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Au Revoir Simone: Sky-gazing grooves that went a little too far...
Synth-pop sirens Au Revoir Simone consists of (from left to right) Heather DâAngelo, Annie Hart and Erika Forster
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Synth-pop sirens Au Revoir Simone consists of (from left to right) Heather DâAngelo, Annie Hart and Erika Forster. (Courtesy of Satria Ramadhan) (from left to right) Heather DâAngelo, Annie Hart and Erika Forster. (Courtesy of Satria Ramadhan)
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span class="inline inline-none">Synth-pop sirens Au Revoir Simone consists of (from left to right) Heather D'Angelo, Annie Hart and Erika Forster. (Courtesy of Satria Ramadhan)
New York-based electro-pop trio Au Revoir Simone made its first stop in Jakarta while on its Southeast Asia tour. Held at the top of a 230-meter skyscraper, the gig was so infatuating that the audience was eager to take their images home as a souvenir.
On a superb Sunday afternoon, Skye Bar & Restaurant hosted the intimate concert. The mixture of perfect weather and soothing music created a great atmosphere at the venue.
'It's definitely one of the most beautiful places we've ever played. Our stage was built literally on top of a pool. It's cool, isn't it?' said Erika Forster, one-third of Au Revoir Simone.
She had just landed in Jakarta a couple of hours before the gig and went straight to the venue for a sound check. They're tired faces were soon wiped away as soon as they greeted fans who had arrived early.
'I met the band members as they were heading down to their hotel. They were nice,' said Indra Prakasa, one of early bird arrivals.
The show was dubbed 'up close' as the outdoor stage had simple decorations and lighting while there weren't supposed to be barriers between the band and the audience. There were only 300 seats offered.
The band consists of Forster, Heather D'Angelo and Annie Hart. The three piece Virgin-Suicides-look-alike-girl-band has produced four albums and has been around for 11 years. Its latest album, Move in Spectrums, was released in 2013. It was their first work in four years.
'We've been on tour since September promoting this new album. It's been really great, reception has been good all over the world,' said D'Angelo.
'It feels amazing, it's nice to know that there's interest in our music here. It's nice that people on the other side of the world want to hear us. It's surprising,' continued D'Angelo.
Hart, the quietest member of the band added, 'I find it really surreal, especially coming to South Asia and Southeast Asia, like you see all these things in the encyclopedia. But now you come here and actually see it and to see it for real is pretty surreal for me. But I love it.'
Au Revoir Simone performed a set that was dominated by materials from Move in Spectrums.
'We try to play a little bit from each album,' explained Forster. But no song from the band's debut album, Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation, made it into the show that night.
After the last song of the night was performed, the band was mobbed by concertgoers who wanted to take pictures with its members. As a result, an encore was never performed.
'We were expecting an encore. We were going to play three more songs but nobody asked for them. Nobody clapped or wanted them,' told Forster.
D'Angelo added: 'They wanted photos. As soon as you left the stage it was just picture, picture, picture. We would've done an encore but many people wanted picture so we couldn't get back to the stage.'
'Sorry, we would've played more. We were going to play songs from the first album in the encore,' explained Hart.
The band, however, wasn't disappointed by this. In fact, the ladies laughed about the mishaps.
'Everyone's very nice [here],' added D'Angelo about the Jakarta crowd. While Forster said, 'It's a little overwhelming. They're just so sweet, not aggressive.'
The crowd either asked for autographs on records or took pictures. After the concert, the merchandise booth was busy and most items were sold out.
All four records in CD format were sold each at Rp 100,000 (US$8.8) while vinyl copies for Rp 200,000. The band also brought posters, t-shirts and tote bags; all of them were affordable and some even cheaper than local band
merchandise.
'We get to be around people who love us, love our songs and we make differences in their lives. It's just a beautiful career,' said Hart about the warm reception in Jakarta.
Hart, Forster and D'Angelo were spotted in different spots that night. All of them were busy chatting and taking pictures with fans.
At some point, Hart told some guys that she needed to eat first and that she would be back as soon as possible. 'Hey, just wait, I'll be back later,' she said. An hour later, she excused herself from the band.
'I told someone to wait for me outside, I need to meet them. Can I come back in a minute?' she asked the other members. She left the eatery and continued to chat with fans.
Forster said the best part of being on the road with the band was 'meeting people that I wouldn't get the chance to meet if I was just at home in New York. That's like how you expand your universe.'
