Jogjarockarta Festival 2023
Jakarta, IO – The Kridosono Stadium in Yogyakarta has witnessed a number of significant events in the country’s rock music history. On September 30, 2023, Kridosono welcomed Sepultura back to Indonesia, Overkill’s first visit to the country, and Slank, with Bongky and Pay coming along to the event.
This underlines an important statement: Jogjarockarta remains a rock festival that consistently presents performances of international caliber at affordable ticket prices.
The gates opened at 2 p.m., with spectators trickling in and swarming Kridosono with a black-clad audience. Over 6,000 rocker heads from all over Indonesia filled Yogyakarta’s air with howling and brandishing the devil’s horn to the air.
Bandung’s rockers, Iron Voltage, opened the Jogjarockarta Festival by performing their hit singles and their album, Devastation (2022), including “Power Mad,” “Immortal Crush,” “The Wire,” “Wasted to Death,” “Explosion,” and of course “Devastation.”
Their intense performance earned them the crown of Indonesia’s future metal thrash band. Long live the iron!
It did not take too long before the BIP rocked the stage. This 90s band has loyal fans, BIPERS, who have been waiting since the afternoon. They sang throughout the BIP’s performance and played their various hits, such as “Korslet,” “Bintang Hidupku,” “Koncianmu,” “Aku Gemuk Lagi,” and “Pelangi Matahari.”
Rotor’s greatness continues to live on in the next generation, as exhibited by Delusive Purity’s stage performance and rocked by Rotor’s classic thrash songs: “No War, Always Peace,” “Inside and Outside,” “Diplomasi Gila,” “Siapa…Apa?” and “Behind the 8th Ball,” were nicely presented.
Slank successfully performed with Pay and Bongky, a little reunion that was warmly embraced by the audience, especially when they presented their familiar songs: “Bang Bang Tut” and “Mawar Merah,” followed by Pay’s “Suit-Suit… He..He.. (Sexy Girl)” and “Maafkan.” Slank also sang “I Miss You But I Hate You,” “Mars Slankers,” “Tong Kosong,” and “Virus.”
Overkill, a thrash metal band from New Jersey formed in the 1980s, brightened up the night in Kridosono. The band transported America’s East Coast vibe to the heart of Yogyakarta. They were hot, brutal, and bursting with energy! They played ten songs, including “Scorched,” “Electric Rattlesnake,” “Hello from the Gutter,” “The Surgeon,” and “Ironbound.” What an outstanding stage performance!
Sepultura concluded the 2023 Jogjarockarta Festival by performing Andreas Kisser, the guitarist, in a black T-shirt with the old Indonesian “Hai” magazine logo, and bassist Paulo Jr. in a similar outfit they were wearing in 1992. Andreas successfully recreated the past event more than three decades later. This Brazilian thrash metal titan finished the 2023 Jogjarockarta Festival off with “Isolation,” “Territory,” “Means to an End,” “Kairos,” “Propaganda,” “Refuse/Resist,” and the classic “Roots Bloody Roots.” The audience was obviously excited about the surprises offered by the Jogjarockarta Festival for them next year.
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The founder of Rajawali Indonesia, Anas S. Alimi, said that he was overjoyed to invite Sepultura back to Indonesia and Overkill for the first time.
“Alhamdulillah, this year’s Jogjarockarta ran smoothly. I thank all parties for their support. Finally, after a lot of hard work, Jogjarockarta was finally able to present Sepultura, Overkill, and Slank’s collaboration with Pay and Bongky. I am also happy that Jogjarockarta offered a tribute to the legendary Rotor presented by Delusive Purity. We also thank BIP and Iron Voltage for taking part in Jogjarockarta music concerts,” said Anas.
See you at the 2024 Jogjarockarta Festival! (des/ast)