Ku De Ta - Day Party Nicolas Matar

The sky is a pall of grey and a light persistent drizzle leaves dew drops on your eyelashes... You shake them clear of water and there appears before you a jostling, undulating host of high season hedonists. Children covered in paint ambush Milanese fashion designers with pump action water pistols, Hong Kong bankers throw down their platinum for crates of Moet and the creator/proprietor/resident DJ of one of New York’s hippest club, Nicolas Matar drops class house cuts to create pandemonium on the podiums…Grey day? Nah, a making hay day.

J-Cuvee - Wine & Jazz

To introduce their newly opened wine shop to the public, J Cuvee collaborated with OZ Radio which held a gathering with wine lovers and also an on air talk show on the spot about wine, where guest Mr. Ferry Aditya, the manager of J Cuvee, answered any questions about wine. There were also wine and voucher for staying at J Boutique hotel give-aways and doorprizes.

Day Dream Grand Opening

The Draw: the grand opening of the new kid on the block: Day Dream and it was ballistic. The white dress code combined with the venue’s sleek white decor made it feel like Christmas had come early. The crème de la crème of the Jakarta scene was out in force, plus a cosmopolitan mix of expats, local, jet-setters and tourists. Things really kicked off after midnight, with endless drinks and canapes heightening the revelry. A fashion show by Populo was a higlight, while the inimitable DJ Jonny kept it funky behind the decks.

Flounge - Double Event

F Lounge hosted a double whammy of parties on 15th of August. First was an outdoor session celebrating the new logo of Bandung’s groundbreaking Eat clothing line together with the launch of the debut major label outing for Jakarta band Agrikulture. After that the Maxim presented its Summer Breakout 07 party moved indoors to F-Lounge, with DJs Bimo, Mamit and Redy behind the decks. Things took a turn for the spicy with the surprise appearance of the scantily clad Maxim girls… double trouble.

Pacha - Pre Grand Opening

As a warm up before the actual grand opening, Pacha held a pre-Grand Opening last Saturday the 11th. There were sexy dancers and stilt walkers, residents Deejay Dee and Danny warmed up the decks followed by guest DJs Leon Shady (76Beat), Eric Salh (SWE) and Bali’s veteran DJ Agoeng Zen (Elektra 666).

GWK - A Mild’s Soundrenaline ‘07 Sounds of Change

Attracting more than 75.000 people, starting from 12am until 1am with more than 50 bands rocking across three stages, Soundrenaline really shook the dramatic limestone cliffs of GWK last Sunday. The concept ‘Sounds of Change’ with all those colorful designs was to encourage positive change and to shed the dark, grim images associated with this kind of hard music. But the bands rocked it hard nonetheless!! Local heroes SID and Lolot gathered large masses of loyal followers, and highly anticipated bands like PAS, Seurieus and Netral also did not disappoint. Poppy bands like Sheila on 7, Padi and Ratu also received much love from the crowd. Legendary group God Bless hypnotized the crowd with their hits ‘Rumah Kita’ (Our House) and ‘Panggung Sandiwara’ (The Stage). Gigi was last to perform, closing the show with their latest hit, ‘Nakal’ (Naughty).

MBargo - 3rd Anniversary

MBarGo has been going strong for three years now, and on August 10th they celebrated their anniversary. Hot girls at the entrance and free flow beer and daquiris on the inside greased the wheels; the regulars were all there, plus hip hop dancers, stilt walkers, a fire grinder and sexy dancers with all their shenanigans. DJ Georgia was on the one and twos with back up from Javaica percussion – but the highlight was the live freestyles from rapper Pitchblackgold who recently re-emerged after a six month stint in Macau.

Scraping for Change - Hard Rock Cafe

The performance from LA based band: Scraping for Change didn’t turn the lukewarm-windchill night into a boiling pot. They brought their rocking sound which shifted from alternative to rock to emo-esque on every single track leaving the crowd with raised eyebrows. Their loud shirts also didn’t add much to their performance. Navicula closed the night with their green grunge flavours which proved a fitting finale to a strange night...

