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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The bizarre story of Basoeki Abdullah’s “A Nude”

Basoeki Abdullah A Nude Basoeki Abdullah is one of Indonesia’s greatest painters. Known for his realistic and natural style, Basoeki had a colourful personal life, marrying four times; his first wife being a Dutch lady. 

He died in November 1993 when he was murdered by thieves who broke into his house. 

His wonderful painting you can see here (A Nude) is subject to a bizarre mystery that only Indonesia could conjure up. 

Owned by the Government of Indonesia, the painting was originally kept in the National Museum in Jakarta. But it then went “missing” without anyone realizing it (don’t ask how). Somehow the thieves managed to get the painting to Singapore (again don’t ask how) and it was then put up for auction by Christie's Singapore along with another 160 South-east Asian works worth a total of about $3.4 million! 

But there was one thing that the thieves hadn’t counted on – and that was that the secretary of the late Basoeki discovered the theft of the painting after she coincidently saw it printed in Christie's catalogue for the Singapore sale from her home in Jakarta! 

The cops were duly called in and Christie's withdrew the painting from the auction. But as for where it is now, well, my lips are well and truly sealed…

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