Dewa brings music of unity to Australia
By Fauzia Tori
SYDNEY, Australia (JP): When you live far from home, anything that brings back memories of the people and places you have left behind is dearly valued. This was the feeling of many of those in the audience earlier this month in Sydney to hear the Indonesian band Dewa.
About 1,000 Indonesians, the majority of them students, gave the band a tremendous welcome. They packed the exclusive City Live venue, which has hosted such big-name acts as Ricky Martin and Aussie favorites Human Nature.
With tickets costing AUS$45 to $50, it certainly took a wildly popular band like Dewa to attract this many young Indonesians.
"I have an exam tomorrow but I refuse to miss out on seeing my favorite band. That's why I came. It was fantastic and the money was absolutely worth it," said Erica Rachman Kaliban, a 21-year- old finance student.
Dewa played 22 songs culled from its five albums. The band demonstrated its tremendous showmanship with a performance that kept the audience engaged from start to finish.
The atmosphere was electric, with fans screaming, dancing and clapping. Most of those in attendance knew Dewa's lyrics by heart and weren't afraid to prove it, singing along with vocalist Once.
"Inspiring. Everything they did from the sound check to the actual show just oozed with professionalism. It was amazing how Dewa recreated the unique sounds and music from their albums live on stage," said Andre Mudigdo, 26, a postgraduate student whose band opened for Dewa.
Although some people in the mostly Indonesian audience were born and grew up in Australia and spoke little Indonesian, the language of their ancestors was indeed the preferred means of communication on the night. Instead of shouting "we want more" to get Dewa back up on stage for an encore, they shouted "gak boleh pulang" (you can't go).
Dewa is one of the biggest Indonesian bands to visit Sydney in the past 10 years. In October last year, Krakatau, a band that mixes traditional and modern music, played gigs in several Australian cities.
Both Dewa and Krakatau were brought here by local Indonesian promoters who see a niche that needs to be filled: providing entertainment for the Indonesian community in Australia.
Another reason for bringing Indonesian bands over to Australia is to help facilitate a cultural exchange.
Eric Antonius, 26, who migrated here from Indonesia with his family when he was six years old, sees the benefit of Indonesian bands playing in Australia.
"For me, it's interesting to see other bands from other countries playing their styles of music. It's so refreshing to hear Dewa play its own interpretation of rock and roll."
Dewa keyboardist Ahmad Dhani was delighted the Sydney audience enjoyed his band's music as much as audiences in Indonesia.
"When the band was formed in the early '90s our goal was to write songs that could be enjoyed by all classes of society. The performance here and the one in Klaten show we did just that."
The chance to hear one of Indonesia's best bands perform live was about more than just the music for some people.
For Francisca Conrad, 22, a graphic design student, the show was not just a fun night out. "It makes me miss the good old days. My spirit is back, I just feel like going home to Indonesia. It really does bring out the Indonesian in me."
The atmosphere inside City Live that night was alive with a sense of unity and friendliness, with Indonesians from different backgrounds coming together.
Sinika, an 18-year-old Chinese-Indonesian studying in Australia, expressed the positive energy she felt at the concert. "It's just good to see all Indonesians get together, enjoying the same thing. There's no differences, we don't feel different."
In its own way, perhaps not deliberately, Dewa achieved what the Indonesian government has often failed to do: teach the importance of unity.
Dewa did this using a language understood by the young, a language without jargon or false promises.