Playing for 'Justice'

Published on August 14, 2007

Metallica's 1988 song "… And Justice for All" depicts a bleak and corrupt legal system in which Lady Justice is raped, the halls of justice are painted green and, say the lyrics, "seeking no truth, winning is all".

Despite its proximity to the date chosen for the referendum on the new constitution, Tanes Lertvijitsilp's version of "Justice for All" has nothing to do with politics or even law. It does, however, have everything to do with music.

"Justice for All 2007" is the name of a two-day rock concert that's being held at the Thailand Cultural Centre's small hall this Friday from 6pm to midnight and again on Saturday from 4pm to midnight.

"It's just a gimmick to make the concerts sound more interesting," grins Tanase, who set up his underground rock label Justice Music in 2000.

"The label isn't very well-known to anyone except a handful of metal heads. But after these two shows, it will be Justice Music for all the people."

The concerts will feature 20 bands playing a variety of rock genres; each will be headlined by a major name in the industry.

Friday's show has major stars Pathompong "Pong" Sombatpiboon and Chakkrit "Pop" Duangmaneeratanachai of Stone Metal Fire along with lesser-known bands Quake, Macaroni, Kluay Thai, P Princess, Pudding Well, Koala Machine, Tears of Voice, and Sextette.

On Saturday, the headline act is hardcore band Ebola, the Kingdom's biggest underground rock outfit for several years before they signed with Warner Music Thailand. They'll be joined by Scar, Carnivora, Housetrap, Cyber Sin, Hutton Head, Heaven's Nightmare, Hoopogriph, Under Line, and Beautifulness.

Tanase is also breaking convention by choosing to host his shows indoors rather than opting for the usual outdoor venues, among them the centre's amphitheatre.

"I wanted it to be different for the metal heads," says the 49-year-old. "What I'd really like to do is to stage a major concert and bring a metal band to play with a symphony orchestra in the main auditorium, just like when Metallica played with the San Francisco Symphony.

"But staging these concerts indoors will not only help to make Justice Music better known - it'll give the event greater credibility, too. My aim is to upgrade these shows to the point where they can be called rock festivals," he explains.

This weekend's twin bill has a small budget - just a few hundred thousand baht - as Tanase has been unable to find any sponsors although he does have some media partners.

"We'll be recording it on VCD format. If it's a success, then I'll transfer the back catalogue of all our original artists' cassette tapes on to CD," he says.

Most underground music labels record their artists' albums in cassette tape format, the exception being Ebola's "Sacrifice" album, which came out on CD.

Justice Music's first release was Plahn's debut album, "Stop War, Stop Aids", which sold more than 4,000 copies. Other albums have done less well, with distribution rarely reaching the 2,000 mark.

"In the early days, I was selling most of my studio releases at a loss. The economy was floundering and it was expensive to produce CDs at that time," he reveals.

Standing tickets are Bt500 for the two days and are available at JU Pantip Plaza, DJ Siam, Cap at Siam Square, Menu Phleng at Happyland, HOF at Fashion Island, Sa-Nga at Kasetsart University, and Than Tawan at Ram-Indra KM 2 Market.

Only 1,000 tickets are available and each comes with a 10-track CD compilation album, "Metal Justice 1". Part of the proceeds will go to the Khao Yai National Park Foundation.

"Whether this upcoming concert is successful or not, it's still a step forward to the next one," he says.

"I think that metal is more rhythmically exciting than rock. People of my age don't listen to metal anymore. This music gives me the same buzz that I got from listening to Deep Purple's "Highway Star" when I was young."

For more information, call (02) 731 4280, (081) 835 9152, or visit www.justicemusic.org.

Kitchana Lersakvanitchakul

The Nation