Metal gig gone right @ Borneo Beerhouse

I felt pretty bored last Sunday so I decided to go to a metal show. In most occasion, metal is difficult to be enjoyed by my hearing senses. I tried some friend’s recommendation for good metal bands but only few are likeable. Fuck me, right? Anyway, so I went to see this metal show at Borneo Beerhouse which is located right next to one of the biggest and scariest graveyard in my city (trick or treat, anyone?) and I just found out that they just had their grand re-opening the day before so the “lets-go-party-on-our-new-place” atmosphere is still prominent.

SubSonic Session

According to the flyer, this show is supposed to begin at 7PM but in reality they started around 9. We have a habit here in Jakarta that only few people are willing to show up on time; in some cases, even the bands are late. This is not necessarily a bad thing though, because sometimes I got off late from work and I don’t need to worry about missing out the band I wanted to see.

They charge 25.000 Rupiah (around $2 USD) to get in, which is a pretty standard price in Jakarta but little did I know that it would be the best $2 I’ve ever spent. I got there around 8.30PM, paid $2, and they gave me a cup of beer. That’s right fellas… A.Small.Cup. It is a free drink and I should be grateful that at least they gave me something… OK fine, whatever, but giving beers in a small cup is annoying as fuck, it’s like watching 5 seconds free porn teaser. Good thing that I went there with some friends who don’t drink so, HA! More small cups for me!

Delicious!

Inside the venue, I was welcomed with free traditional food called “pempek”, and sandwiches. Yes my friend… Sandwiches. Except that it is not the kind of sandwich that our mama used to make when we were little. These sandwiches consist of Nutella and magic mushroom. Did I say magic mushroom? Indeed I said. I ate one with a big smile in my face. Apparently the food and the mushroom were brought by the band called ((AUMAN)) from Palembang (Sumatra Island). With such treatment, I felt like I was visiting grandma’s house. Everybody is eating something and they all look happy, as happy as me. What a great concept for shows, hopefully they will organize more gigs after this and if they do, I expect a potluck party! How cool would that be?!

JELAGA @ Borner Beerhouse by: Dimas Cahyono

After quite a long wait, the first band was up on stage. JELAGA is the name; it means something like “SOOT” in English. By the look of it, they are all young college kids, and they have Michael Cera on Bass (I kid you not, the bass player looks like him. Ok maybe just a little bit but I still think that’s funny). They play something similar to Mastodon with a noticeable influence of Electric Wizard. Musically they sound really fucking good on stage, interesting vocal sound and amazing riff-blast from the guitar player.

Next one is MATIASU, not to be mistaken by a famous artist/musician called “Matiyashu” though. In English translation Matiasu means something like “Dead Dog”, and this “Dead Dog” band consists of two young talented players on Guitar and Drums. They have this Distorted Heavy sound like [insert your favorite Doom/Sludge bands here], with a powerful melodious vocal like [insert your favorite Southern Metal bands here].

SpeedKill Beer-bong session. Photo: Gary Hostage

Not long after, SPEEDKILL was up to take over the stage. With a name like that, I expected a kick ass performance with loud, fast, angry music and thankfully they did even better than that. Musically they sound like crossover thrash with noticeable hardcore punk influence. Think about Suicidal tendencies with less guitar solo and high pitch screaming vocal. They did alright on stage, nothing special about their musical performance really, but they seem to know how to please the audience! After playing about three songs the singer grabbed a beer-bong, and then two guys from the crowd were up on stage drinking beer-bong followed with a bottle of Jagermeister. By now, almost everybody on the front row got a taste of Alcohol, circle pit madness was unavoidable, and everybody shouted “Alcohol Generation, Rock & Roll Generation!”

Coming up next is SURI. These three pieces band play something in the vein of Stoner rock and Metal. They looked solid and tight with their professional performance. No flaws were made; well at least I didn’t notice any. SURI is slowly crawling up their way to the top with big publicity exposure. It seems like they are gaining more and more fans, including myself.

(AUMAN)) By: Dimas Cahyono

Last but not least is ((AUMAN)). The most anticipated band for the whole night. The word “auman” itself is an expression of a Tiger’s howling sound. ((AUMAN)) came from Sumatra Island, the natural habitat for Sumatran Tiger so their name says it all. They have strong messages in their lyrics, using a mix of English, Bahasa (Indonesian language), and their local dialect. Musically I can hear a “Black Sabbath” influence in their sound, with a mixture of “Doomriders” and “Iggy Pop”. On stage they were very entertaining. Big applause for “Rian Pelor”, the band’s frontman, for his culinary wisdom speech on stage and Super “Zegan”, Super “Tabik” for ((AUMAN)), Borneo Beerhouse, and all the bands that went on stage that night.

How did I possibly got home after all that beers, sandwiches, and craziness during that night? Well that is another story for sure. Right now I am writing this with a big smile on my face… such night to remember, such fun… I never thought $2 could make me so happy.

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