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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Appetite for destruction?

Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games 
We got everything you want, honey, we know the names

Dragged back into the past, yet again, at Star. This time a Guns and Roses tribute band that played and looked the part (see videos below). With a few beers inside me, the music evoked memories of my travels to Indonesia back in the late 80s/early 90s, particularly Surabaya and Jogjakarta where the songs off the band’s brilliant first album (Appetite for Destruction: a misogynistic masterpiece) were being played in tourist cafes and eateries, and even once, I remember, in a sleazy discotheque where the crowd went absolutely mental to Sweet Child of Mine (what else?) 

Guns and Roses tribute band at Star Kemang



But time has moved on of course. And not far away at the nation’s parliament, Indonesian lawmakers - much to the consternation of foreign observers – have just taken the decision to outlaw intimate relations between non-married couples. Watch out tourists! You may be banged up for banging! That seemed to be the concern. However, a closer look at the details reveals a somewhat different picture: the law is only applied if there is a report made to the police by the PARENTS/SPOUSE or CHILDREN. So that limits the scope of the law considerably, and effectively means it will not be very effective at all. 

No reason to be too worried then. And certainly no reason to put off a visit to Indonesia!





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