TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
The enduring appeal of Soundrenaline
Change Size
United we loud: The crowd filled the United We Loud stage in the Garuda Wisnu Kencana park, Bali. (Zaenal Nur Arifin/File)
W
ith the slogan “United We Loud,” Soundrenaline, the music festival, entered its 15th edition this year and an audience of 83,151 at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) cultural park in Bali stood as witness.
On Sept. 9 and 10, at my very first Soundrenaline, I marveled at its longevity, its earned status as one of the festivals. It is, after all, just a music festival in every sense of the phrase: it has music, food stands and a paying audience.
Is it the venue, which is vast, accommodating and well-decorated? There was graffiti festooning the walls; there were four stages — A Stage, United We Loud Stage, Burst Stage and Slim/Refined Stage. Each of them was lit differently.
Is it the music? More than 70 acts performed, including international acts (Dashboard Confessional, Cults, Mew and Jet) and local acts (NTRL, Barasuara, Sheila on 7, Andien, Tulus, Isyana Sarasvati and more).
Never one to hold back, Soundrenaline mined its sounds from commercial pop, alternative rock to thumping electronica.
Like last year, this year’s iteration also featured collaborative acts, from folk duo Stars and Rabbit with electronic duo Bottlesmoker, pop singer Glenn Fredly and rock band Kelompok Penerbang Roket and more.
A cynic may find that it’s paid for with “cigarette money,” but still it wouldn’t have been such a riot if that money hadn’t been put to good use.
Soundrenaline has always been a music festival that pulls out all the stops by being aware of the weight it carries every year.
“Soundrenaline is one of the very few festivals [in Indonesia]. I would venture to say there is barely a festival here that’s been running since 2002,” said Wendi Putranto, digital managing editor at Rolling Stone Indonesia magazine. “Their consistency should be appreciated.”
Day one
There was an orchestra at the Efek Rumah Kaca show, namely Semarang’s Cognatio Orkest. It sounded so pretty as I walked toward the stage and the crowd shuffled in front. I couldn’t make it to every show there, so I ended up moving around to see all the musicians I was physically able to.
One of the highlights of the day was the Base Jam gig. Base Jam is an Indonesian pop band that evokes the heydays of the 90s. Already packed by the time I got to the venue, I caught Base Jam just as they started performing their signature track, “Bukan Pujangga” (Not a poet), in front of the harmoniously singing crowd. Their energy was manic, inviting. “Long live Indonesian music,” one of its members, Adon Saptowo, screamed at the crowd before playing the hype man.
Speaking of Indonesian music, Soundrenaline is still the festival that thrives because of its local acts. Sure, Jet and Dashboard Confessional (Australian and American, respectively) headlined the bill, but as the pop band Naif charmed the crowd with their intense showmanship, and jazz singer Andien enthusiastically danced around to perform her jazz-inflected pop songs, I was again reminded of our restless stream of music. All we have to do is choose.
Anyway, Rhythm of People, a collaborative project comprised of indie rock band Scaller’s Stella Gareth, rock band NTRL’s Coki, Barasuara’s Iga Massardi and pop band Cokelat’s Kikan Namarsa, performed Indonesian covers that stretched from the 1980s to today. Tulus also sang his songs with his clarion voice. Slowing things down a little bit, Mondo Gascaro brought his jazzy pop songs onto the stage, as did the singer Danilla.
The night ended with gusto, as metalcore band Burgerkill powered through with their high-octane rock. You know another band whose debut album is literally called High Octane Rock? Seringai, who took the stage before Burgerkill.
Before that, Danish outfit Mew played hypnotizing art rock and pop rock, Andra & the Backbone peppered their crowd-pleasing sets with ripping instrumentals. Then there was also Jet, the rowdy band entertaining the crowd. The stages were located in places that…let’s just say they were not close to one another; while walking between them you felt like you could run into someone you’d know.
Day two
Folk-pop band Payung Teduh played a set that ended with their recently-released song “Akad” (Vow) — how the song had already seeped into the crowd’s heads was probably a testament to their long, fruitful career.
On its second day, Soundrenaline had some of the best Indonesian music on their stages. Alternative rock band Sheila on 7 closed out the night. Glenn Fredly pulled a switcheroo by teaming up with Kelompok Penerbang Roket.
Pop punk mainstays, Rocket Rockers, wore diving suits as they were performing earlier. My favorite performance was the American noise pop band Cults — their set was entrancing and the two new songs they played (claiming that it was the first time they performed them live) were a treat, too.
A prayer that’s recited by Christians every week, “Our Father,” was immortalized when Barasuara opened their set with the song, “Hagia,” that contains its lyrics. Their set was a riot, guitarist Gerald Situmorang displayed his acrobatics by jumping over vocalist/guitarist Iga Massardi’s back. Then Dashboard Confessional, the emo band, delivered serene, often intense familiarity to the audience.
What Soundrenaline achieved wasn’t just drawing the crowd, keeping its offshoot programs in check or even charging the beer at a reasonable price. What it achieved, simply, was letting the music play. It played as the crowd found another stage to go to. It played as they were climbing up the stairs. It played as they were sitting on the grass. And it played as they exited the park, letting it ring in their heads for a while.
