'Asereje' craze is, thankfully, over

'Asereje' craze is, thankfully, over

M. Taufiqurrahman
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

It started to get really nauseating, but who knows perhaps
hearing Asereje live would give another meaning to the song.

So, there was not much expectation in coming to the concert of
the Spanish (overnight) sensation, Las Ketchup, but wanting to --
as Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys put it -- have fun, fun, fun.

Alas, the Munoz sisters, Lola, Lucia and Pilar, did not even
give a iota of it.

Their performance last Wednesday at the Bung Karno indoor
stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, did not live up to the hype
and was downright boring.

Even the very song itself, which has been sweeping across the
country in the past three months or so, was unable to spark up
the night.

Before the 4,500-strong crowd that night, all that Lola, Lucia
and Pilar could offer was a crossbreed of rumba, hip-hop and a
little bit of flamenco here and there, and those infamous dance
moves. No more than that.

Some people in the audience concluded that dangdut
(traditional music with Arab/Indian influence) singer Inul could
deliver a more lively concert.

Inul, the rising star of dangdut known for her gyrating dance
moves was actually the opening act for the concert. But most
reporters, however, were only allowed to come inside after Inul's
last song.

Las Ketchup hail from Cordoba, Southern Spain, and have
created a craze all over the world with Asereje (the Ketchup
Song). A catchy and contagious dance song indeed, despite its
meaningless verse in Spanish, and the notoriously simplistic
dance moves.

This country was not immune to the fever, as Sony Music
Indonesia recently awarded the group three platinum, which means
that 300,000 records of their Hijas del Tomate album have been
sold so far in the country.

The concert here kicked off with Me Persigue un Chulo, a song
with a New Order-esque beat, which received a cool reception from
the crowd, who apparently had trouble recognizing the beat and
deciphering the lyrics which were delivered in Spanish.

Until the third song which was bathed with Santana-ish licks,
the crowd did not seem to be pleased. Only a handful of people
adjacent to the stage hesitantly danced along to the beat.

Las Ketchup tried in vain to state their presence during the
fourth song Krapuelo by jumping and running around, but nothing
changed.

Their standout performance, however, turned up during the
sixth song, reminiscent of Gypsy King, with a forceful flamenco
strumming built within an acoustic session. But again the old
trick did not work.

The cool reception notwithstanding, Las Ketchup did not do
anything beyond saying terima kasih (thank you) over and over
again and broke out into those infamous dance moves.

To the chagrin of the audience, Las Ketchup smoked cigarettes
and drank wine onstage while performing their sixth song
Sevilanas Pink and there was no telling whether it was part of
the show.

The two guitarists of the six-piece band at times came to the
rescue by playing Santana-ish licks and Flamenco strumming which
occasionally outperformed the vocals.

Knowing that all efforts were to no avail, the Las Ketchup
tried to salvage the show with what else but Asereje.

Yes, the crowd cheered and the atmosphere hightened, but
surprisingly only dozens danced along.

This was the last chance to save the day, and the song,
originally a three-minute ditty was then expanded to a 10 minute
rendition with extended passages of improvisation. And this very
song was then repeated two times. A salsa version of Asereje was
even a little bit awkward with a piano clanking in the
background, while the last version played was an exact copy of
the recorded version.

Prior to leaving the stage, the Last Ketchup sang their latest
MTV single Kusha Las Payas which is more melodic than their first
single, and some in the crowd were electrified for a little
while.

But the damage had been done, people came only for the hype
which apparently faded away even before they came to the gig.
Some left their seat right after the third Asereje was concluded.

After barely an hour the concert was over. It seemed that, for
better or worse, the Asereje craze was officially over too. Thank
goodness.