Progressive Mind

Jakarta, Indonesia.   The Indonesian Progressive Society (IPS) presented the 17^th Prog Night last night, 28 July 2006, 7:30 PM at Romeo Cafe, Auto Mall, Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD), Jakarta.. Three bands were featured: Votel Roffs, Vantasma and In Memoriam. The first two bands are basically newly established while the latter has performed excellently at other IPS events like Prog Fest as well as Prog Night. In Memoriam has also released a studio album and is now preparing the second one. Vantasma has recorded their first debut album and to be officially released in the very near future – probably next month (August) of this year (as informed by Welly, the keyboard player).

 

Overall, I was totally satisfied with the event not only that I met many prog rock people as well as friends from m-claro mailing list, and also friends from i-Rock! – the recently established rock organization in the country which will rock globally – but also the performing bands were excellent. I brought along new crowd that never attended the event before like my prog rock colleague Yosafat Hutagalung, a senior executive from Citibank Global Consumer Banking, who attended the venue at the same time with me (roughly at 7:30). Yos is the first time guest of the event and from my conversation with him he said it bluntly last night that he really enjoyed the show. (oh yeahh .. you didn’t need to say it, Yos, actually … because I saw you did many headbangings especially when In Memoriam was on stage.Yeah! Prog rules!). Also with me was mas Keli (Rachmat Hery) who loves Marillion and IQ – he is basically neo progger. I also met Roni of Octavariukm band (the band that covers Dream Theater and did their performance during i-Rock! Secong Out Jammin’ two weeks ago at this venue as well). Needless to say taht I also meet old time proggers like Herman Schulz, Didit, Rikon, Rori, mbak Didy (who just arrived couple of days ago from Germany – watching the soccer final! What a rich lady she is yah …? Don’t you think? Yeah .. she is also chairing the BMW Club as well …). Too bad that my neo prog fans did not attend the event – they are Tatan Taufik, Agung Surjoatmodjo (Fish die hard fan), Imam Khanafi – too busy with Indosiar?

 

Uuughhh … such a long introduction hah? Nevermind – my aim is to get you bored with long intro so that you are not interested to read this long review. If you still sustain reading until this sentence – that’s too bad! It seems like you don’t have any work to do, professionally! Kuak kak kak kak kak kak kak kak kka kak kak … (read: LOL!)
   

 

VOTEL ROFFS

 

Votel Roffs was a six-piece band who opened the Prog Night. Osmond: keyboard, Vano: guitar, Danang: guitar, Fahmi: bass, Roma: drums, Andrew: vocals. They performed their music excellently. All players are excellent with their own roles but I could see that the drum player was fantastic and I think he was the best drummer for last night’s performance. Roma rules! (Note: Roma was once the Winner of Asian Beat Drum Competition conducted by Yamaha Music – no wonder he did play fantastic drumming!). His dynamic drums playing enriched the overall textures of their music which blends progressive metal and the mellow side of prog music – usually people call it as neo progressive rock. During the performance of this band I suddenly remember a prog met band

RIVERSIDE

who has released two albums: “Out of Myself” and “Second Life Syndrome”. VR music is very similar with

RIVERSIDE

even though VR is much heavier in term of composition. But I also get a sense of Dream Theater and Pain of Salvation music as well from VR’s music.

 

 

I could see how the keyboard player played his keyboard effects in some segments of their music and he did it wonderfully. Even, his playing style made their performance special. Well, I think I knew Osmond before (2 years ago?) when Inndonesian Institute of Musicians (IMI) conducted Prog Event at their campus in

Jakarta

. The same is true also with Fahmi (bass) and Danang (guitar) who also performed at that Prog Event at IMI. But I think all of them have improved significantly in terms of skills and performance. This band has an excellent potential in the future and I’m sure if they release their debut album, it will prog the world! For sure, I will be the first one to write the review at http://www.progarchives.com. I did enjoy their show last night. Bravo Votel Roffs! Keep proggin’ man …!!!!

Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

VANTASMA

 

Wow…!!!! Finally ..

