And the best one of the year…

All photos are taken by me except the last one [and not so good because it was only from a BlackBerry's camera. I was too busy I forgot the pocket camera]

IT WAS MONTHS ago when a friend of mine, Fikri, told me that Vampire Weekend was going to play in Berlin. I was so mad at that time I could only reply: fuck.

Yes, I was mad at the condition. I love Vampire Weekend, I am so mad about them, I MUST go to their concert, and it MUST be ASAP!

But Fikri replied: “You know what? My father is a big fan of Genesis. He loves them since he was in high school. And once he told my mother, if Genesis gets to play in Indonesia, likely would be in Jakarta, he wanted to go to the capital. He asked for a permission to leave for days to see Genesis in a live concert,” he said.

“But you know, up to date, my father hasn’t got the chance to see them. They don’t come to Indonesia. But my father still loves them.”

Well, okay, that sounds wise, especially since it came out from a 19 yo boy! But was he telling me that I could still love Vampire Weekend even if I would never get a chance to see them in a live performance until I have a son aged 19? I was afraid that I couldn’t see their concert until I grow old. Err… older.

I mean, they are not as famous as Coldplay, that’s obvious. And even Coldplay hasn’t gone to Indonesia, yet. So you know how hopeless I was, at that time.

But turned out, I had a date with destiny and Vampire Weekend, yesterday. YES. Vampire Weekend came to Jakarta, YESTERDAY. And I went to their gig. And I went crazy in the gig, frankly speaking. lol.

Yuppers, the line. The long long line, full of kiddos.

The schedule said that the gig would start at 7 p.m at Bengkel Night Park. But I arrived there at 5.30, lined up with a bunch of teenagers, uh oh. I felt seriously old. But shit, the show didn’t start until 8 and that was only the opening band-I-dunno-their-names. My old bones were crying for help, because I stood in the very front row, I couldn’t sit my a off.

I saw my friend, Lisa, was sitting some meters away behind me. I thought: what the hell am I doing here? Overhearing teenagers talking about their school and campus’ assignments. SIGH. I felt VERY old. And oh my, I should wait still, until 9.15 when FINALLY the vampires came out and were ready to suck my blood. I was two or three meters away from Ezra (behave, granny Anita!)

How was the gig? AWESOME! Like I said, the band is a total dope. They were as GOOD as they sound in their records. Oh my God, I love them. They played 19 songs: Holiday, White Sky, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, I Stand Corrected, M79, Bryn, California English, Cousin, Run, A-Punk, Blake’s Got A New Face, The Kids Don’t Stance A Chance, Diplomat’s Son, Giving Up The Gun, Campus, Oxford Comma, Horchata, Mansard Roof, Walcott.

Love this pic, and love the crowd!

Yes, I took notes, hehe.

Well, I love all the songs, and they played my most two fave: California English and Run. And A-Punk and Diplomat’s Son. Well, and all. Lol.

Ezra is not as cute as I saw on clips and videos on Youtube, I mean, he’s cute but not that BEAUTIFUL as I thought before. You know who looked cooler [with his hair]? ROSTAM! He’s super cool and very energetic too. I seriously didn’t see them stop to drink, well, except for a five minutes break when they pretended that the show has over.

They were super cool, and Ezra did sing it with: fuck, no censor. You know what I mean? I saw a video on Youtube and MGMT did a self-censorship on their Time To Pretend. They changed: fuck into cook, “I’ll move to Paris, shoot some heroin and COOK with the stars.” Hello, cook?

Rostam, I lurve your hair!

But Ezra sang: “Is your bed made? Is your sweater on? Do you want to fuck? Like you know I do. Like you know I dooo ooh, ooh.”

And some other fucks in Walcott. Fahak, I danced to all the songs, I burned 1,000 calories. I love love them.

They played for about 90 minutes, an intense show! And I love Bengkel’s lightings, they rocked! There were only about 500 people, Lisa said, but they were a super cool group.

Hmm, and now, I am writing this blog. And I am thinking, what’s next after the vampire? I don’t crave for some other bands. Well, Coldplay for sure. But when are they coming?

“I see you shine in your way, GO ON, GO ON, GO ON!” — Giving Up The Gun [it's their song! So we jumped while waving our 'GO ON' posters when they played the song] Lisa and I. Our “wet looks” lol. Like I told you, it was a 90-mins cardio exercise.

I have just scanned my iTunes, and I wanna see these people in live concerts: Nina Simone, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Charles Mingus, and Philip Glass.

Well, MGMT and DMB too, hehe.