it was what everybody was doing and
it was where everybody had gone to…
it was the Java Jazz Festival 2008.
The ticket was fairly priced.
I only paid Rp. 275.000 for a day pass, which is a bargain I think, considered the normal price was Rp. 500.000 (though I kinda cheated the ticket price by using Mr. Blackberry brother's student card).
But, in my defense is,
even if I didn’t cheated the ticket price, there were ways to get the ticket in a fair price and fair way, anyway..
here are just some of the ways I knew:
1. BNI credit card buy 1 get one free for Rp. 500.000 promo,
(we tried this but Mr. Blackberry kinda miss the due date)
2. through friends who work at companies that sponsored the festival
I tried this second but the timing was not right..
3. Student price Rp. 275.000 -(must show student ID card).-this is how I cheated.
4. Citybank credit card promotion for Rp. 300.000
5. early bird tickets at Rp.350.000 and last
6. even if you bought from an unofficial dealer on the ‘D’ day it was still priced at Rp. 300.000,..so you still get lower price than the normal Rp. 500.000 price,..
why they even bother to put a normal price tag, the ticket was never on normal price anyway…
So, we arrived by taxi to avoid parking hazzle...
Got there by 4 pm, feeling thrilled and excited to enjoy our treacherously-gained-tickets.
First thing we do was going around the festival, while waiting for the Renee Olstead 5 PM show.
Taking a glance at this new local artist ‘Ari Groovology’,
I must say I like him better when he's not singing his own song,
hmn,.. funny…
Then we continued going around the venue checking and remembering the lay-out…
on 4. 40 PM we decided to join the line-up to see Renee live…
We pick a spot.. festival, centre..
and was only 5 meters away from Renee, and wow,..
Renee does sounds o….soo sooo heavenly-good….
though…
I didn’t approved her choice of clothing-(it makes her look 5 years older)-,
I didn’t like her RED-RED lipstick-(this also adds several years to her looks)-,
And her hair cut..-(too plain, and the bangs were kinda wrong for her face)-
but with a voice like that I think she can get away with anything…
and she does!
Mr. Blackberry overlook those details and just fall in love with her.. that instant..
meanwhile I was annoyed, when Renee started to sang ‘a love that will last’,
cos' everybody sang along with her….
I mean ‘shut-up people!'
'I came here to hear Renee sing!'
'Not youuu!’ ...
however,.. after the song,..
Renee said that "this is the first time that I had a sing-along on my lived performance, thank you, guys..!"
I got goosebumps, when she says that..
I kinda see her point of view
and i'm glad that everybody sang along with her...
she was impressed.. she has fans here..
After Renee at 6.20 PM I was starving.. so we go to the food area,
going there we past through coke zero-freedrink-booth…
its been a long time since my last coke, you know…
and this one is a cold-zerosugar-coke
so I took a sip…
and I cannot stop
I was amaze by it..
and I sip-sip-sip to the bottom of the cup..
(I had sworn off soda, so its very unlikely that I am going to buy a coke consciously, so that day, I took a chance and indulge on free soda)…
the food venue was thick with smoke, from all the foodstall and cigarette, plus air circulation there was minor, so it was very hot and sticky..
the cold coke was heaven sent
Decided to eat our food outside, we sit under the flag pole..
where air still pleasantly blew…
after finish eating,
we shamelessly take another cup of that free-cold-soda-joy..
and I thank god for free soda, today!
At 07.00 PM we go around the venue again…
Checking out Dian Pramana Putra, nice.. I’m impressed
Found empty chairs on another room and rest our sore feet listening to sound check.. –(it’s the chairs that interest us not the sound check)-
By 7.30 PM off we go, to see marc Antoine n paul simmons,
I’m not a really big fan of instrumental music but they are really good at what they’re doing and really enjoying themselves so I come to appreciate it,..
Well,.. that and the fact that we’re also waiting for D’sound to performed on 9.00 PM and their stage were practically right next to D’sound stage.
So it’s a practical call to listen to them while we secure ourselves a spot on D’sound..
practical jazz…
before Marc Antoine finishes their performance, he makes a note about Java jazz festival, he said..
"Jakarta, you are very lucky to have this festival, HERE... cos you don’t have to travel far to enjoy it."
"There are, probably, only about 20 jazz festival around the world, but i think that this is the BIGGEST ONE!!"
clap- clap- clap...
O wow,.. already I feel like my Rp. 275.000 ticket pays its value, and
as marc Antoine and Paul Simmons waved goodbye...
..
D’sound’s stage opens-up..
‘talkin’ talk’ and ‘tattoed on my mind’..
was awesome..
woowww, I approved everything they do or didn't do
when Incognito leading vocalist, Tony Momrelle, come up on stage and did a duet with Simone Larsen …….
it was unexpectedly nice suprise...
everything was right but,..
well, i try hard not to get annoyed by this guy standing behind me, with an overly-loud-voice screaming
improvised-version-of-D’sound-songs on my ears-(please note that it’s a DON’T)-
I mean “my god!.. Fans!! can’t you have a goodtime without being annoying!
