Java Rockin’land Revisited—Day 1: Not Quite a Smashing Pumpkin

The biggest rock music festival in South East Asia has begun! As much as 34 bands appeared on the very first day of Java Rockin’ Land. The one-hour rain that poured down on the venue did not affect the show’s meticulous arrangements. Each of the bands even performed right on schedule!

You don’t see this kind of large-scale music party very often in Indonesia. Suffice to say, Java Festival Production is possibly the only music event organizer that ever managed to combine various local and international bands in one, huge concert. The result was absolutely phenomenal. This is the kind of event that you simply can’t afford to miss!

Rocket Rockers was the first band to perform in the event, followed by /rif, Gugun Blues Shelter, Endah N’Rhesa, The Brandals, Datarock, Pas Band, Pure Saturday, Smashing Pumpkins, Bagaikan, BIP, The Flower, and many more. They performed live on 10 different stages spread across the Ancol Carnaval Beach venue.

Smashing Pumpkins, the US band who re-appeared in 2006, was perhaps one the most anticipated guest stars. Led by Billy Corgan, the band brought its latest formation of players to the stage: Nicole Fiorentino (bass), Mike Bryne (drum), Jeff Schroeder (guitar), dan Billy Corgan (vocal, guitar). They played a couple of songs from their previous and more recent albums such as “Today”, “A Song for A Son”, “Stand Inside Your Love”, “Tarantula”, “United States”, and “Tonight Tonight”. Too bad they didn’t interact much with the audience. Smashing Pumpkins began their performance without any warm greetings, and they didn’t say goodbye on the way out either. Some of their earlier hits, such as 1979 and Zero, were missing from the playlist as well. A handful of the most hard-core Smash Pumpkin fans left the arena feeling a bit disappointed.

In spite of the rain -which poured down on the site for about an hour, leaving the sand-covered ground all wet and slippery- people remained enthusiastic to follow the event right until the end. This was especially apparent at the Gudang Garam InterMusic Stage where the Smashing Pumpkin performed live. People were already lining up an hour prior to the band’s scheduled appearance. Before the main attraction showed up, Andi /rif, David Naif, and Ipang BIP appeared on stage and bring the audience into singing the “Indonesia Raya” national anthem together. A rather unusual display of nationalism in a music concert, but it was interesting nonetheless. A Malaysian man, who happened to be standing right beside me at that time, said “In Malaysia, we never did this kind of thing (singing the national anthem in a music concert -red).” Indeed, Indonesia deserves be proud because this event is the largest rock music festival in South East Asia. I saw many foreigners who blend in, chat, exchange opinions and sing along with the locals. What a great moment!

Feeling curious about how it’s going to be like in the second and third day? Stay tuned to www.jagatreview.com, we’re reporting hot from the arena of Java Rockin’land 2010!

*Pictures taken by Pramanaya Tjokronegoro and Lucky Natalia.