Indonesia

has a neo progressive rock band. Congratulations! Oh yes, Vantasma is a band in the vein of Marillion, IQ, Pallas, Pendragon – the bands that dared to challenge the new wave and punk music which swept prog music away in the early 80’s. Remember bands like B 52’s, Robert Palmer, Mo, Human League, Ultravox, Duran Duran, Orchestral Maneuver In The Dark, etc? That bands dominated the music industry at that time and even basic pop music was practically not exist. Out of the blue, a Scottish band with unknown name sung “So here I am once more. In A playground of a brokenheart …” well you know it damn well, my friend .. it’s definitely Fish’ voice with Marillion’s “Script For A Jester’s Tear”!!! History has recorded that the appearance of Marillion in the sea of new wave and punk era stood tall with prog flag – of course with a modified version – not that complex as the old school prog of YES “Relayer” or “Close To The Edge”. People then called it as neo progressive rock music.

 

I never heard any Indonesian prog bands in the vein of neo but Vantasma. This new band is really kicking! Their compositions are great! It comprises music with tight structure combining heavy and soft parts with touchy melodies (of course! This has been the main characteristics of neo prog). I remember clearly weeks ago when Welly (the keyboardist) sent me a short message at my mobile number saying that there are touchy parts of Vantasma music which will attract me. He is right! I saw their music last night with heavy influence of marillion, IQ. Vantasma vocalist Opik is an excellent lead vocalist with excellent English dialect which does not seem like non-English speaking vocalist. His voce and singing style remind me of Peter Nichols of IQ. He could manage his low as well as high note registers. The lead guitarist, Eddy, is also an excellent player with playing style reminds me to Mike Holmes of IQ where it has sometime howling guitar effects. Other players in the band: Jacky – guitar, Gig – bass, Gaga – drums.

 

Vantasma played four long songs. As compared to Votel Roffs, Vantasma music is softer that’s why there was minimum surprises as it happened with Votel Roffs. I could also sense a feel of getting bored with parts which seem like being elongated. I also remember vividly that at third song they played last night there were segments that were heavily influenced by Mark Kelly’s Garden Party keyboard’s fills. It seemed the crowd were familiar with neo prog music as during break between songs the crowd shout “

Chelsea

Monday …!!!” (Marillion’s song). My friend Keli seemed enjoying Vantasma very much as he is a die hard fan of IQ music. Definitely, when Vantasma release thir debut, I would be the first one to purchase the CD. I hope that the band would play their album in its entirety as they launch the CD. Bravo Vantasma!

 

Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

IN MEMORIAM

 

The last performer IN MEMORIAM was representing the “peak” of last night live music performance. In Memoriam came on stage with new lead vocalist, Didi, who has just joined the band since two weeks ago. Before the show, the band’s leader and keyboard player, Reynold, was interviewed by the host (Rustam). Wearing all black costumes the band played their music in their full energy. The music is dynamic and exploding – it combines prog metal with other kinds of music like hard rock, pop as well as circus music. In Memoriam’s music is tough to categorize but for sure their music is original in terms of style.

 

They played new tracks as well as those from their debut album. Each player has their own attraction point. The guitar player (Martin) and bass player (Susan) use similar costumes in black with red tie, bold heads! The look of the bass player reminds me to the appearance of Nightwish’ bass player. Not just the look that seemed interesting of Susan – but the way he played is bass guitar was truly fantastic. I even came closer to the stage gave my tribute to him as well as to the keyboard player Reynold. Reynold played weird notes at his keyboard, sometimes. But he also played some symphonic style as well.

 

As far as my ear and mind sensitivity, I could not detect any problem with each song played by In Memoriam’s personnel last night. The lead vocalist also delivered his voice in power with nice metal headbanging. The crowd who sat around me at front row including mbak Didy kept shouting “In Memoriam is GREAT!” while bang her head many times as the music of In Memoriam rolled. Yosafat did the same thing with his head as he could not afford not to shake it. Yeah man … In Memoriam rules! Hmm .. I happened to know later that In Memoriam’s drum player, Anton, is a Keris Patih’s drum player. (Note: Keris Patih is a pop rock band who is very famous in

Indonesia

).

 

Overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Well my prog friends … That’s all what I could say about the 17^th Prog Night. I was totally satisfied and I felt rockin’. Hope that In Memoriam and Votel Roffs would release their debut CD shortly. Mr IPS Chairman, please expedite the album making of those two excellent bands! I thank YOU …!!!!!! Keep on proggin’ …!

