Posts

BMTH live in Jakarta 2024

Image
This time around Ravel gets it right and BMTH (Bring Me The Horizon) are headlining the Nexfest festival in Jakarta which also features Babymetal. In this format there is no seating - which makes for a much more intimate experience - although you do have to arrive really early if you want to pick a spot right up close to the stage.  We arrived about six hours before BMTH were scheduled to start their performance and bought plenty of drinks to stay hydrated in the tropical afternoon heat (mind you, some of those were Iceland vodka mix!) This was a gig I had long been looking forward to - especially after the debacle last year. Not everyone likes BMTH of course. For deathcore fans the band sold out. For metal heads the band is not purist enough. And for the wider mainstream audience, the band is too heavy. You can't please everyone of course but there are few bands in the rock world which can match the sheer emotional velocity of BMTH. To bring metal and even aspects of metalcore t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mong Tong Shine at the 2024 Bali Joyland Festival

Image
Mong Tong are destined for cult status. That much I'm sure. For those fortunate to have attended the 2024 Joyland Festival in Bali, this was a gig that will be seared deeply into the memory for a long, long time to come. The setting was just perfect. Just imagine a sultry late night in the tropical paradise that is Bali with gentle waves caressing the sandy shores close to where the modestly-sized stage had been set up.  When the Taiwanese electronic duo emerged, they promptly tied black cloths around their heads to cover their eyes. Incredibly, they would play blindfolded!  Experiencing Mong Tong's music live is quite a different proposition to listening to their recorded songs, which although brilliant, are more subtle and laid back. Live, though, the music takes on a psycadellic dimension, being notably less melodic but far more intense and catharic. The music was so immersive that the past and future disolved into irellevancy for me and only the moment mattered. But time...
Post a Comment
Read more

There's no such thing as a free lunch...Or is there?

Image
It's official. The next president of Indonesia is former army general Prabowo Subianto. Quite how the next five years will pan out is anyone's guess but hopefully the foreign pundits who always bring up his dodgy human rights record will be proven wrong. Nonetheless, on policy making, Prabowo's popularist move to literally offer the poor 'a free lunch' every day of the week does not augur well for the future. Such a policy - if it ever came to fruition - would cost a phenomenal amount of money and likely lead to huge inefficiencies (food waste) and poor incentives (make people lazy). Another concern is Prabowo's strong nationalist bent. Thus, in the possible event that he finds himself with his back against the proverbial wall in the face of stern economic challenges, there is a big chance that he will simply scapegoat foreigners. But he will have to be careful. Construction of the new capital city, Nusantara, for example, is highly dependent on foreign in...
Post a Comment
Read more

On choosing a caleg

Image
One of the great things about democracy is that citizens get the opportunity to vote for the legislators who will represent them in parliament.  But with so many political parties in Indonesia, there are a huge number of candidates (caleg) to choose from.  So how can a political party select a caleg who stands out from the crowd and who resonates with voters?  By selecting a celebrity as a caleg of course!  To some this may be seen as a rather desperate move but some voters (particularly men) may be more likely to vote for an attractive actress rather than some boring old man they have never heard of. Celebrity caleg in the coming election include Krisdayanti , Diana Sastra, Tamara Geraldine, Kalina Oktarani, Desy Ratnasari, Rachel Maryam, Annisa Bahar, Nafa Urbach, Mulan Jameela and Lula Kamal.  Quite simply, take your pick!  
Post a Comment
Read more

On Indonesia’s 2024 presidential election

Image
A week is a long time in politics. And four years since the last election is a hell of a lot longer of course. But this time around, the pendulum seems to be swinging firmly in Prabowo's favour.  I wouldn’t bet my house on it but since Gibran (the president's son) sided with Prabowo - and thereby giving him a lot of potential support from incumbent President Jokowo voters - the prospects for Ganjar and Anies have dimmed considerably.  This act of betrayal by the incumbent was something out of a Shakespeare novel and it really infuriated Megawati as she thought she could count on Jokowi's support for Ganjar. But that didn’t turn out to be the case. And she’s still picking up the pieces.  Prabowo is also galvanizing plenty of support from strongly partisan media (TV One owned by Bakrie, Detik.com by Chairul Tanjung etc) and more cannily social media, which influences the minds of so many people these days.  In particular, I noticed that Tiktok feeds are jam packed with...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 2023 Joyland Festival in Jakarta

