We The Fest 2019!

Yearly escapism of the mind. Thank you We The Fest

I think We The Fest has become a yearly affair for me, now that I've went for 3 consecutive years! Although as usual I just went for one day haha. Can't really afford to go for three days. Well now it's become a July event (2017 one happened in August) and I've been taking it as a birthday present for myself haha. This year's lineup was quite okay, even though I couldn't manage to catch all the acts I wanted to see. I went for day one this time round, cause there are 3 acts I wanna see!

Two are artists that I've been wanting to see for almost 5 years! They are Alvvays and Jai Wolf. 

Anyway I went for the festival at 7 PM ish this time cause Alvvays and Jai Wolf were playing at night. As usual I walked around the festival ground to see the layout and everything. Very important cause I'm moving between stages haha. I ate some food before the festival cause I knew there won't be any vegan option. And I was right! Sort of. There's a juice bar there hahaha.

All the way from Canada, Alvvays!

Alright so the first band that I caught was Alvvays and oh my goodness I am finally seeing them live after 5 years! And damn their set was so so good. I had a good time dancing and singing to their songs. Thankfully they played quite a few songs from their first album, which is one of my favourite albums from 2014. The crowd was awesome too, we were all rocking to their music. Had a great time rocking it out with Next of Kin which was their closing song. So good!

I was literally on a juice cleanse guys haha

Next I walked around the festival ground while waiting for Jai Wolf set which was 1 hour later after Alvvays' set. As there was no vegan option, I went to drink a few bottles of juice from the juice bar haha. So I was literally on a juice cleanse! And of course not forgetting the beer too.

Jai Wolf bringing us on an epic journey

Next up was Jai Wolf, and he's one of my favourite electronic music producers that I discovered from his song Indian Summer back in 2015! I've been wanting to see him live and whew his set was so mind blowing. Before his set he said to us: Jakarta are you ready to go on a journey? And boy he did really bring us on an epic journey! I can feel his passion and his pulse moving through his whole set. And to close the set with Indian summer was truly such an ethereal experience. 

Thank you so so much for coming to Jakarta. I hope to see you again one day!

I'm living for your every move, Troye

And... Surprise surprise. The gay gods have blessed me to see Troye Sivan Live TWICE this year! Yup he's the 3rd artist I wanted to see in WTF. But meh the rundown times was quite bad. His set started during Jai Wolf set so I only managed to catch 1/3rd of this set. But it's okay! I did catch him live in Singapore with Brenda and I had a good time dancing with the Indonesian crowd whoop!

Alright that's all for this year's WTF. Well I think I'm getting old for music festivals haha. Okay I'll write another post for this. But yes I had a great Friday at WTF last week. It's always good to lose yourself to music sometimes. And to go to a place where the music is louder than the noise in your head.

We The Fest 2018!

Thank you We The Fest, my heart was full

Hello hello, it's Saturday night now, time to reminisce about the good time I had at day 2 of We The Fest 2018 a week ago! Man, still thinking of Lorde's set haha, it was so amazing. At the same time, it's too amazing that I didn't remember what happened much hahaha. It felt like a ritual, an out of body experience or something like that. I think all music festival is a form of that!

Anyway I left my house in the morning for Jakarta. I went earlier because I heard that there might be a jam due to some road construction on the way there. I reached Jakarta at 2 PM, and checked into my hotel and waited to meet Chris at PIK! The drive there was quite jammed really, forgot it was the weekend heh. Thankfully after that jammed part everything else went smooth. Had a (late) lunch with Chris at a vegan cafe called Fortunate Coffee! Been wanting to dine here and finally had the chance to.

After that we head to the Festival Ground at PRJ Kemayoran. We were expecting a long line as a lot of people were coming for day 2 thanks to Lorde haha. Queue was long but it moved along fine so yup, no problem. Went to walk around the festival area first before we went for our first set: Efek Rumah Kaca!

