DJ Young: “If you can recommend one Korean food to your Indonesian fans, what would it be?”

X-5: “KIMCHI!”

Wait, before we start: the pics I’m going to show you are going to ruin the layout of this blog.  So I’m putting this under a cut.  Sorry it’s such a mess under the cut :)

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Two quality gigs, two nights in a row? A bit challenging for someone who has to work work work on weekdays, but how can I decline something as tempting as this?

So the first night of bliss began in Blowfish, City Plaza. The whole atmosphere was relaxed – Connor of The Drums even ventured out of the club before the show. My friend Tessa was lucky to recognize him and had their pic taken together.

After something that I had to call dinner (a quiche, a biscotto, and a cup of hot tea at the nearest branch of Coffee Beans & Tea Leaf – we had not much choice, being an office tower, the restaurants already called it a day), I queued for my wristband. Two wristbands, to be exact. Since Blowfish was actually a club that sold liquour, and the afterparty would be strictly 18+, audience was classified according to their age. We the old-timers, i.e. those with IDs, were awarded another wristband to indicate our privileges.

I scored a place in the front row with Tessa and my sister. I stood right in front of Jonny’s mic. No barrier – we could put our stomachs flat on the front of the stage. Later on, two security guards, firm but nice, took positions to prevent anyone too enthusiastic from getting on stage and from using blinding flashlights. They didn’t have to do anything firmer than waving their hands to give some warnings. The audience was very civilised, although they danced and sang madly.

Live and Up-Close, the event was called. And it was no lie. We were so close to Jonny, we could touch his knees, his elbows, tug his shirt and jacket… – and he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, even with his eyes closed, he seemed to instinctively search for a hand (or hands) to hold. He held mine for some seconds while singing, and it was… it was an experience. The Sistine Chapel painting came to mind.

The gig didn’t start quite well for the musicians, it seemed; I caught Jacob and Connor winced a couple of times for the quality of sound that their instruments produced, but in time either things got well or the boys got used to it. (And Jonny’s mic was kind of muffled along the show.) The audience probably didn’t realise it much. The energy was already flowing, filling the room, as Jonny danced and Jacob made his own show behind the singer’s back. Everyone went crazy song after song – and literally exploded when The Drums launched into probably their most-known song up to date, ‘Let’s Go Surfing’. After the encore, we left the venue with smiles from ear to ear. It was fantastic.

The second night proved to be as fantastic, and it began just across the street – in Nusa Indah Theatre, Balai Kartini, a place that turned out to be very fitting for a gig like Ben Folds’. And this venue has good acoustics. Combined with a good sound system, we could hear every note Ben played on his piano and every syllable he sang. This is important, because you have to listen to Ben’s lyrics.

Ben’s performance was a one-man show of a genius – he’s a singer, a pianist, a drummer, and though probably not on his CV, a comedian. He made the night (also dubbed a Live and Up-Close) very intimate with his spontaneity and jokes. He’d tell us the story behind his songs, get distracted by things he saw or heard, and then just launch to any song he felt like one. (He had a setlist, but didn’t stick to it strictly.) He said he tried to make up for the 15 years of recording and touring without scoring a gig in Indonesia. Now that he did, both he and the audience looked very, very pleased. He wanted to play so many things, and ended up doing some requests.

In some songs, he made us his backing singers. He even trained us first to sing in a three-parts harmony for ‘You Don’t Know Me’. He’d make a great music teacher!

And this is what I like about Indonesian audience: oh, they know that an encore is scheduled. But when they shout ‘we want more’, they sound really genuine, as if they don’t know that the band/musician is going back to the stage anyway. They know how to make the performers feel honoured. (I’ve been to some gigs in other countries, and my impression was that their ‘we want more’ could not compare to the Indonesians’. Would love to prove that I was wrong!)

Several standing ovations – clapping until our hands hurt – it was all the least that we could do to show our appreciation to Ben. Everyone, Ben’s fans old and new, old and young, was very satisfied and I just knew that we all wanted Ben to return one day.

So yeah – thanks The Drums, thanks Ben Folds, for giving me two unforgettable nights, back to back!

…because Plurk, Twitter, and Facebook just won’t work here.  You know, the Great Firewall of China.  Guess I just have to bite my tongue for a little while.

I landed 4 hours ago, went straight to the hotel (thank God we could make an early check-in), watched Hangeng on TV (ha!  Is there any day without Hangeng on V China?), had shower, drank some coffee.  Now I’m out to find some lunch (because I couldn’t do any update, uhhhh), and later on I’d meet Agustinus.  We’ll record 2 shows together.  I’ll be talking about Fantasy Fiesta and Translation.

And oh yeah.  Saw 2PM members spoke English fluently on TV.  *pokes some ‘Nice Weather’ boys*  (I still love you guys, I do, I just hope it’s not only Kibum who can speak English among you!)  And… hmmm, yeah, I think I like Big Bang.  Haha.

See ya later folks.

I intended to write a fiery post right after the show ended, but I’ve been holding back. Now, weeks away, all the anger’s gone – what’s left is that glorious feeling that we have won.

