(ENGLISH)

Sunday (09/03), there were chaos at Kukar Rockin Fest 2014, Tenggarong, East Borneo. Testament’s crew wanted to do a 1-hour sudden soundcheck when the show has started. This was just before Seringai took the stage and Testament’s soundcheck was not on the rundown. The rundown was changed, and the show was behind about an hour to acommodate Testament. Testament was originally scheduled to play at 10pm, changed to 11pm.

When Power Metal was on stage around 10pm, all hell broke lose. Chuck Billy, the lead singer/decission maker, was really angry why his band hasn’t played. After 2 songs, Testament’s stage crew were acting like assholes unplugging Power Metal’s cables from their amps during their third song. I saw this with my own eyes. David, one of the local event managers who was preventing this from happening, got elbowed on the chest by Testament’s crew and was hurting. Chuck appeared on stage, talking trash, making a fool out of himself. Power Metal was really upset, I would’ve been too if it was my band, but luckilly they were not throwing punches. Power Metal stepped down, gave the stage to Testament, and the event organisers begged them to play after, since the crowd were pissed off, cheering for Power Metal to continue.

The crowd were sitting down, protesting to Testament. Some plastic bottles were thrown to the stage but were able to be stopped by the persuasion of the MC and organiser. When finally Testament played, only a few people in the front stood up throughout their entire set. Nothing that Chuck and the others can do that can make the crowd alive again. After around 8-10 songs Chuck looked like he lost his mood. He was leaning to the drum riser while singing. When the song ended, Chuck took a can of beer and kicked it on stage, aiming to the side of the stage. I have this on video. “You want some more?” bassist Steve DiGiorgio asked the crowd, only a few people cheered. They were fucked, caused by their own doing. After Chuck confirmed that the crowd doesn’t want to see Testament anymore, they left the stage. Power Metal was back and the crowd went wild again.

Maybe Chuck didn’t know about what was happening at that moment. Maybe he didn’t know about the last minute soundcheck that was causing the schedule to be late. Maybe nobody told him because the crew were too scared of him being angry or something. All we know is that Testament asked for a sudden soundcheck, but still wanted to be on stage on the original time, didn’t tell the organiser nor the bands about it, and ended up forcing Power Metal to step down. I heard the communication process in the band was really bad. They didn’t even bring their tour manager. A band as big as Testament having internal communication problems??? Asumption is the mother of all fuck-ups. Testament was not formed yesterday. Communication shouldn’t have been a problem.

Below is the video that I took:

Hats off to Distorsi Rockaholicompany that has worked so hard to make all this happen. Big respect to the crowd for not causing a riot. To me, rock/metal fans are supposed to be like this. Thanks to you, we might just have another big festival next year.

To Chuck Billy, this is our house, the bands that played with you are your hosts. Have respect. They didn’t even do anything wrong. You can have your rockstar attitude, I don’t really care. BUT DO NOT UNPLUG OTHER BANDS’ CABLES WHILE THEY PLAY. That was way uncool. Tell that to your crew.

We were excited to see you guys play. Some of your fans here has waited for 20 years, saved money, and traveled thousands of miles just for you. It’s sad that it had to become like this. Congratulations, you just lost them.

(BAHASA INDONESIA)

Minggu (09/03), kru dari band Testament meminta sesi soundcheck dadakan berdurasi 1 jam ketika acara sudah dimulai. Kejadian ini tepat sebelum Seringai main dan jelas tidak ada di rundown. Acara terpaksa mundur sekitar sejam untuk mengakomodir mereka. Testament semula dijadwalkan untuk naik panggung jam 10, dirubah menjadi jam 11.

