"JKT48 Horas" Concert Report

Previously JKT48 held concerts in 5 big cities in Indonesia. A week ago, they started to do concert again. Last week's was in Batam. JKT48 held the concert on 19 October 2013 in Medan, North Sumatera, and I got the chance to watch, also to report it here.

Setlist:

M01 - Aitakatta
M02 - Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara ~Karena Kusuka Dirimu~
M03 - Kiss Shite Son Shichatta ~Rugi Sudah Dicium~
M04 - Baby! Baby! Baby!
-----MC-----
M05 - Gomen nee, Summer! ~Maafkan, Summer!~
M06 - Tenshi no Shippo ~Ekor Malaikat~
M07 - Tsundere!
-----MC-----
M08 - Kuroi Tenshi ~Malaikat Hitam~
M09 - Junjou Shugi ~Prinsip Kesucian Hati~
M10 - Manatsu no Christmas Rose ~Mawar Natal Musim Panas~
-----MC-----
M11 - RIVER
M12 - Oogoe Diamond ~Teriakan Berlian~
M13 - Ponytail to Shushu
-----MC-----
M14 - Yuuhi wo Miteiru ka? ~Apakah kau melihat mentari senja?~
-----ENCORE-----
EN1 - Koisuru Fortune Cookie ~Fortune Cookie Yang Mencinta~
EN2 - First Rabbit
EN3 - Heavy Rotation
EN4 - Hikoukigumo ~Jejak Awan Pesawat~

I can't definitely say the members performing the songs, because I can't clearly see since I didn't get the VIP seat and also the camera didn't do any good.

There are some critiques that surface from Medan wotas. On the promotional banner, it is stated that the gate will be opened on 16.00 WIB (Medan Standard Time). Honestly, since I'm so excited that JKT48 will be coming to Medan, I came at exactly 16.00 WIB. To my surprise, the gate hasn't been opened yet. So, I and my little sister decided to wait for my friends to arrive. I thought that maybe the gate will open in 17.00. So I waited a bit. Because the gate hasn't been opened yet, and my legs are getting tired for standing for a good 2 hours, I sit on the floors of the plaza and of course the other wotas. And around 18.50 WIB they started to make a line to get in. I got the place at the middle. The good thing that happened here was that they asked that women & children should go at the front. So I joined the others at the front. And there I was waiting for a good 1.5 hours. My leg started to worn out. Well, around 19.00 WIB they started to check our belongings, and allowed us to get in.

I thought that after everybody got in, the concert will start in 5 minutes. But in fact, we wait again for 30 minutes - 45 minutes. Its so unprofessional that JKT48's music video are played again and again. After waiting, they played the video with information about the member that is performing. And again I thought that after that video the concert will directly start, but we wait again. After the video, the machine on the stage sprayed some smoke. and all people thought that the concert will start soon. But they did that 2 times or more and the concert didn't start too.

People (and me too) started to do the chanting. We called "JKT48!" again and again until they appeared. And so after 10 minutes chanting, finally Stella started the show. During the first song, Aitakatta, Nabilah and Shania didn't appear for a while. To my surprise, Nabilah and Shania appeared and is carried using a motorcycle. Its totally hilarious. Then the song continue until the MC.

During the first MC, everyone presented themselves, and they made some change, "All of them must say "Horas!" (Note : Horas is "Halo" in Bataknese, Bataknese is the main tribe in Medan) and let the wotas see which of them has the most attractive pose. They do various movements, Nadila did some dance, Kinal too. Haruka can't say the "Horas!" correctly. So after the members introduce themselves, the topic of the first MC was hilarious too. It is really the "Team J Legendary MCs".

Then during Tenshi no Shippo, its so cute, they're costume are great. Their costume are totally at my favor. Then, when they performed Tsundere!, they act so cool I can't help but chant along with other wotas. After Tsundere!, they did MC again, but I didn't really remember what they talked about that time. The only thing I remember is that Ghaida joined the MC, she stood out a lot.

