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Jamiroquai and Jakarta boogie down amid rumors of future show

It may have been 12 years since concert promoters first tried to get legendary English acid-jazz band Jamiroquai to play in Indonesia, but there was certainly no love lost for the hundreds of fans who turned out for Wednesday night's long-awaited performance

Nick Perry (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sun, April 12, 2009

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Jamiroquai and Jakarta boogie down amid rumors of future show

It may have been 12 years since concert promoters first tried to get legendary English acid-jazz band Jamiroquai to play in Indonesia, but there was certainly no love lost for the hundreds of fans who turned out for Wednesday night's long-awaited performance.

As soon as the band launched into their opening track "The Kids", and notorious front man Jason Kay (Jay Kay) leapt on stage in flares and trilby hat, the crowd exploded into cheers of hysteria reserved specially for musicians of truly superstar status.

"Jakarta, are you reading for some boogie?" asked Jay Kay as he broke out into a funky 2-step dance across the stage. His charisma and energy appeared as fresh now as he approaches 40 as it was in 1993 when Jamiroquai's debut album, Emergency on Planet Earth, was first released to critical acclaim.

Since those early days at the forefront of England's acid-jazz scene until Wednesday's show at the recently-completed Sentul City Convention Center, Jamiroquai have sold more than 20 million albums worldwide and developed stylistically to include rock, house, and electronic influences into their iconic funk-based sound.

The band line up has changed several times since its conception, but long-serving members Derrick McKenzie (drums) and singer Jay Kay (the "face" of the band, often incorrectly labeled a solo artist) still perform together. Along with six other musicians, including two fantastic backup vocalists, Kay and McKenzie took the audience on a voyage through the almost two-decade spectrum of their unique sound.

This concert was the first ever at Sentul, located inconveniently on the toll way heading toward Bogor. Intense peak hour traffic jams (both getting there AND leaving the venue), and the exorbitant ticket prices (Rp 750,000 for the nosebleeds, Rp 2.5 million for front row) were not enough to deter fans or quell the pre-show excitement. Punters queued up to get a photo with a large poster of the silhouetted "Buffalo Man", the icon depicted on the cover of all Jamiroquai's earlier albums which eventually became something of a cult symbol for the band.

The show opened with a support performance from Indonesian singer Dima and her 6-piece band, whose slick, up-tempo vibe got the crowd suitably prepared for the main act. The girls in the audience went wild when Dima announced that Afgan, a local star, would be joining her for a duet on a number called "Together", and congratulated her when she announced she was 6 * months pregnant and sang a love song for her soon-to-be child.

The sound quality at Sentul is phenomenal and on par with top international venues, but a significant number of empty seats (most likely due to prices) made the interior feel inappropriately empty. The lighting was great, but a large blacked-out section in the screen behind the stage spoiled the projected images.

Following a rowdy rendition of the Indonesian national anthem, the excitement could not be contained and once the lights went down the crowd screamed until the "The Kids" from The Return of the Space Cowboy heralded the arrival of funk superstars Jamiroquai. From the opener into "High Times" from their third album Traveling Without Moving, it was clear this was going to be a very special show. The group gelled as if under instruction from one mind, keeping the groove tight even as they experimented with open, improvised sections in the middle of tracks. If a track veered off tangent, it would suddenly be snapped right back into a familiar riff or chorus in a flash, grounding the audience after the soulful diversion.

"It's taken too long to get here, but now we're here and we're very happy for that," Jay Kay said of Jamiroquai's long absence from Indonesia before their third track, "Seven Days in Sunny June", (combined in a medley with "Alright").

Jamiroquai have clearly established a solid fan base in Indonesia. The audience, ranging from teenagers to middle-aged, knew all the words, the right moments to clap and even dance moves from film clips to songs both old and new. Whether banging out "Little L", "Black Capricorn Day", "Canned Heat" or "Love Foolosophy", the crowd was right into it the whole way.

The show reached a particular high during the hit track "Cosmic Girl", when the crowd, tired of trying to dance in cramped seats, jumped the barriers enclosing the front-row seats to boogie in the open area directly below the stage. Suddenly the party vibe was electric, and everybody was singing, spinning and having a great time, with Jay Kay yelling out, "That's better, that's more like it! What happened there?"

The only notable absence from the show was Jay Kay's legendary wardrobe changes, particularly his penchant for bizarre, hand-designed head wear. The futuristic American-Indian feathered headdress, which appeared in its mirror-adorned glory in past show and on album covers, did not make an appearance this time around. Some punters also lamented not seeing a performance of the hit single "Virtual Insanity" or the inclusion of the didgeridoo, which featured in the track "Journey to Arnhemland", but all round reviews post-gig were flowing in praise.

Of course, with the concert the night before the legislative elections, and with Jay Kay a strong supporter for democracy in Burma, politics had to have a mention.

"I hope everybody is going to vote tomorrow," Jay Kay said, echoing comments earlier by Dima as well. "It is very important, many people around the world wish they could vote but can't."

A blistering encore performance of "Deeper Underground" had the grandiose and power of an opening track and left the audience euphoric and begging for more. While for Jamiroquai fans of the early 90s this performance was literally years in the making, rumors are circulating about their return for the Java Jazz Festival in 2010, rumors helped along by none other than Jay Kay himself.

"Thank you Jakarta, you have been fantastic! And we will probably see you," he paused, with a cheeky grin, "early next year. Good night!"

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