French funk band FFF in joint gig with alternative local group

JAKARTA (JP): Energy and satisfaction are what comes from listening to French funk music. Or that is according to organizers of a concert by French funk band FFF and Indonesian band /rif, together with DJ Charles Schillings tomorrow, being staged by the French Cultural Center in Bengkel Cafe in the Central Business District on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, Central Jakarta.

FFF (Fdration Franaise de Funk) is well known. It has given more than 250 concerts in Europe, the United States, Africa and Japan. In 1997 FFF received the award for the best concert in the French Music Awards (Les Victoires de la Musique). The band comprises five funky guys and plays electric rock music with African, Arabian and Flamenco rhythms.

With /rif (Rhythm in freedom), FFF tries to combine Indonesian and French styles. /rif became famous by performing Top 40, their own alternative songs and covers of, among others, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins and Greenday. The five /rif artists released their first album, Radja (King), in October 1997.

The bands are assisted by Schillings, who plays techno music in the club Le Queen in Paris. The sales of his singles Ovation Ovation and Defcon 3 topped 27,000.

The concert is also listed for the Indonesian Academy of Arts (STSI) in Bandung on May 12, in the Purna Budaya cultural park in Yogyakarta on May 14, and in Goskate building on Jl. Embong Malang in Surabaya on May 16.