Tyas Palar's Blog

It was the afternoon.  I was sitting on the steps in front of the legendary Jakartan venue Bengkel – now goes under the name Fairgrounds for God knows why – when the small Big Bird bus arrived.  (Yes, a small Big Bird.)  It's Architecture in Helsinki: only 6 or to 7 hours before the show, and they had just stepped off the bus, having flown in from Singapore.  Crazy schedule, yes.

They wasted no time.  They brought their own stuff – helped by some – into the venue, passing me by.  I just stood like a stupid, grinning.  A few minutes later, some of them – only Jamie and Gus I remember clearly now – came out again, looking a bit puzzled.  It turned out that some of their bags were left in the bus that already had gone somewhere else.  They were waiting for the bus to come back, and they spent time looking around the venue.  Me?  Oh I was still there, at that same spot, with that stupid grin on my face, it's just that I was sitting again.  I really wanted to talk to them, but I felt reluctant because I thought they must have been very tired from their journey, and they were thinking about them bags.

After finally the bags were safe in their hands, they retreated into the venue once again, and I left to find some dinner before the show with a friend.  Several hours later, Bandungians Bottlesmoker opened for them with their playful sounds – produced by various objects, from Nintendo DS to colourful bells.  Their friend French artist Sebastian drew digitally while they sang (we could see Sebastian's work on display on the two giant screens to the sides of the stage).

Bottlesmoker was nice, but the night really began when finally Architecture in Helsinki took the stage.  It was hot, wild, fantastic.  They brought us to our feet and dance to their setlist that left almost no room for us to breathe.  Even when we remembered to breathe, we were crying, discreetly or openly, for lost love as Kellie lead us in singing 'when I caught you walking on water' in W.O.W.  AIH performed energetically in every song, and wowed us with their jumps, prancing, synchronised dance, their crazy skills with their instruments (and they exchanged instruments several times).  Gus especially stole my heart with his funny moves and lively dance on stage!  Cameron and Kellie too were totally teaching us all over again about how to have fun!

And, mate?  You're mad if you don't dance to Escapee!

Being a great fan of It's 5!, I couldn't contain my excitement when they launched into the song!  And right after that, we were struck dumb for a moment when apparently nobody recognised the intro to the next song they were performing.  But then the bassline arrived to help us remember: eh, god!  It's Do the Whirlwind!  So well, what else should we do but do the whirlwind?

The encore was closed with Heart It Races.  Yes, our hearts were racing so fast!  The gig was just excellent, was pure fun!  When finally that whirlwind of a night ended, it was with a great applause and happy grins on our faces.

Architecture in Helsinki's gig is the second strongest contender for 'Gig of the Year' after Foster the People.  Yes, would really love to see how this year turns out!

Architecture In Helsinki Setlist (Jakarta, March 10th, 2012)

Desert Island

Hold Music

Like It Or Not

Souvenirs

Everything's Blue

That Beep

Denial Style

Escapee

Debbie

It's 5!

Do The Whirlwind

Wishbone

W.O.W.

Bette Davis Eyes

I Know Deep Down

Contact High

Maybe You Can Owe Me

Heart It Races

"Just wait inside," Kindly a man from Revision Live told us, winners of the chance to meet The Pains of Being Pure at Heart in a meet & greet before the show.  We obeyed, and into a small room in Balai Sarbini did we enter.

Pains of Being Pure at Heart was scheduled to pull a performance here, in the launching party of Chambers online shop. Too bad the date coincided with the massive Java Jazz Festival in North Jakarta and a (cancelled) Foo Fighters gig in Singapore.  Thousands of people were somewhere else.  This had restricted the TPOBPAH audience into a 300-people strong pack, but indeed a strong pack it was: we could see clearly that those who came were really fans of the band.

Returning to the meet & greet: it was held in-between soundchecks in the afternoon.  The band had been soundchecking since the previous night until early morning and continued it again the day after – they were really looking for perfect sounds. (A journalist friend of mine later told me: in Laneway festival, their sounds clashed with the soundcheck on the other stage, making them practically unheard; they were disappointed and so were the audience, no wonder they're really after satisfaction with the sound system.)  Before the M&G, Alex was spotted earlier lining up in Bread Talk for some delicious bread – just a detail that might make you curious…

Finally Kip, Alex and Peggy came into the room.  Kurt was apparently still too busy to come.  We shook hands and introduced our names.  After that, there was some moment of silence.  Both parties were awkward!  Kind of cute, really – they're supposed to be the 'stars' and yet they too, like us, were speechless for a time.  But after one of the fans started talking about his zine, the ice was broken.

We conversed and took pictures – such nice people they were, and Kip was very funny!  The first time my sister took my pic with the three of them, it came out blurry, so she asked us to do it one more time.  Kip said, "Well, I'm a blurry guy."  When the Instax film came out, he said, "Magic!"  Then I asked them to sign their first LP.  He asked for my name, but since it's my sister's ("It's actually hers," I said) I asked him to write her name instead.  And you know what he wrote?  "To Ayu.  This is actually yours."  Oh Kip.  You're way too amazing.