 

For those of you who love the heavy side of music, you must be there at this event:

 

Sampoerna A Mild Presents:

i-Rock! United We Stand

Featuring:

EDANE, ROXX, SUCKER HEAD, BUMBLE BEE, THE DJALU, STUPA

Hard Rock Cafe, EX Building

Wednesday 16^th August 2006, 7:30 – till drop

 

Don’t miss it!!!

 

 

Yeaaaahhh ….!!!! Rock On!

Images & Words by:

 

Gatot Fugaziyanto

i-Rock! Provocation Manager

 

Date: 

Wed, 26 Jul 2006

16:25:39

+0100 (BST)

From: "Gatot
Widayanto" <gatot_wid@yahoo.co.uk> 

Subject: "Regalis
Apertura" - "Forever" by KAMELOT

To: m-claro@yahoogroups.com

——————————————————————————————————————–

 

Gak usah dikomentari, ini cuman curhat aja karena

malem ini gw multi orgasme menikmati indahnya lagu ini

…

 

KAMELOT "Karma" yang maha dahzyat! Gw jatuh cinta
ama

power metal ya melalui album "Karma" ini. Opening

track "Regalis Apertura" yang seperti Firebird
Suite

nya Yes seolah-olah,
bukan mirip) dan sangat kolosal

membahana …

Setelah itu nikmati dentingan bunyi piano disertai

gitar efek halus pertanda masuknya musik JRENG! dhug u

dhug bunyi double pedal bass drum (ciri power metal)

membawa irama rancak bermelodi indah "Forever"!

Biyuh ini lagu keren abis .. meski liriknya rada

cengeng …

"Will you revive from the chaos in my mind, when we

still are bound together? Will you be there waiting at

the gates of dawn when I close my eyes forever …"

jreng-jreng-jreng dhug u dhug u dhug …

biyuuuuuuuhhhh … Gusti Allah nyuwun ngapuro ..

nuikmatzzzz…. nggeBLAK!!!!

 

ah … malem ini gw nggeblak nggulung koming njungkel

pol !! (udah nyetel 5 x bolak balik ndak bosen juga!)

 

BTW lagu tersebut gw pake buat ngebuka event i-Rock!

Second Out Jammin’ 14 Juli yang lalu dan insya Allah

dipake lagi nanti MALAM INAUGURASI buat adrenalin

exploder right at the very first of the event!

 

Ini lirik lengkapnya buat materi mbengok-mbengok di

malam Kamis yang metal ini …

 

FOREVER

 

there’s a pain within

that I can’t define

there’s an empty space

where your love used to shine

from the night we met

till the day you died

do you think I wished

do you still believe I tried

all too soon we were divided

and life had just begun

 

will you revive

from the chaos in my mind

where we still are bound together

will you be there

waiting by the gates of dawn

when I close my eyes forever

 

I belong to you

you belong to me

it’s the way things are

always meant to be

 

like the morning star

and the rising sun

 

you convey my life

and forgive me what I’ve done

 

all too soon we were divided

into darkness and light

 

will you revive

from the chaos in my mind

where we still are bound together

will you be there

waiting by the gates of dawn

when I close my eyes forever

 

save me

reverse how I’m thinking of you

every breath I take

brings me closer

closer to forever, to you

I’m waiting for the day that I’m gone

 

————–

 

Salam,

G

   
For Thoughts Leadership, click: ValueQuest
   

Dear True Rockers all
over

Jakarta

and

Bandung

… YEEEEAAAAHHH!!!!

 

Thanks to all of you who made your priority to attend the i-Rock! Second Out Jamming last
Friday 14 July 2006 from 8:00 PM till dawn! You guys and gals are really
SUPERB! FANTASTIC! (you name any bombastic words, it’ll all would do for all of
you. Oh yes, you deserve it man ….!!!! You might be wondering why I put

Bandung

as well as my
opener? Because it’s true, there was one gentleman whom his heart was tattooed
by rock spirit attended the event. He came to

Jakarta

for one specific destiny: to join the
crowd who flocked to Romeo cafe last Friday. His name is: BUDI RAHARJO (nick
named as BO’ING). Well, don’t be surprised! He is a senior lecture at ITM
(Institut Teknologi Mbandung) – a memorable engineering institute where I was
originally from there as well! LOL! Budi decided to be there at Romeo exactly
at 8:00 PM and he had to fly back to Mbandung early in the morning. FLY? Yeah,
because he had to catch-up the soccer competition where he would play as team
member. Thanks Pak Dosen Boing ..!! We’re honored with you being there joining
the crazy crowd.

