I want to go to Bon Jovi University.
March 24, 2011 by Pashtana Usufzy
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| Rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of rock ‘n’ roll legends |
Walking onto the stage of the MGM at 4 p.m., surrounded by bright lights and loud noises, every seat in the room is empty. In five hours, the stadium will be filled with screaming Bon Jovi fans.
As I shadowed eight UNLV students behind-stage for the Bon Jovi concert on Saturday, I had several once-in-a-lifetime experiences and got a sneak peak at a hidden world.
Seeing all the goings on before a major concert is like going down a rabbit hole –– for a day, I was Alice and backstage was Wonderland.
The students, who were offered the chance to video the concert and tour the setup by AEG, were there for hours, preparing equipment and helping to decorate the VIP room.
I arrived just before the tour of the facility, sitting back as a member of the crew explained the technical equipment.
Not understanding most of it, I focused more on the students (mostly journalism majors), their experiences and their interest in the band.
Joking about needing to look busy in case we ran into the band, you can imagine my surprise when a few minutes later, glorious frontman Jon Bon Jovi and lead guitarist Richie Sambora walked by.
Jaws dropped and more than one “oh my gosh” was uttered when Sambora passed by a second time, heading for the stage.
The evening was a bit of a blur with students running back and forth. I followed closely, carting my notepad and camera.
Finally resting inside the arena, a worn-out group sat listening to the main attraction warming up.
We waited it out, listening to the band practice until the students headed backstage to finalize their equipment needed to record the show. A scare earlier in the day due to a missing wire made everyone even more on edge. Having fixed this little problem, everyone could now relax and have some fun.
Following was a pre-show VIP party, where the unmistakable buzz of excitement grew as the concert got closer.
It’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement at a concert. It’s even harder to do so when you’re a few feet from the stage.
The band played the opening chords of “Livin’ on a Prayer,” and our group of students had withered down to two. Bon Jovi, the Jersey boy, was rocking out in a leather number that had female fans in a frenzy.
By the time we went to grab food, we could hear the crowd singing along to “It’s My Life.” The band also ran through “Bad Medicine,” “Have a Nice Day” and “I’ll Be There for You” with even more hip-shaking action.
The wonder of every element made it a perfect ending to the night.
Journalism students got their footage and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I got my story and a trip through a strange, strange world.
Thu, 03/24/2011 - 21:12
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| Photo by Luke Hansen. Jon Bon Jovi rocks a sold-out EnergySolutions Arena on Tuesday. |
By Kayla Franson and Caitlin Orton
Loaded with cameras, notebooks and backstage passes, a dozen BYU students toured the underbelly of the EnergySolutions Arena on Tuesday to experience concert production from beginning to end. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; it’s not everyday someone gets close enough to see the scuffs on Jon Bon Jovi’s leather shoes.
The students, studying communications and media arts, first sat down with management VIP coordinator, or in his words, the “schmooze specialist,” for the Bon Jovi tour, Mike Savas.
“We were the highest grossing tour in the world last year,” he said. “We beat out U2, AC/DC, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga.”
Savas emphasized musicians’ need for tours since album sales are dropping, forcing revenue to generate elsewhere.
“Everyone wants to tour because that’s where the money is,” Savas said. “You may not think Bon Jovi is No. 1, but they are at the top of their career right now.”
Two media arts students and one broadcasting student toted around their cameras and filmed the entire experience, down to the last chair being set on the arena’s concrete floor.
“I’m looking at it as if I’m making this into a documentary,” said Kelsie Moore, a media arts student focusing in documentaries. “It’s about getting coverage and talking to interesting people.”
Bon Jovi started this internship program to give students a chance to spend a day in the middle of the action and explore various departments of tour production. The sound booths were especially fascinating to Nick Perucca, studying sound recording technology.
“I’m involved with the [Young] Ambassadors’ audio crew,” he said. “This is obviously a huge setup compared to that, but I’m just kind of learning how it all fits together, what they do and how it relates to what I do. It’s just cool to soak everything in.”
Additionally, the crew took advantage of the young and fit students and put them to work decorating for the VIP party and setting up floor seating.
Nick Barnes, studying communications and public relations, said the experience was invaluable — the cherry on top of his classroom education.
“This screams what public relations is all about,” Barnes said. “It was really cool to see how we can relate to interests of all those who are attending the event tonight, to be able to get them to be happy about what they paid their money for.”
It seemed the collective opinion, however, that the paramount moment of the day was standing on stage in the spotlight the legendary Bon Jovi would occupy in a few hours. They rotated between sitting at the drum set, admiring the worn guitars and photographing each other.
“Being on the stage is absolutely the coolest thing,” Barnes said. “I’m standing right next to Bon Jovi’s drum set and Richie Sambora’s guitars.”
Dear Nick Barnes, that's TICO TORRES'S drum kit. HIS NAME IS TICO!!!
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