The audience members, who were mostly in their 20s and 30s, apparently grew up with the band, as nearly all of them sang along with the Irish music group. “Linger”, “Animal Instinct” and “Salvation” rocked the venue.
It was the band’s second visit to Indonesia. Nine years ago, they performed their first gig at the Indoor Tennis Stadium at the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta.
The band went on hiatus in 2003, trying to get away from the international limelight that had followed them since the release of their debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?.
During their six-year hiatus, each member followed separate paths. O’Riordan (lead singer, songwriter), Noel Hogan (guitar) and Fergal Lawler (drums) worked on their own music projects, while Mike Hogan (bass) opened a restaurant in Limerick, Ireland, and lent his musical talent to his brother Noel’s projects.
The Jakarta Post met with Noel, Mike and Lawler at the Borobudur hotel in Central Jakarta for a special interview session the afternoon before the show.
O’Riordan was not available, as she was still recovering from jetlag.
The three band mates expressed their excitement to be back on stage during the reunion tour. They said they were excited to perform in Indonesia again. Lawler recounted the time when the band first performed in Jakarta.
“The audience was really energetic and lively and singing and incredible. Yes, they knew our songs. That’s incredible,” he said.
During the recent Java Rockin’ land music festival, the band also introduced “Tomorrow” and “Schizophrenic Playboy” from their latest album, Roses, which will be released in January next year.
Noel said Roses, which will feature “Tomorrow” as the first single, is a bit more mature and has a different angle from their first two albums.
The sixth album will consist of 11 tracks with two rock songs. The band collaborated with producer Stephen Street, who worked with them on other albums.
“The fact that we took six years off and we were on and off and did our thing, I think that kind of comes across in this sound. We are really happy with [the album],” Noel said.
The Cranberries’ debut album was followed by No Need to Argue, which further catapulted the group to fame with the songs “Zombie”, “Ridiculous Thoughts” and “Ode to My Family”. The band released five albums in 13 years.
Noel said O’ Riordan usually writes about whatever she has strong feelings about at the time. He said the new album was more lyrically about relationships, which seems to fit the music they are playing right now. The 11 tracks on the album, he said, were about both romantic love and love in other forms.
“For me, that’s kind of the strongest message that comes across,” he said.
He beamed when talking about “Linger”, the song on their first album that put the band on the map and marked a milestone for The Cranberries.
Playing the song in front of huge audiences and receiving warm welcomes 20 years ago, he said, was the most memorable experience for them.
“‘Linger’ is the first song we ever wrote together. You know, then it was the first single we had. For me, even though I’ve heard the song many times — like it’s already 20 years old — it is still such a big part of our lives,” he said.
Lawler said the six years in hiatus gave each of them some space, which was a good thing for the band. They all kept in touch during that time before deciding to reunite in 2009, he said.
“There was this kind of myth that we finished, ended up being six years until we spoke to each other, but it wasn’t really that way. When we got back together in the same room, after five minutes, it just felt that we were never stopped,” he said.
He smiled when sharing a quirky and hard moment when the three rehearsed together for the first couple of weeks just trying to remember the songs they had not played for six years. They opened up the notes again to make sure they had the right tunes.
“Now, I can’t even remember the six or seven years off, like it never happened,” he said.
When asked about the future of The Cranberries, Mike said the band tried to take one step at a time. They would focus on the current world tour, which would bring them to Shanghai, China, and Taipei, Taiwan, until the end of July as well as to Singapore in early August. Their next focus would be the release of the new album next year.
The six-year hiatus was apparently successful in giving the band members space to grow.
Lawler said they enjoyed playing together again even more than before. The celebration of 20 years after writing “Linger” brings back all the memories their live shows — something they missed very much.
“[After the break], we are more relaxed. We just don’t get stressed out and let the things flow. We are really enjoying it. We had the time away that makes you appreciate your togetherness. You do anything you can to make the tour happen, to get on the stage again,” Lawler said.
Source: The Jakarta Post
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