Modern Noise, Fluid Genres: Popular Music in Indonesia, 1997–2001

8. Dangdut Concerts: The Politics of Pleasure

8 Dangdut Concerts     Whether the event took place in a smoky, darkened nightclub, at a wedding celebration in a cramped kampung backyard, or among thousands of revelers at a large outdoor festival, I found that the structure and personnel of dangdut acara were remarkably consistent. The key performers were a master of ceremonies, several singers of both genders, and an instrumental ensemble consisting of gendang, suling, two electric guitars, electric bass guitar, two electronic keyboards, tambourine, trap drum set (often played by the same musician who played the gendang), and, in some cases, electrified mandolin and/or a brass section. Singers generally operated independently of instrumental groups and sang with several different local ensembles. Instrumentalists were nearly always male. Kendedes Group, named for Ken Dhedhes, the legendary queen of the thirteenth-century Javanese kingdom of Singasari, was formed in 1976 by singer/gendang player Titiek Nur and was the only all-female dangdut ensemble active in Jakarta in 1999–2000. Although I have witnessed Titiek sing and play gendang at the same time, this mode of performance was highly unusual . In every other dangdut performance I attended, male and female dangdut performers sang and danced but did not play instruments onstage , and their backing bands were composed entirely of men. Usually the band began with an all-instrumental introductory song to get the audience’s attention. This lasted for three to five minutes and was followed by a lengthy speech (often two minutes long or longer) by the master of ceremonies welcoming the crowd, commenting on the 190 Dangdut recording artist Titiek Nur playing the gendang while singing at the author’s farewell party, Cinere, South Jakarta. occasion, and finally introducing the first singer of the evening. After the speech, the band “called” the first vocalist by playing a selingan, a short musical interlude that lasted one or two minutes, during which the first performer would take center stage and prepare to face the audience. Selingan were often instrumental versions of dangdut songs but did not have to be: some groups played pop Indonesia or keroncong compositions; even instrumental renditions of Western pop songs (including “The Cup of Life,” the 1998 World Cup theme song performed by Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin, and “The Final Countdown,” a 1986 hit by the Swedish hard rock group Europe) were sometimes played. The band would end the selingan as the first singer, who was always a woman, picked up the microphone to address the crowd. After the customary Islamic greeting, Wassalamulaikum warakhmatullahi wabarakatuh (Arabic, “Peace be with you and may God be merciful and bless you”), to which the audience would reply Walaikum salam! (Arabic, “Unto you, peace!”), she would deliver a short speech in formal Indonesian welcoming the audience and acknowledging the sponsors of the event, then introduce her first song. Usually singers only sang two songs each while the backing band’s personnel remained constant throughout the performance. After the first singer’s second song ended, the master of ceremonies would speak again, the next singer (usually also female) would be introduced, the band would play another instrumental interlude, and the whole cycle would repeat itself. It is worth noting that while singing two songs might not seem difficult, the average dangdut song is twice as long as most pop tunes, and the band could decide to lengthen a song depending on the crowd’s reaction. A well-received performer could repeat a song’s refrain three or four times more compared to the recorded version. On the rare occasion when a singer did not garner a positive reaction from the audience or was obviously unprepared, the band would cut the first song short, and the next singer in line was called to take his or her place. Although songs were never repeated in the course of a single event, they were mostly taken from a rather limited repertoire of old chestnuts and new hits, so different dangdut shows would have similar set lists. Dangdut performance events usually lasted several hours, often from 9:00 p.m. until after 2:00 a.m. Daytime performances in urban neighborhoods from roughly 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. were also common. The performance would end with a final instrumental selingan by the band, often the children’s tune “Marilah Pulang” (“Let’s Go Home”—the same final song that was played by the Warung under...