Yogyakarta ska outfit Shaggydog shared the stage with Bob Tutupoly in a rare night for everyone.

It was 10 minutes to 7 p.m. at Balai Sarbini, Jakarta, last Saturday. Veteran singer and TV persona Bob Tutupoly was entering the building when someone stopped him and asked for a photo.

“Om, can I get a picture with you?” a fan asked, referring to Bob’s legendary status with the Indonesian word for “uncle”. Within seconds, the entertainer put a smile on his face and took the photo. It was a perfect picture in the end.

Bob was scheduled to perform around 10 p.m. that night at the fourth edition of Djakarta Artmosphere, an annual concert that features a mix of senior musicians like him and newcomers that are more familiar to the younger generation.

Bob was matched up that night with Shaggydog, a prominent ska act from Yogyakarta that has featured elements of reggae and bites of soul in its music since the mid 1990s. The wave of ska swept throughout Indonesia and created a massive following in big cities nationwide. Shaggydog, a survivor who has remained true to themselves after all these years, has released five albums with a sixth currently on the way.

“We only got chance to rehearse two times,” said Heruwa, Shaggydog’s frontman. “But we know the quality of Bob Tutupoly. He only asked me to cover him if he forgot the lyrics to our songs.”

Heruwa and his crew probably had one of their best nights as performers, and as Bob joined them on stage, he seemed to be in his own comfort zone as he took up Shaggydog’s signature ska style.

“He was very cool and humble. We were nervous when we met for the very first time. We had lots of predictions inside our heads, but then it all went very well. He told us a story about his visit to Jamaica when he lived in the United States,” said Heruwa.

At 10 p.m., MC Soleh Solihun and Sarah Sechan called Shaggydog to the stage to start the show. Their wardrobe choices were nice, though a bit preppy, which was an unusual departure from their typical surf-style appearance that had kept for years.

The super-sized Lilik on keyboards, animated drummer Yoyok, good looking guitarists Raymond and Richard and gangsta-looking bassist Bandizt accompanied Heruwa on stage that night. A two-man brass section rounded out their stage presence for the evening.

The opening song was their usual show starter, “Kembali Berdansa” (Dancing Again). A flash of nervousness could be seen on the band’s faces, but their rhythms soon got the crowd dancing and lit up the night.

Then they played “Hey Cantik!” (Hey Lovely!) and “From the Doc to the Dog” from their own catalogue before doing a cover of “Dimana” (Where), one of Bob’s biggest hits. As the song came to an end, the legend took to the stage to the thunderous applause typical of all his appearances.

He introduced himself and instantly broke the ice, “Hi! How are you doing? My name is Bob Tutupoly and three days from now, I’ll be 37 years old,” he joked, having turned 73 last Tuesday.

The first collaboration was Shaggydog’s “Lagu Rindu” (Nostalgic Song), a ska ballad that easily suited the bold character of Bob’s voice.

“This is a good song,” he said. The duet between Bob and Heruwa was an instant classic. Both singers have strong voices, despite their different music backgrounds.

The main thing that made the set successful was Bob’s decision to fully commit to ska music for the entire performance. Bob didn’t push his luck by forcing Shaggydog to play his way, and in doing so, he solidified his legendary status by letting the young people from the band showcase their music without a single compromise on the arrangement.

This relationship worked well as they later performed “Mengapa Tiada Maaf” (Why No Forgiveness), yet another of Bob’s legendary hits with a ska arrangement.

“I listened to this song for the very first time when my dad put the records on back in the day,” said Heruwa on stage. The super mellow song got a bit of an update with its new ska twist.

The flamboyant Bob gave some space for Heruwa to talk, but realized that the set needed to go on rather dwelling on nostalgia. After the song had finished, he worked in a joke or two.

“When I sang it on my record, I only got couple of hundred thousand rupiah. But when Yuni Shara made a cover of it and it became national hit, she got millions,” he said, to the laughter of the audience.

The culmination of the night was the closing classic, “Di Sayidan” (In Sayidan), a story about their home district in Yogyakarta.

“This is a song about these guys home in Yogyakarta. Apparently, I stayed there once during my youth with my family. This is ‘Di Sayidan’,” Bob said, introducing the song.

Crowd cheered loudly, making a statement that Shaggybob — the nickname for the collaboration — music deserved a second chance, bringing smiles to the faces of everyone on stage.

“We’re thinking of [doing] something about this collaboration,” said Heruwa.

— Photos courtesy of Djakarta Artmosphere

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