How Bon Jovi Defied Chaos to Perform One of Their Most Impressive Concerts

How Bon Jovi faced chaos to put on one of their most dramatic concerts

34 years ago the band had two performances in Guadalajara, Mexico, but its members never imagined that a “socialist” student organization would put their concerts at risk

The concert was eagerly awaited by all Mexican rockers (Ke.Mazur/WireImage)

The year was 1990 , and fans of the American group would witness a historic event: Bon Jovi would close their “ New Jersey Syndicate Tour ” at the Olympic Stadium of the University of Guadalajara (UdeG), Jalisco, after playing in 22 countries for almost 16 months.

All the rockers wanted to be part of that historic event: Bon Jovi’s first tour in Mexico ; however, they never thought they would encounter gunshots, a crashed truck, the possible cancellation of the event and an angry crowd against a group of students.

The Federation of Students of Guadalajara (FEG), a group with “socialist” ideals, claimed that it would not allow the use of the facilities because “the interests of the university community would be harmed,” according to a note from the local newspaper El Informador at the time .

In an attempt to stop the massive event, the FEG unleashed a violent confrontation . Although the excitement generated by the concert was still present, adrenaline and anxiety were palpable in the air. The violence also left a significant mark on the participants’ memories.

The end of a successful tour in Mexico

The band decided to close their marathon tour in Mexico (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc)

“Where will he come? Will he come to the city? To Monterrey? Everything that was known came through radio and television. We chilangos said ‘tell us where to go’ and it turns out that (Bon Jovi) are going to play in Guadalajara,” recalled Jaime Díaz in an interview with Infobae , who undertook the trip from the capital of the country to the pearl of the Tapatía with two friends, Jorge and Luis, at the age of 21.

After having success in Monterrey, on February 9 and 10, 1990, the group was going to perform on Friday the 16th at 8:00 p.m. and the next day at 7:00 p.m. in Guadalajara.

The reason for not holding the concert in Mexico City, according to a Chicago Tribune article , was due to a ban by the Mexican government on the rock scene following the controversy generated by the “Avándaro” festival in 1971. The then president, Luis Echeverría, vetoed concerts, cafés cantantes, recordings and radio broadcasts of this genre, for this reason, the venue was the Technological Stadium of the University of Guadalajara.

The university facilities were taken over by members of the FEG hours before the concert , according to Oscar, another attendee of the event. He added that the stage was already set up and that after the audio test they closed the stadium.

However, a note from El Informador on February 17 of that year mentions that the facilities were taken over on Thursday the 15th: “The FEG board of directors expressed its decision not to allow the concert to take place because it would harm the interests of the university community . The takeover took place on Thursday at 7:20 p.m., completely peacefully.”

The dream of seeing Bon Jovi was stronger than everything

A reissue of the shirts that were sold at the legendary Guadalajara concert (Courtesy of Armando Álvarez)

“Days before we didn’t know if there was going to be a concert. They kept saying ‘no, yes, it was going to be cancelled’ and there was no real news. We arrived the day before the concert in the evening, with our tickets and praying that it would take place,” Jaime recalls.

After travelling to Guadalajara, the attendees were desperate. Uncertainty gripped them as they didn’t know if they would be able to get in to see Bon Jovi or not.

The president of the FEG, Oliverio Ramos Ramos , had promised to hand over the University facilities on February 16, but “there was no certainty about the concert that was tentatively scheduled to begin at 11:30 p.m. The debate between the organizing company and the Federation of Students was still ongoing,” the note mentions.

Although at 5:30 p.m. on Friday the 16th the Public Security authorities reported that the concert had been cancelled , those attending were hopeful that the stadium would be cleared so they could enter the concert.

“The atmosphere at the stadium was tense and highly publicized: hundreds of young people from various parts of the country expressed their discontent with the occupation of the facilities and were clamoring for the rock group to perform,” the Guadalajara newspaper reported.

Violence and chaos at UdeG

The facilities of the Technological University Stadium of the UdeG (@udg_oficial)

Things escalated: stones, sticks, punches. Armando Álvarez Carbajal, a witness to the events, told Infobae that he decided to step aside. But that wasn’t all, there were even people who decided to force their way through by crashing a truck into the main entrance of the facilities, according to Oscar, who was a high school student at the time: “The Olympic doors were knocked down at around 7:00 or 8:00 at night, minutes before the concert.”

