Music Gallery
5th Music
Gallery – 14 March 2015
After having had the chance to attend the 4th Music Gallery last year, I went home with a
promise that we all would go again next year. We all know that Music
Gallery is the 'it' concert for indie bands, attended by indie
listeners out there who wear fashion couture, black boots, and dark
lipsticks, but hey, I'm not stereotyping here. I'm an indie listener
but I came with just t-shirt, denim outer shirt, and jeans.
When it was announced that
SORE will be playing again in music gallery alongside Barasuara and
The Trees and The Wild, I just had to go. Firstly, because I made a
promise to myself that I would see Barasuara live and expected it to
be awesome, I watched Iga Massardi rocked the hell out of his guitar
last year in music gallery with Tika and The Dissidents, and I just
had to watch him again. Second, I made a promise years ago that I
want to watch The Trees and The Wild again, since they played in a
mini concert at my high school years ago. Third, and of course I'm
staying loyal to Banda Neira and Sore, for having been their fan for
quite some time now. So I went up and bought the pre-sale tickets
first thing after they're available, I think it was in January.
Last year, unfortunately, I
didn't bring my camera and came just for the music and partially just
to feel a little bit cooler. But I got latched on since then on
watching indie bands play and documenting them. Each of them have
their own special concepts like Pandai Besi, with their passionate
and dark swooning music, and upstage costume themed gothic. Or like
White Shoes and The Couples Company, with Mba Sari's style of singing
whilst dancing, and their 70's costume, with ricky rocking the bass
with a little dancing, or John with that hair and alex turner's kind
of vibe. It's really interesting to document them and it makes me
happy. I'm nowhere near a pro though, pros like Dimas Wisnuwardono, Teguh
Wicaksono or instagram's davianakbar.
Anyhow, Tahiti 80, a french
indie band from 1999, came and was the special guest of the night.
They're kind of big and clearly has a fanbase in Indonesia, because
the 5th Music Gallery turned out to be even more crowded
than last year. But personally, I liked it more this year for the
reason that my friends are there too. Last year, there were only four
of us who are interested in this kind of music, me, Narenda, Naomi,
and Maulana. But oddly, quite a few of my friends are interested to
come this year.
We arrived at the venue a little late and came when Jirapah was performing. I wasn't familiar with their song but thought that they were good and underrated. I was even more excited for the next performance, which was Barasuara. They opened their set with their signature song 'Barasuara', and I was already singing along. Their performance was dynamic, whenever they would reach the end of a song, they just couldn't stay still, especially Gerald. When it came to the last three songs, Iga's hair was rockstar messy and Gerald just couldn't stop smiling and moving around. They were jumping and head banging in a completely awesome way and the timing was perfect. Like how you know that some rockers did all their head banging and jumping in a completely inappropriate time, well, Barasuara did just the opposite, and it was done naturally. Marco Steffiano, the drummer also rocked out real hard when he was standing up and taking off his shirt, apparently it was some kind of tradition for him. And then Iga just completely lashed out a girlfan kind of screaming from the audience when he jumped off the stage and climbed the fence, leading the chorus of his song with an astounding gratifying energy. That is the climax of their performance. Period. I just had to see this band rock live again sometime soon.
 |
| The profound moment where Iga climbed the fence and lead the chorus of his song. |
After that Sore came and took the whole show into a love-showing, karaoke singing, and cheering festival. There's so many love from the audience when it comes to Sore. They've debuted a long time ago and have gained many loyal fans throughout the year. They even decided to do an encore at the end of their show and also they didn't get much time that they deserved. Om-om ini emang punya vibe tersendiri kalau tampil bareng. It's like they have the same frequency. It's probably because they've been friends before they were band. I have so many respect for them, and how they show their support to fellow indie musicians. And there's no denying that their music is incomparable to any musician in Indonesia. They have their own style and theme in their music that they create out of love for old musicians that they look up to since they were children. That is one of the many loveable aspects from their music.
Before we know it, it was
The Trees and The Wild's turn to rock the stage. They took forever to
prepare their stage, but trust me all that waiting will be paid off.
First of all, I would like to say that they have changed a LOT from
the last time I saw them, which was in high school. They were more
like experimental folk acoustic at that time, and Remedy was even
more charming now than then. They started off abstract, and you could
hear this beautiful tune right between the lines of the sounds from
other instruments. It was captivating without them having to engage
with the audience. They talk very little, I must say. Nggak ada
basa-basi, tapi mereka tetep bikin performance mereka signifikan.
It's like, they were loud without having to say anything. And that is
one of the good but underrated aspect of music. In a world where
words are thrown around many times without using the depth they could
have, ttaw is actually saying a lot by saying very little. They also
didn't lack the spirit, passion, and soul that Barasuara also has,
they just interpret it in a different way. I can sense the maturity
their music represent that weren't there years ago. They've come
along way and they were experimenting more with their sound, and it
made their performance truly heart-wrenching (but in a good way),
soul-captivating, and show-stopping performance. It was the climax of
the entire show, for me. Maybe because I didn't see Tahiti 80 right
after, and just went off to see Banda Neira at the second stage. But
I don't care, I achieved my goal, and ran off to be a loyal fan for
Rara and Nanda.
Banda Neira and Payung
Teduh was the perfect way to end the night. Mendayu-dayu,
bersenandung, dan bernyanyi bersama lagu-lagu mereka yang dekat
dengan hati semua penggemarnya menciptakan suasana yang nyaris
spiritual. It was a romantic evening with them, and it was perfect
for me. I loved every second of it. Their singing and talking was all
very meaningful and unshallow, or should I just say deep. I thank
them forever for their music and serenity that they provide for their
fans. Thank you for creating beautiful lyrics with melodies that can
swoon the crowd. Everything was perfect, and with that I made another
promise to myself to come again next year, to support any indie
musicians that will be on that stage.
Until next time,
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