2010-12-07 - 8:41 p.m.
I meant to write this sooner, but I must have been exhausted.
Don't worry, this time I came back in one solid piece - alive and kicking.*big evil grin* I didn't order any Guinness, so nothing gross happened afterwards. I had to take care of myself, remember? I came there alone.
I left after lunch. It was still about two o'clock on my watch. The rain was pouring down, so I had to wear my brother's white raincoat.
The traffic was horrid, worsened by the rain. (Typical situation in Jakarta.*rolls eyes*) Some bus drivers pissed me off, because it looked as if they'd have rather stayed home than working their duties.*scoffs*
By the time the second bus dropped me off at Sudirman, Central Jakarta, I gave up. I took a taxi to Epicentrum, Kuningan.
I got there at five. I showed my ticket and my black rubber band bracelet to the bouncers before they let me in. There were already people waiting. I joined them and scanned my surroundings. My standard procedure. You must be (more) aware when you're alone in public.
The show started at six, said the ticket in my hand. A group of girls - obviously Lifehouse fans from their loud conversation earlier nearby, talked to me and we ended up introducing ourselves to each other. Fitri, Zi, and a tall, slender Caucasian girl with short dark hair and glasses named Holly (or was it Hallie?)
When another bouncer in black announced that the door to the main stage was finally open, our conversation was abruptly cut. I began running down the long hallway to that door with the rest of the audience, like the early contestants for Amazing Race - so eager to get to the front row.*giggles*
And I'd simply amazed myself. There was a split second when my eyes suddenly darted down and caught a sight of an emerging concrete (step, bench, unfinished pillar??) object somewhere in the middle of the way. I jumped over it and landed nicely, just in time with a loud thump next to me. I glanced sideways to find some poor, unlucky dude stumbling hard face first. Ouch!:|
But I didn't stop. It was probably the rising adrenalin in me, because - under normal circumstances - it would be quite impossible for me to run and hop that fast with a heavy raincoat tied around my waist. I don't know, maybe I had a hidden talent to be an action stunt.*shrugs* Hehe.*big evil grin*
Of course, I got to be on the front row. I hung my bag on the railing and tied my arm around with the strap. So far, it's been effective enough to keep your spot on the front row.
The show started at seven, with three local indie bands - ColaFloat from Bandung, Kalih from DIY Yogyakarta, and Bella and Friends. After that, Pure Saturday performed for about 45 minutes. As predicted, they played their eternal hit "Kosong" (Empty).
Superman Is Dead (SID) came next. They also played for 45 minutes. This Balinese punk band didn't forget to play all their hits, including "Kuta Rock City". I'm not too crazy about punk, but they played great that night.
From behind the pretty transparent black curtain at the corner of the stage near me, I could see...Lifehouse standing to watch the other performers. Rick, Bryce, Jason, and Ben. Bryce even smiled and waved at the VIP crowd in the balcony across from where he stood.
Rivermaya performed for one hour straight.:D It was my very first time seeing them live on stage and I was very happy. But before they showed up, a reporter on stage took a picture of me holding a paper with a message in huge block letters:
"TO: RIVERMAYA
MAY I REQUEST A SONG? YOU'LL BE SAFE HERE? THANKS.
LOVE, RUBY"
Their bass player Japs Sergio had noticed that first. He smiled at me as I grinned back at him, pointing at the message for emphasis. Still, I waited patiently, enjoying the rest of their songs.
"I need to be near you,
but...somebody owns you now.
I'll try to live somehow..."
:'-(...
*snifs* So sad...
Enough.:P
They made a toast for Arthur Guinness for a while before carrying on with the show. Then Japs Sergio nudged the singer Mike Elgar (a sexy hunk with thick dark eyebrows and a nice voice!) They both turned to me. Mike went wide-eyed.
"Oops," he said through his microphone. That was when it became silent for a while. "We have a request here."
Mike came over to the edge of the stage and...asked a favour from a bouncer nearby to get him my request paper. I could hear the crowd go, "Awww!" as he received it.:)
"Is it okay?" I called out, and he replied,"Yeah, sure."
And yes, he read my request out loud.:D I could tell the audience agreed with the choice of the song, because they were screaming with excitement. That ballad is popular here!
"Ruby, thank you," Mike said sincerely as he gazed at me. My already tired knees went weak like jelly that I had to hang on tighter to the railing in front of me. LOL!:P
"Thank you," I shouted back joyfully.
With his acoustic guitar, Mike played a bit of Green Day's "21 Guns". We all sang together.:D After that, they finally ended their part of show with the song I'd been wanting to hear in a long time:
"Close your eyes
Dry your tears
and when nothing seems clear,
you'll be safe here..."
I couldn't help smiling while singing along to it.:D It's going to be something I will never forget.
Lifehouse finally performed for about two hours. It's a double YAY for me!:D Again, I took another request paper - this time for them:
"TO: LIFEHOUSE
MAY I REQUEST A SONG? 'BLIND' OR 'BREATHING'? THANKS.
LOVE, RUBY"
The played all their popular songs. "Hanging By A Moment", "Spin", "Wash", "Take Me Away","Broken","The First Time","All In","Halfway Gone","Falling In","You and Me"...you name it.:P Hehe. Even Jason played a medley acoustic of "Simon", "Sick Cycle Carousel", and "Everything".
Lucky for me, they also played one of my requests.:D Bryce, the cute blond bassist (and also the tallest in the band) noticed my paper and smiled at me. I grinned back hopefully.
"This song is not that popular in America," Jason suddenly confessed. "We were surprised when we first played this in Philippines and people sang along."
We waited, anticipating.
"It turns out that you guys also know this song," Jason went on. He was smiling a lot that night. "This song is called...Blind!"
The crowd and I cheered.
"Yeah, I noticed your request paper too," Jason added with a grin. The song is like my personal soundtrack these days:
"After all this time,
I never thought we'd be here
never thought we'd be here.
And my love for you was blind,
but I couldn't make you see it
couldn't make you see it
that I loved you more
than you would ever know...
And part of me died
when I let you...go..."
:'-(...
*snifs* That was beautiful...
The concert finally ended at one. Lifehouse thanked the audience for coming and enjoying their songs. I shouted thank you to Bryce for noticing my request paper and he just smiled back. A tall guy behind me shouted, "Thanks for coming! Come back soon!"
Indeed, I hope so too.:) Amen...
The Author/SBF
