Drum beats and shrill voices accompanied the concert that night. Even more special was the energetic vocalist on stage: Tony Wenas, President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia.
For Tony Wenas, rock music is more than just a hobby. That night, the SUAR team SUAR at Deheng House in Kemang, Jakarta. Tony took to the stage with Kadri Mohamad and Alfred Ayal, accompanied by Dwiki Dharmawan's orchestra in The Grand Rhapsody Rockestra.
The lights in the concert hall on the fourth floor were turned off when we entered. Some of the front row seats were already taken, and a video clip on the screen explained that the evening's concert was a first in history: combining the rock beats of Queen's legendary repertoire with orchestral accompaniment.
Deep down, we had our doubts. As fans of Queen's songs, though not particularly fanatical, tonight's concert was clearly a challenging experiment that had to be thoroughly prepared so that nothing would clash.
The coldness of the concert hall after the rain warmed up when Kadri picked up the microphone and presented "Innuendo" as the first song, followed by the distinctive percussion in "Under Pressure."
From Kadri, Alfred Ayal quickly grabbed the microphone and rode the audience's enthusiasm with "I Want to Break Free," before slowly bringing the concert to a close with the melancholic songs "Somebody to Love" and "Jealousy."
Entering the sixth song, Tony Wenas finally appeared on stage. Wearing a brown leather jacket, Tony immediately took his place behind the keyboard and played "Play The Game" and "Mustapha" as the first two songs.
Unexpectedly, Tony was able to hit high notes with perfect pitch, bringing Freddie Mercury's characteristic lyrics of questioning God in "Mustapha" to life and rocking the stage.
To quench his thirst, a bottle of ginger ale in a blue tumbler was always at Tony's feet, which he sipped slowly after every few songs. Not to forget, Tony would slip in a joke and greet the audience during breaks.
"I'm still old-fashioned, but if you want to be trendy, I can be too..." he said before singing "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy," "I Was Born to Love You," and "Radio Ga Ga." Many audience members sang along as the songs reached their choruses, which were already ingrained in their memories. "Radio Ga Ga.... Radio Goo Goo...."
Alternating with Kadri and Alfred, almost the entire repertoire performed by Tony that night consisted of songs with high intervals until the final numbers.
Like a mountain climb, Kadri, Alfred, and Tony topped off the concert with the best song in human history: "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Wherever the wind blows doesn't really matter to me.... to me....
Mom... I just killed a man... I put a gun to his head, pulled the trigger, and now he's dead...
Mom... life had just begun... but now I have to throw it all away...
Without a doubt, the entire hall joined in unison when Tony sang the line, "Mamaaaa.... uuuuu.... didn't mean to make you cry.... if I'm not back again this time tomorrow...."
The beats continued until the concert ended sweetly with the roar of victory to the tune of "We Are The Champions," which has become the standard for Queen concerts around the world.
Not a hobby
Thirty minutes past 10 p.m., Tony was still full of energy as he kept his promise to meet us for an interview in a meeting room, just one floor below the concert hall.
At the age of nearly eighty, Tony showed no signs of sleepiness or fatigue. Amidst the smoke from a red Marlboro cigarette, Tony quickly replied when we asked him if music was his hobby.
"It's not just a hobby, it's a profession. I am a musician. If you become a CEO, you will eventually retire and become a former CEO. But if you become a musician, once you become a musician, you'll be a musician for the rest of your life."
According to Tony, pursuing a career in business and music are not two worlds that need to be separated by a line in the sand. From his experience leading the band Solid '80 while still a student at the Faculty of Law at the University of Indonesia, Tony likens the journey to running a company, because in the end, he also has to manage personnel and all their needs.
In that capacity, skill in playing an instrument does not necessarily reflect good managerial ability to find, collect, and create harmony from different instruments into the same melody.
"The same applies to companies. I am not a great accountant, mining expert, or HR specialist, but I can bring all these people together, provide direction and coordination, thereby creating positive synergy to achieve the company's goals," he said.
Familiar with Queen's songs since he was young, Tony admitted that he only needed one rehearsal with the orchestra before going on stage. The final rehearsal was aimed at harmonizing the patterns and finishing touches. The rest was down to four decades of musical experience, which served as a training ground for Tony to practice continuously.
"The hardest part is adjusting the schedule. Sometimes schedules clash, but there must be time for practice. There are 24 hours in a day. If I sleep for 6 hours, spend 4 hours at home, work for 4 hours at the office, spend 2 hours networking, and spend 2 hours in traffic, that still leaves 2 hours for practice. We can do it as long as we are disciplined with our time," Tony emphasized.
Band kid
Leading the band since 1980, Tony has actually been singing on stage since he was 4 years old. At the age of 10, he learned to strum the guitar, and two years later, his fingers began dancing on the piano keys. Without a teacher, Tony acquired all his musical skills through self-study.
"There are many people who are good at music. I'm not good at it, but I enjoy playing. It was fun up there, right?" Tony joked.
From his lifelong experience in music, Tony believes that music is a universal language. Music can be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of differences in language, race, ethnicity, or religion. In the language of music, twelve diatonic and pentatonic notes can create billions of songs in various genres.
Not only entertaining, Tony believes that music can express something that cannot be conveyed with words.
Not only that, finding harmony in the captivating rhythm of adventure also became an opportunity for Tony to learn to find harmony and unite different visions.
"From pursuing music and leading a band, that's what I then applied to leading a company. Remember, musicians are far more selfish than directors. They are artists, each of whom will say they are the best. If that ability is applied in a company, it's a perfect fit."
The diversity of artists' characters, according to Tony, taught him that a leader has many leadership styles to choose from: authoritarian, tut wuri handayani, ing madyo mangun karso, or ing ngarso sung tulodho. Embracing all of them will make a leader skilled at puttingthe right people in the right places.
"So, is Tony Wenas a leader with an artist's soul or an artist with a leader's soul?" we asked.
Tony answered firmly, "Both..."
