Chip Minemyer | Bon Jovi, Skid Row and a stormy night in Johnstown
Ask Johnstowners of a certain age what they believe is the most memorable moment in Point Stadium history, and you might hear about a AAABA baseball contest or when the Pittsburgh Steelers came to the city.
But many will recall a rainy night in 1989 when the rock band Bon Jovi played at what is now Sargent’s Stadium at the Point – even people who weren’t there.
The night, 35 years ago Sunday, is firmly enshrined in local legend – as Jean Desrocher, general manager of 1st Summit Arena, said when we chatted recently.
That’s because …
Major shows are frequent at the War Memorial, but seldom come to the Point – especially acts with the stature of Bon Jovi in the 1980s.
The concert in sloppy conditions reportedly caused significant damage to the stadium’s baseball field – resulting in allegations and financial penalties.
And Sebastian Bach, lead singer for the opening act that night, landed in Johnstown police custody – twice.
Veteran concert promoter Rich Engler dedicated a chapter of his 2013 book “Behind The Stage Door” to that night of storms in Johnstown.
REnglerBook
In a 2022 interview with The Tribune-Democrat – in support of a documentary film based on his book – he described the sequence of events that night as “a fiasco.”
Opening act Skid Row was scheduled to take the Point Stadium stage after two days of rain in Johnstown.
Engler said he urged city leaders to put a tarp down, and they chose not to do so.
In his book, Engler said Bach “started making fun of Johnstown, calling it a crappy place” during Skid Row’s soundcheck.
Bach also “made some snide comments” about police officers who were working the venue, then swore at an officer who confronted him as he left the stage.
“Boom! On went the cuffs,” Engler wrote.
A school bus was parked nearby and had been “converted into a paddy wagon in case the crowd got unruly,” Engler recalled.
Even as he was dealing with weather-related trouble, the promoter was called upon to get the singer freed in time to perform.
Bon Jovi’s stage manager asked Engler to intervene.
Engler
A documentary on longtime promoter Rich Engler's life among some of music's greats – and what goes on behind the stage – is being released on the screen and online.
In his book, Engler tells how he implored then-police Chief Linda Weaver to release Bach so that he could perform. He told her, “It’s going to be a black eye for Johnstown” if Skid Row’s singer can’t take the stage.
Weaver agreed, under the condition that Bach be on his best behavior for the rest of the night. The handcuffs came off, Bach apologized to the police and Skid Row went on.
Except on the way to the stage, Engler wrote, Bach saw the officer from the earlier encounter and “hauled off and took a swing at the guy.”
The punch missed, and Engler managed to maneuver the singer up onto the stage.
“I was ready to slap the cuffs on him myself,” Engler wrote.
After Skid Row’s set, Engler wrote, “The second Bach walked offstage, he was arrested and taken straight to the police station,” where he spent the night.
Sebastian Bach
Sebastian Bach, formerly of the rock band Skid Row, performs solo during the M3 Rock Fest at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday, April 26, 2014, in Columbia, Md. (Photo by Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP)
In that 2022 Tribune interview, the promoter said Bach “was mouthing off to police backstage. After he swung and nicked one of them, all hell broke loose. …
“By the time he got off stage, police were waiting. By that point, I thought, ‘Fine. I don’t care what happens. I’m not stepping in for him again.’ ”
Engler did have other concerns. He later received a bill for $23,000 for damage to the Point Stadium field. He said after attorneys negotiated for “a couple of months,” he sent the city a check for $10,000.
Engler said he eventually repaired his relationship with Sebastian Bach and Skid Row, promoting the band multiple times over the years.
But that stormy night in Johnstown remains one of his most vivid rock ‘n’ roll memories – as it does for many local fans of Johnstown’s music history.
“Looking back now, I’m sure it was the best concert ever to hit Johnstown,” Engler wrote. “Good enough that the town fathers could have renamed it Jon’s Town.”
Or perhaps Bach-ville.