Scratches on the Line.: special post

Toward the end of last February I had the opportunity of being one of the hundreds of volunteers recruited to work on the first ever Indonesia Fashion Week! Yes, it's been a while since the actual event but I just didn't have the chance to write the details up on here until now.

The Week took place for four days, from Feb. 23-26 at the the Jakarta Convention Center. The Fashion Week included a range of activities besides the actual fashion shows, such as an all-day exhibition, talk shows, and seminars. Every activity ,of course, centered around the topic of fashion. There were also not only one but two show arenas, the main one being held in the Plenary Hall (usually showing the bigger, more established couture Indonesian designers) and the other show venue at the Assembly Hall. Both held shows simultaneously.

At first I felt it was a shame that I didn't get to work on the fashion shows as the backstage crew, where most volunteers ended up being runners, which basically helped the run of the shows when they were showing. I got tossed to the Lobby Division, where the other activities were being handled and ended up as Liaison Officer for the fashion seminars. But it turns out we got a better bargain than those who actually ended up backstage because they had more tedious work, longer hours, and less time to enjoy the event.

I did end up helping out the entrance to the Assembly Hall fashion shows whenever we weren't handling anything and had extra hands to help out other areas, so I was able to go backstage, sneak in and out of the stage area whenever I pleased (for the event's security reasons, of course, ahem) and see the collections. Aside from that, though, I would never want to do that part of the job again. EVER.

Do you know what it's like when you try to deny access to a sassy, rude, gay man who then tries taking a picture of your face because he wanted to file a complaint to the higher authorities above you? Or to a possy of the designer's socialite friends running late and one of them is a middle-aged woman half your size who tries to barge into the venue through any entrance she can get passed? Or to a white expatriate wanting to get in and speaking perfect English, then suddenly whispering your native language while trying to negotiate the "right price" for an invite in? It's not fun. It was interesting, though, to see how these supposedly "classy people" get in a fit and start acting like hicks just because they weren't allowed in once the show had already started - even with an invite in hand. There were insults thrown, even tears shed! I think now I know what it feels like to be a club bouncer, only times a thousand.

On a lighter note, the best parts of having this experience were the new friends and acquaintances I made and how much fun I had getting to work on something different every day. Everyone I met on the job was so cool and easy to get along with. I'm not much of the office hours type and am easily bored, so this job was kind of great. We were also allowed inside onto the tribunes of the last main fashion show every night. It was basically to fill in all the gaps in the room but, hey, when else will I ever get the chance to see haute couture first hand? I'm hoping some day when I'm rich and famous I'll be able to go front row, but in the mean time this seemed like a good compromise.

I could have even watched the Anne Avantie grand finale show if I wanted to because we were still allowed in just like every night before, but I ended up skipping because I was too tired and frozen up (the air conditioning in that building is insane!). I hung out with some of the other crew drinking hot cocoa outside once the show had started. But I have a slight idea of how amazing it was. Before the show, we were free so we got stationed along the passage to the main Plenary Hall's backstage to usher the models in the right direction. Being Anne Avantie and being the last show of the Week, it was a major spectacle. Anne decided to use Indonesian actors and actresses as well as regular models to do her show, so there were reporters and TV crews all over the walk to cover the backstage and do interviews with them. The commotion wasn't for nothing either. I stared at her designs up-close while doing the ushering and they were all amazing. The detailing is incredible. They are fancy and classy without being tacky. No wonder she's made a name for herself.

I brought my beloved DSLR with me every day but didn't really get to play with it a lot because we were so busy with everything going on, which was probably a good thing because I might have ended up broke if I had the time to browse through the clothes being sold at the exhibition. I didn't get as much pictures as I would have liked to but I got a decent amount of shots from the last main shows. I do wish I had some sort of magic mini DSLR camera with me when I saw the Anne designs up-close so I could have gotten some pictures of her divine designs.

one of many local brands on display @ the exhibition

Monstore - love the name

Deden Siswanto receiving flowers after his collection's show

(left) Ghea Panggabean was my favorite; (right) Eny Ming was also fabulous

gorgeous clothes and lighting

Although Jakarta wasn't facing some hot weather - literally - it didn't stop fans from catching band sensation Foster the People live.

