Finally got the registration thing done yesterday. Apparently I'll be sharing a class with over 60 other students. Yikes. Ah well, more sleep for me, then...
Later on, went to this Beatles thing at The Beat, Kemang, with Jamal and Sayed. Fifty thousand rupiahs seemed a bit a steep, but it made more sense than shelling out the same amount to watch a Radiohead tribute. At least we'd be having fun, right? Well...
Lessons learnt:
1. Don't show up on time. After getting there roughly on time (around 7), it turns out it was still empty. After waiting a bit, had something to eat outside by the road, and almost got decapitated by flying glass after a Kijang parked on top of a bottle that was supposed to weigh down the canopy of where were sitting. Went back inside, and we had to endure the house band cranking out all the usual cafe standards for over an hour. Torture. The Beatles thing finally started just before 10...
2. Some people were already alive when The Beatles were still around. Based on Sunday's experience, I assumed it was going to be filled with people roughly my age, including the band. When they finally took to the stage, I was like, "God, who are these middle-aged men?" Though I guess the other audience members should've tipped us off. We were like the youngest people there, excluding the other people's kids and grandkids (who looked bored to be there anyway). Luckily one of the members from the band at Aksara was there, so it added a youthful element to proceedings.
3. Stay away from all Beatles-related events that have Agus Vega's name attached to it. It was written on the marquee: "Featuring Jakarta Beatles Club and Agus 'The Lennons' Vega". Naturally, what came to mind was, "Who the hell is Agus 'The Lennons' Vega?" In a nutshell: an all-around overbearing irritant with a hard-on for ol' John. To be fair, he had a good voice and was pretty nifty on the piano. But God, was he annoying. I don't know what he was supposed to be: the MC? The guy who ran the show? What's certain is that he was trying too bloody hard to be an entertainer, trying to get everyone to sing along. He hogged all the "big" songs, wrecking most of them with his "improvisations". He also insisted on doing Lennon songs. I paid 50 thousand for Beatles, not John Bloody Lennon. And who ends the show with 'Mother', anyway? And then there was his attempts at "educating" the crowd with Beatles trivia. Now who in their right mind would even been there if they didn't already know all that? To their credit, the middle-aged band were game in letting Mr. Vega indulge himself, but you could tell they would give anything to have him bugger off. There were occasions when they would just go straight into the next song (along with the guy I saw at Aksara, I think his band was called Beatmania), and the Lennon-wannabe would just sit there all pissed off like the kid everyone picked last for hide-and-seek.
Ah well, it wasn't a total disappointment. At least I got to shout several requests to the band, and practically every song was a sing-along moment. Except for the bit where they decided to get smarmy and play "unreleased" songs. Even 'Revolution 9' would've got a warmer reception than those. Anyway, I haven't gone off the concept of Beatles events. I just have to be more selective, that's all.
