BMTH live in Jakarta 2024

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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...
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Gold’s Gym in Cikini and Ade Rai

I was fortunate enough to get the chance at the weekend to spend some time at the new Gold’s Gym in the Cikini district of central Jakarta.

And what a gym it is too.

It’s got more plama tvs than an electronics store, a kick-ass sound system that wouldn’t be out of place in a nightclub, and, of course, the finest American gym equipment that you could imagine. Eye candy is provided by the usual gaggle of female hardbodies jumping around in the glassed off aerobics room.

But best of all, it isn’t claustrophobic like so many of the gyms in the shopping malls these days. The huge glass windows let in so much light that it feels like you’re training outdoors, and there’s a view to kill for. Sukarno’s last stand is clearly visible despite the smoky haze. Parking is easy and quick, and it only takes a few seconds to get to the gym which takes up all of the second floor of the tiny shopping plaza.

To show you’re training in esteemed company they’ve come up with a huge board engraved with Gold’s Gym VIP members from around the world. Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Madonna, The Rock etc. Names of some Indonesian celebrities are up there as well: Agnes Monica among them, and shock horror, just below the name of the greatest bodybuilder of all time, the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger, is the name of one of the kids from a very wealthy Indonesian family!

The name of Indonesia’s famous bodybuilder Ade Rai, wasn’t up on the board – although it should be. He was in the gym though. And even though he’s got more titles than Michael Schumacher - Ade Rai was Indonesian National Bodybuilding Champion in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999, Mr ASIA in 1995 and 1998, Asian Pro-Am Classic Winner in 1996 and Musclemania Overall Winner in 1996 – he’s not in the least bit arrogant. A really nice bloke in fact.

All in all, a great gym – and probably the best in Jakarta.

Gold’s Gym in Cikini and Ade Rai
Me with the great man himself

Comments

  1. Unknown4 February 2016 at 11:56

    Delighted that I found your site, fantastic info. I will bookmark and try to visit more frequently.
    golds gym

    ReplyDelete

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