Bali Gigs Guide : August 2007

Monday Aug 20th

Double Six
DJ Helmy

Deja Vu
Groovy Monday
With DJs Danny Jariova, Georgia and Soma. From 11pm

ESC/Sky Garden
Margarita Monday
Frozen lime margarita, glass 19k, pitchers 99k, gourmet Mexican food from 29k., plus live DJ

F Lounge
Flow
Filtering ya system with soulhouse nutrition Rizal recharges ya booty. Finger food & fresh oven pizzas till 1am nightly. From 11pm

MBarGo
Break It Off
Featuring DJs Helmy, Ye and Justen with electro percussion by Dodi From 11pm

Obsesion
Sweet Soul Music
O’line band jam some Soul-Funky beats featuring Rere and DJ Monica From 10.30pm

Syndicate
DJ Jerry

Sentosa Villas
Blossom
DJ Cozi

Tuesday Aug 21st

Double Six
DJ Dede

ESC/Sky Garden
Tuesday Night Pizza-Pasta-Ribs
25%off pizza, pasta, BBQ ribs and...mojito & sangria, glass 19k, pitchers 99k., plus live DJ

F Lounge
Female Fylosofy
A night of deep, sensitive progressive goodness bumped into bliss by Riz & friends, 2/4/1 on all roskas for the laies From 11pm-1

Hook
Ten Thou Tapas
Selected tapas @ 10k, cocktail pitchers @ 70k with DJ Alfan

MBarGo
Hip Breaks
Feat DJ, P-pen, hosted by G-Voiz, guitar combo by Dede and Diga on Vocals. From 11pm

Obsesion
Latin House Spirits
With Lio Koustyx band serving Latin grooves. From 10pm

Syndicate
DJ Jerry & Yudhi

Sentosa Villas
Blossom
DJ Kevin J

Wednesday Aug 22nd

Bahiana
Summer Dream
Just party with DJ Jonas! Nuff said! From 10pm

Bacio
Babes n Bubbles
Ladies night out with DJs Andre & Chandra, also with free one glass of champagne for first 50 ladies and 50% off for wine, cocktail and champagne for the ladies only

Double Six
DJs Nolly

F Lounge
Feliz
A new night of worldbeat fusion comprising the best of Latin, African, and Carribean rhythms hosted by lady Tasha & the dance company & spiced by DJ Mantronie & Rodzilla. 2/4/1 on all roskas for the ladies, 11-1

ESC/Sky Garden
Thousand Wings
1k per chicken wing (5 flavours) and 15k large Bintang & storm beer, plus live DJ

Hu'u
Cigars, Single Malts & Jazz
Treat your palette to a fine cigar and single malt and tantalize your ears to refreshing jazzy remakes of your favorite pop, rock and contemporary tunes as well. Enjoy eargasmic experiences from the Hu’u jazz trio and savor the finer things in life. Enjoy a single shot of Macallan 12 year old single malt & a Super Partagas cigar for 130k, 1 for 1 of the month (by the glass). From 7.45pm

MBarGo
Asphalt Jungle
DJ P-pen rockin the floor, teamed with javaica percussion jamming some serious Hiphop and tribal flavaz. From 11pm

Obsesion
The Fusion
The sound of Saharadja band, and lugubrious dancers circa midnight From 10pm

Syndicate
DJ Mike Moran (JKT)

Sentosa Villas
Blossom
DJ Niina

Thursday Aug 23rd

Bacio
DJ Andre & Chandra and Donni 1 (AUS)

Double Six
DJ Ian Carey Indonesian Tour
Representing the pumpin’ house sound, DJ Ian Carey is in the house. See Here Now

ESC/Sky Garden
Thirsty Thursday
Storm pale ale 19k, long island ice tea 29k, infusion martinis 39k, spirit bottles 75cl 299k and fresh oysters 9k., plus live DJ

F Lounge
Fetish
Kinky wet elektro & minimal house stimulated and lubricated by Damien Bernard (Le Wax, Paris) & Rizal. From 11pm

Hu'u
Cigars, Single Malts & Jazz
From 7.45pm

MBarGo
BKK Style Dancers
Flying hiphop dance performance

Obsesion
Latin n Soul
Tropical Transit bringing some Soul n Funky rhytms. From 10pm

Hook
Tequila Gila
Come and join in as Hook gets down n dirty with Mr Jose Cuervo, tequila bottles @ 250k, shot @ 15k, 5 shots for 70k. Complimentary chips n dip with every order of tequila, and Funky house/Electro by DJ Fadi (SWE). From 11pm

