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Spotify takes the stage
Some 7,000 music fans attended the concert, which kicked off with performances by Thai band Slot Machine and British songstress Anne-Marie setting the tone.
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Most anticipated: South Korea’s Stray Kids performs in front of over-enthusiastic K-Pop fans. (Courtesy of Edelman Indonesia/Edwin Marcel)
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ringing its tagline “music for everyone” to life, the Indonesian arm of Swedish music streaming giant Spotify held a concert on Oct. 12 featuring some of the most-streamed music acts on the platform.
Spotify On Stage, held at JIExpo in Kemayoran, East Jakarta, brought together singers and bands that dominate local radio waves as well as playlists curated by Spotify Indonesia.
Some 7,000 music fans attended the concert, which kicked off with performances by Thai band Slot Machine and British songstress Anne-Marie setting the tone.
However great Anne-Marie’s performance of her breakout hit singles “Rockabye” and “F.R.I.E.N.D.S”, or Slot Machine’s attempts to rile up the polite crowd, many of whom were surprisingly familiar with the band’s material, it was obvious that a majority of the crowd (mostly young women) were there to show their devotion to the highly anticipated Stray Kids.
But the performance of South Korea’s nine-member Stray Kids started off on the wrong foot. The group may be used to seeing such frenzied behavior from their fans at their live shows, but that night, they looked genuinely concerned at the intensity.
As the JYP Entertainment-signed group belted out their first song, the squeals that followed, along with a rush to the front, created a wave that obviously overwhelmed the barricade.
Even the group had to personally warn their fans to take it easy and step back, and the set was ultimately suspended for a few minutes after the first song “District 9”.
The band members even walked off the stage and organizers were forced to address the crowd to calm them down.
As the set went on, girls were still passing out and being carried away on stretchers to medical tents located in almost every corner of the hall.
Long after Stray Kids’ set, the venue’s outer gates and outside festival area were still littered with mostly young women still holding onto their Stray Kids memorabilia, with some even crowding the gate that leads
backstage.
It was a shame that none of the other acts on the bill that night got that kind of response. But maybe it was for the best. There was no way the venue and its handlers were to be able to hold off such frenzy for four hours straight.
But aside from the frenzy, Stray Kids put on a high-standard show expected of K-Pop acts, reflected by the amount of discipline and work they put into perfecting their stage routine.
Stray Kids could have just done a mediocre performance of such songs as “My Pace” and “Hellevator”, and they would still be received with rapturous approval. This is the great thing about K-Pop artists: even if they know their show would be a success either way, they still do their very best.
The night continued on as Indonesian popstar Tulus took the stage, bringing with him a classier show and one that inspires a milder but still exciting form of excitement.
Tulus is a unique mainstream act in the local music scene. He is most notable for being an Indie artist who has worked hard to gain nationwide recognition. And realizing that, it becomes so much more satisfying to see him perform a stellar set made up of hits such as “Monokrom” (Monochrome) and “Jangan Cintai Aku Apa Adanya” (Don’t Love Me for What I Am).
The night was concluded by electronic dance music (EDM) superstar Alan Walker, who seems to have amassed a very big following here in Indonesia, having played in the country several times before.
Walker’s set was the standard serving of high-intensity EDM beats with flashy visuals and lights. Drops to “Faded” and “Ignite” (joined by the song’s vocalist Julie Bergan) were obvious crowd pleasers and it got the audience going, but no number of high-energy drops could have matched the kind of frenzy and energy seen only several hours ago.
Yes, Walker has a lot of fans in Indonesia, but compared to the enthusiasm for K-Pop, no EDM artist could ever hope to reach that kind of fame here.
As the night wrapped up, the throng of young Stray Kids fans was still outside, either reeling from the experience or standing anxiously by the gate for the nine-member group to emerge. Maybe they did in the end, to ear-shattering squeals.
