#Yngwie #Bewitches #Ancol #Audience #Doesnt #Headbang
Jakarta –
Virtuoso from Sweden, Yngwie Johann Malmsteen, bewitched the metalheads who gathered at Carnival Beach, Ancol. This ‘prophet’ of the ‘guitar shredder’ seemed to force the audience not to blink. This atmosphere can be seen on the Hammer Stage, a celebration Hammersonic in North Jakarta, Saturday (4/5/2024).
The dominant crowd was dressed in black and many long-haired men faced the stage, just after another rock guitar god, Marty Friedman, finished hitting the stage next to him.
The song entitled ‘Rising Force’ from the mid-’80s was the opening act. This song also opened the world’s eyes to the speed of the former Alcatrazz guitarist’s fingers. Unlike past concerts which featured dangerous vocalists one after another, this time the task of screaming was carried out by keyboardist Nick Z Marino.
The microphone in the middle of the stage is occasionally used by Yngwie to sing, greet the audience, and is also a place to attach his guitar pick. One by two, and who knows how many guitar picks were thrown towards the audience, although there weren’t many because the audience sometimes still scrambled to find the picks on the ground, as if they were magic picks that are the source of all good luck.
On the song ‘Seventh Sign’, the crowd sang along, trying to keep up with singer Mike Vescara’s original notes. Nick Z Marino apparently has a shrill voice that is no less than Mike Vescara in 1994.
Yngwie Johann Malmsteen’s appearance on the Hammer Stage, Hammersonic event in North Jakarta, Saturday (4/5/2024). Photo: Danu Damarjati/detikcom
Yngwie, a long-haired 60 year old man, appeared attractive, flipping his guitar around, even throwing it at the technician, and also rubbing the Fender Stratocaster against the loudspeakers. Her appearance seems to remain consistent from time to time, still wearing leather pants, high-heeled boots, festive bracelets and necklaces, and of course a shirt that shows off her chest. A very typical conservative rocker, basically.
In terms of playing, Yngwie also consistently shreds the scallop style maple fretboard with minor harmonic scales, sweep picking arpeggios, and plucks the strings ruthlessly! Awesome!
Classic numbers, namely ‘Evil Eye’ and ‘Far Beyond The Sun’ were also performed. The Wall of Marshalls (amps plus cabinets stacked in a row) became the backdrop for his performance.
“Anjaaay! Crazy!” said the audience in amazement. It was also seen that foreign audiences were also amazed.
In terms of sound, the four people on stage were able to shake up the atmosphere on the north coast of Jakarta. At the start of the song, the sound system from 20 meters away sounded a bit bass dominant, it was difficult to hear the keyboard and vocals, but the sound quality improved as the concert progressed. Yngwie complained with a loud gesture pointing down that his center monitor speaker had turned off during the song ‘Seventh Sign’. Apart from that, he still looks cool.
Yngwie Johann Malmsteen’s appearance on the Hammer Stage, Hammersonic event in North Jakarta, Saturday (4/5/2024). Photo: Danu Damarjati/detikcom
The cellphone cameras of many spectators were on from the start of the concert at 20.15 WIB, until the final note, 21.15 WIB.
There wasn’t a lot of headbanging except for a few people or just a few. Wall of death and stage diving? There certainly weren’t any, unlike the audience of Japanese metal band Crossfaith, who also performed on the first night.
This leading neoclassical metal guitarist makes the audience dare not miss the moment of every string pluck and finger movement as fast as thunder. As if no one wanted to lose by ignoring Yngwie’s finger movements by headbanging or moshing. Indeed, this is the concert atmosphere that is commonly seen by highly skilled metal music fans. The audience continued to follow the lively rhythm by shouting and raising metal hand gestures.
It’s just that cameras are pointing everywhere in place of biological eyes. Understandably, the average Yngwie fan likes playing the guitar and maybe the video recording will be studied at home?
(day/day)
