Java Jazz 2020!

"Redeem yourself through music"

Beautiful festival theme!

Right so here's my post about the lovely Saturday spent at Day 2 of Java Jazz 2020!

Left my hometown at 11 AM thinking that I'll reach at about 2-3 PM so that I can have lunch first. Nope! There were traffic jams on my way to Jakarta, twice! First was during a factory workers' release and another one was some contraflow? Apparently one whole lane of the highway was closed, probably because some government official was going through it. I ended up reaching at 4:30 PM, when the first band I wanted to catch (T-Square) plays at 5 PM. So I just went straight, exchanged my ticket and enjoy the show. But boy was I hungry! Ended up holding my hunger for 3 hours hahaha. Worth it.

T-Square!!! They're so so good.

I can't believe I actually managed to catch T-Square live! I used to listen to lots of their music back in Secondary school days, when I first joined band and discovered "Omens of Love". I couldn't remember which concert, if I'm not wrong it was SP Band (back in 2006) and we were supporting one of our alumni. Discovered the song and T-Square, along with some of their new music. But I did not catch up on their new music, but I enjoyed watching their videos on YouTube. And their show was incredible!

They opened up with Omens of Love, followed with some of their classics like Truth and Twilight In Upper West. And also their newer songs like Love Game. Okay seriously I am blown away by their performance. They are SO GOOD. Like I was just speechless at the end of their set, it was incredible! All the bass, guitar, keys, drums and saxophone solos were incredible. They seriously made me feel like learning how to play all these instruments. And their drummer Senri Kawaguchi is seriously wow! She's only 23, so so talented!!! Still speechless from their set now haha. Still thinking about it!

Caught the last bit of Mondo Gascaro set. Dan Bila is beautiful <3

Next I went to rush to catch Mondo Gascaro but he was also playing at 5:15 PM so I could only catch the last bit of his performance. Managed to see his duet with Rien Djamain and his final song, Dan Bila. I hope to see him live again, no luck this time round :( See you soon Om Mondo!

Maya Hasan ABBA Revival project

After that I went to walk around the Festival ground to get myself familiarise with the area. Then I went to see Maya Hasan with her ABBA Revival project. Her Harp playing is so incredible! I would say it's in an interesting project to have ABBA played on the harp. There was also a harmonica player (sorry I couldn't catch his name) but his performance of Lay All Your Love On Me was superb!

Me: Mas minta nasi jeruk, tapi nasi nya aja

Mas: *shocked pikachu face* 

So by this time I was ravaged with hunger. Haven't eaten a proper meal in almost 15 hours! I just ate some snacks in the car haha. I went to get some food and... As usual there's no vegan food available haha. I went to each of the food truck and the best option I got was this umm nasi jeruk combination. It's supposed to be rice + egg + chicken/lamb/squid. So I went to the food truck guy and asked for rice only. He looked so shocked haha. But I explained that I'm a vegan and I couldn't find any food. The crew from the truck looked so shocked too hahaha. But they gladly sold a bowl of rice for me

Bakmi Gang Kelinci has saved the day with the vegan bakmi

Anyway it's my fault, I didn't realise that there was another area for food. With more options! I was walking around when I see bakmi gang kelinci. I tried this once back before I was a vegetarian and it's really good. I went to ask the lady at the stall if I can have a plain bakmi and she was like why plain?! I told her I'm vegan and she was like "What do you want? Let me cook for you. Nasi Capcay, Mi Capcay, Vege Bakmi". I ordered the veg bakmi and it was filled with mushroom and bakchoy. The noodle was flavourful. Bakmi Gang Kelinci you saved my life haha. Please have it in every music festival!

I then just walked around more and discovered a karaoke session at the Teh Botol Lounge area haha. It was really fun singing old songs with people. And of course we have a Via Vallen karaoke session. I was just waiting for The Jacksons set. This is when... Things started to go a bit awry.

This was the queue to The Jacksons :O

Okay so The Jacksons was supposed to play at 10 PM. My plan was to catch them, and then rush to see PREP at 11. I was waiting around the hall when I realised that the time was 9:20 PM, but there was no instructions about going inside the hall. It was 9:40 PM when we were instructed to start queuing up. And we even queued in the rain for a bit heh. I entered the hall at 10:20 PM and I thought to myself... I don't think I'll get to see them. It was 10:40 PM and people were still queuing and entering the hall. I asked the organiser when they will start but they just said soon.

I really really wanted to see The Jacksons but PREP was the main reason why I went to Java Jazz in the first place. I understand that they put a "time is subject to change" warning on their lineup so well... I just decided to see PREP instead. I knew if I waited, I won't see PREP so yeah.

And when I went to PREP's hall wow there was already a queue to go inside! Haha. This was like 15 minutes before their set. I couldn't imagine if I were to come slightly later, I might not even go inside heh. I ended up being on the last in the queue to the middle of the hall, when everyone who sat down, stood up. Well at least I get to see them so no complaints! It was a huge hall thankfully.

Always a good time with PREP :)

PREP was great as usual. This is my third time seeing them live and they're still as good! They played two of their new songs and I had a good time dancing and singing to their songs. But hmm well I went to their show at Hard Rock Cafe back in 2018. I have to be honest, I prefer their performance back then. The crowd was good and it was more intimate. But I'm glad that more people managed to see em live this time round! After all, their top listeners are from Jakarta mwahaha. Thank you so much for coming to Jakarta again guys! I hope you had a great time and see you soon here again :D

Went home after that and it was raining! Walked in the rain for a while when I was trying to get to the car haha. But somehow the mood was nice, being in the rain on my way home, remembering all the great times I had on that Saturday with some lovely music! After all it was my first gig in like 7 months. First gig of 2020 and I hope more to come. It was a lovely Saturday indeed, despite the jam.

This time round however, the lineup god wasn't on my side haha. It was truly an either-or festival. Usually I'm lucky to manage to see the bands/artists that I want to see on the festival day. But this time round I was forced to really choose which one to catch. It was either T Square of Mondo Gascaro, Jacksons or PREP. Well I hope I'll have better luck next time. Till the next gig, see you!