Denmark's MLTR gives lesson to local music lovers<\/p>\n
By Yogita Tahil Ramani<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): One might not get enough of Danish pastries, and
\nbelieve it or not, the same can be said of a boy-band from
\nDenmark dishing out tunes in front of a never-to-break bathroom
\nmirror.<\/p>\n
To promote their latest, Nothing To Lose, Michael Learns To
\nRock (MLTR) knew exactly how to work up an audience to a frenzy
\nat their recent concert in Jakarta's Bengkel Night Park
\ndiscotheque -- they sang their old songs.<\/p>\n
In the end, it took the spectacular resuscitation of three
\nsongs -- Paint My Love, Breaking My Heart, and Someday -- to
\nefface the tackiness of their repertoire's mushy lyrics and
\nsimilar tunes. Not that they were any less forgettable, just more
\nhummable -- all three songs were from their fourth and most
\npopular album, Paint My Love.<\/p>\n
Lead vocalist Jascha Richter, guitarist Mikkel Lentz, drummer
\nKare Wanscher and Soren Madsen's replacement named "S.P." -- as
\nannounced by Jasche -- sound better on tape than live. Their
\nvoices, however, emoted most with their romantic ballads such as
\nThe Actor, I'm Gonna Be Around (new) and a nature-friendly song
\ncalled Animals from their latest album.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, Sleeping Child, one of Indonesia's favorite MLTR
\nsongs, joined the rest in the group -- Nothing To Lose, Something
\nRight and Magic -- as songs whose souls seemed fizzed out with a
\nbanal flavor. As if to confirm this, Jascha, while synthesizing
\nsongs to mid-tempo rhythms, said that "there are probably 50
\nsongs to these chords. Seems like everybody is stealing from
\neverybody".<\/p>\n
Singing 19 songs -- two were repetitions due to popular demand
\n-- the only grace saving the five-album-old group spreading their
\nnine-year career thin over a two-hour concert, was the audience.<\/p>\n
There were at the most 1,500 people filling the huge
\ndiscotheque on the afternoon of Dec. 21. Considering that good
\nconcerts here are received by at least 3,000, this was no mean
\nfeat.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the audience -- most of whom were adult-want-to-
\nbes or as the more popular local term is used, Anak Baru Gede
\n(ABGs) -- made up for the shortage, not once tiring of screaming
\nthe lyrics out to most of the songs. In fact, what electrified
\nthe atmosphere more than their long applause was their singing.<\/p>\n
At several points, the group stopped to allow the crowd to
\nsing before jump-starting the lyrics with music again.<\/p>\n
After performing at the Simpang Lima stadium in Semarang,
\nCentral Java, on Dec. 19 and the Eldorado stadium in Bandung,
\nWest Java, on Dec. 20, the group performed their last Indonesian
\nconcert of the year in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
But unlike unrehearsed pop or rock concert acts, MLTR's
\nconcerts were performed in the same manner. For instance, Jascha
\nacted dead and was "revived" only after extended applause in all
\nthree concerts.<\/p>\n
"It's exactly the same..." said a girl to her sister.<\/p>\n
They had arrived from Bandung, and others had come from
\nSemarang stretching their rupiah for the trip to Jakarta on top
\nof buying concert tickets at Rp 75,000 for "festival-class" or Rp
\n125,000 for "VIP-class". The lack of spontaneity of Michael
\nLearns To Rock was disappointing.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/denmarks-mltr-gives-lesson-to-local-music-lovers-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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