After the MC, they performed Kuroi Tenshi, I was totally amazed. Melody performed perfectly. The only thing I want to criticize at this point is that how could the song stopped in the middle. The song suddenly stopped and they also stopped dancing. They said that maybe there are some technical mistakes there. But that was a total shame. I'm really disappointed at that time, but the music started again and I continue the chanting. After Kuroi Tenshi, it was Junjou Shugi, Haruka's costume was a very unique costume.

During the MC before RIVER, I didn't remember what are they saying, I didn't hear it clearly. The only thing I remembered is that they are talking about their past, asking is it the first time they came to Medan and so on. And then the other members appeared on the stage and they start performing RIVER. During RIVER, everybody was totally excited. The chanting are far more louder than before, and of course, since the song is making everybody hyped, the chantings are so loud, until I have to maximize my voice to be on par.

Oogoe Diamond is also fantastic. Then during Ponytail to Shushu, that's the only song where my chanting is not as confident as before. I don't remember some parts of this song. Then they did MC again. During the MC they mentioned about the song after the MC will be the last song. Everybody sighed heavily at the same time. That sure made me laugh. Then they performed Yuuhi wo Miteru ka?. Its a nice song brought by them. But they need to enhance they're tempo and teamwork so their dance works much better.

The wotas are not satisified, they chanted "ENCORE!" so loud. I joined too, and I didn't lose out to other wotas of course. The encore chant goes straight for around 4-5 minutes. Before the members got out, they showed a video about the dance cover of Koisuru Fortune Cookie, made by the members of Team KIII. The language uses Bataknese accent, it made me laugh so hard. And then, the members got to the stage using the official clothes for this concert, with word "JKT48 Horas!". Then everybody was asked to stand. They sang Koisuru Fortune Cookie, wotas also followed, but mainly only the VIP seats. We in the middle and the back seats didn't really follow lol.

The part during encore is the most exciting part, because everybody is so hyped up. During the last song, Hikoukigumo, the others are hyped up, but I didn't really know this song, so I just follow the chanting lol.

The only thing left to said is that JKT48 Operation Team should make a clear information about the time of the concert next time. Its really tiring for wotas to wait for 3-4 hours.

Read more ...

Melos' Report on JKT48 Theater Shows 25~26 May 2013

Last weekend I finally had the chance to fly to Jakarta again with a couple of friends to watch JKT48. It hasn't even been 2 months since I became a fan of JKT48 on my previous visit but I already couldn't wait to go back, and I grabbed the first opportunity that I could. As I'm still in the army, my leave is very limited so I had to wait until the Vesak Day holiday in Singapore on Friday to minimize my leave usage.

Unlike my first trip where there were only JKT48 Trainee shows, this time round there were both Team J's [Renai Kinshi Jourei] stage on Saturday, 25 May, as well as JKT48 Trainees' new stage [Boku no Taiyou] on Sunday, 26 May. Unfortunately the noon Team J show was women and children only, so I have to base my report on just the 1 evening show.

But before I start with the stage report, I need to mention that my knowledge of Bahasa Indonesia has not improved since my last visit. At most I have learnt a few new words.


Team J 2nd Stage [Renai Kinshi Jourei]
Date: 25 May 2013
Performers:
Ayana Shahab, Beby Chaesara Anadila, Cindy Gulla, Frieska Anastasia Laksani, Gabriela Margareth Warouw, Ghaida Farisya, Haruka Nakagawa, Jessica Vania, Jessica Veranda, Melody Nurramdhani Laksani, Nabilah Ratna Ayu Azalia, Rena Nozawa, Rica Leyona, Sendy Ariani, Shania Junianatha, Stella Cornelia

Songs
As always, I had a hard time getting used to change in language. I have been listening to the original Japanese version since it came out so during the show I kept singing along with the Japanese lyrics lol. Another thing that took some adapting to was the different chanting style unique to the JKT48 wotas. For example in Japan, the wotas don't chant to songs like Nagai Hikari and JK Nemurihime. But it was a good change and certainly livened up the show.