 

Another credit goes to a lot friends of mine who came there
responding my SMS “ratjoen” (hope you guys and gals enjoyed the show and did
not feel “ditipu sama Gatot”, don’t you?). First: Pak Bambang Priyohandoko – a
Senior Official of Ministry of Finance. Pak Bambang has been my rock sms
participants where the members terrorizing the other members on what rock tunes
they were now playing. He is a true metal head even though his age is much
older than me – even older than Mamak. His favorite bands? Morbid Angel,
Obituary, Anthrax, etc. Hm … I should introduce pak Bambang with Icann. Also
BIG THANKS to Mbak JoElla (sori dink .. mbak Ella), Caesar Sardi, Ilham Jakarta
Alternative Station. Yanto, Kelik (Rachmat) who came there with his two sons,
Tatan Taufik who also brought his son, Michelle, Herman Schulze, Didit, Adrian
(sorry that was not “prog” but I was happy that you enjoyed the event and confirmed
to attend any future events hosted by i-Rock! – thanks, mate!), Marius and his
gank (thanks for attending and participating even though with short notice).
All other rockers who attended the crazy night of i-Rock! (sambil kepalkan
tinjumu ke angkasa, agar menggeloraaaaaaa ……!!!!!)

 

Those who did not attend are sentenced as “golongan
yang merugi dan seharusnya bertobat untuk selanjutnya tidak akan pernah tidak
datang di event nya i-Rock! yang selalu saja heboh!” I mean it man
…!!! But .. don’t worry … there is a good chance for you doing the TOBAT
thing by confirming and committing to attend the: (please don’t sell your
promise, just be THERE!)

 

i-Rock! Inauguration Night at Hard Rock Cafe

Wednesday, 16 August 2006 (8:00 PM till Drop)

Featuring: EDANE, ROXX, MAKARA, SUCKER HEAD, BUMBLE BEE

Be There!!! Or …. DIE! (there will be no other chance to do
TOBAT-ing!)

 

 

Friday Night That
Rocked! (The Second Out Jamming
Possession ….)

 

The program was kicked off on time at 8:00 PM with a
playback of KAMELOT’s “Regalis
Apertura” (I thought I made a mistake in typing this title at first –
but I checked my orig CD sleeve – it’s 100% correct man!) in a FULL BLAST of
volume (thanks to Jo Posan who served as Sound Engineer, replacing Alan Parsons
who caught by a heavy flu and SMS me for being absent for the event. Get well
soon, Alan!). It was very very loud and thanks to ROMEO Cafe for providing
decent sound system. Then what came out was the sound of FULL music with full
POWER having “dug u dug u dug ..” of double pedal bass drum sounds of my
favorite metal tune “Forever”… here we go .. the show starts off with Gatot
Fugaziyanto being a host, inviting Eric
to come on stage welcoming the crowd. After a damn short chit chat, then JRENG!
The power metal band TUNDRA played their first tune “Together We Stand” (what
an inspiring title! It’s just like a “right” theme of the i-Rock!
organization). You know .. i-Rock! is a group of fabulous people who shared the
same passion and destiny for the progression of rock music in

Indonesia

! Note
my words man … one day we will outnumber anything related to rock music! The
size of our organization is highly related with the damn BIG size of our DREAM.
We dream BIG man ….!!!! We will progress as BIG as our THOUGHTS. Thoughts are
powerful. Thoughts will change the world ……!!!

 

Well, I don’t want to tell every single memorable event that
night as PICTURE SAYS THOUSAND WORDS
…. just watch the picture …!!!! Then I post the SET LIST as it was
prepared by i-Rock! head Stephen Kasenda. Enjoy!

    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
      
    
      
          
   
      
         
      
          
               
         
                     
                     
      
         
       
         
             
             
               
         
         
             
         
             
       
               
      

            

For detailed review click this: i-Rock! Second Out Jammin’ by Budi Rahardjo.

