Report: Rockaway 2009

Rockaway 2009
20 June 2009
CapSquare Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Lineup:
Car Crash Hearts
Medusa
Couple
Deng Deng_Etc
Bittersweet
Cassandra
The Times
Seven Collar T-Shirt
Bunkface
Estranged
Restraint
Pesawat
Love Me Butch
Pop Shuvit
One Buck Short

It was not billed as such, but this was how Naza of The Times quite brilliantly framed it (in essence at least): a titanic tussle of nations, with the biggest Indonesian bands in the red corner, and the biggest Malaysian bands in the blue, red and yellow. In case you didn't know, Rockaway 2009 was running concurrently with Pesta Malam Indonesia 3 at Bukit Jalil; only the former had about three times the number of bands, and was about RM60 cheaper to attend.

Yes, the fact that Rockaway 2009 was free cannot be stressed enough. And with it being such, you would expect the organisers, One Buck Short (who really deserve a massive, massive pat on the back for pulling this off) and chip barons Jack ‘n’ Jill Roller Coaster, to have overlooked something or cut corners somewhere—again, keep in mind that this massive nine-plus hour concert was free—but they didn’t. Fuelled by goodwill and a common love of Malaysian music, everything at Rockaway contrived to go along without a hint of fuck up.

Even the masses of sweaty youth piled up in the front rows never let the manic moshing and crowd-surfing get out of hand and escalate into violence. Sure, some dudes got thrown into the pit; but that’s par for the course and must be discounted. About the crowd-surfing, though: you would’ve thought that the crowd would get most manic with the hardcore acts, but egregiously enough it was Bittersweet, The Times and Bunkface who incited the most frenzied pogoing. Who knows. Maybe it was more indicative of particular beat structures than anything. But whatever, it's a non-issue anyway.

In truth, the crowd never really discriminated against what was offered onstage (not even Deng Deng_Etc). Everyone there was out to have ridiculous fun, and not engage in pointless and engulfing debates about the intricacies of genre.

As much as Rockaway seemed like it was guided by a “why don’t we all get along” sentiment taken to its logical conclusion, “us vs. them” was the real theme throughout. With “them” not only being Pesta Malam Indonesia, but even anyone who wasn’t there. Where Bunkface followed through with the Malaysia vs. Indonesia rallying cry, Couple snuck in a jocular diatribe against unhelpful radio stations. All in good fun.

But what of the performances? It was hard to tell who stole the show, with almost every band glowering in their pomp. Bittersweet somehow managed to display more Britpop swagger than most Britpop bands in their prime; Naza from The Times seemed to channel the energy of Angus Young and Brian Johnson; and Kash from Cassandra paced the stage with the imposing quality of a lion (or Andrew W.K.).

The bands on after the dinner break stood majestic against the stage lights, with Restraint thumping the nasi kandar-fatigue out of the crowd, and music TV darlings Pesawat seeming like a killer cross between the Killers and Franz Ferdinand. The majesty was especially apparent when Syarul from Love Me Butch sauntered onstage, commanding affection from the crowd like a stout, stately crown prince.

But it was the organisers One Buck Short themselves who were adored like kings, ending the night perfectly when they brought on the hyper Edwin from They Will Kill Us All, and cried out “Revolution! Revolution!” Which, when in the context of a day when all the Malaysian harmoni that they tell you about in school so valiantly triumphed over everything else, didn’t sound corny at all. It was almost...well, beautiful.

Some pics from the show:

WORDS JASON PHOTOS MISDEEDS & CYRUS