Event Review - Kickfest 2015 Bandung

Kickfest 2015 Bandung was held on 16th, 17th, 18th of October in PUSSENIF. There were 99 performers and dozens of clothing company participated in this event. The venue is not really far from my workplace --about 100 meters, so I decided to went there by walking.

I came on the 17th and 18th. They were Saturday and Sunday. The later was accidental, though. I didn't expect much, thinking that the lineup for Saturday is quite hardcore-themed with Eyefeelsix and Taring. But the ones I expected to watch were Sore, Homogenic (HMGNC), and Cherry Bombshell. On Sunday, aside from watching the live football match of PERSIB vs. Sriwijaya FC, the bands I watched include Suri, Purpose (Tiger Clan) and Alone at Last*.

Day 2: Loot and Loss

I wrote Day 2 because I didn't came on the 16th. The ticket was IDR 20k for a day. You could actually send a representative to buy the tickets if you want. As I browsed the clothing booths, I found some interesting models of beanie and fedora. The fedoras were quite expensive, though. On the contrary, most beanies were on sale, priced ranging from IDR 50k to 85k. One of the reasons why I came there was to upgrade my own fashion anyway, so I bought one. It's a shame that not a single booth there sold vests.

Eyefeelsix & Taring

I couldn't get any closer to the stage. Eyefeelsix is a rapcore band, while Taring is a completely experienced hardcore band. I have watched Taring before (the drums were as crazy as back then), but this is the first time I saw Eyefeelsix performed. I have heard much about them from twitter in this couple of years though. On their twitter account, they spilled a leak that they would collaborate in this event. So here they fullfilled their promise.

Sore

Sore had released a new music video titled "R14" recently. They pronounced it "Ria". It's dedicated to Ria Irawan who struggled for cancer. Sore's performance was outstanding with their three left-handed players. Their setlist included some of their songs from the "Centralismo" and "Sorealist". They're "R14" "Lihat", and "Ssst...". I didn't recognize the first two songs but I felt the second song's ending brought up some kind of ambient atmosphere. The audience were singing along especially when "R14" and "Ssst..." came into play. I think "R14" sounds better live here. Overall it was undoubtedly a decent performance.

That's it for the first day. The bad news that day were that I didn't get the chance to watched Homogenic and Cherry Bombshell I lost my cellphone. It was actually not a really big deal as I've planned to buy a new one, but still, I've got some important contact there. So yeah... a loss is a loss. At least that's what I thought before Sunday finally came.

Day 3: Reunion and Celebration

Like I said before, it was accidental. My parents got some calls and text messages sayingt that my cellphone has been found and it can be retreived at the information booth. It was a relief. Therefore I went to Kickfest one more time. I arrived just as the football match live-watching was about to start. After I retreived the phone I watched the match. Some stoner rock and ambient bands were still playing in Lounge stage which serve as a 'soundtrack' of the match. The result of the match was 2-0, with PERSIB claimed victory over Sriwijaya FC and became the champion of Piala Presiden.

Suri

The three bands which performed after the match seemed lack of the crowd's hype. Especially this one. Most audience had probably gone home at that time of hour. Nevertheless, Suri looked made the most of their performance. With three personeel, this band still rocked. Groovy-stoner riffs and southern rock screams were their specialty.

Purpose

Who's up for some ska? Purpose's purpose was to make you dance to the breathtakingly ska beats. After 15 years of hiatus, they finally hit the stage. They performed with a whooping nine personeel, beating Slipknot in number. Some familiar songs were played including "Anak Sekolah". This band actually reminded me to a particular Kungpow Chickens' song which is about the clean vocalist, Andi. He is a co-founding member of the band who also raps in Kungpow Chicken. The other vocalist has a great harsh vocals to enjoy. Somehow they made a good combination.

Alone at Last*

This band is almost always there in Kickfest annually. Some of their song's chords were presented in this blog and became popular posts. As usual, the lead vocalist, Yas Budaya, was such an attention gatherer. He looked better without his moustache and lost some weight apparently the last time I saw Alone at Last* performer pre-disband rumor. Yas put up a variety of acts while singing "Rise", "Saat Dunia Tak Menatapmu", "Takkan Terhenti di Sini", "Kita Bisa" and "Amarah Senyum dan Air Mata". There was a new guitarist introduced who replaced Papsky. Some bunny dudes appeared on the stage out of nowhere. This performance was full of surprise. The closure was kind of flat though. It's late already anyway.