(And oh, finally Kurt appeared, but he looked so sleepy and tired!)

When we finally walked out of the room – TPOBPAH needed to do another soundcheck, then more interviews – I saw Connor (of The Drums' fame) climbing up the steps into the main hall.  I did not know what's on my mind but I shouted, "CONNOR!" He froze, turning to me.  "I WAS IN YOUR GIG LAST YEAR!  IT WAS AWESOME!" Not only Connor, everybody was now freezing, and Connor looked as if he could not digest that strange happening for a while.  Everybody then started to laugh because he looked so funny.  He finally said, "Really?  Cool," and walked down the stairs to me to have a picture taken.  Thanks, Connor – sorry if I scared you!

The event itself started at about 8.45 pm.  Of the first band, Polyester Embassy, unfortunately I cannot say much and I don't want to say bad things about them.  Let's just say, I've watched them twice and they haven't been able to convert me into a fan.  Next came White Shoes and the Couples Company – later Kip explained WSATCC as a band they had played with quite randomly in a festival in Hong Kong.  They've been friends ever since.  And my, WSATCC must be one of the, if not the, most underrated bands in Indonesia.  They were really good, with great showmanship and indisputable music skills.  Really love how they came out one by one with their instrument (with John starting, of course, since he's on drums).  They delivered a solid performance, although they didn't manage to get everyone moving.  Some people were really there for TPOBPAH only and weren't caring about anybody else on stage.

After WSATCC, came quite a long preparation for TPOBPAH.  Kurt and the sound guy checked and rechecked their instruments.  Audience began to grow restless with anticipation.  And when finally they kickstarted it, wow!  People wen't crazy!

TPOBPAH started their setlist with This Love is Fucking Right.  And even from the first song, I realised that this was a good band live.  They followed up the song with other songs –I lost count, but they actually played a total of 15 songs – and the audience didn't waver a bit.  They shouted, screamed, clapped their hands, and sang along.  It was glorious.  And the members of the band too looked really happy (except Kurt and Connor, but those two were basically expressionless, and Kurt only cracked a wide smile once nearing the end of the concert).  Kip played so energetically that his guitar string snapped.  While Connor – who played guitars, and looked majestic with his curly gravity-defying quiff – awed me with his playing.

Peggy thanked the fans who had been buzzing on the internet for them to come to Indonesia – and they were really happy that finally they managed to perform in Indonesia, especially because it's not easy to do so.

When Kip returned alone onstage for encore and sang Contender, somebody shouted "Kip I love your shoes!" (He was wearing a pair of red sneakers.)  He smiled and said, "Thank you but they're not white.  I don't want to copy their style," – he was referring to WSATCC who wore white shoes when performing.

And after the show, when some of the audience had started to leave the hall, Kip suddenly appeared on the floor!  He looked very satisfied, and took us aback!  But then people came swarming at him, trying to talk to him, taking pictures, asking for signatures, shaking hands – and he nicely tended to them all!  Even when a staff and a bodyguard asked him to go now, he refused.  He wanted to meet every single one of the fans who were still there.  When my buddy Tessa asked for a pic together, Kip was busy talking with some people, and he asked her to wait.  After he finished, Kip searched for her, so sweet of him!  Alex and Peggy too later appeared, and fans didn't waste their chance this time either.  A girl came to Alex and said something like, "I'm going to have my middle-term exams next week, say good luck to me, that will do."

It's difficult to finally say goodbye to the band, really!  They were amazingly nice people that really entertained us with their breathtaking performance.  Really wish they would come back again soon (although Kip said to me after the show that since it had been difficult to score a show in Indonesia, probably it wouldn't be too soon) – and next time we'll taste avocado drinks together!

TPOPBAH full setlist:

This Love Is Fucking Right

Belong

Stay Alive

Heart to Your Heartbreak

Say No to Love

Falling Over

Come Saturday

Young Adult Friction

A Teenager in Love

Heaven's Gonna Happen Now

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Contender

My Terrible Friend

Everything With You

Strange 

Ever since The Horrors (was it you, Tom?) tweeted last year about them coming to Bandung on Valentine's Day, I'd been biting my nails in anticipation.  I just couldn't believe it yet.  I knew they were coming to Laneway Festival in Singapore and had been contemplating to go while simultaneously praying for them to come to my own country – and now this was real?  Alas, I had to wait a bit longer for it to be officially announced.  No, scratch that.  So much longer.  I don't know what made the promoter(s) held their tongues for so long, but The Horrors didn't take off theirBandung schedule off the list, so although I began to lose hope, I still tried to tell myself that the gig's still on.

