JP/18/MOVE

JP/18/MOVE

checked -- JSR
Jakarta Movement has no lack of diversity

Karen Stingemore
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

I arrived at the annual music festival, The Jakarta Movement at 4
p.m. last Saturday and thought I had hit a dud scene.

By 11 p.m. the popular annual festival at Ancol suddenly
seemed to come alive, with hoards of young Indonesians moving
their voguishley styled bodies to the musical beat of many
different drums.

The festival catered for all tastes and included smooth easy-
listening, "chill-out" sounds, funky, alternative New Age rock
groups, rap and trance-like beats emanating from some of
Indonesia's top DJs.

Indonesia's underground music scene is not short of talent
with the likes of the homegrown band The Upstairs, a New Age rock
group, pumping out a sound reminiscent of bands such as The
Ramones and The Rolling Stones.

The band was a crowd pleaser, the lead singer unique to the
core with his 1970s wide sunglasses, extra-tight, black-and-white
striped pants, brightly colored accessories and "Mick Jagger"
hairdo.

Devout fan of Indonesia's underground music scene Lina Zainal
from Jakarta, said the crowd always looked forward to seeing what
outfit the lead singer, Jimi Multhazam, would be wearing and her
friends agreed with her that they were never disappointed.

"The lyrics are always sung in 'proper' Indonesian, with no
slang, which is quite unique to this band, Lina said.

Jimi captivated the audience with his on-stage theatrics and
could be likened to those of the 1970s punk rock legend, Iggy
Pop: He danced, pranced, shimmied and shook; his energy was
electric.

The guest band was a similarly alternative New York New Age
rock group, The Bravery, whose style and sound was remarkably
similar to The Upstairs.

The band won a good reception, although the evening was not
without controversy, with some Upstairs fans boycotting The
Bravery because their band said they were not permitted to play
at the same time as The Bravery and therefore only played a
short gig.

The crowd was disappointed when The Upstairs stopped playing,
with only half rushing off to hear The Bravery.

The Upstairs had been playing gigs throughout the day and were
late, so this contributed to the curtailment.

The smooth "jazzy" sounds of Tika, who has just released her
first album, were appreciated by the crowd and the dancing began
in earnest later in the evening when the group Goodnight
Electric, which mixed songs with some occasional lyrics thrown
in, hit the stage.

By all accounts this year's Jakarta Movement proved that
Indonesia's underground music scene was alive and well and there
was certainly no lack of diversity in its artists.

Picture caption:
The Bravery was this year's guest band at the annual music
festival, The Jakarta Movement.