https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsVyAFgWmUE
I had an impromptu invite to the Java Jazz Festival from a friend and, after a hectic few months, some live music was exactly what I needed.
It would be fair to say the live music scene here isn’t quite as developed as back home, but comparing anywhere to London probably isn’t really fair.
The Java Jazz Festival is called a jazz festival, but it’s really a much broader celebration of music. There was some proper jazz, including a Brazilian jazz band that were great, but really it was a bit of everything.
There was the Earth, Wind & Fire Experience by Al McKay, one of the original members of the band. The rest of the group were basically a tribute band, but regardless, they were great. The crowd got into things when they heard a song they recognised, which is more than you realise, and they got particularly into it when September played. But annoyingly my favourite Earth, Wind & Fire song wasn’t played. It must have been the only one they missed.
The headline act was Daniel Caesar, who I didn’t really know much about beforehand. I listened to a few songs and recognised a couple, but I didn’t really want to pay extra for it.
In the end, I kind of experienced it anyway. The friend who invited me had a sister running a massage therapy stall right in front of the main stage. Literally the stage, the crowd, and then just a curtain separating the two.
So whilst Daniel Caesar was playing in front of thousands of people, I was on the other side of the curtain getting a massage.
But the moment I’ll probably remember most came right at the end. I stumbled across an Indonesian band and watched the crowd completely lose themselves in the music.
Thousands of people bouncing along, singing along, everyone knowing the songs, everyone having a great time.
So this week’s song comes from the band that seemed to get everyone moving the most.