Then – bam, just two weeks before the show, finally the promoter (Soundshine Event) made an official announcement: February 14th would indeed be the day!  I arranged my schedule to be able to attend the concert – I lived in the suburbs of the capital ofIndonesia, three hours away from the mountain town Bandung.  I had to stay the night and ask to come late to work the day after.  I didn't mind doing all that.  I had been waiting.  I'd been interested in the band even before they released their debut album – I admitted, at first it was more because of their skinny legs and Victorian looks that fit their name so much.  Their first album was interestingly raw, but I bet I was not the only one thinking 'Where'd they go after this'.  Their answer was metamorphosing into a band with two stellar albums that surpassed everyone's expectation.

So to me, the gig was something to really look forward to.  But when I arrived at the venue – although the posters and announcement said 'Dago Tea House', the concert was actually held in a hall nearby – only a few people were already waiting, 1 hour to the designated door opening.  Hmmm.  I could quickly point out some of the reasons of this lack of audience, for instance: (1) the so-short-a-notice was indeed so short; many Indonesian fans of the band had gone to Laneway instead on the previous weekend, (2) it was Tuesday; many fans in Jakarta couldn't leave their job or school to go toBandung.

While waiting outside, we could hear The Horrors doing rehearsal.  Sounded to me they were really after perfection – for about an hour, they repeated Some Velvet Morning again and again, trying to get it all right.  The gig might not be big, but they still treated it very seriously.  It was cool – and it began to rain.  Perfect setting for a Horrors gig, you think?

But then there's an issue with our cameras.  Although the promoter had said in their twitter account that pocket cameras were allowed, the staff at the doors asked us to deposit them.  I – we – could have lied but we answered honestly that we did bring pocket cameras and duly obey the staff.  We still had our cellphones to just take some mementos, we thought.  To our dismay, inside we found people still clinging to their pocket cameras and even at least one brought his video cam (although later the guard asked him to put the video cam away).  And later the promoter replied to my tweet that pocket cameras were actually okay, so probably it was a lack of briefing or a miscommunication.

The venue itself was actually nice.  Being originally built for traditional art performances, the stage was big but not too high, and there were steps leading to the stage along the front side.  The floor for audience rose up in a theatre-like style, providing good view even for the ones standing at the back.  My friends and I got the front row – me, in front of Faris' mic stand (which, by the way, was even taller than the roadies).  It felt very intimate.  I consoled myself by thinking that this was a kind of secret gig for people who did really love them enough to take leave or just not show up at work to travel to see The Horrors.

And when the gig started, it was an awesome blend of loudness, harmony, and lighting, from start to finish.  I found myself gaping several times, still couldn't believe that eventually I could see this band in front of my eyes, and so close!  Faris even slammed into me when he walked off the stage once!  He showed us what being 'a great frontman' meant, and when he swung the tall mic stand he looked so dangerously cool.  (Well it indeed seemed dangerous, should the mic stand fly to us the audience instead…)

Joshua's guitars filled my ears with sounds so grand I just can't.  He especially stole my heart during A Sea within A Sea – the one song I like the most out of their 10-song setlist that night.  Tomethy looked a bit creepy behind his keys with his sleek hair parted to the side.  I even caught him grinning to something that was probably invisible to our eyes.

Joe and Rhys provided the solid rhythm loyally – and may I mention this: Rhys looked so slim and pretty.  And it was a coincidence that he wore a striped shirt that looked so similar with the one my friend Tessa was wearing that night, haha.  I was trying to get her to go onstage so I could take a pic of them together with their shirts!  Joe threw his drumsticks to the audience after the performance – one landed near my sister's feet but bounced to the spot behind her.  Since Joe's her favourite member, she came out of the venue regretting of what might have been.

Too bad the audience was not as… 'hot' as the band itself, though.  Big fans of the band did scream and go crazy at the front rows, but I wasn't so sure about the rows behind.  I ended up in the second row after much shuffling and shifting, and to my surprise I felt emptiness on my back… When I looked over my shoulder, the closest guy behind me was about one meter away.  This wouldn't happen inJakarta, I thought, not in the front rows.  I just couldn't comprehend this.  I felt so sorry for the band.  They deserved better.  I'd wager that if only their gig was held in Jakarta, they would get a bigger, better audience.

 

But anyway.  I still thank the band for giving us a great performance.  It was the greatest Valentine's day ever.  I really wish they would come back to Indonesia, but with more preparations from the promoter, a better venue, and a hotter crowd.  Jakarta next time please?  Java Rockin' Land, The People's Party or something?  Waiting for you to return to Indonesia, lads!  I will be there.

I was lucky to start my year in concerts with two great concerts in my hometown!  Last year was so-so – there were very good concerts that I attended, but there were also some that were so disappointing, I had to leave from one before it finished.

Here's a short recap of the two concerts.  Sorry if the picture quality is not too high, I took them only with my cellphone camera.