A document provided by the UdeG to Infobae gives an account of the damage suffered by the stadium after the event. On February 19, 1990, the university’s mayor, Aurelio del Toro Navarro, mentions that these were “caused by the people who came to witness the artistic event and this was due to the provocation made by the boys from the Federation of Students of Guadalajara.”

He described how the structure of the number one access gate to the facilities was completely damaged, as well as 20 meters of the fencing and the pipes that supported it.

” It was knocked down by a truck that continued its route to Gate Number 2 of the Olympic Stadium , hitting the door, causing it to become misaligned and detached, also damaging the façade,” the document states.

Once the people were inside, panic broke out when a shooting started , leaving two people injured , according to El Informador. “They were Alfredo Aceves Plascencia, 18 years old… who was shot in the left collarbone, and Victor Francisco Valadez Gutierrez, 15 years old, who suffered a bullet wound in the right ankle.”

Oscar remembers that “some people were running to support one side, others to support the other, and a brawl broke out. There were people on strike, I don’t know, about 200, 300 students against 12,000, 15,000 paying spectators.”

Other damages reported in the UdeG document were damage to four access doors to the university, destruction of the foundations of a baseball field to facilitate access to the facilities, several broken windows, 500 damaged lattices, twenty missing padlocks with chains, a crown from the bathroom key, two showers and eight hooks from the dressing room.

Unexpected ending for a fan

Ticket loaned by Victor Guerrero for the UdeG stadium field area (Courtesy of Oscar Sanchez)

Despite the disaster, the group decided to reschedule the concert the following day , so they performed on Saturday at 12:00 hrs. and in the evening at 20:00 hrs.

The first performance took place at noon and, as Armando recalls, there was no “opening band” because people were already desperate to hear Bon Jovi.

For the second concert, “Rostros Ocultos” was the opening act, however, the band was a pop rock band. “They were neither well nor badly received, it was just that they were more pop and people already wanted rock […] To close the concert of the night, a group of mariachis came on stage,” said Oscar.

Attendees remember that the day had been slightly rainy, Bon Jovi opened with “ Lay your hands on me ” and closed with “ Bad medicine ”, two of the group’s most notable songs.

Gunshots, injuries and destruction: how Bon Jovi faced chaos to put on one of their most dramatic concerts. (Courtesy Jaime González)

Jorge, one of Jaime’s friends, played drums and his biggest idol was Tico Torres , Bon Jovi’s drummer, who came in with a sign hidden in his jacket that said “Tico I want your fuckin stick,” Jaime recalled with a laugh.

Although it seemed difficult for his friend to get the drumstick, he wished him good luck, since the concert was at stadium level and they had to push their way through the crowd.

Jaime greeted the group along with the crowd with shouts and cheers. It was part of the first massive hard rock concert in the country. “Great song after great song. Everyone went crazy, jumping, shouting, crying. It was a very energetic concert, a lot of sound, a lot of partying.”

The then 21-year-old student remembers hearing various testimonies on the radio from people who traveled to Guadalajara, who recounted their journey. “The euphoria came mainly from the suffering to be able to enter the stadium.”

“When the concert was over, everyone was fascinated, they came out with their hearts in their hands, crying, there were people saying ‘I can die now’.”

Jaime found Luis and told him that he had had to push people and had gotten separated from Jorge, the drummer. Suddenly they saw him walking towards them with a smile on his face.

-“What happened?

-I made it all the way forward!

– What’s up?

Jorge reached into his jacket and pulled out a drumstick.

– “ He saw me and threw it at me , he almost broke my head with it.”

Bon Jovi’s return to Aztec land

After witnessing the chaotic events surrounding the end of his tour, Bon Jovi did not set foot on Mexican soil until 1997, seven years later, at the Foro Ideal, which was located on Frontera Street, in San Ángel, Mexico City.

On July 19, 2007, he participated in the Buchanan’s charity event, which took place at the Colegio de San Ildefonso; in 2010 he was at the Foro Sol and in 2013 he filled the same venue to 85% capacity where he had DLD as the opening band of his concert.