The venue's festival area was full but, surprisingly, the tribune and VIP areas still had a lot of space. Let me just take a moment to call out 3 Ocean Live on their poor promotion of the concert. I know FTP is a relatively new band but I'm pretty sure their fanbase here isn't small, especially with the attention from their big summer hit Pumped Up Kicks. Not to mention the lack of publicity to let the city know the band was coming. Honestly, (I'm going to rant here a bit) I only found out they had a gig here the night before they were showing! And it was only because I happened to be listening to the radio while on my way to work. What if I decided I wanted some peace and turned off the radio instead? I would have not known they had come until after and I'd be raging mad. Luckily the universe took pity on me and there were still festival tickets available at the ticketbox venue on the day of. Even though this was pleasing it was also strange because I would have guessed a band as hot as them would be sold out, at least for the festival area. If you check their tour schedule after this they have shows at Malaysia and Singapore - that have been sold out for days. I mean, come on? More proof of the incompetence that is the promoters.

Rant over.

Well, no. The show also managed to start 90 minutes late. That is a whole football match, son. Are you kidding? Not quite sure what the hold up was, but I'm thinking managing the artist to the show's venue on time fits into the promoters' job description, no?

Now the rant is really over, I can say that THE CONCERT WAS AMAZING. No regrets, definitely your money's worth - even worth the 90 minute wait! The crowd's annoyance and aching feet were well forgotten once the lights flickered off and the room was submerged into total darkness, followed by Mark, Cubbie and Pontsy coming out and starting the show with a banging performance of Houdini. Turns out it was their first show of the year 2012. They played all of their songs from the Torches album, with a few additions. One of the best surprises was when Mark started rambling on about meeting a guy wearing a Weezer shirt (another favorite band of mine) that ended up informing him that the guys from Weezer had actually done a cover of Pumped Up Kicks at one of their concerts! Flattered, FTP decided to show their gratitude by doing a cover of Weezer as well, the song Say It Ain't So - which Mark said was one of his all time favorite songs. So it was basically an FTP/WZR lovefest. Too amazing.

They also played their new unreleased song, Ruby. It was their kind of ballad, since they don't really have one yet on the album. It was slower than the usual FTP (Mark was on piano instead of the keyboard and Pontsy took it easy on the drums) but it was a great song. Definitely going to try and find it online.

At one point when the boys went off stage for a quickie break (?) the audience was still on a high and started shouting "we want more! we want more!". Some even demanded Pumped Up Kicks, which I thought was rediculous because that was their biggest hit and obviously it was going to be the last song. The incident led me thinking, though, how were they going to close the concert on a high note when the song isn't really an energetic song? Well, they had their ways. They played it at last, changing the ending of the song to hang on longer and beat harder. IT WAS GREAT. They had everyone jumping like insane (which had occurred throughout the concert, of course) and then - suddenly - MARK WAS ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE STAGE WHERE I WAS NEAR TO AND HE REACHED FOR THE FANS. Mass hysteria ensued as everyone started screaming and pushing to get closer to him like a bunch of obsessed psychos. The song was still playing its new ending beats and he stayed there for a while, a bit smug of the adoration and enjoying every second of it. I'm certain if it wasn't for the security guard that yanked him back, Mark would have dove in and bodysurfed, meaning I would have had the chance to touch him. That guard is a life ruiner.

before what could have been - Mark almost surfing

Finally the song did come to an unwanted end. The boys waved and smiled at the fans and headed off the stage. I'm glad they seemed to have also enjoyed themselves playing here. Mark had mentioned to us that it was one of the best crowds they had ever played for and they were thankful to us. In the back of my mind I'm sure many artists say that, but I can't help feel like it's true when they say it about Jakarta. Despite the lack of love I have for this city, it is definitely one of the biggest and loudest audiences any artist could ever hope to play for.

Getting back to the band, I didn't expect it possible to come out of there loving them even more than I already had. It was a really great show. They were the Foster The People that everyone came to see. They're very talented, the real deal. You can hear it in their music, you can see it in their show. One of the reasons I love this band so much is the fact that I can listen to their whole album. Just listen, and do nothing. That isn't easy to find these days. Usually there are bands that I enjoy 1 or 2 songs of, but that's it. And FTP's songs aren't just good to groove to, if you really listen to the lyrics you'll understand just how creative and inspired the songwriting is. If you haven't bought their album or caught them live given the chance then something is seriously wrong with you. Can't wait to see what's next for them and I hope they come back again.