First was Grammy nominee Foster the People (promoted by 3 Ocean Live) on January 11th.  The venue is the newly re-painted Tennis Indoor.  The cold conditioned air seemed to vanish as heat radiated from the enthusiastic crowd.  The crowd was amazing, and so was the band.  They presented a very energetic show – frontman Foster sang and danced and jumped and played instruments like the Devil himself.  My favourites were I Would Do Anything For You and Call It What You Want - and of course the closing song, the longer, reworked Pumped Up Kicks that sent everyone to their feet.  Well, in fact, Foster had asked everyone who were sitting on the 'tribune' seats to stand up and dance.  Even if he hadn't asked, how could they stay seated with something as hot as that song?

The crowd's insane – fancams of the concert stood as testimonies: the singalong was so thunderous and moving!  Satisfied look reigned on the faces of FTP's members.  Foster said they'd never been as South as they were now, and they were surprised by the audience!  Well, I too was very, very satisfied.  A very fantastic gig to open 2012!

2 days after that, I and my hombre Tessa (who was also with me in FTP's gig) were now in Fairgrounds, SCBD, for the Jakarta-leg of British Council-sponsored/Soundshinevent-promoted The People's Party 2012.  The other shows were held in Hongkong, Taipei, and Singapore.  Jakarta was very lucky to get the Party!

Fairgrounds used to go with the name bengkel - why they had to change the name, I do not know, because I think 'Fairgrounds' is rather bland.  Thank god they didn't take away the iconic bengkel signboard.

The Party was opened by local rising stars Roman Foot Soldiers.  They gave a good performance, quite solid – would love to see how they improve after some more experience.

Next came New Zealand's The Jezabels, who was, if I may say, underrated.  Looked like many people were thinking of coming later for 'bigger acts' like Metronomy, but if they were not there for the Jezabels yet, they're missing something big.  Hayley Mary's voice was just amazing – piercing high into the skies.  Reminded me a bit of Karen O's, but I don't mean that Hayley is just a pale copy of her.  She's probably one of the best frontwomen to rise in the past few years!

Next is Tessa's favourite, Bombay Bicycle Club.  Now the room became really, really heated.  Girls screamed Jack Steadman's name, one even shouting "JACK I'M READY TO DO ANYTHING FOR YOOOUUU~"  BBC burnt the audience with their explosive performance, supported by the blindingly beautiful lighting.  And Jack's such a babe, he was walking out of the stage when he saw a girl holding up a paper with 'SETLIST PLEASE' written on it.  He turned around and took a setlist and tried to give it to her – although I thought somebody else snatched it.

The girls didn't reduce their crazy screaming when the next band came onstage – The Naked and Famous.  This time the boys joined, because the screamings were meant for the pretty Alisa, the singer/keyboardist of TNAF.  She's just so cute!  Well, I loved her voice, her hair, her clothes, her movement.  Girls around me kept on saying "Aduh lucunya, lucunya…" ("So cute, cute…") while some boys wondered where Alisa'd been in their lives.  Songs like No Way and Young Blood kept the audience's atttention glued to the stage.

Then it's time for the night's main act – Metronomy.  They showed us that their being Mercury-shortlisted was not for nothing.  With IronMan-like lights on their chest, they began to bombard the audience with their songs that defied you not to dance.  Oscar, the keyboardist, stole the headlights with his quirky performance!  Indeed I think that night the keyboardists stole my heart!  The Bay was so brilliant that the girl near me said "Oh, I don't mind them playing it once again tonight!"

I went home with a euphoric wide smile.  In the space of 3 days, I'd been to two big contenders for Gig of the Year.  Looking forward to a fantastic 2012 in concerts!

I was lucky to start my year in concerts with two great concerts in my hometown!  Last year was so-so – there were very good concerts that I attended, but there were also some that were so disappointing, I had to leave from one before it finished.

Here's a short recap of the two concerts.  Sorry if the picture quality is not too high, I took them only with my cellphone camera.

First was Grammy nominee Foster the People (promoted by 3 Ocean Live) on January 11th.  The venue is the newly re-painted Tennis Indoor.  The cold conditioned air seemed to vanish as heat radiated from the enthusiastic crowd.  The crowd was amazing, and so was the band.  They presented a very energetic show – frontman Foster sang and danced and jumped and played instruments like the Devil himself.  My favourites were I Would Do Anything For You and Call It What You Want - and of course the closing song, the longer, reworked Pumped Up Kicks that sent everyone to their feet.  Well, in fact, Foster had asked everyone who were sitting on the 'tribune' seats to stand up and dance.  Even if he hadn't asked, how could they stay seated with something as hot as that song?

The crowd's insane – fancams of the concert stood as testimonies: the singalong was so thunderous and moving!  Satisfied look reigned on the faces of FTP's members.  Foster said they'd never been as South as they were now, and they were surprised by the audience!  Well, I too was very, very satisfied.  A very fantastic gig to open 2012!

