Soundrenaline, one of the biggest Indonesian music festivals hosted in Bali, will feature Simple Plan and Bloc Party as their international acts this year. (Last year’s was Wolfmother.)
Wow, we haven’t listened to Simple Plan since we were 13-year-olds at the Warped Tour, “rocking out” in our punk wannabe outfits to “Perfect” and “I’m just a kid.” Oh, those angsty days. While Bloc Party, we followed more closely in our uni days—“I still remember” was something of an anthem then.
Anyway, however you feel about the headliners, what you need to get excited about is the real meat of the festival, the Indonesian music. Bali bands the Hydrant (rockabilly) and Navicula (grunge) are representing the home team (er, island). These two bands are staples in the Bali live music scene—they both give very different performances but are equally great live.
Some other bands we’re looking forward to both happen to hail from Jogja: Indie duo Stars & Rabbit and ska group Shaggydog. The former just jammed out at the Sunny Side Up Festival, while Shaggydog, we’re low-key obsessed with and have seen them dozens of times because of their fun energy and playful sound.
Shaggydog at last year’s Soundrenaline
Other acts Indonesian fans may be familiar with include hard rock band The Sigit, retro group Naif, and badass lady DJ Yasmin.
Hosted at Jimbaran’s stunning outdoor venue, Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) park, the festival falls on the weekend of September 3-4. Plenty of time to still get tix! You can pick them up at an Indomaret, or a number of other locations (including online), listed here.
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