IO, Yogyakarta – “Jogjarockarta Festival” has been held for the second time, on Saturday, October 29, 2018. This year’s festival featured seven Indonesian bands, alongside heavy metal giant Megadeth. The music festival previously invited ten bands, including progressive metal giant Dream Theater.
This year’s festival had a capacity of 15,000 people and sold nearly 10,000 tickets before the day of the event, with many more sold at the gate. The festival was located in Krisodosono Stadium and featured two stages, one for the Indonesian bands and another one specially made for Megadeth. The event opened its gates and 1:00 PM and ended with Megadeth’s final performance at around 11:00 pm.
The 2018 music festival opened with Jakarta based rock band Blackout, formed in 2007 and releasing their first and only self-titled album “Blackout” in 2010.
The next band to perform was domestically famous rock band Koil. Formed in Bandung in 1993, the band has released four studio albums, two mini albums and ten singles, with their last release taking place in 2010.
Performing third was local Yogyakarta heavy metal band Sangkakala, which formed in 2005 and released an EP in 2011 and a full-length album in 2013. During their performance, the band was introduced and accompanied by a group of men dressed as Yogyakarta palace soldiers or Bregada Kraton, holding flags with colored smoke coming out the top.
Elpamas, a dangdut ensemble turned rock band from East Java, performed fifth. Formed in 1983, the band has released 6 albums with last being in 2003.
Edane was the next band to perform. The band was formed in 1991 in Jakarta and has released seven albums throughout its career.
Following was Seringai, another Jakarta based metal band. Formed in 2002, the band has released three albums, two extended plays and one single.
ILP was the third to last band to play for the day. The youngest of the lineup, the Denpasar based progressive metal band formed up early this year and has already released one extended play.
Second-to-last and definitely the most famous Indonesian band in the festival’s lineup was God Bless. The rock band was formed in 1973 by now 72 year old Ahmad Albar, along with Jockie Soerjoprajogo, Fuad Hassan, Donny Fattah, and Ludwig Lemans. The band has continued its creative venture with its last album “Cermin 7” being released in 2016.
The final and most awaited for performance came from Megadeth, a heavy metal band from America, dubbed as the “Big Four of Thrash” alongside Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer. The band has sold over 38 million records worldwide and has been nominated for 12 Grammy’s, winning in 2017 for the song “Dystopia” in the Best Metal Performance category.
(Rimar Andhika)
