Local pop crooner to tour the U.S.
Local pop crooner to tour the U.S.
JP/19/KATON
checked --JSR
Local pop crooners to tour the U.S.
M. Taufiqurrahman
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Katon Bagaskara, a local singer who is known for his
mesmerizing pop ballads such as Yogyakarta and Tak Bisa Ke Lain
Hati (Can't Turn Away) is expected to stage concerts in the
United States.
On invitation from U.S. music promoter Gxremedy, Katon will
stage a five-date concert in three cities in the U.S. -- New
York, San Francisco and Los Angeles -- whose pop music scene is
notoriously known as hard to crack.
Backed by the Jamie Hunting Band, an outfit that once toured
with heavy metal band Van Halen's former lead vocalist David Lee
Roth, Katon will first perform at Union Square, San Francisco on
Aug. 13 and the Independent club on Aug. 17 before making a two-
night performance at the Los Angeles' Whiskey A-Go-Go, a famous
music club on Sunset Boulevard.
Scores of rock legends such as the Doors, the Byrds and blues
singer Janis Joplin have performed at the Whiskey A-Go-Go.
Wrapping up his U.S. tour, Katon is expected to stage a two-
night show in the Big Apple at the Knitting Factory and a
ballroom of a four-star hotel that is yet to be decided.
In the bilingual shows, Katon will perform songs he composed
with his band Kla Project and some he will cull from his solo
projects.
"I will perform at least five songs with lyrics that I have
had translated into English. Among the songs that I will perform
in English is Yogyakarta, which now has a new title, Yogyakarta
Never Ends," Katon told a press briefing prior to his departure
last week.
He said that the planned concerts were aimed at introducing
Indonesia's pop culture to U.S. audiences, which thus far were
familiar with the country only as an exotic land that was steeped
in traditional culture.
The U.S. promoter will charge concertgoers US$30 for a single
ticket.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, an institution that
sponsored Katon's U.S. tour, said that although his music was in
the realms of pop, it was tinged with the country's traditional
music.
Interest for Katon in the U.S. rose after the singer, along
with other performers such as classical pianist-cum-businessman
Jaya Suprana and Acehnese dancer Melly Zamri, staged an
impressive performance during their American tour late last year.
The tour was also sponsored by the Ministry of Culture.
Katon and his band Kla Project was one of the country's major
bands in the late 1980s. The three-man band sold millions of
copies of their adult-oriented records such as Yogyakarta, Ungu,
Romansa and the unplugged, Klakustik.
The band's appeal started to wane in the latter half of the
1990s with the emergence of a new crop of bands that brought a
fresh and youthful sound to the pop scene.
The band reached its nadir after the departure of lead
guitarist Lilo, who had for years used his guitar-playing skill
to create the band's signature sound.
Earlier this year, Katon announced the new lineup of Kla
Project, which has now assumed a new name, NuKla.
The band's latest release with a new lineup, New Chapter,
fizzled without ever reaching the charts.