Few attend Saigon Kick's lackluster show
Few attend Saigon Kick's lackluster show
By Yoko N. Sari
JAKARTA (JP): Rock band Saigon Kick painstakingly entertained
their Jakarta fans during their one off performance at the
Jakarta Hilton Convention Center's Plenary Hall last Saturday
night.
The 5,000 seat concert hall was quite empty as they opened the
concert with one of their hits entitled One Step Closer.
The Jakarta concert of the Miami-based Saigon Kick, comprising
lead singer and guitarist Jason Bieler, bassist Chris McLernon,
drummer Phil Varone and guitarist Pete Dembrowski, was part of
their Asian tour to promote their newly released album Water.
Wearing black vest and knickers, the long-haired Bieler
continued sung more than fifteen songs from previous albums to
the more recent ones such as I love You, Love is On the Way.
In contrast to their "metal" appearance, including Varone's
fully tattooed body, most of the band's soft songs are dedicated
to their love of women.
Vocalist Bieler commented, "Love is a universal thing, it just
came naturally to my mind when I wrote our songs."
But the band also tried to prove that they are a real hard-
rock band.
"We will rock our fans here with an enthralling and energetic
performance," said drummer Varone prior to their concert.
Unfortunately, the group was not communicative enough to make
a concert come alive. They just came out on stage, did their gigs
and then ended the show without involving the audience.
The audience were only heated once when the band tuned their
famous hit On and On and pre-teen fans sang along with their
favorite song.
The fact that the crowd knew the song surprised the band. "I
am surprised that you know the lines to this song, I should
probably take you all on our tour," Bieler accompanied by
McLernon shouted after they finished with Love is on the Way.
Surprised
Most of the fans were pre-teens, locally known as Anak Baru
Gede, who paid Rp 50,000 for festival class tickets. The wore
fashionable bell bottomed pants, sleeveless shirts and high
heeled sandals.
"I only know two songs, On and On and I love you," said Cendy,
16, a second grader from Tarakanita High School, who watched
along with 10 of her friends.
Established in l988, the band began to penetrate the
international scene when they opened for Extreme in Japan and
Ozzy Osborne in the United States. In Indonesia, the band is only
famous among youngsters which is why their concert was empty.
Apart from Jakarta, the group also performed in Bandung,
Surabaya in East Java and Denpasar, Bali.
"I am here to see the crowd, it's fun to hang out with my
friends," said Audi, 15, from Pangudi Luhur High School, adding
that he enjoyed the show and owned the band's latest CD, Water.
Julian, 18, from SMA 3 High School, said he owned all of the
band's albums. "This is awesome, but the cassette is better," he
said.
The unimpressive show ended with Varone throwing his sticks
into the audience during the group's hit Torture, which tells the
story of Bosnian war.