Bon Jovi's 'Saturday Night' rocks 100,000 fans
Bon Jovi's 'Saturday Night' rocks 100,000 fans
By Johannes Simbolon
JAKARTA (JP): Some Day I'll Be Saturday Night Bon Jovi sings. And what a fine Saturday evening last night was for the 100,000 spectators at the band's concert at the former Ancol circuit in North Jakarta.
Lead singer Bon Jovi, the star of the concert, like all of the band members, appeared casual in a cream-colored jacket, which he took off after the first song, a black T-shirt and headband.
"Hi Jakarta, are you with me? Don't worry, I'll be with you tonight," greeted Bon Jovi.
And true to his promise made during a press conference on Friday, the band -- guitarist Richie Stephen Sambora, key board player Dave Bryan Rashbaum and drummer Hector "Tiko" Torres -- satisfied the audience with its best songs in a two-hour repertoire. The three years of preparations the band made for its Jakarta show brought a bonus for those who had to part with Rp 45,000 for the festival tickets or Rp 150,00 for the VIP ones.
Although a rock band, Bon Jovi lulled its audience rather than rocked it, especially when the band belted out Bed of Roses, a favorite among most of its Indonesia fans.
Many in the audience, who were mostly teenagers accompanied by their parents and younger siblings, cuddled with their sweethearts as soon as they heard the song.
It was a surprise inclusion, flowing out of I Can't Help Falling in Love With You. Just as the group reached the middle of that song, it smoothly switched to Bed of Roses, to the delighted applause of the surprised audience.
The band opened its show at 8:15 p.m. with Wild in the Street from the album Slippery When Wet. It was followed with You Give Love or Bad Name, also from the album Slippery When Wet, and Keep the Faith from the same album.
The first few songs were from the 1980s and very much confirmed the band's reputation as a rock group. After Bed of Roses, the band came forth with more soft songs, which apparently suited the mood of its romantic audience.
But maybe Bon Jovi should have included "peace" in its No drugs, no alcohols theme for last night's concert. The show was marred by an incident when hundreds of gatecrashers tried to force their way into the middle of the presentation. The anti- riot police deployed at the site chased them away when they started to throw bottles into the concert area.
Earlier, before the show started, dozens of people, mostly teenage girls, fell unconscious from the heat. Many people were pushed and tramped on by the impatient, who just couldn't wait to get through the gates. They pushed so hard that one of the three gates collapsed. The injured were rushed to a nearby emergency post for treatment, but there were no reports of serious wounds.
"What a pity this had to happen," said Andi Muhammad Agung, 24, a serious Bon Jovi fan, whose niece was among those hurt.
But, "It's fantastic," was his comment for the show.
Chief of the North Jakarta police precinct Eddy Darnadi said given the fact that it was a rock concert, the event went smoothly.
Ancol, it seems, is developing a reputation as a concert arena after the success of the Phil Collins concert last March.
Bon Jovi's Ancol concert, Crossroads to the East, was part of the band's Asia tour. The Ancol show was organized by Indo Ent. Productions which paid the group US$332,000 for the one-night appearance here.