Image
In my recent post I wrote about the cancelled Bring Me The Horizon (BMTH) gig in Jakarta and how that disgracefully organized event could have had some very unwelcome consequences indeed.   Yet despite this disappointment, at least I still had the 2023 Joyland Festival to look forward to.  Held annually in Jakarta (and in Bali as well), Joyland is professionally managed all the way from the ticketing process to the security and stage set-up with decent facilities also provided such as a beer tent (sponsored by Guinness!) and food stalls, etc. A particularly nice touch given that temperatures can soar in the tropics was the provision of free drinking water not far from the main stage.     I had tickets for day two of the 3-day event and was thrilled to see that the promoters had had the vision to line up some really top-notch bands - namely Glass Beams, Mildlife, and Squid - in addition to the main acts Bloc Party and Fleet Foxes.     By the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

BMTH in Jakarta: a total disaster, thankfully not a tragedy

This is not the blog post I had wanted to write. I had long been looking forward to the Bring Me The Horizon (BMTH) concert and wanting to write about a fantastic gig by one of the world's best metal bands. But instead I am having to write about a total disaster that caused the second-day gig to be cancelled after the first-day gig ended prematurely. First of all, let me say I really like BMTH. There are few bands which can match their sheer emotional velocity in the rock world. To bring metal and even aspects of metalcore to a much wider audience by incorporating pop sounds into really well-written songs is pure genius.  Live they would be magnificent. Or so I had hoped to see myself. A lot has appeared in the media about what happened in the first day gig and why it ended prematurely. But let’s be truthful here: this was a shambolically organized gig. An absolute disgrace and we can only be grateful that a tragedy was averted. The problems To avoid writing a ridiculo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Popular posts from this blog

The 10 best plus plus massage spas in Jakarta

Image
UPDATE 12/10/2018: due to the large number of hits this page has been receiving of late, readers should note that two of the spas on the list are, alas, no longer with us. They are: 1) Hotel Alexis , which was closed down for political reasons by the new Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and 2) Illigals , which was "closed" and promptly reopened with a new name due to its reputation as a drugs den. In place of Hotel Alexis, therefore, I would instead put Classic Hotel on the list - a real humdinger of a joint in this madcap city! A list of the top ten plus plus spas in Jakarta? Okay, without further ado (or should that be aduh!!!) here it is: 10. Malioboro Spa . Over cynical and commercial yet fun if you stick with it – a bit like watching Chelsea on one of their better days. Hey that’s a point – even Torres could score here! Hahaha! Wallet damage: Rp1million ++ 9. Emporium Spa . Overpriced but the facilities are pretty good. Go for the “one hour special package” if yo...
Read more

20 things you should know about Indonesian women

Image
1. Unlike Western women who can’t drive to save their lives, Indonesian women are the best drivers in the world. I know this because my woman overtakes other cars at 130kms/hr on the inside safety lane of the Jakarta-Bandung toll road while, at the same time, keying in SMS text messages. 2. Indonesian woman love shopping. Indonesian woman love shopping. Indonesian woman love shopping. 3. According to the Indonesia Bureau of Statistics, 43 percent of 18- to 34-year-old Indonesian women live with their parents. So be very very careful if she invites you back to her place or you might get much more than you bargained for. 4. Indonesian women think dark skin is bad, but they still adore Anggun . 5. Thirty-two percent of women in Jakarta now color their hair, according to Estee Lauder (who are obviously hoping they can peer-pressure the other 68 percent). 6. Jakarta women can't live without tension. Every once in a while she's gonna pick a nasty fight with you for no reason whatsoev...
Read more

The comfort zone (Jakarta hotel and spa)

Image
Yet another Indonesia WTF moment. And this time on the net. What are these girls employed as? - “Guest relations” officers - Tour guides - Personal financial advisors - Therapists - Security consultants Well, I’d have put my house on “guest relations” officers myself, but I’d be wrong. Cos these girls are, in fact, therapists . So if you fancy a difficult afternoon with one of these girls - who will undoubtedly do her utmost to delve deeply into the furthermost recesses of your mind - then you might like to pay a visit to one of the spas owned by the Comfort Group . But why the hell they have 65 therapists on their payroll is way beyond me! Services offered include both traditional and Shiatsu Massage, refleksi (foot massage), a hot and cold water pool, sauna and steam room and a mini bar and lounge. So why not finish your tiring day with a happy ending?!!!   Also see: The 10 best plus plus spas in Jakarta Contact details for the spas managed by the Comfort Group, undoubtedly ...
Read more