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Music lovers have heard the cliche a million times: “We are nothing without our fans.” The hackneyed line, uttered by far too many musicians during far too many acceptance speeches, may be a diplomatic gesture of the dreariest kind, but it does contain some truth. While many artists are perfectly content to write bedroom songs solely for their own amusement, most acts would indeed be “nothing” without a dedicated legion of album buyers, concert attendees and T-shirt wearers. Performing musicians require an audience — listeners who may even cross the line into fanatical devotion.

The biggest bands have fans all over the world, and Indonesia is home to a large number of them. From the classic acts of yesteryear to the hippest bands of today, most music giants have a fanatical home base in Indonesia. Indeed, the recent influx of touring acts whose popularity has waned elsewhere illustrates Indonesia’s genuine passion for pretty much any international act, no matter how stale they may have become in the eyes of the world.

Pearl Jam Indonesia, U2 Indonesia, Incubus Indonesia (or Incunesia), Grunge Community Indonesia and Indonesian Troopers are just a few of the many music-centered communities based here. Some consist of a handful of devotees, while others have membership lists that would fill an Indonesian wedding album. But all of them possess the same irrefutable passion for their musical idols, and they’re all committed to keeping the flame alive.

Just last month, the Indonesian Pearl Jam community managed to acquire the rights to screen the documentary “Pearl Jam Twenty.” Meanwhile, Indonesian Troopers, a fan community for the heavy metal band Iron Maiden, played an active part in organizing an Iron Maiden’s concert in February at Carnaval Beach in Ancol, North Jakarta.

On top of that, music communities regularly hold gatherings and tribute nights, where cover bands perform crowd favorites. And along the way, these communities have become much more than mere fan clubs — they’ve become like families.

Indonesian Troopers, which was formed just two years ago, has already amassed a dedicated online following that actively congregates digitally on the group’s Web site forum.

“This group is something more than just an ordinary fan club,” explains founder Syam Talisman. “We’ve stuck together not only because of a common love for Iron Maiden, but because the initial vision of this community was to build a brotherhood where the members stick together through both good times and hardship.”

Syam himself has been a lifelong “trooper,” developing a love for Iron Maiden through his older brother’s music collection, particularly after hearing drummer Nicko McBrain’s pounding beats in the song “Where Eagles Dare.”

“Their lyrics surpass that of a generic love song,” he says. “It’s about the relationship between people and how that relationship relates to their surrounding social conditions.”

Like Indonesian Troopers, many of the other music fan clubs have also fostered a strong support network.

“At this point, we’ve passed the pretext of simply being a ‘fan club,’ ” says Hilman Taofani, co-founder of Pearl Jam Indonesia. “There is a mutually beneficial relationship between the members, which has surpassed our initial intention [of just being a fan club].”

Pearl Jam Indonesia currently has more than 300 official members, though its Facebook page tallies over 3,000 members.

“Globally, Pearl Jam has some of the most militant fans. In the ’90s, Pearl Jam was not as popular in Indonesia as Nirvana was, so when we finally had a vessel to express our passion, we immediately became a somewhat militant community,” says Hilman, who admits to being a “late bloomer,” not falling for Pearl Jam until 1998.

David Saiya leads Grunge Community Indonesia, which is mostly centered on the cult of Kurt Cobain. Though the abundance of grunge fans in the country has spawned many distinct grunge groups, David says his community is more committed than most. David himself became a Nirvana fan at the tender age of 7, when he saw his older brother Petrus Saiya’s grunge band, Toilet Sounds, perform Nirvana covers to the rapturous delight of local grunge fans.

“We collect our own money, no matter how little we have, to hold tribute shows,” David says. “We stick together and we fight sometimes, like a real family.”

David says his grunge community has more than 300 members, but he doesn’t keep count of specific numbers.

“Whoever comes to our [tribute] gigs and has fun listening to the tunes is considered part of the family,” he says.

Of course, sometimes simply rocking out to cover bands isn’t enough, and fans feel compelled to do more, even if it means sacrificing hours of their time.

“We’ve been trying to get the Foo Fighters to come here for years now,” says David, who adds that the band, led by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, is the closest thing to “the real thing” for local grunge fans.

With money collected from the community, David has tried e-mailing, faxing and even calling the Foo Fighters’ management, but to no avail. The 24-year-old suspects that his lack of English skills gave away his group’s amateur nature.

“I explained [in the e-mails and faxes] that if the Foo Fighters came here, the show would definitely sell out because they have lots of fans here,” he says. “I tried to contact both their management and some event organizers here, but I haven’t received any replies as yet.”

Pearl Jam Indonesia, meanwhile, had to invest a lot more than fan mail to get the authorization it needed to premiere the documentary “Pearl Jam Twenty” here. The community lucked out, as member Farry Aprianto was a high school friend of Meiske Taurisia, who founded Bioskop Merdeka, an institution that screens limited release films. Together, Farry and Meiske contacted the film’s producer, Vinyl Films, which in turn connected them with the film’s distributor, Alliance Media.

Of course, like every other music community, Pearl Jam Indonesia ultimately hopes to bring their favorite band to the country.

Community member Egha says they have “done everything” to accomplish this goal — from creating online petitions with the signatures of Indonesian Pearl Jam fans, to immersing themselves in a variety of online Pearl Jam forums. When members are able to score tickets to a Pearl Jam concerts abroad, they take an even more direct approach, throwing T-shirts onto the stage that read “Bring Pearl Jam to Indonesia.”

Farry says that like the country’s grunge community, Pearl Jam Indonesia has approached local event organizers. Unfortunately, nothing concrete has come of the efforts yet, but members refuse to give up, cherishing even the smallest forms of acknowledgement.

“Indonesia’s name is listed [as a fan base] on the official Pearl Jam Web site today,” Egha says proudly.

Hilman, the co-founder, adds that the group’s strategy is on-point. “Pearl Jam’s management really takes notice of the band’s fan base, so immersing ourselves within the international fan community is the best way we can approach the band,” he says.

The Indonesian Troopers have been the most successful in their concert agenda, as they helped bring Iron Maiden to Jakarta.

According to Syam, the organizers were convinced after the Troopers assured them that Iron Maiden has a dedicated fan base in the country. The fan community even secured the responsibility of running one of the official “ticket boxes” and training the welcoming committee for the band’s airport arrival.

“The organizer specially requested that we do that so we could prove to the band that it was worth it to come here,” Syam says.

While only a few of the communities have managed to bring their idols to Indonesian shores, the members all seem content with the friendships they have fostered with fellow fans as they work to achieve a common goal.

“It’s not just casual hangout buddies we have here,” says Eko Prabowo, a Pearl Jam Indonesia member who discovered an “emotional connection” with Pearl Jam in his teenage years. “What we have within the community are real friendships.”

For Nirvana fan David, living outside of the grunge community and its goals seems unimaginable.

“I don’t know what I would do every day when I wake up if I couldn’t listen to music together with the guys, or talk about the latest grunge gossip,” he says. “It would just be meaningless.”