the former
\nAncol circuit in North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Lead singer Bon Jovi, the star of the concert, like all of the
\nband members, appeared casual in a cream-colored jacket, which he
\ntook off after the first song, a black T-shirt and headband.<\/p>\n
\"Hi Jakarta, are you with me? Don't worry, I'll be with you
\ntonight,\" greeted Bon Jovi.<\/p>\n
And true to his promise made during a press conference on
\nFriday, the band -- guitarist Richie Stephen Sambora, key board
\nplayer Dave Bryan Rashbaum and drummer Hector \"Tiko\" Torres --
\nsatisfied the audience with its best songs in a two-hour
\nrepertoire. The three years of preparations the band made for its
\nJakarta show brought a bonus for those who had to part with Rp
\n45,000 for the festival tickets or Rp 150,00 for the VIP ones.<\/p>\n
Although a rock band, Bon Jovi lulled its audience rather than
\nrocked it, especially when the band belted out Bed of Roses, a
\nfavorite among most of its Indonesia fans.<\/p>\n
Many in the audience, who were mostly teenagers accompanied by
\ntheir parents and younger siblings, cuddled with their
\nsweethearts as soon as they heard the song.<\/p>\n
It was a surprise inclusion, flowing out of I Can't Help
\nFalling in Love With You. Just as the group reached the middle of
\nthat song, it smoothly switched to Bed of Roses, to the delighted
\napplause of the surprised audience.<\/p>\n
The band opened its show at 8:15 p.m. with Wild in the Street
\nfrom the album Slippery When Wet. It was followed with You Give
\nLove or Bad Name, also from the album Slippery When Wet, and Keep
\nthe Faith from the same album.<\/p>\n
The first few songs were from the 1980s and very much
\nconfirmed the band's reputation as a rock group. After Bed of
\nRoses, the band came forth with more soft songs, which apparently
\nsuited the mood of its romantic audience.<\/p>\n
But maybe Bon Jovi should have included \"peace\" in its No
\ndrugs, no alcohols theme for last night's concert. The show was
\nmarred by an incident when hundreds of gatecrashers tried to
\nforce their way into the middle of the presentation. The anti-
\nriot police deployed at the site chased them away when they
\nstarted to throw bottles into the concert area.<\/p>\n
Earlier, before the show started, dozens of people, mostly
\nteenage girls, fell unconscious from the heat. Many people were
\npushed and tramped on by the impatient, who just couldn't wait to
\nget through the gates. They pushed so hard that one of the three
\ngates collapsed. The injured were rushed to a nearby emergency
\npost for treatment, but there were no reports of serious wounds.<\/p>\n
\"What a pity this had to happen,\" said Andi Muhammad Agung,
\n24, a serious Bon Jovi fan, whose niece was among those hurt.<\/p>\n
But, \"It's fantastic,\" was his comment for the show.<\/p>\n
Chief of the North Jakarta police precinct Eddy Darnadi said
\ngiven the fact that it was a rock concert, the event went
\nsmoothly.<\/p>\n
Ancol, it seems, is developing a reputation as a concert arena
\nafter the success of the Phil Collins concert last March.<\/p>\n
Bon Jovi's Ancol concert, Crossroads to the East, was part of
\nthe band's Asia tour. The Ancol show was organized by Indo Ent.
\nProductions which paid the group US$332,000 for the one-night
\nappearance here.<\/p>",
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