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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Ayu Ting Ting: living the dream!

Everyone has heard stories of realizing the “American dream” - making it big through hard work and achieving success, fame and wealth.

But things are no longer what they once were and America’s dominant position in the global economy is steadily declining as Asian countries - especially China, India and those in SE Asia – ascend with ambitious intent.

These are the shifting sands of economic progress; the only certainty being uncertainty itself.

For Ayu Ting Ting, she must still be pinching herself to see if it’s real. Or just a dream. An Indonesian Dream.

Hailing from the suburban wastelands of Depok, this teenage dangdut prodigy was only recently on the demeaning dangdut “sawer” circuit.

In these dangdut shows, members of the audience - usually men (and often lecherous men with frisky hands) - pay money to dance with the singer on stage.

And Ayu’s fee at that time? Only a very modest Rp250,000 per show.

But from out of nowhere she was given a song to sing, a very catchy song called Alamat Palsu (“Fake Address”).

It went viral, Ayu’s popularity soared, and she is now pulling in around Rp 30 million for performing six songs.

That’s what you call a dream.

The Indonesian Dream, baby!


New chick on the block: Ayu Ting Ting

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