Behind the Scenes: Bon Jovi at Mohegan Sun
By Teresa Garofalo
Bon Jovi's been around a long time. The band has played almost 3,000 concerts in more than 50 countries since the late 1980s.
The band's "The Circle" tour was the top-grossing concert tour of 2010. They're still on the road now, several months into their Live 2011 tour.
Bon Jovi's tour this year included two stops at Mohegan Sun, in Uncasville, Conn.: one in March and one Saturday night. NBC 10 went behind the scenes in March to see how the stage is set up.
The trucks roll in before dawn, and the crews get to work. Crew chief Make Savas said at this point in the tour, they have it all down like clockwork.
"Starts at 5 a.m., and we're set up around noon. So, it takes about six or seven hours to knock it out," Savas said.
Savas said the first step is "mark out."
"Mark the floor with chalk, set up the rigging points, the metal cables that hold everything up," Savas said. "They lift that up, and that's the lighting and video rig above your head. While that's being done, they actually build the stage at the other end of the floor. It's on 200 wheels, so they'll roll the stage in with about 30 people pushing it."
About 80 crew members travel with the band, and another 80 are hired locally, just for the day.
The set pieces are the same ones they use at larger venues. It takes 16 semi trucks to carry it all from place to place. Backline crew chief Mike Rew said it's a tight fit setting it up at Mohegan Sun.
"We are lucky we got to put our whole show into the venue. It barely fits, but we got everything in there," Rew said.
The band had special robotic video screens invented and built just for "The Circle" tour. The massive, computerized apparatus lifts the screens into different configurations, even turning them sideways, until they're flat.
"We took the robots that make cars in Detroit and stuck five video screens on five robots. They can move back and forth, and they can spin around 360 degrees and make a shelf for Jon to talk on, which brings him up about 30 feet in the air," Rew said. "It's pretty intense technology."
Once the set is ready, the crew begins an extensive series of sound checks. A couple of people work on tuning dozens of guitars. Most of them belong to guitarist Richie Sambora. He travels with more than $1 million worth of instruments.
"Between 35 to 40 guitars, of which he plays about 15 a night. He switches it up depending on what he's feeling like playing. The guy's a guitar god, as we say, and he likes the different sounds of different guitars," Rew said.
Once the crew's preparations are finished, all that's left is the band's own sound check in the early evening.
And then the show begins.
"It's arena rock, man. We're one of the few acts that can still sell out stadiums and arenas all over the world," Savas said.
Ticket sales for Saturday night's tour earned Bon Jovi a distinction at Mohegan Sun. The band is officially the highest-grossing act ever to perform there.
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