11.04
Fred Morton
The Cranberries fronted by Dolores O’Riordan is among the headliners at this years
Java Rockin’land concert in Jakarta, Indonesia. (EPA Photo)
Even though it’s only three years old, Java Rockin’Land is already being seen as the premier rock music festival in the country. While a few other rock festivals have tried to promote themselves using similar concepts, none match the stature that JRL has established in just two editions. The news of the festival’s lineup each year is always one of the most-anticipated musical events on the calendar. With 10 different stages showcasing a variety of musical styles, there is a wealth of bands and musicians, both local and foreign, for fans to watch every year.
This year’s JRL, which will run from Friday to Sunday at Carnaval Beach in Jakarta, is headlined by emo rockers 30 Seconds to Mars and The Cranberries, the veteran Irish rock band.
The JRL festival has built its reputation by consistently managing to put together solid musical lineups of bands that, while not the hottest, still have legions of dedicated fans.
Previous festivals have included former alternative-rock titans the Smashing Pumpkins, Australian garage rockers Wolfmother and The Vines, as well as successful British act Stereophonics, among many others.
Rolling Stone journalist Wendy Putranto considers JRL “not only the biggest, but the best” festival of its kind in the country.
“The festival is a triumph in terms of lineup, ambience, sound quality, stage lighting and scheduling, which, for the most part, is always on the clock,” he said. He added that it was also important to see the festival’s success in the context of how segmented the market for rock music still is here.
While some of the festival acts may be past their prime, Wendy says this is an understandable consequence of the summer festival seasons going on in Europe and America. “The organizers have had trouble, I guess, in booking bigger name acts that are probably already set to play at other festivals overseas,” he said.
While not all of the headliners may be considered major acts, some are — or once were — considered international stars.
Though previous actor-led bands have, for the most part, met premature demises (for a good example, consider Keanu Reeves’s grunge-lite Dogstar), 30 Seconds to Mars, with movie star frontman Jared Leto, has had a commercially successful career.
Its second album, 2005’s “A Beautiful Lie,” sold 1.2 million copies in the United States and 3.5 million worldwide. Images of the band adorn the majority of JRL’s promotional posters, highlighting its crowd-drawing power.
This year’s other big headliner is the Cranberries. With uber-popular singles such as 1993’s “Linger” and “Dreams,” and 1994’s “Zombie” and “Ode to my Family,” the band reached the apex of its stardom in the mid-’90s with its unique brand of melancholy alternative-pop. Lead singer Dolores O’Riordan’s chant-like vocals also gave the band a strong personality, which influenced numerous Indonesian female singers.
The band went on hiatus after the release of 2001’s “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee” and a greatest hits album in 2002, but reunited in 2009. They are set to release their first album in almost 10 years in the fall of this year, titled “Roses.”
Other acts appearing at this year’s festival include pop-punk rockers Good Charlotte, Ed Kowalczyk, the former vocalist for alternative rock band Live, New York City indie rockers We Are Scientists, Australian folk alternative group Frente, which hit it big on these shores with its cover of New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle,” and a slew of newer acts such as indie-lite hipsters Neon Trees and Californian rockers Young the Giant.
One act that stands out is influential Manchester alternative rock group Happy Mondays, one of the major forces to come out of Britain’s “Madchester” scene during the ’80s. Though the Happy Mondays have gone through numerous lineup changes — this being their third incarnation — old-school music fans will certainly be happy at the chance to see them.
JRL has also received praise for its support of local independent acts, many of whom have graced the stages of the festival over the years. Some of the hot independent acts set to perform this year include grunge band Alien Sick, post-punkers Morfem, electronic rockers PAL/NTSC, songstress Sarasvati and many more.
Singer-pianist Luky Annash, an independent artist who will be promoting his just-released debut album at the festival, said he felt “very honored to be part of this annual greatness.”
“[JRL] has been very active in exposing, supporting and providing opportunities for local indie acts to showcase their music,” he said.
Luky also said that the festival had “opened the gates for quality Indonesian music to be something that is highly significant again.”
To avoid too much repetition, the festival has avoided booking independent acts that appeared at the festival the previous two years, which is why some critics say the quality of acts has gone down a bit this year.
“I understand that they are avoiding repeating themselves, but I also think that they should consider each band’s fan base and popularity. Or they could let the bigger indie acts that played last year play on the larger stages,” Wendy said.
Nevertheless, the bands that will be playing seem eager to do so. Jimi Multhazam, who sings in the band Morfem, said, “It’s like a dream to take part in a rock festival where the sound mixes are of the same quality for every performer. The only bad thing I can say about JRL is that they have yet to invite punk legend Iggy Pop to perform.”
Bass player Deta Beringas, whose band Kelelawar Malam (Night Bat) is set to perform on Saturday evening, said his band getting booked at JRL was already opening new doors for him.