2 days after that, I and my hombre Tessa (who was also with me in FTP's gig) were now in Fairgrounds, SCBD, for the Jakarta-leg of British Council-sponsored/Soundshinevent-promoted The People's Party 2012.  The other shows were held in Hongkong, Taipei, and Singapore.  Jakarta was very lucky to get the Party!

Fairgrounds used to go with the name bengkel - why they had to change the name, I do not know, because I think 'Fairgrounds' is rather bland.  Thank god they didn't take away the iconic bengkel signboard.

The Party was opened by local rising stars Roman Foot Soldiers.  They gave a good performance, quite solid – would love to see how they improve after some more experience.

Next came New Zealand's The Jezabels, who was, if I may say, underrated.  Looked like many people were thinking of coming later for 'bigger acts' like Metronomy, but if they were not there for the Jezabels yet, they're missing something big.  Hayley Mary's voice was just amazing – piercing high into the skies.  Reminded me a bit of Karen O's, but I don't mean that Hayley is just a pale copy of her.  She's probably one of the best frontwomen to rise in the past few years!

Next is Tessa's favourite, Bombay Bicycle Club.  Now the room became really, really heated.  Girls screamed Jack Steadman's name, one even shouting "JACK I'M READY TO DO ANYTHING FOR YOOOUUU~"  BBC burnt the audience with their explosive performance, supported by the blindingly beautiful lighting.  And Jack's such a babe, he was walking out of the stage when he saw a girl holding up a paper with 'SETLIST PLEASE' written on it.  He turned around and took a setlist and tried to give it to her – although I thought somebody else snatched it.

The girls didn't reduce their crazy screaming when the next band came onstage – The Naked and Famous.  This time the boys joined, because the screamings were meant for the pretty Alisa, the singer/keyboardist of TNAF.  She's just so cute!  Well, I loved her voice, her hair, her clothes, her movement.  Girls around me kept on saying "Aduh lucunya, lucunya…" ("So cute, cute…") while some boys wondered where Alisa'd been in their lives.  Songs like No Way and Young Blood kept the audience's atttention glued to the stage.

Then it's time for the night's main act – Metronomy.  They showed us that their being Mercury-shortlisted was not for nothing.  With IronMan-like lights on their chest, they began to bombard the audience with their songs that defied you not to dance.  Oscar, the keyboardist, stole the headlights with his quirky performance!  Indeed I think that night the keyboardists stole my heart!  The Bay was so brilliant that the girl near me said "Oh, I don't mind them playing it once again tonight!"

I went home with a euphoric wide smile.  In the space of 3 days, I'd been to two big contenders for Gig of the Year.  Looking forward to a fantastic 2012 in concerts!

Just a little post in remembrance of our beloved cat, Naruto, who left home several years ago.  We raised him up since he was a little kitten, a brave little kitten with a loud voice, that made us aware of him and his brothers because he ventured into our garden and meowed out loud one evening.

When one of his brothers was sick, Uto – our nickname for him – would accompany him, lying next to him although the other, healthy brother kept on playing as if there's nothing wrong.

We did not know exactly why he left home.  Perhaps he was jealous of the next batch of kittens that we kept.  Anyway, here's a post to remember him, the cat who liked to sleep everywhere!

We miss you Uto!

'Hot and electrifying', runs a review of 2PM Hands Up Tour: Jakarta leg in a national newspaper.

Gosh.  I wish I had written that first.  Because that's what I exactly felt during the gig.  And after that.  Long after that.  Yes I was electrified.  And there was so much awesomeness they all swirl in my head I'm not sure I can put them into words.

Let's try, as always, to do this chronologically.  I'll try.  Although in the 2-hour or so during the gig, I lost count of time.  I was somewhere else timeless.  I was not really sure what's going on, so awed was I.

(And pictures put here are not necessarily in a chronological order.)

Despite warnings from the promoters, people had started to queue in the venue - JITEC Mangga Dua Square, Jakarta - since early morning, although the doors were supposed to open at 6.  I could not leave work early so I went to Mangga Dua after work in the afternoon, checked-in to Amaris Hotel (which is situated in the same building with JITEC), took a bath, and went to the venue.  JITEC is on the 8th floor, but queueing started at the 3rd floor.  The crowd control strategy was to allow people to move upwards floor by floor in batches, not in bulk.

People crowding around the official merchandise booth.

Those who were not lucky enough to get access to the fansigning could take their pictures with 2PM here. Well, of course this can't compare to a fansigning, but still...

I was not hoping much when I finally reached the 8th floor.  Any spot will do, since I arrived so late.  To my surprise, the standing space to the left of the stage was still quite empty, so I managed to get a place very close to the front of the stage extension.  It turned out that the people who came earlier were put into the right-side space which quickly filled up - and we could hear angry protests while we on the left chitchatted warmly and enjoyed the free mineral drink provided by the promoters.  I was glad I didn't hurry.