MCs
Team J's MCs were also fun and hillarious. The "Legendary Team J MCs" that everyone says they are famous for certainly lived up to it's name for me, even if half of the MC was Haruka laughing. She kept stealing the show with her childishness and her inability to pronounce properly in Bahasa Indonesia (the Rs and Ls etc). For example when asked what movie she would like to star in, she replied Iron man, but she pronounced it as the Indonesian "ayo man" (come on, man), causing a great confusion and when the rest of the members finally realized what she meant and corrected her, she broke into a laughing fit for a good 5 mins. This happened during 2 MCs. I was amazed at how much Bahasa Indonesia Haruka has learnt already. She's speaking almost naturally now. Keep up the good work Haruka.

Luckily for me that day, I had the pleasure of seating on the 3rd row together with Richardson of JKT48stuff, who helped translate bits and pieces of the MC to me so I didn't fell left out. I can't remember most of the content but I do remember that during one of the MCs Haruka said she wanted a documentary of JKT48 movie, to the approval of the whole audience. Then she added that she wanted to be the producer, cameramen and at the same time star in the movie. Hahaha. On the same topic, Gaby also said that she wanted JKT48 to have a Cafe & Shop just like what AKB48 has. I think that will take off quite well if that wish is ever realized.

Members
I have to admit that even though JKT48/Team J has been out for over a year already, I haven't been paying much attention to them, until my previous trip where I saw the trainees. At most I watched a couple of videos of them, but none really caught my interest. All my friends that have watched JKT48 have a favourite member in Team J, so I was left out as the only member of the group who had a Trainee oshi, but I blamed that on the face that I haven't seen Team J in person.

I went to the show looking forward to finally finding a Team J oshimen, but I left the show empty handed with my feelings stronger for Rona.

Now don't get me wrong, the members are damn good. They can sing great and dance even better. In particular, Stella, Jeje and Beby impressed me the most. Stella sang the opening line in Nagai Hikari and her vocal prowess is unmatched compared to the other members. Both she and Beby rocked Renai Kinshi Jourei. And Jeje gave Kuroi Tenshi a new level of sexiness that I have never seen before when AKB48 performed it in Singapore.

But something was missing. Somehow I couldn't find that connection with the members that I felt with Rona when I first saw her. Maybe I'm not destined to find a favorite in Team J yet? I realized that finding an oshimen is not as easy as it seems, and appreciate the bond that I found with Rona.

Final Verdict
I had really high hopes on this stage from all the comments and tweets about my previous report watching the trainee stage, but somehow I came out underwhelmed. I'm not sure what was lacking, but it definitely wasn't the members. They showed off their vocal and dance and i'm definitely impressed when it came to that department. Nor was it the MCs, as stated above. Could it be the stage set list itself? Me and my friends agree that compared to Pajama Drive, Renai Kinshi Jourei is more laid back and for, quote "relaxing on the beach on a summer afternoon". If that's the case, then I would say that Pajama Drive would be more like "teenage fun" with it's high number of energetic and cheerful songs. If only I was here to watch Team J's Pajama Drive stage, but that's too late now.

Though I sometimes feel left out when my friends speak of the early days of JKT48 where the members can tweet personally with you etc, and how I missed out the best times of Team J, I am convinced that is not the case. I know for sure that I have yet to see the best that my oshimen Rona have yet to offer and I am certain she is well capable of reaching new heights not seen before.

