Year-end concerts begin

JAKARTA (JP): Local rock group Dewa 19, pop band Bragi and foreign group Michael Learns to Rock will end the year with a bang in A Mild Cigarette Concert Tour sponsored by cigarette company PT H.M. Sampoerna.

Sampoerna's special events manager Minaryuliawati said Monday that Dewa 19 and Bragi concerts will be held in 21 and 37 cities respectively.

Dewa 19's tour began Monday at Bekasi Stadium in Bekasi, West Java, and is scheduled to end on Dec. 23 at the Juang Building in Manado, North Sulawesi.

"They (Dewa 19's band members) will sing 17 songs from their four albums at the concerts," she said.

"It will include their hits Kangen (Missing), Cukup Siti Nurbaya (Enough Of Siti Nurbaya), Kirana (Beautiful) and Kamu Satu-Satunya (You Are the Only One)."

Ticket prices for Dewa 19's concerts will range from Rp 5,000 to Rp 10,000. Information on dates, venues and ticket prices can be collected from the Sampoerna office in Bappindo Plaza, Jl. Sudirman Kav. 54, she said.

Dewa 19 -- comprising vocalist Ari Lasso, drummer Wong Aksan, bassist Erwin Prasetya, guitarist Andra Junaedi and keyboard player Dhani Manaf -- has won several music awards, including the 1995 BASF Music Award for best Indonesian rock group, best arrangement and best recording for their third album Terbaik, Terbaik (The Best, The Best).

Their latest album Pandawa Lima, released in January, has sold 900,000 copies to date.

Bragi -- comprising Renaldi, Rendi, Reza and Erwin -- will begin its promotional tour of 37 cities (in Java and Bali) in Yogyakarta on Nov. 15 and is scheduled to end in Sukawati, Bali on Nov. 23.

Denmark band Michael Learns to Rock, known for its songs The Actor, Sleeping Child, and Out of the Blue, will promote its fourth album Nothing to Lose with concerts at Bengkel discotheque, Jakarta, on Dec. 19 and the Eldorado stadium in Bandung, Dec. 20. (02)