Sebelah mataku~

I've been wanting to watch ERK for sometime now, so glad I managed to see them. I only get to know them after I returned here actually. I love how poetic and meaningful their lyrics are. The first song I heard from them was Sebelah Mata, and to listen to that song live felt like a rite of passage. Also they played a new song called "Rahim Ibu" which is a collab with Mata Najwa and it's such a deep song really. Listening to the lyrics while seeing them live is an emotionally beautiful experience.

Next we went to eat dinner first because we were prepping for Lorde mwahaha. So went to get some food, which to our dismay, the food area was so so full. Wanted to get Pizza but the stall guy said the queue was closed because there were too many people haha. Thankfully there was another food area, but when we went there... The sushi stall ran out of rice ahaha. I had some bakmi without meat. And Chris got a burger. Then we went to get more drinks. After that we went to see Barasuara!

Barasuara

I caught Barasuara once during Java Soundsfair 2014 I think. They are really good actually, even though I'm not a huge fan of rock music hah. But you have to see them live, their energy is indescribable really. Do catch them live when you have the chance to alrighty.

Totally feeling warm on a not-so-cold night hahaha

Next up was Honne! I think everyone was waiting for Lorde's Set since Honne, so yup everyone was just filling in the arena. It was so stuffy really, coupled by Jakarta's awesome weather and humidity ahaha. Nevertheless it was such a great time singing along with Honne and the rest! The music definitely made me forget about the heat haha. Everyone was singing along fine.

Waited for 5 years to see this scene :')

After Honne's set was Lorde and thankfully some people actually left the stage. So Chris and I managed to get closer to the stage! We're probably 20 people away from Lorde. Anyway I've been waiting for 5 years to see her so I'm so thankful for this great moment! She started off with Sober and everyone went wild mwahaha. Anyway not gonna talk about the whole set but....

Lets see, I actually cried three times. During Ribs, Team and Perfect Places HAHAHA. Never cried so much during a concert. Okay Pure Heroine was the album that accompanied me through end of 2013-2014. The periods of change and uncertainty. Ribs and Team were two of my favourite songs from the album and they perfect described that period. So yeah, listening to it live brought back those memories and I feel so... Sentimental haha. As for Perfect Places, it's just a perfect song to describe the whole idea of life's uncertainty? To me the song is about just embracing the places we're going to arrive in, because there's no such things as perfect places! I remember during the last chorus when she sang "What the fuck are perfect places anyway?", tears were rolling down my cheek!

Thank you, Ella!

Oh also people were literally sobbing and crying after she sang Liability. It's such a heart-wreck song really. I've never experienced heartbreak before... But Lorde's performance made me tear too heh. Also I'm not sure but I think she cried after that song too? After she said "Thank You Jakarta!"

Aww we love you too Ella, please don't be sad, you're going to so many more beautiful places!

Odesza bringing us to Higher Ground

Last but not least, to close the night off, was Odesza! I'm actually a new fan of them! Thanks to Brenda who asked me to listen to their new album "A Moment Apart". And boy it's such a good album! Had a great time dancing to their music from the new album and the old one too. It was such a great way to end a wonderful wonderful Saturday. I can't wait for my next gig haha.

Thanks Chris for coming with me!

After that I went to send Chris and her sister (who was also at day 2!) back, and then back to the hotel, and called it a night! Thank you We The Fest for the incredible lineup, and thank you Chris for coming along as well! I hope to return next year, depending on the lineup as always heh.

Well I have always regarded music as a form of escape. An escape from life, where I can forget about things for a while. It doesn't necessarily have to be in the form of festivals/gigs, just music in general! But now I think I shouldn't call it an escape. Because it seems like I'm denying reality and that music doesn't help much. I think now, music is like a transporter for me. 

It transports me to another place, without having me physically move to that place. 

I always find it quite funny how when I go inside the concert venue, it seems that life is slowly leaving me behind. And when the music plays, I just "lost" myself and life seems to completely leave me behind. And... As I leave the venue, life comes back to me again slowly. So yeah, doesn't seem much like an escape, but more of a vehicle? Transporter? You know what I mean.

I have a few gigs that I'm planning to watch next. I'll make them happen!

Alright that's all for this reminiscent trip. I will see you soon, I gotta blog more eeep.