Thursday, September 23, 2010

Venue/Gig Review : FX Music





































One of the biggest problems with independent music scene in Jakarta is the lack of venues. It’s even more problematic for hardcore/punk scene who doesn’t attract as many show-goers as say, the metal scene due its low-profile, DIY nature. Delight in Kemang was one of very few venues where hardcore shows consistently being held on. I personally think it was just an alright venue, but it’s better than having no shows at all. Unfortunately the owner decided not to extend their contract and thus, since mid-year of 2010 Delight is gone.

The last few punk/hardcore shows I’ve been to had been held at FX Music studio. FX Music is a hip music store who sells music instruments, band merch, as well as providing studios for practice or recording purposes. They also have a bar with a small stage directly across from it for bands to play. It gives them a really cafĂ©-esque vibe. To make it even more bizarre, FX Music is located in FX Senayan, a mall in one of Jakarta’s busiest central-business-district area.

Despite all the unpunk qualities FX Music possess (hahaha), the reality is that they provide a really nice, well-equipped studio that’s big enough for a hardcore/punk show at a very reasonable rate. I too, would rather go to a warehouse show that smells like piss and beer with no lights on, but hey, at this point we’ll take what we can get! Plus, the venue is very accessible from every part of Jakarta (easy public transportation access, etc) which is a huge plus.

I went to the show with the intention of capturing live action of the bands, one song per band. However, I did miss Sense Of Pride set due to hanging outside the studio for a bit. I also didn’t get any recording of Moz Is The Reason, Degenerate and Hellowar despite staying throughout their sets. I was keen on getting some Hellowar footage, but they decided to play in the dark instead. No bueno.

I’m not doing a review of band-to-band performance. I’ll let the videos speak for themselves. I've also put myspace links for every band on the bill just in case you’re interested enough to check them out. I will mention that most of the bands playing are in the hardcore variety with the exception of Grave Dancers (thrash/crossover), Hellowar (metal/crust), Ninja Hattori (power violence/fast shit) and Moz Is The Reason (guess what they play :p). Grave Dancers got the best reception that night, and their set was the most fun.

Overall, the show went really well!

Clicky :

Final Attack myspace
Braveheart myspace
Grave Dancers myspace
Hellowar myspace
Raincoat myspace
Still Resist myspace
Sense Of Pride myspace
Moz Is The Reason myspace

I couldn't find myspace for Degenerate and Ninja Hatori. Maybe they don't have one?

On to the videos :

Final Attack


Grave Dancers


Ninja Hatori


Still Resist


Raincoat


Braveheart


Enjoy!