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span class="inline inline-center">Kahitna (Antara/Theresia May)Indonesian legendary pop band Kahitna is celebrating their 25th year in the music industry. The word legend truly describes everything about them.

To still be standing strong after a brave 25-year-long career is something extraordinary. Well, at least not many people from their generation could survive in the music industry for that long.

To listen to Kahitna (meaning ka-hit-na or to the hit songs – spelled in Sundanese), is to go on a musical ride that talks of the past, present and hopefully a bright future.

Last week, they celebrated their silver jubilee in the music industry with a sold-out concert at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), one of the most prestigious venues in Jakarta. A full-house crowd packed the venue, including thousands of fans who had grown up with the band.

Led by musician/main song writer Yovie Widianto, the nine-man band looked as beautiful as they were in the ‘90s. With no change to their line-up since 2003, the skillful musicians put on a performance that left some of the audience full of admiration, and the rest in full-blown hysteria.

The solo concert, titled “Cerita Cinta 25 Tahun Kahitna” (25-Year Love Story of Kahitan), had been on everybody’s agenda for months. The event was announced as sold-out a few months prior to the gig. Front row tickets on the gray market were going for more than Rp 2 million (US$226) – an amazing figure for a local band. Despite the steep ticket prices, the event was a full house.

The concert began with hysteria. Girls appeared to be the predominant members of the crowd, and their voices more so. However, the festival floor seating was not the only source of the shouting – those occupying the stands and seated areas were doing well to make themselves heard in their own right.

It was the atmosphere that everyone had wanted, and a mass sing-along that lasted three hours was the inevitable result.

The boys of the band were in top form as they belted out their legendary tunes.

The band played every hit song from their seven albums.

From the sweet “Setahun Kemarin” (A year yesterday), “Andai Dia Tahu” (Wishing she knew), or “Seandainya Aku Bisa Terbang”(I wish I could fly) to jazzier tunes such as “Lajeungan” and “Di Rantau”.

“It’s good to be here after 25 years,” said Hedy Yunus, one of the three flamboyant lead singers in the band.

In addition to Hedy Yunus and Yovie Widianto, the band retains its long-time servants Carlo Saba and Mario Ginanjar on vocals, Doddy Isnaeni on bass, Harry Suhardiman on percussion, Budiana Nugraha, who remained calm in the back on his drums, Bambang Purwono on programming and second keyboards and the baby-face guitarist Andrie Bayuaji.

During the concert the band proved once again that as well as their bread-and-butter pop tunes, they also have the technical skill and creativity to add variety and spontaneity to their songs. One example was when the band jammed away the bridge of “Lajeungan” while the vocalists took a change of clothes break.

Bridges between sessions provided space for a few supporting bands like RAN, Maliq and the Essentials and The Groove to show off their talent, and steal the attention of the crowd for a short time. They all covered Kahitna songs.

Nino from RAN even made a textbook joke when he made fun of most of Kahitna members’ ages. “Om [Uncle] Hedy was a friend of my mom’s best friend. 25 years ago, they were playing jazz music; not like this,” he said.

Of course, when he referred to Hedy Yunus as Om, everyone in the crowd laughed at the reminder of the age gap between the two popular bands.

The superb atmosphere was a key ingredient in making the night memorable. For old-fashioned fans that grew up with Kahitna’s music, there was nothing more they could have asked for.

These two die-hard fans went through the effort of finding tickets despite the high cost and hassle. Both were in possession of pre-sale tickets which were won after a line-up session after the ticket sales were made open to the public months ago.

Twenty-five-year-old Bernika Yustisiana, who was in the audience that night, said she first heard the band when she was in elementary school.

“My first crush was ‘Cantik’ and ever since, I’ve been a big fan of them. For me, their songs are everlasting. They can fit any kind of mood a girl can have, whether it’s a broken heart, falling in love or even when you’re flirting with someone; Kahitna are always there,” she said.

Ricky Andrey, a man in his twenties, said he found time for Kahitna tunes ever since he first heard them.

“I love the consistency of bringing sweet tunes to the public. It’s actually a hard thing to do, to be consistent with your ability to keep producing songs like that,” he said.

Both Bernika and Ricky were just two of the thousands of people who came to the gig with their own stories; some were middle-class yuppies, some corporate executives while others were just ordinary folk whose teenage years were marked by personal love stories, which were mirrored by Kahitna’s songs.

At the end of the night, no one wanted to leave even after the announcement that the gig was over – and that was after the encore.

Yovie told the crowd simply that they had run out of songs; a second encore simply wasn’t possible. Hedy Yunus, on the other side of the stage, cried. “Please stop and go home,” he said though tears of happiness.

The word legend belongs to Kahitna.