Wait a minute isn't it too early to say that? I haven't even talked about the JKT48 Trainee stages. Let's get straight to that shall we. LOL


JKT48 Trainee 2nd Stage [Boku no Taiyou]
Date: 26 May 2013
Performers:
Alicia Chanzia, Cindy Yuvia, Della Delila, Intar Putri Kariina, Jennifer Hanna, Jennifer Rachel Natasya, Lidya Maulida Djuhandar, Nadila Cindi Wantari, Natalia, Noella Sisterina, Ratu Vienny Fitrilya, Riskha Fairunissa, Rona Anggreani, Shinta Naomi, Thalia, Viviyona Apriani

JKT48 Trainees held the Senshuuraku (final performance) for their previous [Pajama Drive] stage just earlier this month. If I didn't fly over on my previous trip, I would have missed out possibly the best stage that JKT48 has to offer. Yet even though I was sad that I could not see Pajama Drive again, at the same time it was an amazing experience to see a new stage that hasn't been polished yet. Not that the members weren't doing badly, in fact they were great but I noticed they were still fine-tuning the dance moves.

This was my first time in two months reuniting with the Trainees. Unfortunately for this trip, I only won the Super Far seats for yesterday's Team J show (even though I requested for Team Trainee Super Far tickets lol) so I had to settle with General tickets. That didn't go well either because for both shows bingo we were called in last and had to stand at the back. This was fine for 1 show but after 2 in a row my leg started to cramp.

Noon Show
I'm going to skip the report for the 1st show, because to put it bluntly majority of the audience wasn't really there. They were just sitting there not doing anything, their lightsticks turned on but on their laps not their hands. One guy near me was even sitting down mid-performance, in the standing area! Granted it was a new stage so I can understand if there isn't any chanting, but even during the self introductions the audience were generally silent. Hell, my friend's cheers were louder then everyone else. It was only until Lay Down that the crowd finally got lively.

Fan interaction works both ways. If the girls sees such a lackluster crowd, they won't see the need to give it their all. And that was exactly what I saw. After 4 or so songs their dancing was getting slack. I'm not asking you to know the chants to every song or shout all the members' names, because frankly I don't know even half of the members or chants. But the least you could do is show the girls that your interested in what's going on.

Night Show
The 2nd show was a big improvement over the first. And as a bonus, it was Acha's birthday show. This was unknown to me and the rest of my group so we were lucky to have applied and won the show. Because it was her birthday show, she ended up being the subject of all the MCs. One of the MC topics was "talk about the other members", but in the end all of them just talked about Acha lol. It was amusing seeing Acha getting mocked during her birthday show. Sadly since they were trainees, there wasn't any birthday cake for Acha in the end.

Songs
Boku no Taiyou stage was exactly what I expected it to be. Earlier I mentioned that Renai Kinshi Jourei is for "relaxing on a beach" and Pajama Drive would be "teenage fun". Boku no Taiyou is about the same as Pajama Drive but a little less "teenage fun" and a lot more "raging hormones", courtesy of none other than Lay Down.

Lay down is definitely the highlight of the stage for many. After all who wouldn't appreciate girls in leather touching each other suggestively, acting rowdy and headbanging? Luckily it wasn't censored like many thought it would because of its gaudy lyrics. But that's not actually my favorite song, that would go to Boku no Taiyou. It's just such a happy song that I ended up dancing along with the members during the show, not just the hands but the body too. I'm sorry if I hit anybody while I was dancing lol.

Dreamin' Girls was one of the songs that I wanted to see live ever since I first heard it. How many times do you ever see an idol group sing A Cappella? Unfortunately it wasn't by the original Himawari-gumi members, but the Indonesian version still lived up to my expectations. The girls managed to pull it off without any noticeable off keys. Great job girls.

Members
Well you know what I'm going to say right?
Rona was amazing during Boku to Juliet to Jet coaster. When the stage first debuted, a lot of people tweeted to me about how perfect she was in the unit, and when when I saw it for myself I could only say that they were damn right. She really feels like a young Oshima Yuko. Everytime I see her she never fails to amaze me, even when I'm all the way at the back of the theater.

Acha was also shining that night and managed to grab my attention away from Rona quite a few times even during Boku to Juliet to Jet Coaster. After all it's her birthday show, she would want to give it her all. Rachael and Della were faboulous during Himawari, and despite not being the center 2 members for that unit I think they outshone them.

