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One Direction Fever
Itâs wet, wet, wet â from the rain, the tears and the sweat
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It's wet, wet, wet ' from the rain, the tears and the sweat. But One Directioners, the die-hard fans of the British-Irish boy band, were showing their love.
One Direction's concert on Wednesday night was a historic moment for some of the boy band's fans, mostly female teens and tweens, who had waited for a long time to see the boys.
With its skyrocketing popularity, scores of teenagers were trying their best to get closer to One Direction, which has achieved 20 platinums for the sales of albums and live concert DVDs in the country.
In 2013, the boy band, which was put together by Simon Cowell in 2010 following its participation in the British talent competition The X Factor, was invited to hold a concert in Jakarta but declined, noting widespread CD piracy and illegal downloading of its songs, according to Sony Music Indonesia.
After a series of efforts by the concert promoters, Ismaya Live and Sound Rhythm, the boys were finally in town on March 23. Here are some highlights of the band's time in Jakarta.
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IN TOWN
The boys were in town early Monday morning. Only four of them ' Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Liam Payne ' arrived as the last member, Zayn Malik, announced he was leaving the band on Wednesday.
'Just landed in Jakarta,' one of the boys, Liam, tweeted on his official Twitter account at 2 a.m. on Monday, prompting One Directioners to ask where the boys were staying and spending their time before Wednesday's concert.
Fans scoured Fairmont Hotel and Hotel Mulia in Senayan before spotting Niall at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Jl. M.H. Thamrin.
They soon swamped the hotel's lobby and toilets. Others even booked seats at the hotel's restaurant to prevent the security detail from escorting them out; in vain, though, as the boys were heavily guarded by their bodyguards.
'I only saw Mark, the band's tour manager, and Teddy, Liam's bodyguard, at the hotel's café,' said Nia, 23, who manages fan base @onedirection_ID, which has 384,000 Twitter followers.
Other fans recognized the band's crew and vocal coach at the nearby Grand Indonesia Mall and took photos with them.
The concert's media relations officer, Helmi Sugara, said that not all local crew were informed about the boys' whereabouts to protect their privacy. 'I was only informed that they had arrived at a hotel. I prefer not to know much about it because my friends will ask me for details,' he chuckled.
GET READY
On Tuesday, half of the concertgoers exchanged their tickets for wristband passes ' priced from Rp 1 million (US$77) for festival class up to Rp 2.75 million for a hot seat ' at the concert venue, Gelora Bung Karno stadium in South Jakarta. Some out-of-town fans even camped in their cars for the night.
WARMING UP
Inching closer to the main show, a DJ pumped out top 40 songs to around 35,000 concertgoers. While their children struggled to get the nearest spot to the stage, some parents waited on the least-crowded side of the venue.
'I don't listen to One Direction's songs. I prefer old songs. Thankfully, I got the tickets for free because the price is pretty high,' said 55-year-old businessman Heni, who came straight from his South Jakarta office to accompany his 12-year-old daughter.
Some young officers, part of a 1,700-strong police team tasked to guard the show, appeared to enjoy the moment, taking selfies with the stage in the background.
WET, WET, WET
A downpour later in the afternoon did not dampen the fans' spirits. They stayed put in the queue despite the rain. Traders seized the moment by selling thin plastic raincoats for the inflated price of between Rp 25,000 and Rp 40,000 ' unsurprisingly, they sold like hot cakes.
THE GIFTS
The fans dropped paintings, fan letters, batik shirts, Javanese blangkon caps and even Indomie instant noodles in the gift boxes, separated into five sections representing each band member. Harry's boxes had the most gifts. Evinola, 16, made a huge sketch of Zayn Malik. 'Although he hasn't come to Jakarta, I'm sending him a gift to cheer him up,' said the girl, who brought the framed sketch all the way from her home in Jepara, Central Java.
SHOWTIME
There they were, finally. The four boys, clad in black T-shirts, kicked off the gig at 8:50 p.m. with the upbeat 'Clouds', prompting loud screams and applause from the crowd. In no time, the fans sang along as the band belted out their chart-topping singles 'Steal My Girl', 'One Thing' and 'What Makes You Beautiful'.
Niall strummed his guitar, while Liam Payne flipped the microphone and jumped around the stage playfully. 'You are the loudest crowd we've ever had,' Liam said to the packed stadium. The performance was supported by three jumbotrons on the stage, displaying close-ups of the boys and animations of the band.
BREAKFAST @SENAYAN
Hundreds of One Directioners lined up in front of the stadium hours before the gates were opened, some arriving at 6 a.m. By 10 a.m., dozens of fans had fainted and were quickly rushed for medical care. 'A mother, whose daughter fainted, decided to go home and sold her tickets for half price to ticket scalpers,' said Herry, a security guard.
FLYING OUT
'I know that One Direction usually flies out soon after their concert. So, as the last song was performed, I and my friends rushed to Halim Perdanakusumah airport,' Ayu says.
When they reached the airport at 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, a security guard claimed the lads had already flown out on their private jet an hour before. One Direction was heading to South Africa for another gig of the group's 'On the Road Again 2015' international tour.
'The Jakarta concert was a success. The boy band did not make any difficult demands during their stay here and concertgoers had a great time at the show,' Helmi said.
FAREWELL
Harry, Niall, Liam and Louis were back for an encore, singing the slow romantic 'You and I', the upbeat 'Little White Lies' and finally 'Best Song Ever'. Long spectacular fireworks lit up Jakarta's dark and cloudy sky as the boys disappeared from the stage at the end of the concert at 10:55 p.m.
After singing along through the show, Nur Sulastri covered her face in despair as the crowd gradually left the stadium. 'The show ended too soon,' said the 15-year-old, who came to the concert after winning a One Direction fan quiz in her hometown Bandung.
She noticed the boys were a bit quiet during the show. 'They normally love to make jokes and interact with the audience. But this time it was different. Maybe it's because Zayn left them.'
ZAYN FOREVER
The band's official Facebook page announced around the time of the concert that Zayn had released a statement saying that he would leave the group. 'I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight,' Zayn said in his statement.
Nur learned of the devastating news a day later, while Ayu read the announcement on her phone not long after the show. 'I and my friends read it soon after getting phone signal in the car. We broke down in tears,' said Ayu, a big fan of Zayn and Harry.
Soon, Twitter was filled with heartbreak over Zayn's departure, putting #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik at the top of Indonesia's trending topics as of Friday. 'Zayn why you have to quit? But we still always support you no matter what will happen @zaynmalik #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik,' tweeted Chindy from @nindycpr.
Photos by JP/Awo
