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Rock festival is coming back to town
Collective Soul: (Collectivesoul
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Collective Soul: (Collectivesoul.com) (Collectivesoul.com)
Collective Soul: (Collectivesoul.com)
Java Rockin' Land is coming back to town despite last year's last-minute cancellation.
Claiming to be one of the biggest rock festivals in Southeast Asia, the festival is taking place for the fourth time in five years. Last year's event was cancelled after the promoter, Java Festival Production, failed to provide quality international acts.
Now, Java Rockin' Land is back in business. The festival is ready to roll again in Jakarta's Pantai Carnaval in Ancol on June 22- 23. The festival's program director, Eq Puradiredja, is trying to create a new atmosphere for the crowd.
'We feel that we need to do this to bring some fresh air. We ought to serve the festival's loyal audience and many quarters have been supporting us,' he said.
The adjustments will see Java Rockin' Land have a new stage timing format, allowing the audience to move between the different stages, so they can enjoy a variety of shows. They're also dropping the number of stages from 9 to 7, cutting down the list of bands, while emphasizing a higher quality of performers.
'It used to be like this: While the main stage was firing its sound, the other stages had no performances taking place. Now we want to bring a real festival feeling; with all stages having performances at the same time,' Eq said .
This protocol is normal for a big outdoor music festival. Java Rockin' Land's sister production, Java Jazz Festival, also uses the same format.
In the previous events, Java Rockin' Land was remembered for bringing in legendary musicians, who were not exactly current stars, but still icons in their respected genres nevertheless, such as Stereophonics, Mew, Neon Trees, The Cranberries, Mutemath and The Smashing Pumpkins.
This year the festival is applying the same strategy. Among the headline acts are '90s favorites like Collective Soul, Steelheart, Sugar Ray and Sixpence None the Richer (now performing as a duo). American indie rock band Gossip and crossover thrash legend Suicidal Tendencies are also joining in to spice up the festival. The only difference from previous festivals, is the wider selection of rock genres of the performers.
'I grew up listening to Suicidal Tendencies. It's great to have the band come to my town after all these years,' says Antonius Sukoco, an old fan of Suicidal Tendencies. He is planning to come with his old friends. 'I'm coming just to see Suicidal Tendencies, man. I want to see Mike Muir himself breathing the same air as me in this town,' he jokes.
Apart from that, the festival will have a strong base of local good bands. Some of them are even going have reunion shows, after being out of the music industry for a long time. Familiar band names such as Rumahsakit, Sore, Jukebox, Roxx, Cherry Bombshell and EdanE are being billed in this festival.
There are also top notch bands playing the festival like Koil, Pas Band, Navicula as well as Gigi, Andra, the Backbone along with Efek Rumah Kaca, Endah N' Rhesa, Jasad and many more.
Koil's drummer, Leon Ray Legoh, admits that playing Java Rockin' Land is special.
'To take part in this festival is such a big achievement for us. Java Rockin' Land is one of the barometers of our industry,' he says.
More info about the festival:javarockingland.com
