Def Leppard fails to attract local fans<\/p>\n
By Thalia Kamarga<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A measly 5,000 hard-rock fans gathered at the
\nformer Ancol Circuit in North Jakarta on Saturday night for the
\nconcert of English rock band Def Leppard.<\/p>\n
The 21-song concert, held to promote the band's recently
\nreleased Slang album, fell well short of its 50,000 attendance
\ngoal. The 3,500 policemen, five physicians, 60 paramedics, an on-
\nsite hospital and an ambulance prepared by the organizers,
\noverwhelmed the small audience.<\/p>\n
Def Leppard, not daunted by the low turn out or power outages,
\nperformed excellently. The voice quality of lead-singer Joe
\nElliot, who has been rocking since 1977, was consistent
\nthroughout the show.<\/p>\n
Guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell, and bassist Rick
\nSavage, gave strong yet neat performances. Rick Allen, the
\ndrummer who lost his left arm in a car accident in 1985, was the
\ncenter of attention the entire night. His one-armed drumming
\nseemed to delight his Indonesian fans.<\/p>\n
The concert, however, proved that Def Leppard's new album has
\nnot been well received in Indonesia. The audience's lack of
\nenthusiasm for the opening number, Where Does Love Go When It
\nDies, was painfully apparent.<\/p>\n
Only towards the end of the show, when songs from Pyromania,
\nAdrenalize, Retroactive and the hit album Hysteria were played,
\ndid the audience start to show some enthusiasm,.<\/p>\n
Technical problems plagued the show. The group had to stop
\ntheir performance after less than five minutes on stage when the
\nsound cut out. There was apparently not enough power to support
\nthe sound equipment.<\/p>\n
The organizers were fortunately able to keep the testosterone-
\ncharged audience under control. Only one or two mineral water
\nbottles were thrown at the stage. The audience calmed down after
\na spokesman and a band member explained the situation.<\/p>\n
\"There is too much equipment and not enough power. We are
\ntrying to fix it as soon as possible,\" explained singer Joe
\nElliot.<\/p>\n
It took half an hour to fix the problem, apparently requiring
\nthe entire set to be rewired because the stage lighting went out
\nfor awhile.<\/p>\n
Def Leppard re-opened the concert with Action.<\/p>\n
The power outage re-occurred during the 15th song, Photograph.
\nIt came back on a couple of seconds later.<\/p>\n
The concert was organized by Indomugi Pratama Entertainments,
\nSunvic Productions, Indosiar and Polygram.<\/p>\n
According to Cucu, a promotion officer, the number of tickets
\nsold did not even meet the costs of the biggest concert promotion
\norganized in Indonesia. Organizers managed to sell only 1,500
\ntickets the day before the concert. Ticket prices ranged between
\nRp 125,000 and Rp 50,000 (US$53 and $21).<\/p>\n
The low attendance was probably caused by the start of high
\nschool final exams today, Cucu reasoned. Exams prevented high
\nschool students from outside Jakarta attending the show, he
\nadded.<\/p>",
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