I'm sorry that I don't have much else to say about the rest of the members, but I'm still unfamiliar with most of JKT48. I think another trip to the Theater is needed to get to know more members :D

Final Verdict
I always regarded the Himawari-gumi stages to be the best stages that Akimoto Yasushi ever produced, with a good balance between cute, relaxing, and fierce songs, and I still think that. The girls still have some work to do to match up to their Japanese counterpart, but the stage is still new and like I said earlier they are still fine-tuning the steps. The next time I go there around September, their performances should be much better, and so will I when it comes to JKT48 members.

Read more ...

AKB48 at Tokyo Auto Salon Singapore, April 12th and 13th

16 members from AKB48 were invited to Tokyo Auto Salon Singapore 2013, which took place on April 12, 2013 and lasted 3 days.  They held Meet and Greet sessions the 12th and the 13th, and a mini concert on 13th.

Singapore is relatively close to Hong Kong (where I live), but airfare isn't always affordable for a short trip like this one, especially during weekends.  However I was blessed with red-eye flights that normal vacationers avoided, so it ended up being very cheap.  Hotel cost was eliminated when one of the Singaporean fans said I could crash at his house on Friday night.

Read more ...

Melos' Report on JKT48 Trainee Performance 130330

I (Melos) flew over to Jakarta the past weekend with a couple of other Singaporean friends to watch a JKT48 theater show. Being in the army now, I am not allowed the freedom I previously had to chase idols, but I was presented with a chance last weekend due to the Good Friday holiday to finally travel over to Jakarta and finally catch JKT48.

When my friends and I found out that there was only shows on Saturday for the whole weekend, we were in dismay, especially that it was a Trainee show. Of the 6 of us, 3 have seen a JKT48 theater show previously and their oshimens were in Team J. However the flights were already booked and we went forward with the plan.

I must state that I don't understand any Bahasa Indonesia. This is also my first time watching a JKT48 performance live or hearing any AKB48 stage song remade in Bahasa Indonesia. That was kinda strange at the start but eventually I got used to it.

---

JKT48 Trainee Pajama Drive Stage
30 March 2013
14:00 / 19:00

Performing members:
Alicia Chanzia, Cindy Yuvia, Della Delila, Dena Siti Rohyati, Dwi Putri Bonita, Jennifer Rachel Natasya, Lidya Maulida Djuhandar, Natalia, Noella Sisterina, Novinta Dhini, Octi Sevpin, Ratu Vienny Fitrilya, Rona Anggreani, Sinka Juliani, Thalia Ivanka Elizabeth, Viviyona Apriani


One of my friends applied for Super Enpou tickets for us but it was only until later that we found out that he could only get one Super Enpou seat for the whole trip. We thus applied for Far tickets but lost for both. Luckily we managed to win the General tickets but that meant we had to leave it to luck for our seating positions.

And for the first stage we were sitting all the way at the back, just before the standing area. It was a huge disappointment but now that I think of it it wasn't so bad. Since it was the first time for all of us to watch the trainees it gave us a broad perspective and a chance to get to know the members more before picking who we liked. Getting to know 16 members from scratch was difficult but in particular Rona caught my attention for most of the show. My friends also found a liking to Alicia, Della, Dena, Dwi and Noella.

Rona caught my eye from the start, even though most of the time she was on the opposite side of the stage (we were seating on the left back of the theater and she was mostly on the right side). That girl just sparkles like a gem. Although I was trying to look at every member evenly I kept being drawn back to her. I have a feeling she will be one of the center figures for JKT48's Team K when it finally forms. As for the other performing members, I was equally impressed by them. I have seen AKB48 and their sister groups perform before in Singapore and I have to say even though they are only trainees who debuted 3 months ago, they definitely can hold our on their own.