I mean "COME ON!!"
So, I pretend that his not there… and before I knew,
D’sound ended their performances and announced that there will be album signing after the show,
I was histerical with excitement,.. but then I remember,
I don’t have their album, and my MP3 tracks were copied from a friend,..
soo that realization kinda calms me down, as i walk away from their stage..
after D’sound we were kinda torn between Ray parker jr and Incognito.
Cos they were scheduled to play at the same time.
So we make a list of pros and cons
For Ray parker jr:
1. Stage distance was only as little as 5 metres away and
2. As we were talking we’re already secure a good spot there and
3. Incognito was kinda overplayed and it would be a struggle to get inside.
For Incognito:
1. You cannot deny that Incognito were more familiar and popular,..
I mean just check the line up to see them perform.
So 3 for Ray Parker Jr. and 1 for Incognito.
Mr. Blackberry come up with this idea to look ‘em up with his blackberry and compare them.
whoever have more hits song! That’s the one we’re going to catch live...
o, well u knew the answer..already….
anyway I was thirsty from all the coke and I still have Rp.25.000 worth of token from dinner so we kinda have to let go our Ray parker jr spot anyway.
We go to this foodstall, buy my self a bread with chocolate filling (at a hilarious price of Rp. 15.000) and 300ml of Aqua (also at a hilarious price of Rp. 10.000)..
luckily that was the exact amount of my token ( cos the other food was even more hilariously priced)
The bread was plesantly warm and the chocolate filling was melting to my amusement (not so much for the floss bread though-reviewed by Mr. Blackberry–,must remember this next time)
So after bread and water, we joined the line up to see incognito live, it was already 11.00 PM the place was –as predicted- packed..
And we didn’t get a good spot there…
I was standing behind this tall guy who blocked pretty much 80% of my view… and keep moving his head from side to side, so I have to keep on moving my head counter-this-guy’s-head side to side.
Which is annoying… But lucky me,
Mr. blackberry also gets annoyed by my hyper-active head movement
so he offer to swap his better-viewed spot with mine, which I gladly accepted..
obviously..
it was same old-same old with Incognito..
though they said they’re about to release a new album this april and they gave us a preview from their next album..
I was not impressed…
or maybe it was one of those song that u have to grew into..
O, I don’t know…
I was more impressed by their blown-instrument-trio, who did this silly coreograph dance in between blowing their trumpets/ saxophone/ flute/whatever..
which was madly comical and entertaining…
and that’s how the festival ended on 1 AM
feeling quite beat up, with a sore neck, blister on our foot, and a back pain.. we head home after 9 hour of jazz.
we go outside look for a cab
and i am glad that we decided to take the cab..
cos walking outside is quicker than walking to the parking lot
no driving home
no line-up to get out of the parking lot,
no line-up to pay parking ticket..
i can just sit & straighten my legs.. rest my neck.. and
reliable cab was already waiting outside to take us home.
O yess, we are Lucky in Jazz…
2 comments:
Never thought in the slightest second in the many hours of busying my thumbs on one, that I'd be reading myself referred later as what is written in bold just previously of this sentence and what Ms. Cherry chose to refer me as in her post :) I was thinking probably that Mr. Right would be great (naaa jk that would be misleadingly wrong) or maybe Mr. Universe (naaa again that would just be simply eeeeww) so I suppose that Ms. Cherry just put it fair enough :D
...anyways...
"A man who says I'd rather be lucky than great, saw deep into life". I swear I heard that from a movie once and cheerfully (and luckily too of course) that's what Ms. Cherry is all about lately (lucky you!)
As for the tickets we got, ya I guess you can say we were lucky. Cause we weren't at first try, using my BNI card. Missed it by a lousy day, my bad. But inspired by "Great men makes his own luck", also heard from a movie I think, the tickets were finally in hand. A cheat? Well I'd like to see it (and let us just see it that way) as a generous token of love from a kind hearted brother who still happens to be a student (as so rightly shown on his student id card till 29 Feb of this year) and I tell you he's gonna be a great lawyer (lucky him!)
So with the (not so treacherous) tickets, off we went to JJF and pretty much went through as Ms. Cherry chronologically well described (must say I'm amazed by the details of it). One occurrence that catches me though was how we by chance met a friend who immediately and teasingly showed us a picture of her and Mr. Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds himself (lucky her!) But in the end Ms. Cherry will also have some pictures with a famous singer to show, now don't you Miss :D
And as for me, a cherry-flavored candy never tasted so lively (lucky me!) Thanks for the candy Ms. Cherry :p
~*
thanksssss ^o^
which reminds me,.. i have to start endorse this cherry mint ^_^
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