The Picturesque Scene of Passing Fantasies

The People's Party Jakarta 2012 Thank God It's Friday! wasn't just an ordinary phrase for all Bombay Bicycle Club's fans in Jakarta last Friday, January 13. We were really grateful for this day because the wonderful Bombay Bicycle Club was going to perform tonight at Fairgrounds (ex Bengkel Night Park). They were coming to Indonesia on the event called The People's Party, promoted by Shoundshine. Bombay Bicycle Club was not the only band that performed that night. We also have The Jezabels (Australia), The Naked and Famous (New Zealand) and Metronomy (UK). Not to mention the opening act by local band called Roman Foot Soldiers. But on this blog, I will concentrate on writing about Bombay Bicycle Club's performance since they are my favourite and they are the reason I came to this event. :) The People's Party started at 7 pm sharp and Roman Foot Soldiers opened this event smoothly. This was the first time I heard their songs and I think they're good. The ...

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 ver...

Hurts setlist in Jakarta: 1. Unspoken 2. Silver Lining 3. Wonderful Life 4. Happiness 5. Blood, Tears & Gold 6. Evelyn 7. Sunday 8. Mother Nature 9. Verona 10. Devotion 11. Confide in Me 12. Illuminated 13. Stay ——-Encore——- 14. Better Than Love

Just gonna sum up what I felt in Hurts gig on Saturday night. Satisfaction: HURTS! Well, I don’t have to explain it. Anything related to HURTS is satisfying! Theo did all the ‘ritual’. Oh… those white roses! And the hand moves that Theo makes when he sings ‘We all get hurt by love, and we all have a cross to bear’ from Confide in Me. While Adam keep throwing kisses to audiences. The cuteness of Adam is reaching its limit when he pinched Richard’s cheek as he walked away and left the stage. Disappointment: The promoter and venue security! Some annoying things that are arranged by the promoter: - The stage is too far from audiences. The gap between stage and audiences is about 4 metres. Crazy! I was at the front row, but the pics that I took look very far far away. Never been this far in any concert I have ever attended. Usually the stage is only 1 metre or max 2 metres away from audiences. Here’s the prove. - It’s very common if the promoter allows photographers ...

On May 7th, HURTS—British duo from Manchester, Theo Hutchcraft on vocal and Adam Anderson on synth—performed in an event called Nylon Music Festival organized by Urbanite Asia. Beside Hurts, there are 10 local bands who performed on this event which took place at Epicentrum Kuningan, Jakarta. Before the music festival began on about 6 pm (Hurts performed on 10 pm), there was a press conference with Hurts and the 10 local bands at 2nd floor Nylon Mall, near the venue. My friend and I came to the press conference on behalf of one of the biggest media in Indonesia (not a music media, but it’s been around for quite long here). On the press conference invitation, it is said that the press conference should starts on 1 pm to approximately 2pm, but the time set can be change at anytime due to technical preps/band’s needs. So, the crew asked medias to be open for the press conference on 1 pm to 4 pm. My friend had been there since 1 pm, while I came late due to another event that I have t...

I'M IN! YEAH! \m/

Here's the full-page-article from Tempo newspaper (Koran Tempo) on Monday, March 21st 2011, page A18. The article is in bahasa Indonesia. Article in English: Suede Shake Jakarta The British alternative rock band shake Jakarta. Unfortunately, the sound system was inadequate. Accompanied by spotlights and hysterical screaming, four black-clad men arrived on the Hall A stage at Jakarta International Expo, Kemayoran on Saturday evening. The four members of Suede – drummer Simon Gilbert, 45, bass player Mat Osman (43), keyboardist Neil Codling (37) and guitarist Richard Oakes (34) – took their positions. The screaming grew louder when Brett Anderson, 43, the vocalist of the British alternative rock band joined them and stood centre stage. Without further ado, Brett, dressed in black shirt and trousers, took the microphone and sang This Hollywood Life. Brett completed the song, taken from the album Dog Man Star (1994), perfectly. Without pause, Brett performed the numbers She, Tr...

Friday, March 18, 2011 It was a hot and sunny day in Jakarta just like any other day here, but there was something special happening today. Suede—my favorite band ever since 14 years ago—will have their press conference regarding their upcoming gig on the next day. The press conference itself will be held in Ritz Carlton, Jakarta at 3pm, according to the invitation. I came to the hotel with my sister, Fanny and we met my friend, Tyas there. We arrived there, did the registration and waited… The conference finally started at 5pm. Mat, Simon, Richard, Neil and Brett came into the conference room, bombarded by camera blitz from the audiences. After they sat on the front chairs, the host invited us to ask questions for Suede (and Shontelle who also has a press conference and will share stage with Suede). Some reporters asked questions fro Suede. I tried to write them down and share them here. Question (Q): The reason why Suede chose Indonesia on this tour. Mat: I think the reason we chose ...

Some pictures from Suede's gig on Saturday Night, March 19, 2011 Setlist: This Hollywood Life She Trash Filmstar Animal Nitrate We are the Pigs By the Sea Electricity The Drowners Killing of a Flashboy Can't Get Enough Everything Will Flow So Young Metal Mickey The Wild Ones New Generation Beautiful Ones ----ENCORE---- Lazy Saturday Night It was a fantastic performance. Thank you very much for singing old songs. Personally, I prefer Suede's first three albums and also the compilation album, Sci Fi Lullabies. Too bad, they only sang Killing of A Flashboy from B side tracks. Wish I could see them singing Sadie, Sound of the Street, My Insatiable One, My Dark Star, Living Dead, Young Men and others.