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Soundrenaline's faithful nod to music
Soundrenaline music festival was held on Sept. 8 and 9, bringing well-loved acts alongside newer talent.
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Dialog Dini Hari and Scaller perform one of the musical collaborations at the Soundrenaline music festival. (Soundrenaline/-)
I
n the sprawling Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park in Bali, one would be greeted by the colossal limestone rocks spread across the venue. Standing side by side almost neatly, the rocks are a sight on their own. At a music festival, such as Soundrenaline, they also become a majestic backdrop along with the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue peeking from the back.
Held on Sept. 8 and 9 and in its 16th edition this year, Soundrenaline again showed its appeal of well-curated music with touches of art that went well beyond the surface. Collaborating with Jakarta-based art collective ruangrupa, the festival presented mainstream acts along with edgy and newer talents from Asia while arts and creativity seemed to surround the venue.
The Creators Park was where art came to life, where visitors could find art installations on fashion in a trailer, in the shape of fabric capsules that inflated and shrank that depicted a psychological state of protecting oneself from pain, or a gigantic bamboo statue shaped like a Balinese dancer. One of the main stages in the area was decorated with over 4,000 bamboos, an impressive feat of design and construction. Its beauty became more palpable when night time came and the red lighting shone through the bamboos.
Founded in 2002, Soundrenaline can safely say that it is one of the most enduring music festivals in Indonesia. Throughout the years, the festival has flourished into one that in the past few years consistently features unexpected musical collaborations. Past surprises included soul-pop singer Glenn Fredly jamming with hard rock band Kelompok Penerbang Roket.
This year, those collaborations shrank in numbers, though not in value, such as when folk band Dialog Dini Hari played alongside electronic rock duo Scaller. Playing in an amphitheater, the only indoor stage among five at the festival, the bands had an impressive partnership and the music somehow worked.
Read also: Soundrenaline announces Limp Bizkit as headliner
However, the choice of an amphitheater, with limited number of seats, as a venue proved to be a poor choice as large numbers of people were unable to get inside. Organizer should have anticipated the enthusiasm, especially for crowd favorites such as pop jazz singer Danilla and rock band Efek Rumah Kaca, which featured artworks of renowned artist Eko Nugroho interpreting the band’s songs.
Music enthusiast Teguh Wicaksono along with Jakarta-based art and music collective Studiorama also played a part in the selection of the Southeast Asian musicians and artists. Teguh acted as a curator for the Soundrenaline Expression Project that presented visual art installations by five artists from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
Reno Nismara of Studiorama said they aimed to present new talents, such as Thailand’s Phum Viphurit and Malaysia’s Zee Avi, alongside veterans like Malaysia’s Hujan and the Philippines’ Rivermaya, while still staying true to the character of both Studiorama and Soundrenaline.
In true fashion of Soundrenaline, the festival stayed the course by featuring well-loved acts and whose performances never disappointed. Metal bands Burgerkill and Seringai pounded with hard and heavy beats, pop-jazz group Maliq & D’Essentials were a delight and rock band Barasuara was intense and captivating.
New favorites such as Phum Viphurit and folk singer Jason Ranti were showered with love by the audience, who sang along to every lyric. Japanese psychedelic rock band Kikagaku Moyo put on a passionate and magnetic show, rock band The Sigit was rightfully fiery, indie rock band The Adams showed off gorgeous harmonies in between guitar reverbs, while Thailand’s alternative band Yellow Fang dazzled with their version of wall of sounds. Punk rock band High Tension from Australia was also highly memorable thanks to Karina Utomo the singer who belted out songs so fiercely and at one point left the stage and joined the crowd to sing in the mosh pit.
As for the ultimate headliner, the rap rock band Limp Bizkit presented 10 songs in a tight performance for 75 minutes, while vocalist Fred Durst engaged in humorous conversations with the crowd between the songs, though some might say the jokes quickly lost their appeal.
Festival-goer Firman Prasetyo came all the way from Surakarta, Central Java, especially to see the band. He acknowledged that the intention was nostalgia-tinged, as he never got the opportunity to see the band on its heyday in the late 1990s.
How did he find the show after all these years?
“After a while it got boring, because Fred repeatedly praised Indonesia and the festival that it just felt like a lip service," Firman said. "But truth to be told, I got goosebumps during the first three songs."
In the end, that was what I witnessed time and again: that music was what brought all these people here. That after the blistering sun and the endless walking from stage to stage in the vast venue, people still found themselves dancing to the instrumental ska sets from Sentimental Moods and got lost in the bliss of Javanese and hip-hop beats of Jogja Hip Hop Foundation near midnight. People still sang along wholeheartedly to the love songs of Padi (now bearing Reborn as its last name), to the hip and sprightly Elephant Kind, or the long lasting appeal of pop rock band Sheila on 7. Watching people experience unadulterated joy because of music is something I will never get tired of.