Ketika Power Metal naik panggung sekitar jam 10 malam, kekacauan terjadi. Chuck Billy, vokalis/pengambil keputusan dalam band, sangat marah kenapa band-nya belum juga naik panggung. Setelah Power Metal memainkan 2 lagu, kru panggung Testament berlaku brengsek dengan mencabut kabel-kabel dari amplifier Power Metal saat Power Metal sedang di tengah-tengah lagu ke-3 mereka. Saya melihat ini dengan mata kepala saya sendiri. David, salah satu manager event yang berniat mencegah kru tersebut, disikut di bagian dada dan merasa kesakitan. Chuck kemudian muncul diatas panggung, memaki-maki, membuat dirinya terlihat sangat bodoh. Power Metal sangat kesal dengan kejadian ini, saya pun akan sama jika ini adalah band saya, untungnya mereka tidak berkelahi. Power Metal akhirnya mengalah turun panggung, menyerahkan panggung kepada Testament, dan pihak panitia memohon kepada mereka untuk main lagi setelah Testament karena pononton kesal kenapa performance Power Metal dipotong dan mengelu-elukan Power Metal untuk kembali ke panggung.

Para penonton duduk di tanah lapangan, sebagai bentuk protes kepada Testament. Beberapa botol plastik dilempar ke panggung tetapi akhirnya berhasil ditenangkan dan dihentikan oleh MC dan panitia. Ketika akhirnya Testament main, hanya beberapa orang yang berdiri di bagian depan sepanjang set mereka. Chuck dan lainnya tidak dapat berbuat apapun untuk membuat penonton kembali hidup dan bersemangat. Setelah kurang lebih 8-10 lagu, Chuck terlihat seperti kehilangan mood. Dia bersandar kepada drum riser sambil lanjut bernyanyi. Ketika lagu berhenti, Chuck mengambil sekaleng bir dan menendangnya di atas panggung. Saya melihat sepertinya dia mengarahkannya kepada penonton tetapi meleset akhirnya mengarah ke samping panggung. Saya punya rekaman videonya. “You want some more?” tanya bassis Steve DiGiorgio, hanya beberapa orang yang menjawab. Mereka sudah tidak diinginkan, karena ulah mereka sendiri. Setelah Chuck memastikan lagi kalau penonton sudah tidak ingin menyaksikan Testament akhirnya merek turun panggung. Power Metal kembali naik dan penonton kembali menggila.

Mungkin Chuck tidak tau apa yang telah terjadi pada saat itu. Mungkin dia tidak tau tentang soundcheck mendadak yang menyebabkan acara ini terlambat. Mungkin tidak ada yang bilang kepada dia karena takut dimarahi atau bagaimana. Tetapi kita taunya Testament minta soundcheck dadakan, tetapi tetap ingin main tepat pada waktu semula walaupun otomatis rundown mundur, tidak bilang apa-apa kepada panitia atau band, dan akhirnya memaksa Power Metal untuk turun panggung. Saya dengar proses komunikasi internal Testament memang agak buruk. Bahkan mereka tidak membawa tour manager-nya. Band sebesar Testament mengalami masalah komunikasi internal??? Asumsi adalah akar dari segala masalah. Testament bukan band kemarin sore. Ini tidak seharusnya terjadi.

Berikut adalah video yang berhasil saya rekam:

Saya angkat topi kepada seluruh panitia Distorsi Rockaholicompany yang sudah bekerja keras mewujudkan event besar ini. Salut kepada penonton yang tidak membuat onar dan rusuh. Buat saya, fans rock/metal memang sudah seharusnya berlaku seperti ini. Terima kasih untuk kalian semua, berkat kalian bukannya tidak mungkin tahun depan kita bisa mendapatkan festival besar seperti ini lagi.

Untuk Chuck Billy, ini adalah rumah kami, band-band yang main bersamamu adalah tuan rumah. Hormatilah. Mereka bahkan tidak berbuat kesalahan apa-apa. Kamu boleh saja memiliki attitude rockstar-mu, saya tidak terlalu peduli. TAPI JANGAN PERNAH MENCABUT PAKSA KABEL-KABEL AMPLI KETIKA BAND SEDANG MAIN. Saya betul-betul membenci tindakan itu. Tolong beritahu itu kepada krumu.

Kami berangkat dengan semangat untuk menyaksikan performance Testament. Fans kalian disini sudah menunggu selama lebih dari 20 tahun, menabung, dan datang dari jauh hanya untuk menyaksikan kamu diatas panggung. Sangat disayangkan mengapa harus berakhir seperti ini. Selamat, kamu baru saja kehilangan mereka.

Oleh Sam Bram.

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