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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Jakarta’s Art Deco Kota Train station (BEOS)

Art Deco buildings are very rare in Indonesia. This is because this type of architecture was only in vogue for a relatively short period of time (from 1925 until the 1940s). 

The Art Deco style is easily identified by its use of geometric shapes. These shapes are often repeated many times over, and to pleasing effect. Unlike many other art forms, the Art Deco style carries no political or philosophical baggage and is only grounded in aesthetics. 

But even so, this doesn’t detract from the art form’s unique appeal in my view. The most famous Art Deco building in Jakarta is the train station in Kota, West Jakarta.

Jakarta’s Art Deco Kota Train station (BEOS) The station was originally built around 1870 but given a thorough renovation in 1926. During the colonial times the station was popularly known as the BEOS station - as an abbreviation from the Bataviasche Ooster Spoorweg Maatschapij or the East Batavia's Train Transportation Company – and that name has stuck to the present day.

Jakarta’s Art Deco Kota Train station Yep, it’s still a fine old station - even today. And long may it stand!

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