The Drums Live in Jakarta

The Drums live in Jakarta, May 25th 2011

Jacob Graham, Jonathan Pierce, Connor Hanwick and former member Adam Kessler.

Once again, all live music lovers in Indonesia are very lucky. On Wednesday, May 25th 2011, indie pop band from Brooklyn, New York, called The Drums performed their first gig in Jakarta. The band with member Jonathan Pierce on vocal, Jacob Graham on guitar/synthesizer and Connor Hanwick on drum/guitar entertained their loyal fans at Blowfish, City Plaza, Jakarta with Ismaya Live as the promoter (same promoter with Suede’s gig last March). The show itself started on 9 pm sharp and gate opened one hour before it.

I was quite excited to see The Drums’ performance in Jakarta. I admit that I am a new fan of them, but I enjoy their song so much. At first, I am interested in their music after I listened to Book of Stories. Somehow, that song reminds me of The Smiths’ song (I love this Manchester legend). Second, I heard the remix version of Down by the Water by Hurts and I love it! (You guys know how I madly in love with Hurts and knowing that Adam is the man behind the remix song always gives me a thrill.) Yeah, for all The Drums addicts, I know I was being such an ass because I started listening to their music because of those silly reasons.

Soon after that, I listened to their self titled album and Summertime EP and… BANG! I was and still amazed with their songs. I searched their videos on youtube and I became more and more in love with them. I knew that they would perform in Jakarta and without any doubt, I went to the ticket box and bought the ticket.

My ticket for The Drums’ performance in Jakarta. (IDR 250K equal to USD 28)

On the d-day, I went to the venue right after my office hour was ended (around 4 pm) because you will never be able to predict traffic in Jakarta, especially on busy hour in rainy day like yesterday. I took a TransJakarta bus and surprisingly I arrived early on about 5.30 pm. Wow! Long way to go considering the gate would be opened on 8 pm. I was like Oh no… What am I going to do in the next 2.5 hours… But soon after I arrived, I heard the sound from inside the venue. They were doing sound check and I heard they sang Book of Stories and Me and the Moon. Even listening their sound check made me so excited. Haha.

While waiting their gig to start, I met a new friend. She was also arrived early at the venue. She recognized me as a person who gave Brett Anderson a picture and met Adam Anderson. She knew it from my blog. It was a nice surprise because I really appreciate every one who reads my blog. (Nice to see you, Oti!)

Oti and I talked about a lot of things (mainly about our interest in live music) and I enjoyed our conversation. Then suddenly, on about 6.30 pm, we saw Connor came out from the venue! Jeez, we’re so lucky! I took a picture with Connor and Oti took a picture of him with her Polaroid and asked him to sign it. Smart girl with brilliant idea! (and it made me realized that she is the girl who took Polaroid pic of Adam and Theo and have them signed it! Wow, what a small world!) I also met my mate there, Tyas and her sister. We often meet in live music and it’s always a pleasure to be in a gig with her and doing crazy stuff :p Hahaha.

Connor and me. Lucky to met him before the gig.

Finally on about 8 pm, we were able to get into the venue. My first impression after seeing the stage was… WOW! It’s going to be an intimate concert! LOVE IT SO MUCH! I stood at the front row right before Jonny’s mic. There was no barrier. No gap at all between stage and audiences. I knew I was going to have so much fun! I can even see the setlist on the stage floor and I managed to took a picture of it.

The Drums setlist

The stage with big screen on the left side of the stage.

On 9 pm, the show finally started. Excitement was heard among the crowd, mostly girls, especially at the front row (include me). Jonny, Jacob and Connor entered the stage with a very casual look. Jonny looked comfortable with his Paris shirt, jeans jacket and red Converse shoes while Connor wore black-purple shirt and Nike shoes and Jacob looked so adorable with his green-long-sleeve shirt. Without any further ado, they sang the first song, What You Were, followed by Me and The Moon which made the crowd gone crazier and everyone sang along with them. Then, they sang the third song, Best Friend after Jonny said his words, “This next song is about my dead best friend”.

Jonny was so energetic last night and we love his moves!

Jonny’s shoes. Even his shoes were so important. Hahaha!

Last night, Connor played guitar, instead of drum. His play was amazing!

Jacob with his synthesizer. He kept moving his hands, doing his dances which were so adorable.

The crowd that night was amazing. Everyone sang along loudly, filled with excitement. I believe it made Jonny and the whole band felt satisfied. Jonny kept smiling and saying thank you to Jakarta and he said “Tonight is the best crowd definitely so far during this tour!” WOW! And he said that the Drums are gonna come back to Jakarta soon. Oh yes, you have to! We love the drums and we missed them already.

Personally I can say that The Drums’ gig last night is one of the best gigs I have ever attended! The band is fantastic, the stage is great and the crowd is amazing. Jonny was so energetic doing his moves and interacted a lot with the audience. All the girls (and some boys) at the front row were able to touch his hand several times (and some even touched his shirt, jacket and legs. Hahaha! Include me :p) Totally a crazy night.

After singing 12 songs, the band left the stage (encore) and they came back to sing the last three songs (Skippin’ Town, Down by the Water and The Future). Sadly, we have to say goodbye to the drums after total 15 songs. But, everyone left the venue with a big smile on the face after this satisfying performance. The only minus point from gig last night was the microphone. Jonny’s voice wasn’t heard so clear from his microphone. But overall… the gig was AWESOME. Jeez… I couldn’t find a greater word than amazing, awesome, fantastic, and so on to describe last night gig. Someone should invent a new word for it! Hahaha!

Jacob was doing his moves. :D

Connor was so calm playing his guitar.

Jonny ROCKED the night!

Cheers!

Tessa F. Chen