The concert started late than promised, but it started with a BANG (and screams from the audience).  Then the madness began with Hot.  I saw the female of the species crying and fainting.  There were members of man-kind too, admiring the boys' bodies.  In short, everyone had their share of fun.

This was what happened to us:

2PM gave us Electricity (220 V remix), and when suddenly the lights went off and the boys stood in line swinging fluorescent lights around their bodies, the right words to define what I felt were I JUST CAN'T.  Surprisingly, the third song was the party anthem Hands Up - which got everyone putting their hands up, of course.  People were so excited that the sitting ones started to use their seats to stand instead of to sit so that they can see better (to the dismay of the ones sitting behind them).  2PM felt the need to give warnings for the audience not to stand on their seats because it's dangerous.

This. I just CAN'T.

Some frank facts first here.  Technically, the concert was not perfect.  The lighting was amazing, yes, but there were some problems with the sound system and crowd control, but 2PM's performance was so explosive that I don't think too many people cared about the shortcomings.

The boys introduced themselves using Indonesian: well, that's easy, just say "Saya (insert your name)".  But Junho managed to pull a longer sentence, "Terima kasih atas kedatangannya (Thank you for coming)".  While the others remembered words like "panas" (hot), "aku bahagia" (I'm glad), "Senang?" (Happy?) and "terima kasih" (thank you).  Sometimes they had to push Chansung to talk though.  "Chansung, say something!"  The maknae seemed a bit shy!

Funny and cute moments coloured the show.  When Nichkhun and Taecyeon were preparing backstage for their duet, Junsu (who has quite a good command of English), Junho, Wooyoung and Chansung chatted onstage.  Junho and Wooyoung showed their skill in dancing with so much energy, but when the other boys asked Chansung to do the same, he refused, because he's afraid his trousers would rip.  Instead he did a cute dance that made us laugh.

Who wants to be their Valentine?

They also showed us a VCR called 'The Real 2PM'.  Chansung was shown doing his sword training, but could not cut even a big cassava.   Junho dreamt a vulgar dream about a girl and wrote a vulgar song about it, but it was turned down.  He had to do many revisions before his song was accepted.  Wooyoung was a fan of Michael Jackson that he didn't believe Michael had died.  He wrote a letter started with 'HELLOW' and asked the manager to sent it to 'Michael, USA'.  He got a reply, but it only contained the words 'THANK YOU'.  Taecyeon tried to sell undershirts with badly-drawn OkCat designs for a very expensive prince.  Junsu was a stingy who charged his friends for the pizza he bought.  While Nichkhun made the audience go "Ooooh" to see his almost-crying face, because he was dieting, only allowed to eat cucumbers and chicken fillets.  But while his friends were away watching Miss A's comeback, he stole Junsu's pizza and pretended to know nothing afterwards.

As for singing and dancing - no need to doubt the boys.  They sang live the whole concert, and who could stand still when they performed songs like Heartbeat and I'm Your Man?  Their solo performances were also good, especially Junsu (Jun.K) and his Alive.  He moved so much I couldn't get his pics right during his energetic solo!  Chansung gave a rather different solo performance; he showed off his sword skill onstage.

The boys gave out roses to some lucky people among the audience.

Nichkhun flying high!

And the boys knew how to please their fans well.  They ran here and there around the extended stage, they posed, smiled, waved, touched our hands, took pics… I was so glad that the distance between the stage and the audience was not what my friends and I call 'barbaric' a.k.a too far away.   Taecyeon took even a selca with my friend Pia's Instax, and I was in the pic!

That priceless selca. You can see my white Samsung cellphone...

Junho took someone's Instax, but either it ran out of film or he could not use it!

When the audience asked Taecyeon to take off his shirt, he suddenly pointed to the main stage, and there... Chansung was already shirtless!

Tears must well in many people's eyes when the audience shouted "2PM! 2PM! 2PM!" and the boys shouted back, "Jakarta!  Jakarta!  Jakarta!"  Like the said national newspaper mentioned, the audience was not merely 'watchers' - they were involved so deeply with the show.  And I thank you, thank you, thank you, and I love you, love you, love you - we wanted to say that to 2PM as much as they wanted to say that to us.

The stage is a catwalk for Chansung!

Taecyeon's teeth!

What did I say about catwalk?

It was a superb 11/11/11 for me.  And the fact that the boys promised to return next year with a bigger concert just made the night complete.

See you soon, guys!

Do check your local bookstores for the sequel of The Death to Come: The Grey Labyrinth.  I hope you enjoy this second installment, and do give me feedback.

You can read an introduction to the book here.

