Day 3: Jakarta - Show Day
Nau mai
Yesterday we played at Soundrenaline Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The breakfast buffet at Hotel Gran Mahakam was vast and formidable. I had set my internal alarm clock for 9am and had plenty of time to thoroughly inspect the contents of each polished stainless steel food warmer and create a strategy before I began plating up. There was a pre-buffet mini buffet before you even got into the main area that had bread, pastries, and cereals. There was a section that seemed to be mostly Cantonese food. There was a Japanese station, there was an egg station, a small warmer with hamburgers and fried food, there was Pasta Corner, and that was before we even got to any of the Indonesian food.
I began with some steamed Jasmine rice and dished up some of the vegetable and tofu stew called Sayur Tahu. On the side I had some steamed sweet potato and selection of fresh fruit, including a new variety for me, Salak Pondoh (snake fruit), which looks like a strawberry covered with a brown, leathery snake skin.
We had a morning soundcheck so after breakfast we headed downstairs and hopped into our van for a drive to the festival grounds that was only a couple of blocks. Our gear arrived just after us in the cute Daihatsu cargo vans. It was a hot morning and we were thankful for the shade as we set up. I broke another bass amp head and they had to bring in the backup. I stenciled the kill on the side of my bass with the others like a WWII pilot ace.
The deceased amp head.
We were finished before midday and headed back to the hotel. Tristan took Gabe and I to his favourite Satay spot for lunch. The dexterity of skewer handling was a joy to watch.
We went back to our favourite coffee spot and had more delicious drinks that looked like this:
Annie conquered her fears and went for a ride on a Grab scooter taxi. For this feat of courage I have added a point to her column and she is now coming first equal.
Other members of the tour party have been great at taking photos on this tour. It’s good for me as it means I’m able to extend the narrative of this publication beyond my personal experience. I know that some of the folks went to the mall because I was sent this photo:
A supreme example of the candid selfie executed by Liz.
Another savage high angle photographic attack from Annie Tunnicliffe.
It was dusk when we headed back to Soundrenaline to be ready for our set. The temperature had cooled and the sky was a pleasant navy blue, not fully darkened. Bats fluttered overhead and the scream of high-revving cars could be heard on the nearby overpass. Hopefully it wasn’t too painful for the bats to listen to.
The vibe out in the festival crowd was good. The Sigit were playing, an Indonesian rock band with screaming high vocals, and the crowd were singing along to the hits.
Relaxing before the set in the garden paradise that was our green room.
Our set went great. My bass amp performed flawlessly. Our performance had a nice freshness to it after a having a couple of weeks off. We were lucky enough to be awarded the use of a confetti shot by the festival. Gabe was put in charge of the button and execute a perfectly timed discharge at the climax of Expert in a Dying Field. I want to post it as a gif but it wouldn’t make sense without the sound and I can’t find a good midi version to upload. Small, shiny rectangular pieces of paper were still drifting down from the sky for an hour after we finished playing.
Here we are getting a photo with one of the security guards.
Annie wearing her extremely large backpack.