Words and Pictures By: GATOT FUGAZIYANTO

Complete Setlist 14.07.06 Show (prepared by STEPHEN)

TUNDRAInstrumental Solo GuitarStratovarius - Distant SkiesLoudness - Lost Without Your LoveYngwie Malmsteen - Crash And Burn

DE JALUVelvet Revolver - Fall To PiecesIwan Fals - Bento (rock version)De Jalu - Malam MingguRolling Stones - Paint It Black (new arrangement)Benyamin S - Kompor Meleduk (rock version)

ROCKS DEVILMetallica - Creeping DeathMetallica - Wherever I May RoamMetallica - Enter SandmanMetallica - And Justice For All

JAM SESSIONDeep Purple - Smoke On The WaterVan Halen - JumpWhitesnake - Here I Go AgainQueen - We Will Rock YouPink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (tribute to Syd Barrett)

OCTAVARIUMDream Theater - Pull Me UnderDream Theater - SurroundedDream Theater - I Walk Beside YouDream Theater - Peruvian SkiesDream Theater - The Spirit Carries On / Finally Free

i-ROCK! ALL STARSEric Clapton - CocaineRolling Stones - Dead FlowersProcol Harum - A Whiter Shade of Pale

STUPABon Jovi - Someday I'll Be Saturday NightDef Leppard - PhotographWhitesnake - Still Of The NightLed Zeppelin - Black DogThe Black Crowes - Hard To HandleKiss - BethBeatles - Oh Darling (encore)Led Zeppelin - Rock And Roll

***

DVD Pro-shoot masih dalam pengerjaan, kalau udah beres nantidikabarin, bisa dipesan, sekaligus nanti dapet bonus CD Extended Playperformance STUPA selama sekitar 30 menitan.

Thanks all for comin' last night, and see ya all at the i-Rock! grandlaunching night at Hard Rock Cafe EX, 16 August 2006 with EDANE andROXX on stage,rock on brada !

Feel like it’s been a long time since you rock and roll ?
Feel like you need nothin’ but a good time ?
So don’t miss this one hell of a party !!

i-Rock! presents
JAM SESSION : SECOND OUT
Romeo Cafe, AutoMall SCBD
Friday, 14 July 2006
20.00-24.00

Dress Code : Rock/Metal/i-Rock! t-shirt (available for sale at venue)
Entrance Fee : Rp50.000 (first drink and free sticker included)

featuring 4-hours non stop live performance by :
* Stupa (80’s hard rock)
* Octavarium (progressive metal)
* De Jalu (alternative rock)
* Tundra (power metal)
* Gitaris.com
* Rocks Devil (thrash metal)
* i-Rock! All Stars (various classic rock)

- Doorprizes of CDs, t-shirt i-Rock!,and handphone
- New and Used CD/Cassette counter

Visit www.friendster.com/irockcomm for further information
Feel free to ask all questions by e-mail to irock.comm@gmail.com

Rock on!

Be There!!! or DIE mannnn ….!!!!! Jangan ngaku suka musik rock kalo elo2 kagak mau datang kesana. Bakalan heboh!

This is the  TOP 10 Prog album of All Times according to www.progarchives.com. It is interesting to note here that this list was derived from a combination of rating and number of reviews each album were made by reviewers (both collaborators as well as others) at the site. Approx a month ago GENESIS "Selling England" was no. 2 but it’s now outnumbered by  Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here".
Other thing to note is that: there are 3 albums by both GENESIS as well as PINK FLOYD in the list. While other bands only occupy one position in the list. Can we conclude that bothe GENESIS and PINK FLOYD are consistent in producing "quality" prog albums compared to other bands? Well. it probably is … You tell me!

1. YES "Close to the Edge"
2. PINK FLOYD "Wish You Were Here"
3. GENESIS "Selling England By The Pound"
4. JETHRO TULL "Thick As A Brick"
5. PINK FLOYD "Dark Side of the Moon"
6. GENESIS "Foxtrot"
7. KING CRIMSON "In The Court Of The Crimson King"
8. GENESIS "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway"
9. RUSH "Moving Pictures"
10. PINK FLOYD "Animals"

Keep on proGGin’ man …!!!!
Gatot