I stared, stared, stared at the facade of Stadium Merdeka.  I alighted from the monorail expecting a closed, air-conditioned stadium like Singapore's National Indoor Stadium, in which Korean Music Wave was held 2 months ago.  I hadn't known that its counterpart in Kuala Lumpur should be an outdoor stadium - and bad memories of SS3 in Ho Chi Minh City flashed through my mind.

Queueing lines looked a bit chaotic.  There was not enough space to form long, straight lines at the front of the stadium, so the lines snaked out in waves.  It's almost six pm and the gates are not opened yet.  And it was really, really hot.

Conflicting warning signs were on display.  Some said only 'professional cameras' were not allowed, some said all cameras were not.  Based on my experience with KMW Singapore, I decided to try my luck, and managed to get past a RELA member who was checking attendees' bags.

Wait, a RELA member?  Yep.  Notorious in Indonesia for treating Indonesians harshly in Malaysia, these guys were actually asked to be the guards of the Korean Music Wave 2011 in Malaysia.  And boy, some of them did overreact.  But that's for later.

As we entered the Rock Zone - the zone directly around the stages - we got a wide view of the stadium, and suddenly I felt very lucky that I had chosen to purchase the second most expensive tickets.  The seating zones were very far away from the stage.  If only I had bought seating tickets instead, I would have cried by then, regretting my decision.  It consoled my heart a bit, standing in a packed crowd in suffocating air, on grassy grounds strewn with colourful papers.  Looked like the field hadn't been cleaned after the previous event.

The organizers said the concert would start at 7; on the tickets 8 pm was printed instead; in reality it started somewhere between 7 and 8.  A Malaysian duo opened the concert by singing medleys and beatboxing (sorry, I didn't quite catch their name(s), if you do know please tell me so I can put it here).  Then the team of hosts - an MY FM DJ (again I didn't catch his name), DJ Young (who had also hosted KIMCHI in Jakarta in June), and U-KISS's Kevin and Dongho - came forward.  They welcomed us, blah blah blah, and then introduced the first band to rock the stage, and my how they did rock: FT Island.

In KMW SG, I had come to the conclusion that this was a band to reckon, and their performance in KMW MY didn't change my mind.  Launching into their widely-loved songs like Sarang Sarang Sarang, Barae, and Hello Hello, FT Island returned the excitement to the crowd that had lost much of their strength due to the heat.  Frontman Hongki danced wildly on stage without messing up his singing voice.  The lad's just an amazing singer.

Next came TEEN TOP.  Somehow they had already looked far more mature than the last time I saw them in June.  And their performance was a blast, opened with perhaps one of the best comeback singles of the year, No More Perfume on You.  I also enjoy Clap and Supa Luv - the videos of which I didn't enjoy, but the live performance of the songs were awesome.

Then we arrived at the most annoying part of the night.  When 4minute had just begun their first song, there was a commotion behind me.  Two RELA members had plunged into the Rock Zone and tried to capture a girl who was taking pictures with a DLSR camera.  One RELA member looked very fierce, shouting harshly at the girl, who appeared very afraid, and trying to snatch her camera.  The other girls around her, including me, got very angry and started to shout back at the RELA, telling him to just let it go, the concert had started anyway, and that he was no fun.  The RELA members disappeared, and we asked the girl whether she and her camera were okay.

We lost our concentration, and glanced time and again to check whether the RELA members came back.  We didn't dare taking out our cameras for some time.  The one RELA who had shouted at the girl did come back, taking an organizer staff with him, grabbing the girl in her arm and telling her to follow him.  (Why only the girl, when there were other people with professional cameras in the crowd, was beyond me.)  Some more shoutings ensued.  They left again in vain.  I think the attendees around the girl silently decided to keep the girl safe.

It sucked, sucked, sucked.  I don't know the custom in Malaysia, but I think if you're holding a concert with expensive tickets, you should try to give your best in all aspects, including the security guards.  We were already willing to bear the heat and the outdoor stadium, now the guards you hired treated us like shit?  Not cool.  Couldn't they just warn her politely?  Some people are in serious need of education in manners.

Kevin and Dongho came back to stage with their bandmates in U-KISS, and broke into their first performance of their latest single Neverland outside Korea.  Then followed their known songs like 0330 and Man Man Ha Ni - the latter always worked, with the arrogant lyrics and dance.  It's just that, I don't know, to me their performance in KMW SG was better, but probably it's because in KMW MY they were still really tired, having come just a couple of hours before the show, and if I'm not mistaken Kevin was a little bit ill.

Then it's time for my main reason to attend KMW MY, the guy who the hosts perhaps rather jealously claimed was 'tall and thin', to come onstage: Park Jungmin.  (I'm warning you, this part is going to be quite long…) Dressed in black tights and loose black tops, he launched into Not Alone, dancing energetically with his troupe of dancers.  He looked thinner indeed then in KIMCHI, but his voice was still as strong and clear.

