Talking about the show

"Ladies and gentleman, keep it up for Belle and Sebastian from Glasgow!", said by an anonymous voice of a man behind the speaker.

It was a rainy Wednesday night in the beginning of August, but fortunately, we had the show indoor. By the notification, the band straightly enter the stage, when as usual, the chicks, the front row chicks, started to scream. I didn't know whether they thought Stuart Murdoch is handsome or just tired for the opening performances. Well, I was in the front row, but no, I'm not screaming. It's not like I didn't get the hype. Maybe, I didn't get the hype.

So, Belle and Sebastian, I am a fan. I know the band since high school, like most of people at my age. I can remember well when I often stealthly listen to my phone's music player during classes, under the table. Well, most of was Radiohead, but Belle and Sebastian was the second place. I only had a few songs by that time. I didn't even know who was Stuart Murdoch.

Enough the candy talking, back to the stage. I know the first song would be "I Didn't See It Coming", their new single. My friend Yogi said, "lagunya cakep, Lan". The band haven't released the song yet, but I gave it a watch in YouTube before, and yes, he's not completely wrong. Well, thanks to him, he gave a setlist from the Helsinki show which was held a couple weeks before, so I could get the picture of the night. We both have a kind of disappointment with the Helsinki list that made we were not optimist with the Jakarta show. We just didn't get the favor of the list.

I didn't expect the second song would be "I'm A Cuckoo". I thought they would play the 'dessert' songs first after. Let this be a note for you, I have a relationship with this song. A strong relationship. I will not describe you 'what is the relationship' here, cause I want to talk about the next song, "Step Into My Office, Baby". Belle and Sebastian make the crowd reach the premature peak by the that song. I, who was thinking the show would be average, started to enjoy the show, as a fan.

After "Sukie In The Graveyard", Stuart walked into the crowd. No, not while singing. He just needed to get a glass of Scotch from a bar in front of the stage, and did one and two cheers for the night. Nice try, Stuart. Nice Try.

I was surprised when they played the intro of "Another Sunny Day". I presumed they wouldn't play the song as it wasn't even on the Helsinki list, but there they were, playing my second favorite song in "The Life Pursuit". Before playing "The Boy With The Arab Strap", they did what they often do in shows, brought a group of front row crowd to the stage, to dance. Their dance? Wasn't interesting. Seriously.

The encore. I know they would do encore, because they hadn't played "Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying". And bingo, my guess were right, they played the song for the encore. To tell you, this song reminds me of high school. I mean by, really, reminds me a lot about my high school life. The last encore was "Legal Man". Not an impressive song, I thought. It seemed like they just wanted to give us a fast-tempo closing song in order we would dance. And that's it, the show is over.

Conclusion, the show was good. Exceed the expectation, but not outstanding. Let just say, the show was like throwing a bottle of water to the thirsty fans in Indonesia. A bottle for each.

Here's the complete setlist, by the way.

1. I Didn't See It Coming
2. I'm A Cuckoo
3. Step Into My Office
4. The State I Am In
5. I'm Not Living In The Real World
6. If You're Feeling Sinister
7. Sukie In The Graveyard
8. The Fox In The Snow
9. Another Sunny Day
10. Funny Little Frog
11. The Boy With The Arab Strap
12. If You Ever Find Yourself Caught In Love
13. Judy And The Dream Of Horses
14. Sleep The Clock Around

Encore

1. Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying
2. Like Dylan In The Movies
3. Legal Man
   

So, thanks for coming Belle from Glasgow, thanks for the cheers, and thanks for not tweeting about Jakarta.

photos: Khoirunnisa Wirdaningrum