History Will Repeat When God Bless And Sonnet Group Perform On Stage At Re:Creating Music Performance

God Bless (Doc. God Bless)

JAKARTA - One of the history in Indonesia's music track record will repeat itself. God Bless will again appear on stage with Rhoma Irama and his Sonnet Group.

These two Indonesian music icons will appear together in a music show entitled "Re:creating Sonnet Group - God Bless" which was initiated by Boss Creator.

Based on uploads on his social media, this elegant music concert will be held at Bengkel Space on Monday, December 20, 2021.

The first time God Bless and Rhoma Irama appeared on stage was at the New Year's Eve celebration entitled "Peace at the End of the Year" which took place at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, on December 31, 1977.

Eight years later, these two music kings of different genres are back on stage in the event entitled “Youth Music Appreciation 1985” which was held at the Senayan Main Stadium on December 22.

The discourse of a concert with God Bless and Rhoma Irama for the third volume was sparked when Rhoma Irama invited God Bless' vocalist, Achmad Albar, to the podcast "Whisper Rhoma" last October.

On his YouTube channel, Rhoma recalls the dispute between rock music fans and dangdut music fans that was triggered by Benny Soebarja's controversial statement. At that time, the frontman of the band Giant Step stigmatized dangdut with harsh words.

The Feud of Rock and Dangdut that Ended in Peace

In the 1970s, Rhoma Irama's dangdut music confronted the rock music that was currently endemic. The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple became teen idols and brought other genres of music to death.

Rhoma Irama also strated. In order to compete with the popularity of rock music, the Malay orchestra was infused with hard rock DNA. He replaced the melodious rhythm with a fast beat and the sound of tabla (a typical Indian instrument) no longer dominated and was replaced by drum instruments. As a result, the public welcomed it with great fanfare.

However, not so with rock musicians. They actually railed against Rhoma Irama. In fact, asking the government to boycott dangdut music.

“Sonnets are war music. That's when I confirmed, Sonnet is ready to die! In the past, when a gig was in the wrong place, rocks and sandals flew at me. Rockers often come on stage to interrupt our concerts. Physical contact has also occurred," said Rhoma Irama, quoted from GitarPlus magazine.

"In Bandung, at the Giant Step place I was also stoned. But the show must go on! Likewise with rock, when playing rock and dangduter (Roma's nickname for dangdut music fans)." A truce between dangdut and rock musicians was only truly reached in 1977. Lawyer Japto Soerjosoemarno mediated by challenging Rhoma Irama to a 'duel' with Achmad Albar and his God Bless, in a concert in Senayan decorated with the release of a dove as a symbol of peace.

Since then, dangdut and rock have made peace. In 1985 a concert with dangdut and rock was again held at the same place.

Why God Bless and Sonnet Group?

Many people forget, in 1980, long before Dream Theater, the role model for modern metal children was born, God Bless had taught Indonesian music audiences how to play progressive rock music properly and correctly.

Achmad Albar (vocals), Ian Antono (guitar), Donny Fattah (bass), Abadi Soesman (keyboards), and Teddy Sudjaya (drums) have traveled through space and time through progressive rock songs of five-star quality such as Musician, Anak Adam and of course the Mirror title track.

The mirror is wrapped in a complex rock formulation, but structured by prioritizing neat aesthetic elements and full of dynamics throughout the texture of the song.

Obviously, this album was engraved with a vision of totality working in the name of the idealism of the musicians who could not simply be tempted by the coffers of money belonging to the recording barons so that they too would sell themselves to tarnish their freedom of creation. Unfortunately, the album's master recording was damaged.

At the request of the fans, God Bless re-recorded and re-released this album with the title Mirror 7 in 2016. Be grateful, O devotees of Indonesian rock music, this holy grail of rock and roll has survived and is here again in a fresh and kicking version plus three additions. new song.

Meanwhile, in the same era as the birth of the original version of the Mirror album, the dangdut music derived from traditional Malay music in the hands of Rhoma Irama appeared more elegant. Dangdut is no longer dominated by tabla sounds, but the deep purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's roar has become a new subgenre of music.

Rhoma Irama displays a distorted taste of rock guitar on numbers belonging to the Sonnet Group, namely Begadang 2, Takwa, Judi and Kiamat. The influence of Blackmore's guitar solo or vocalist Ian Gillan's distinctive shriek is evident in the works of Bang Haji, as he is called.

So, are you ready to be a witness to history?