He continued with Do You Know?, and My Everyday's a Christmas, shaking his arse to loud cheers from the audience.  My friend and I were holding up the INDONESIA ♥ PARK JUNGMIN banners - he looked at us, read the banners, and winked.  I WAS LIKE WOW. WHOAH. CAN I TAKE THAT WINK FOR MYSELF?

Jungmin then proceeded to read a short speech in Malay which he had got prepared.  At least he intended to.  He searched in his pockets only to find that he had taken the wrong piece of paper.  That was just so, so… so him, making people laugh with little acts of cute silliness like that.  Somebody had to run from the backstage to bring him the correct speech, and he tried hard to read the long sentences to the audience.   He also spoke some Chinese that he had learnt during his time in Taiwan.  DJ Young asked him to do his arse-shaking again, and he duly obeyed.

His performance was ended with Missing You (the first time the song sung onstage) and Gara Gara.  When he disappeared from the stage, I realised that… that I just wanted to see more of his performance! More of him!

But the night's not over yet, and Seungri took his turn.  He and also GD & TOP wore the same clothes as they had donned the previous night, which got me thinking about the laundry.  Their setlists were also the same - Seungri with VVIP, Strong Baby, and What Can I Do, and GD & TOP with Knock Out, Oh Yeah, and High High.

They spoke quite a lot too, including TOP, and Seungri claimed that he didn't just want to have a concert in Malaysia, but also wanted to live there.  (Oh yeah?)  When DJ Young commented about his hair, GD laughed and said "I cut it."  Seungri and GD did most of the talk in English though, while TOP resorting to Korean.

Their performance was even more explosive than in F1 GP - that's probably because they felt the very excited, positive feedbacks from the audience, which was really wonderful that night.  In fact, of the three performances by GD & TOP and Seungri that I had watched, perhaps the one in KMW MY was my best!

Too bad they didn't give us any encore like in KMW SG, nor did all the artists come back on stage like in KIMCHI, so KMW MY lacked a final kick that could have sealed the night perfectly.  People were left with a lingering feeling that they could have felt more satisfied.

All in all, I truly enjoyed the performance by the artists, but was appalled by some of the aspects of the concert.  KMW in Malaysia 2012?  Yes please, but just get the RELA out of this.

September 23rd, 2011, Singapore.

GD, TOP and Seungri took part in this year's Singapore F1 GP, headlining the music stage in The Padang in the first day of the GP.

I arrived at the City Hall MRT station shortly before 8 pm.  I went straight to the Swissotel to collect my ticket, which, following the F1 GP standard, is in the form of a hard card complete with a lanyard.  I had purchased a walkabout ticket for a day - this means you are allowed to roam freely in Zone 4 (that includes the Padang) during the day shown on the ticket.

Everyone in the ticket collection room was very helpful, and while waiting for the officer who was looking for my ticket (it was sealed in a bubble-wrap envelope), another officer talked to me warmly and helped me find the schedule for GD, TOP and Seungri.  Although I had already known the schedule before going to the event, it's still nice to know that the officers were willing to help.

I then walked through Gate 3 to the Padang.  Glee-sensation Charice was going to start her explosive performance on the stage, and to my dismay I found that unlike the last time I attended SG F1 GP, now in front of the stage there is the so-called 'fanzone' into which only 2000 people who managed to secure a green paper bracelet may enter.  The guard at the entrance told me that the bracelets were gone already.

I decided to wait until Charice's performance ended, and then asked for the bracelet from a family which was… not of the type that I thought would watch GD, TOP and Seungri's performance.  I had to re-unite the ends with a Band-Aid though. (So, SG F1 GP organisers, if you read this, I suggest you make bracelets from plastic or something, so we can pass them on easily to the next person who wants to watch a performance we don't want.)

At 11 pm, DJ Murf warmed up the night with his mix of songs by YG Family's artists such as 2NE1.  After that, Seungri appeared on stage with his dancers and began with VVIP.  He seemed to be a little out of breath - well, the risk of appearing outdoor in a tropical country with complete suits, Seungri!

He then continued with Strong Baby and What Can I Do.  He spoke to the audience in English, and so did GD later.  TOP almost didn't speak anything.

GD and TOP then took the stage with their explosive performance and colourful fancy coats - they must feel extra hot inside their clothes!  But they were still amazing.  They opened up with Knock Out, continued with Oh Yeah in which GD & TOP took turns singing Bom's parts.  And their High High just made the audience go crazy!  It's always fun jumping while together spelling 'G H E T T O E L E C T R O'!

Oh, when I watched them in KMW Singapore in July, GD & TOP did scissors-paper-rock to decide who should sang the 'like ninja' part.  Now TOP just hugged GD, and GD sang the part.  Fanscreaming ensued.

The three members of Big Bang then returned with the encore, How Gee, with Seungri singing the parts originally sung by Taeyang and Daesung.  They walked out of stage with Seungri shouting, "Awesome! I love this place!"

And we love you, guys.