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The Used, Prophets of Rage thrill Indonesian fans at Hodgepodge Superfest 2019
Thousands of people came to the Hodgepodge Superfest 2019 on Saturday and Sunday, attracted by headliners such as The Used and Prophets of Rage.
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Prophets of Rage performs at the Hodgepodge Superfest 2019 at Allianz Ecopark, Ancol, North Jakarta, on Sept. 1. (JP/I Gede Dharma JS)
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odgepodge Superfest 2019 has concluded after two days of music on Saturday and Sunday. The thousands of people who came to the festival, held at Allianz Ecopark, Ancol, North Jakarta, were mostly attracted by headliners such as The Used and Prophets of Rage.
Bert McCracken, lead singer of The Used, told The Jakarta Post during a backstage interview on Saturday that he was excited to play in Indonesia after the band’s last concert in the country in 2008.
“We’ve always had a great time here, the crowd was always receptive. It’s been so long and we hope that it will be a great show,” he said. “I think the crowds are gonna go wild.”
Hundreds of emo and hardcore fans who championed The Used flocked to the main stage on Saturday night and screamed in awe when McCracken, bass player Jeph Howard, drummer Dan Whitesides and guitarist Joey Bradford stepped onto the stage.
The Used started their set with the explosive intro of “Take It Away”, taken from their successful 2004 album In Love and Death. McCracken spurted water to the air before screaming to the beat of the song.
Not giving the audience a chance to rest, the band continued with the dramatic notes of “The Bird and The Worm”, from their 2007 album Lies for the Liars.
“Is there anyone here who came to our show in 2008?” McCracken asked the audience afterward. He apologized for coming back after 11 years and promised the audience the band would come back to Indonesia soon.
The crowd cheered and became crazier at the sound of the band's old hits, such as “All That I’ve Got”, “Buried Myself Alive”, “Pretty Handsome Awkward” and “Box of Sharp Objects”.
“This is the most emo song we’ve ever written,” McCracken said jokingly before playing the melodious “Blue and Yellow”. The statement was a satirical jab at how the band was considered an emo legend despite the criticism addressed to the genre and how it was often despised among other hardcore branches.
As an act of praise, The Used made popular songs their own, such as Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name”. Oasis’ “Wonderwall”, however, was played to mock the British group.
On the second day, the festival's crowd grew bigger, seemingly to witness the performance of Prophets of Rage whose members come from three renowned American groups: Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill.
Read also: Superorganism sends out quirky vibes at Hodgepodge Superfest 2019
After the audience stood and sang along to the national anthem “Indonesia Raya”, the giant backdrop of Prophets of Rage depicting a clutching fist was installed onstage to the voice of screaming fans.
When finally Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk from Rage Against the Machine, DJ Lord and Chuck D from Public Enemy and B-Real of Cypress Hill stepped onto the stage, the crowd cheered and cheered.
As Chuck D and B-Real, who donned keffiyehs in solidarity to Palestine, clenched their fists in the air, the stage lamp turned red to the sound of alarm and the static bass of “Prophets of Rage”. At once, raised fists could be seen across the crowd. When Wilk hit his drums, the crowd jumped around in a large circle pit.
A thick cloud of dust flew into the air as hundreds of feet jumped to the angry music and political lyrics of “Unf*ck the World”, “Guerilla Radio”, “Hail to the Chief” and “Take the Power Back”.
“Would you like to hear some classic hip hop music? Yo, drop it off!” he said before starting Cypress Hill’s classic “Hand on the Pump”, followed by Public Enemy’s “Can’t Truss It” and Cypress Hill’s “Insane in the Brain”.
At one point, all of a sudden Chuck D asked the audience to squat down. The audience obeyed and squatted down, then jumped in unison to House of Pain’s classic, “Jump Around”.
Afterward, Morello took over the show by playing Rage Against the Machine’s “Sleep Now in the Fire”.
“This is a very special night. For some of us, this is the first time we’ve come here. We didn’t get the chance to come here with our band Audioslave,” he said.
He asked the audience to sing along to the memory of Chris Cornell, singer of Audioslave and Soundgarden, who died in 2017.
Morello, Wilk and Commerford then played Audioslave’s “Cochise”, while the audience sang the lyrics.
The rest of the band came back to the stage afterward to perform Rage Against the Machine’s classic hits, such as “Bullet in the Head” and “Bulls on Parade”.
During the climax of “Killing In the Name”, the clenching fist backdrop was changed to a deep red poster with the words “MAKE JAKARTA RAGE AGAIN”.
After the show, dust still hung on the air. The crowd dispersed while wearing their happy faces, still in that blissful state after witnessing their long-awaited idols in action. (wng)
