First Kickfest in 6 Years

Rizal   11/14/2019 01:48:00 am   Cerita, jalan jalan, Konser   Comment  

This is the English version of my article about Kickfest. Click here to view the original post in Indonesian.

FOR the last 12 years youths in Indonesia have flocked to festivals or clothing expos such as Kickfest. It’s not only where to shop clothes, bags, accessories and the details, but this festival always has stages for entertainment. Famous artists (whether renown nationally, underground or indie) are longed for every years as they bring more interesting or cooler shopping experiences & attractions.

So much for the overview of Kickfest, now we’re marching toward the main idea of this entry: my very own experience. Kickfest is held annually, but not on a yearly/12-month-basis I attend it. As far as I can recall, I have attended 6 times out of the total of 13 “seasons” of Kickfest (as of 2019).

On a bright, sunny Sunday morning in August, I went to Gasibu Square for a walk, like many Bandung citizens liked to. Kiosks and their supporting pillars were all over the square and there were so many people. It took me several minutes to find out that this event bore the title Kickfest 2008. It’s a rather brief description I can give in this context; aside from being new to the festival, I carried little money with me therefore I didn’t spend my money on any products.

The following year in November, Kickfest moved to Sabuga. At that time, the ticket price for Kickfest was Rp. 5,000 and entirely sold offline. I hadn’t had the chance to watch the music shows as I only wanted to buy shirts. There were no photos of documentation as I didn’t have a cellphone myself, let alone a camera. I saved the entrance ticket, but unfortunately it went missing when I was searching for it, and I will post its photo when I recover it. In 2010, Kickfest once again moved out, this time to Siliwangi Stadium. The schedule was moved forward to July. Alas, heavy rain and other reasons I forgot deterred and cancelled me from attending.

Kickfest finally returned to Gasibu for 2011, and it saw the ticket price rose to Rp. 10,000. Started from this edition (or maybe because I skipped 2010) the entertainment aspect was greatly improved to be cooler and more varied. There were more stands than ever (so they said) and the artists who performed were Pure Saturday, Koil, Rock n Roll Mafia, and even Malaysian popstar Liyana Fizi. In 2012 edition the venue remained the same, but the stage performance I remember was Cupumanik with their single “Grunge Harga Mati”.

It was crowded at Gasibu 2011

Otong Koil (Gasibu 2011)

Together with my 2 school friends, I attended the 2013 edition which moved to the north, beside the Monument of West Java People Struggle (colloquially as Monju). The nice part was, 2 tickets could be exchanged for a compilation CD by Kickfest. I had the chance to watch Aldonny “Themfuck” of Jeruji heat up the crowd as the vocalist of the Bandung-based hardcore band before he stepped down 2 years later. At least, importantly, I got to watch Themfuck’s twilight era. Too bad one of us had to leave earlier, and as a respect gesture I gave him the CD when later we met. 

Themfuck talking to the fans

6 Years Later...

5 editions had been skipped, but it wasn’t only on purpose, because I once forgot (2014-16), probably out of money (2017), and the line-up didn’t fit my preferences enough (2018). Ticket price for 2019 Kickfest was Rp. 30,000, or increased by 300% from 2009 edition. Why was 5,000 to 30,000 300%, not 500%? Because Rp. 5,000 in 2009 translated to Rp. 7,600 di 2019 after being adjusted to the inflation, and the percentage would be 294% for7,600 to 30,000. Having checked the previous events’ brochures, turned out that 2019 Bandung Kickfest was the 6th consecutive edition starting in 2014 to be held at Pussenif TNI. 

lining up at the ticket booth

Since I left, the festival saw more things to offer, back then I didn’t see car auction, basketball game, karaoke, VR game, etc, which were present in 2019. The event days were extended to 4 days (Thursday-Sunday) as opposed to the traditional 3 days (Friday to Sunday). At a glance I felt unfamiliar with Kickfest, the people visiting looked much younger, cuter and I believed that their ages were below mine (what?). Chances were they had been in primary school when I went to Sabuga 2009, or Gasibu 2011. Those who were in the same age as mine were rather hard to identify. Could they remain younger, stay cute and adorable as if they never left their adolescent years? Hahaha. I think they were driven by past memories of school or college era, or just wanting to buy discounted clothes. Some might not be confident enough to come due to their age, but has there been any maximum age restrictions for visitors? Nope. There were more brands participating in this edition..

some sport event...

Many people were securing the front rows for watching Under The Big Bright Yellow Sun (UTBBYS) and Koil. Otong as Koil’s vocalist still gave his comical approach in breaks between songs his band performing. He said, in his time people could get new dates from getting band stickers, but the attendance said they preferred money more to that. When they were asked if they wanted money or Mercy keys (Binter Merzy) they all fell silent, most likely they didn’t get what he was talking about. Ify Alyssa’s relaxing performance was succeeded by full-throttle mood by Elian, Midnight Quickie and Weird Genius without breaks in between. When each said “thank you everyone”, other artist got their hands on the stage quickly. Remix of Blackpink song heated up the attendance.

UTBBYS

Koil

It all summed up that the energy, charm, and excitements of Kickfest remained unchanged for 6 years since last I attended. The festival now saw the newer generation of audiences than in its early years, who might learn about this festival from passed down stories of their elder siblings, relatives and scrolling their social media feeds. I even got to the assumptions that there were 3 kinds of Kickfest people, the ones shopping, the ones watching the show, and the ones going for both as the show and the shopping experiences were equally appealing.

...and it's stinky. Cover your nose!

After all of this, what more should be added to its excitement, in this trend of shopping that’s become entirely different than it was in late 2000s-early 2010s. If I, at some point suddenly take another break from going to the festival again, will it remain cool when I decide to make a return in the next few years? What else should be made to keep the festival away from being dull? This is interesting for us to see.. 

Same atmosphere from time to time.