Jakartass Home thoughts from abroad. Alien thoughts from home.

It was not the best moment to hold a gig on Friday. The rain was bad and the traffic was worse. It was quintessential Jakarta, save for the small section of Senayan Sporting Complex.
(fr. a review of a gig by 90's Brit-poppers where Ian Brown and Kula Shaker played 6.8.10.)

So here we have international 'stars' performing in a sports hall. Given the massive growth in Jakarta's population in the last 50+ years, one might have expected something more sophisticated.

Before 1965, when Koes Bersaudara were banned and imprisoned following Soekarno's "war against Beatle "music", declaring that "Beatleism" was a "form of mental disease", they had "regular spots at venues such as the Megaria cinema, where they played between films." They later managed "to secure a twice-weekly gig at the International Airport Restaurant in Kemayoran (North Jakarta)."
(fr. Wage War against Beatle Music! Censorship and Music in Soekarno's Indonesia by Steven Farram)

The Megaria cinema still stands, but isn't a gig venue. The Kemayoran airport is no more following the opening of Soekarno-Hatta; the area is now being redeveloped with industrial estates, a host of apartment blocks and as the venue for the annual Jakarta Fair. And just last year, 2009, the Aula Simfonia Jakarta (Jakarta Symphony Hall) was officially opened.

It was built as an answer to this big city's need of a 'proper' concert hall, as well as to fulfill the cultural mandate given by God. As the first, and currently the only concert hall in Indonesia, Aula Simfonia Jakarta accommodates 1,200 seats and offers a world-class acoustic experience. Both local and international musicians have performed in this hall, and Aula Simfonia Jakarta welcomes more good quality music performances in the future.

it is bloody difficult to get to at the best of times (i.e. at 2am when Jakarta isn't grid-locked) and I foresee further problems ahead in the rainy season as Kemayoran is in flood-prone northern Jakarta.

And I'm not sure that they have a "cultural mandate given by God" given that an upcoming concert on the 22nd (to mark Indonesia's Independence Day on the 17th) is sponsored by, among others, a women's magazine, a cigarette company, and a Japanese car manufacturer.

So, what else is there?

A search for 'music venues*Jakarta' on the World Events Guide "returned 0 results".

The real answer given by Widyasena Sumadio a year ago is 'not much'.

A number of concert venues have emerged recently in Jakarta and surrounding areas: from
the Jakarta International Expo and Mangga Dua in the centre of Jakarta, to Sentul City Convention Center in Sentul, a town in southern Jakarta known for its motor racing circuit. The well-established, if slightly dilapidated building Istora Senayan, the junior tennis indoor stadium Senayan, and the Jakarta Convention Center are also often used for festivals and events.

But these buildings were not intended for musical performances, so they are lacking in acoustics. The auditoriums in five-star hotels [and shopping malls. J.], which on some occasions have also hosted music performances, are not ideal venues for music performances either. And the number of buildings equipped with appropriate acoustics, unfortunately, cannot hold a large number of people.

As a result, for Jakarta to become a musical centre, regional and central governments, in addition to private parties, need to …. invest in specialised and well-equipped performance venues capable of accommodating larger numbers.

Not all gigs and performances need to attract large audiences, but, unfortunately, there aren't that many smaller venues specifically devoted to 'culture' either.

As a public service, I've compiled the following list. I fear that it is exhaustive, but if there are any glaring omissions, please add them in the comments box or email me so I can add them to this post, which may end up on the music links page above.

My favourite venue for performances is the beautifully restored Dutch building Gedung Kesenian. Although on the corner of a busy thoroughfare, upon entering, having traversed the car park, one can imagine a much less chaotic Batavia among a milieu admittedly 'free' of Indonesians.

There are a number of 'cultural centres' which offer a mix of exhibitions, workshops and performances. The somewhat rundown Taman Ismail Marzuki (T.I.M.) is, to my knowledge, the only facility under the aegis of City Hall.

Otherwise there are community-run initiatives such as Bentara Budaya, Theatre Salihara and Komunitas Utan Kayu.

There also a few 'foreign' Cultural Centres including Goethe Haüs, Erasmus Huis, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Centre, which are sponsored by their respective governments.

Unlike London and other western cities and towns which seem to have live music in pubs and bars within strolling distance, one has to be in the know to find them in Jakarta, and then make a strenuous effort to actually go out.

Jakarta 24.com has a now outdated list. (BB's is still going strong, but Jamz isn't.) The best list I've found, which, although not their fault, isn't saying much, is Jakarta 100 Bars.

Perhaps the $3 million that the City administration has earmarked for the Betawi Cultural Centre could be better spent on a cultural centre for all Jakartans, residents and visitors alike! Maybe a better short-term solution would be to invest this sum in the public transport infrastructure so that we could actually get to the few venues that exist.

Ho hum.