I don’t even felt the urge to write down all the details (and I need to keep some things as secrets), but let Felix Dass explains all the rage for you.  At the end, I’m glad we won, Suede’s performance was fantastic, and we were left with some kind of ecstasy we hadn’t felt since we saw them in Jakarta in 2003.

And oh, for you record: we didn’t want free tickets.  We wanted to buy them, but they wouldn’t let us, and at the beginning when they released teasers of the concert, they didn’t say anything about Blackberry.  That’s why we reacted.

Here’s a picture of me with Neil Codling, who was so nice.  When I told him that my sister liked him so much but couldn’t meet him at the hotel, he said sweetly that I should tell her his love.

More pictures here.

Of all the wonderful things about my childhood, I can name the TV series True Blue and the boyband New Kids On the Block. True Blue – featured a very young Grant Show as rookie Casey Pierce, which I adored so much – told the stories of New York cops, with their cool dark blue uniforms. I just couldn’t miss even one show – I’d bawl if I did.

While NKOTB was – well, NKOTB was almost everything. We didn’t have East Asian boybands that sent us to our knees back then, or too many other choices for that matter. So to us, these five American young men, some of them were practically boys, were our heart’s darlings, perhaps the only ones. Many of us hadn’t really listened to music before we got their records.

Now, something like two decades later, to my delight, I found that Donnie Wahlberg , one of those young men, now returned as a New York cop in the AXN critically acclaimed series, Blue Bloods. Born out of the hands that gave birth to The Sopranos (Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green) and Charlie’s Angels (Leonard Goldberg), Blue Bloods can boast of many well-known names in the cast line-up.

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I’ve been wanting to do this ever since… eeermmm, last year, but I only got the time to do this now.  Originally I wanted to write a detailed review for every gig I attended last year, but now the memories are either a bit too vague or it’s just simply tiredness (I currently have three translation projects, so yeah).  So I’ll try to tell each gig in only three words.

I haven’t checked my tickets again, so I’m not writing the dates although I write the venues.  And they are not put in any particular order.

Kula Shaker & Ian Brown – Tennis Outdoor, Jakarta

Mystical.  Energetic.  Moving.

Govinda jaya jayeaaaaah

The Rapture - Bengkel Night Park, Jakarta

Hot, sexy, sweaty.

Lightning Seeds - Field D, Senayan, Jakarta

Love. Nostalgic. United.

Ian Broudie was so amazed that we virtually knew every word to their songs.

311 - Tennis Indoor, Jakarta

Loud.  Fun.  Laugh.

Java Rockin’ Land - Carnival Beach, Jakarta – in which I watched Datarock, Living Things, Stereophonics, Smashing Pumpkins, Arkarna, amongst all

Bigger than life.

They were one of the best performers in JRL, yet they needed FAR MORE LOVE!

Finally I saw the Devil sing, live.

The Temper Trap

Disappointing. Left early.

LUNA SEA - Asia-Expo, Hong Kong

Dreams come true.  [I wrote a 4-pager review with Slasher Bird in Animonster 143, February 2011.  Go get it! :)]

And now I regret I wasn't there in 1995.

I’m not sure now whether I have forgotten any gig I attended.  Maybe.  If you went with me to a gig I’ve forgotten, just poke me hard, OK?

And ah, here’s the first gig I attended in 2011: Two Door Cinema Club at eX Park, Jakarta.  (Three words:  Something good worked.)  Here’s for more gigs coming!

Christopher Robin has grown up!

The sequel to The Death to Come is going to be published soon – the cover is in the process of being made, but you can read some early chapters, here.

Chapters will be added one by one, and I’m trying to complete each with an image of the characters that I drew myself.  I’m not happy with how the image of Arderydd came out, though – I might replace it later.

For now, please enjoy the teaser to The Grey Labyrinth. Feedback is welcome.

Erm – no, not money, although I have to admit I have got some, and the bucks were especially helping back when I was a student. I’m not talking about fame either (what, I’m not famous enough to claim anything!). I’m talking about the joy I get when I know people read and appreciate my writings. Your e-mails always make my day (in a positive meaning, of course), and the following experience truly touched me.

Several weeks ago I wrote about my trip to Macau and Hong Kong in Tim Lompat-lompat’s blog. I mentioned the Indonesian airline that I chose to fly me to both places (I was not arse-licking, I was truly liking and helped by their service). You know what, they read the blog, contacted me, and sent these to me!

I feel very grateful and appreciated. And it’s a super-nice feeling.

And since people said writers should put their picture in their website, I’m going to do that, although I’m not sure which picture should I put… how about this one? I like it very much :) I’m the one without glasses, by the way.

Follow this link to know how!

And yes, wait for the full report on Hong Kong LUNA SEA Concert by Ajeng and me in Animonster!  Just a short comment: it was AWESOME!

It’s heeeeereee!

Amazing cover by Imaginary Friends!

Now run to your local bookstores and check whether they have already have this in stock!  Comments are welcome!  And if you’re on Facebook, why don’t you join the group.