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By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, July 22: Over 30,000 people converged at Padang Merdeka for Konsert Rakyat in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of Sarawak’s Independence earlier tonight.
The event, organised by the Sarawak government through Sarawak Arts Council (SAC), saw Indonesian rock band Ungu take the stage as the last performer of the night.
Among other artistes were Malaysian rock legend Dato Awie, rapper Joe Flizzow, girl band Dolla, and band Floor 88.
There were also performances by Sarawakian artists, including Chien Gale, Carrie Geres, Firdaus Materang, Bob Yunus, Ramles Walter, Elizebeth Payai, and Masterpiece.
The event was attended by Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Snowdan Lawan and his wife, Datin Melinda Claudia Bucking-Lawan.
There was also a session for fireworks to commemorate the celebration of Sarawak Day, which falls on July 22 every year.
Based on observation, some of the crowd had already flocked and started camping in front of the stage as early as 6pm as they planned to get the best spot for the concert.
Nevertheless, kudos to the organiser for going all-out as they had well-arranged facilities for the concertgoers, such as lavatories, large televisions at several corners of Padang Merdeka and certain spaces with seatings.
Halfway through the concert, the author also witnessed one elderly woman who looked out of breath being escorted out with the help of several enforcement officers.
According to Ungu’s lead vocalist Pasha or his full name, Sigit Purnomo Syamsuddin Said, the 30,000-strong crowd is the largest audience that the band has had in all their concerts in Malaysia.
The band performed 12 songs for the concert, including their hit singles, namely ‘Kekasih Gelapku’, ‘Tercipta Untukku’, ‘Cinta Dalam Hati’, and ‘Demi Waktu’. — DayakDaily
