Three days is a long time to party, and for some it may be enough, but for others it may not.

When you’re younger, you have more will and energy to party through the night, and you cannot blame them — the music at the festival was well worth partying to.

The true stars of the first day were the women who dominated the main stage in the early hours of the night.

Malaysian RnB songstress Yuna chilled and grooved the crowd with nothing less than pure class and beauty, while UK pop queen Charli XCX delivered her set with staggering energy and incredible poise.

During Charli’s performance of “Fancy”, her 2014 hit with Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, a familiar grinning face appeared on the screens (with Charli oblivious to it all) as a cool, hip Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo popped in.

Wearing a “We The Fest” shirt and flanked by a few men in batik and one wearing a knockoff Supreme shirt, Jokowi seemed to enjoy Charli’s performance of “Fancy”, as he nodded his head before leaving soon after. 

It was probably the most surreal moment of the festival, and Jokowi seems to have succeeded in his thinly veiled aim to come across as a cool dude, as the crowd chanted his name after Charli’s set ended. Reportedly, the President also stayed for Shura’s and Kodaline’s sets.

Read also: Jokowi joins 'We The Fest' crowd on Friday

Without sounding too cynical, most of the international acts on the This Stage is Bananas stage were a revolving door of young electronic producers, all making similar future bass-y, semi-EDM, semi-RNB music with loads of reverb and bass.

Despite the similarities, some acts did distinguish themselves from the others, such as Shura’s with a hushed but grand voice and Lido’s with a unique stage setup.

On the first day, Kodaline’s soaring anthemic songs seemed to fit the closing headliner position better than The Kooks, a middling indie rock band with few interesting qualities going on. 

Kodaline also attracted the larger crowd for the night, if not the largest, as its brand of Coldplay-lite rock was able to elevate the passionate audience with every word sung.

Playing in Indonesia for the second time after headlining the disastrous La La La Festival in Bandung back in November last year, the Irish band is unfortunately the closest that Indonesia will ever get to an actual Coldplay concert in the country, but for many of the smiling faces in the crowd, that’s close enough.

The Kooks on the other hand failed to stand out as something more. Sure, they’re one of the more successful veterans of the boring mid-‘00s UK indie rock scene, but their set was relatively uninteresting, unless you were a diehard Kooks fan. Yes, they played “Naïve” and the catchy “Junk of the Heart”, but any ounce of the band’s distinction stops there. 

The problem with booking one or two hit indie wonders is that it’s hard to keep the audience interested in their entire set. We The Fest had the exact same problem last year with The Temper Trap, who seemed to realize on stage that most of the audience had come only to hear “Sweet Disposition”.

The same cannot be said for second day headliner Phoenix. With a string of excellent albums in its 20-year career, the French new wave group is a band of bona fide entertainers and musicians.

Read also: Phoenix: Shining light in times of darkness

The sunny sounds of their latest album Ti Amo went well with the tropical theme of We The Fest, while songs like “Ti Amo” and classics like “1901” and “Long Distance Call” saw the audience soar and brood at the same time.

Phoenix’s performance was a long-awaited highlight in an otherwise tepid line of acts on the festival’s second day, which also included Korean hip-hop group Epik High and average producer duo Snakehips.

Festivities on the third day were filled with floor-filler acts, such as Jonas Blue, Wave Racer, Cosmo’s Midnight and a DJ set from Hot Chip. Out of all the DJ acts, Jonas Blue’s set commanded the most sing-alongs, while Hot Chip stood out for exhibiting its extensive record collection at the festival, bringing an hour of remixed 80s electronica.

The biggest draws of the final day came in three forms: Raisa, Dua Lipa and rapper Big Sean. Indonesia’s pop darling Raisa delivered a smoothed-out wave of her well-known hits as the evening sun began to descend, while Dua Lipa got the crowd worked up in a frenzy shortly afterwards.

Big Sean was the definitive headliner of maybe the entire festival, as the crowds shoved to and fro just to get a spot at his stage. The rapper, who hails from Detroit and is a member of Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music collective, seemed to be humbled by the reception by the Jakarta crowd, as he thanked and praised them multiple times in between his songs.

Unlike some other rappers on his level, Big Sean does not annoyingly stop mid-song and move on to the next one. “Moves”, “Jump Out the Window” and “Bounce Back” were delivered in full, with Big Sean never once letting go of the attention and engagement of the crowd.

“There is nowhere I’d rather be right now than here in Jakarta to play for y’all, I mean that. When I get back home, I’m going to tell all of my friends to come to Indonesia! Especially my boy Travis Scott”, he said to the rapturous cheer from the crowd upon hearing the name “Travis Scott”.

Throughout the three days, the local acts managed to put on performances that, while unable to match the grandeur of the larger international acts, were impressive nonetheless.

For one, Bandung indie pop band Mocca sharing the stage with folk group Payung Teduh were an absolute delight to sway to, playing the fitting sunset slot on the third day, chilling the festival before the night’s party vibes began. Sets from fellow chill folk and jazz acts such as Jason Ranti and Danilla were delivered with the same pleasure.

Read also: Discover new music at these Jakarta venues

It was also the emergence of several bands from the indie underground that made an impression on the initially indifferent crowd.

Indie band Anomalyst brooded through its minor notes, underground heroes of Barefood tore the festival a new mouth with their catchy distorted pop punk, while rock band FEAST performed a monstrously energetic set, with help from other local acts, such as up-and-coming rapper Ramengvrl and folk troubadour Oscar Lolang.

For those in their mid-20s, it’s understandable if you go through the festival feeling old and out of place. The lineup, both local and international, was mostly made up of up-and-coming acts and those that exist in the current fountain of hazy, online youth. And the radio.

But with all that said, the festival itself was rather well organized in almost all aspects, with only minor flaws that look miniscule compared to the strengths.

Popular

Kadin urges stability after Constitutional Court ruling

Jokowi says transition to new government to begi

BCA loan disbursement surges 17.1 percent yoy in first quarter