“I just enjoy the fact that girls have been coming up to me and saying ‘You’re a hit,’ now that they know my band will be playing there,” he said.
This year’s JRL, which will run from Friday to Sunday at Carnaval Beach in Jakarta, is headlined by emo rockers 30 Seconds to Mars and The Cranberries, the veteran Irish rock band.
The JRL festival has built its reputation by consistently managing to put together solid musical lineups of bands that, while not the hottest, still have legions of dedicated fans.
Previous festivals have included former alternative-rock titans the Smashing Pumpkins, Australian garage rockers Wolfmother and The Vines, as well as successful British act Stereophonics, among many others.
Rolling Stone journalist Wendy Putranto considers JRL “not only the biggest, but the best” festival of its kind in the country.
“The festival is a triumph in terms of lineup, ambience, sound quality, stage lighting and scheduling, which, for the most part, is always on the clock,” he said. He added that it was also important to see the festival’s success in the context of how segmented the market for rock music still is here.
While some of the festival acts may be past their prime, Wendy says this is an understandable consequence of the summer festival seasons going on in Europe and America. “The organizers have had trouble, I guess, in booking bigger name acts that are probably already set to play at other festivals overseas,” he said.
While not all of the headliners may be considered major acts, some are — or once were — considered international stars.
Though previous actor-led bands have, for the most part, met premature demises (for a good example, consider Keanu Reeves’s grunge-lite Dogstar), 30 Seconds to Mars, with movie star frontman Jared Leto, has had a commercially successful career.
Its second album, 2005’s “A Beautiful Lie,” sold 1.2 million copies in the United States and 3.5 million worldwide. Images of the band adorn the majority of JRL’s promotional posters, highlighting its crowd-drawing power.
This year’s other big headliner is the Cranberries. With uber-popular singles such as 1993’s “Linger” and “Dreams,” and 1994’s “Zombie” and “Ode to my Family,” the band reached the apex of its stardom in the mid-’90s with its unique brand of melancholy alternative-pop. Lead singer Dolores O’Riordan’s chant-like vocals also gave the band a strong personality, which influenced numerous Indonesian female singers.
The band went on hiatus after the release of 2001’s “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee” and a greatest hits album in 2002, but reunited in 2009. They are set to release their first album in almost 10 years in the fall of this year, titled “Roses.”
Other acts appearing at this year’s festival include pop-punk rockers Good Charlotte, Ed Kowalczyk, the former vocalist for alternative rock band Live, New York City indie rockers We Are Scientists, Australian folk alternative group Frente, which hit it big on these shores with its cover of New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle,” and a slew of newer acts such as indie-lite hipsters Neon Trees and Californian rockers Young the Giant.
One act that stands out is influential Manchester alternative rock group Happy Mondays, one of the major forces to come out of Britain’s “Madchester” scene during the ’80s. Though the Happy Mondays have gone through numerous lineup changes — this being their third incarnation — old-school music fans will certainly be happy at the chance to see them.
JRL has also received praise for its support of local independent acts, many of whom have graced the stages of the festival over the years. Some of the hot independent acts set to perform this year include grunge band Alien Sick, post-punkers Morfem, electronic rockers PAL/NTSC, songstress Sarasvati and many more.
Singer-pianist Luky Annash, an independent artist who will be promoting his just-released debut album at the festival, said he felt “very honored to be part of this annual greatness.”
“[JRL] has been very active in exposing, supporting and providing opportunities for local indie acts to showcase their music,” he said.
Luky also said that the festival had “opened the gates for quality Indonesian music to be something that is highly significant again.”
To avoid too much repetition, the festival has avoided booking independent acts that appeared at the festival the previous two years, which is why some critics say the quality of acts has gone down a bit this year.
“I understand that they are avoiding repeating themselves, but I also think that they should consider each band’s fan base and popularity. Or they could let the bigger indie acts that played last year play on the larger stages,” Wendy said.
Nevertheless, the bands that will be playing seem eager to do so. Jimi Multhazam, who sings in the band Morfem, said, “It’s like a dream to take part in a rock festival where the sound mixes are of the same quality for every performer. The only bad thing I can say about JRL is that they have yet to invite punk legend Iggy Pop to perform.”
Bass player Deta Beringas, whose band Kelelawar Malam (Night Bat) is set to perform on Saturday evening, said his band getting booked at JRL was already opening new doors for him.
“I just enjoy the fact that girls have been coming up to me and saying ‘You’re a hit,’ now that they know my band will be playing there,” he said.
(Jakarta Globe)
Posted in: 
1 komentar:
Very nice! Sounds like a fun festival. Too bad I live so far away from there. :)
___
call Iran
Posting Komentar