The fan chants came as a culture shock to me. Usually for slow songs you don't shout the MIX but in Indonesia the fans shout it for almost every song. And apart from the usual tigerfirecyber... There was also urya-oi which you might hear in other idol groups but not AKB48, as well as other stuff I didn't catch. It took some time adjusting but eventually I got the hang of it and I had a fun time.

For the 2nd show, we were extremely lucky and managed to get the front row seats. I have never ever gotten a front row view for any of the AKB48 performances in Singapore and so I was quite excited. Even better when the stage lights finally came on and Rona was standing right in front of me. In the words of my friend, I was seduced perfectly by her. Hook, Line, Sinker. I didn't expect to choose anyone on my first trip but I think what I experienced was enough to call her my Oshimen already. I hurriedly wrote a her a letter right after the show and I hope the staff did pass it to her. I apologise for the biased-ness of this post towards Rona but she did make a huge impact on me.


Now lets get on to more serious stuff.
In the second MC of the 2nd show (the one right after the unit songs) Dena suddenly fainted. There was no warning whatsoever, she just dropped onto the floor.

At first most people thought it was part of a joke. Before she fainted 3 other girls were doing a manly rendition of Tenshi no Shippo and even for me who didn't understand anything I thought it was lolwtf. And then Dena fell down. You know, like how those Japanese comedians "fall down" when the joke is so bad. But when she didn't move after a while even after the members prodded her, the whole mood of the theater changed. Fans started shouting Dena's name and eventually a staff member carried her backstage.

The rest of the girls continued the MC after that as if nothing happened but it was obvious that they too were worried about Dena. She didn't appear for the rest of the songs after that and was replaced at times by another trainee. Instead of the usual encore chant, this time the fans shouted Dena's name to call her back out but still there were no news about her. Ultimately at the final goodbye she reappeared back out on stage but had to be supported by 2 other girls. She explained to us that she wasn't feeling well at the start of the show but decided to continue performing for her fans.

Seriously man that scared the shit out of me. You hear about these stuff happening to AKB48 members once in a while but to see it right in front of your eyes is a whole different thing. If not for her appearing on stage at the last moment I don't think any of us could have left the Theater in a happy mood. Please girls take care of yourselves. Making us happy is important to you but we can't be happy if something happens to you girls. I wish all the best to Dena to recover so she can get back in stage soon.


Points to improve upon:
Their current bingo system is quite unorganized. Shortly before the bingo starts, The fans will just start crowding outside the theater. The is no indication to to where which number stands at, everyone is just standing everywhere. Furthermore the man announcing the numbers sometimes doesn't get heard by those standing towards the back. And finally if you might miss your number and not even know it because there is no record of the numbers called.
My suggestion would be to tape the floor with lines so the people with a certain number will be attending together. The announcer could use a megaphone and maybe they could type the numbers into the screen to reference.

The sound system was quite bad too, often the music was too loud and drowned the girls' singing. My hearing didn't feel right after I left the theater, I think I partially lost my hearing on my left ear for a while. The rest is just minor technical difficulties like the music getting cut for a few seconds. I could be unlucky for that day though because I was told it was new sound engineer.


Final thoughts
Other than that, I had a blast for the whole show. As I said earlier, I was quite impressed by the quality of the performance the JKT48 trainees provided. I was told by my friend that there is still a large gap between Team J members and the Trainees. If that is true then I can't wait to see them next time I go back to Jakarta maybe in May. But personally I think they are already ready to compete with the main Team J. I hope Team K gets formed soon and the girls get their own stage because they really deserve it. Thank you JKT48 Trainees for the awesome weekend. It will be a memory I will treasure.


P.S.
I was told that Rona was from the outskirts of Jakarta and for her to perform in JKT48 she had to move in to those one-room apartments. She said before in some MC that her apartment doesn't have an air con or even a fridge. So my friends and I have came up with this fabulous idea that is the #FridgeForRonaFund and the #AirconForRonaFund. Please make this a tending topic in Twitter.

Read more ...