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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Taman Menteng, Jakarta

Menteng is the most prestigious residential area in Jakarta; a notable haven for Indonesia’s political elite and foreign diplomats. Suharto’s family still have a gaff here.

Menteng is also probably the greenest and leafiest area of Jakarta and there are a number of parks within fairly close walking distance including Taman Lawang - a nighttime hangout for Jakarta’s transvestites (referred to as banci in local parlance) – and Taman Menteng – a newly-established rectangular-shaped park which replaced an old and dilapidated football stadium.

 Taman Menteng is very small as parks go and you’ll be very disappointed if you compare it to a large city park like Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London.

 Even so, if you need a spot of fresh(ish) air or a place for a potential romantic or illicit rendezvous then Taman Menteng makes a good choice.

 The park’s most notable features are two glasshouses, which strangely enough don’t seem to be used for anything at all.

Taman Menteng

The park also used to have a statue of US President Barack Obama (who once lived in Menteng as a kid with his mother Ann Dunham and stepfather Lolo Soetoro) but it was quickly removed after Indonesian nationalists questioned the wisdom of having a statue of a foreign politician in an Indonesian park.

Barack Obama statue in Menteng, Central Jakarta

There are a number of decent restaurants on Menteng’s main high street and which are only a short walk from the park. Sate Senayan serve good Indonesian grub, Gandy’s Steak House do juicy steaks, and if you are seeking a blast from the past, the venerable Miranda Restaurant will take you back to the 1970s. Swell!

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