Denmark's MLTR gives lesson to local music lovers

Denmark's MLTR gives lesson to local music lovers

By Yogita Tahil Ramani

JAKARTA (JP): One might not get enough of Danish pastries, and
believe it or not, the same can be said of a boy-band from
Denmark dishing out tunes in front of a never-to-break bathroom
mirror.

To promote their latest, Nothing To Lose, Michael Learns To
Rock (MLTR) knew exactly how to work up an audience to a frenzy
at their recent concert in Jakarta's Bengkel Night Park
discotheque -- they sang their old songs.

In the end, it took the spectacular resuscitation of three
songs -- Paint My Love, Breaking My Heart, and Someday -- to
efface the tackiness of their repertoire's mushy lyrics and
similar tunes. Not that they were any less forgettable, just more
hummable -- all three songs were from their fourth and most
popular album, Paint My Love.

Lead vocalist Jascha Richter, guitarist Mikkel Lentz, drummer
Kare Wanscher and Soren Madsen's replacement named "S.P." -- as
announced by Jasche -- sound better on tape than live. Their
voices, however, emoted most with their romantic ballads such as
The Actor, I'm Gonna Be Around (new) and a nature-friendly song
called Animals from their latest album.

Surprisingly, Sleeping Child, one of Indonesia's favorite MLTR
songs, joined the rest in the group -- Nothing To Lose, Something
Right and Magic -- as songs whose souls seemed fizzed out with a
banal flavor. As if to confirm this, Jascha, while synthesizing
songs to mid-tempo rhythms, said that "there are probably 50
songs to these chords. Seems like everybody is stealing from
everybody".

Singing 19 songs -- two were repetitions due to popular demand
-- the only grace saving the five-album-old group spreading their
nine-year career thin over a two-hour concert, was the audience.

There were at the most 1,500 people filling the huge
discotheque on the afternoon of Dec. 21. Considering that good
concerts here are received by at least 3,000, this was no mean
feat.

Nevertheless, the audience -- most of whom were adult-want-to-
bes or as the more popular local term is used, Anak Baru Gede
(ABGs) -- made up for the shortage, not once tiring of screaming
the lyrics out to most of the songs. In fact, what electrified
the atmosphere more than their long applause was their singing.

At several points, the group stopped to allow the crowd to
sing before jump-starting the lyrics with music again.

After performing at the Simpang Lima stadium in Semarang,
Central Java, on Dec. 19 and the Eldorado stadium in Bandung,
West Java, on Dec. 20, the group performed their last Indonesian
concert of the year in Jakarta.

But unlike unrehearsed pop or rock concert acts, MLTR's
concerts were performed in the same manner. For instance, Jascha
acted dead and was "revived" only after extended applause in all
three concerts.

"It's exactly the same..." said a girl to her sister.

They had arrived from Bandung, and others had come from
Semarang stretching their rupiah for the trip to Jakarta on top
of buying concert tickets at Rp 75,000 for "festival-class" or Rp
125,000 for "VIP-class". The lack of spontaneity of Michael
Learns To Rock was disappointing.