Syndicate
Double Trouble
Chocolate City duo DJ Malik & G Force join forces once again to bring together the best in classic bumpin’ boogidown beats. From 11pm

Friday Aug 24th

Bahiana
Boys Night Out
Fellas, it’s time to party our brains out! with Major Minor on live music and DJ spinning classic selections. From 10pm

Double Six
12 Big Bash
DJ Austin Leeds. See here now

Pacha @ Dreamland
Rachel Starr
Tons of DJs and special performance by Rachel Starr. See Here Now

Hu'u - La Temptress

The ultimate personification of the perfect diva; one with the voice of an angel and wrapped in an exquisite shell. La Temptress represents the modern female performer and entertainer at her very best- 100% gorgeous, 100%talented & 100% proof that you can indeed have your cake and eat it. Be enthralled by unforgettable performance from Carla Robles as La Temptress, will be given an opportunity to mesmerize audiences with her personal jazzanova and pop jazz take on popular tunes. Experience La Temptress, once tempted, forever remebered. From 8pm, followed by Huu Society (only on the 10th) with DJ Yuyu and Yudi on 11pm. Also Saturday

Jakarta DJ's is On The Island

On the weekend of the Indonesian Independence Day, a massive array of Jakarta DJs will once again invade our island. Everyone will be here, including big names like the following: Adhe, champion of Asia Pacific Thirst Studio Competition 2005, Naro, a veteran DJ who helped establish Jakarta’s underground house scene way back in the early 90s, Bone, Electro DJ of The Year by REDMA Awards 2007, Riri, hugely popular Jakarta veteran and founder of Spinach records, Innerlight, winner of Heineken Thirst Studio Competition 2006, Ai Moonchild, a seasoned DJ who plays in Ibiza every now and then – indeed he put out a compilation called Destination Ibiza), Romy, (you know who he is….! And that’s just to name a few. The new generation is here in force too - DJs like Electric Barbarellas, a sexy female duo who won the Best Junior DJ & Best Female DJ by REDMA AWARDS 2007, Best Rookie DJ 2006 by Paranoia, and voted Best Local Performance DJ 2006 at Dejavu-Bali in The Beat Awards, The Freaks (a live PA sensation, with tracks already featured in a newcomer CD compilation by Johnny Walker), Bimo, part of 1945FM under the management of DJ Romy, and resident at Black Pearl, Marcell runner up at the Pioneer Pro DJ national competition and many many more. I mean, we wonder who the hell is going to play in Jakarta?? Check out the What’s On section for details of when and where.

Double Six - Famous Party

A brand new incarnation of the absolutely massive Two Tribes party back in 2005, Famous brings Sydney’s superclub to Bali for one night only. Headlining is Grant Smillie, one half of internationally successful studio project TV Rock. Smillie and partner Ivan Gough hit the stratosphere with their record breaking first single, “Flaunt It” – selling 160,000 units. Their debut album Sunshine City was released soon after to much acclaim and their follow up single The Others with Dukes of Windsor rode the top spot in the dance charts for 12 weeks. Smillie was voted Victoria’s NO.1 DJ in the Technics inthemix DJ poll – he’s also an ambassador for Pioneer Pro DJ gear as well as co-owning the Bimbo Rock record label. Definitely expect a big room beats extravaganza from this guy. Another big name will be DJ Johannes Gerhard, who’s been playing dates at Sky Garden in Kuta. The Vancouver DJ and owner of label Challenged Recordings is a fixture on the US East Coast, with a strong fan base drawn to his high octane blend of house vocals, tribal beats and big room anthems. He’s played alongside everyone from Tiefschwarz to Nick Warren to Danny Howells and tours regularly, while holding down a residency at Blueprint in Vancouver. Add to this a swath of DJs including Naro, Serotonin, Reynald, XLP, Harlze and many more and we’re all set for one of the biggest parties of the year, across three venues – Double Six, Syndicate and Bacio - both indoors and outdoors.

Junction Bali Dance Music Festival

Now in its 3rd year, the dance music festival that turned this island back onto house music returns with no less than six events across five venues over the course of one week. Here’s a taste of what’s to come…

Pippi
DJ Pippi is one of the mainstays of the seminal Balearic sound that sprang from Ibiza. If it wasn’t for the likes of him, Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold et al might never have emerged from their hep-cat rare groove phase and the UK might never have known house. He helms the world famous “Undiscovered Ibiza” mix series – just a few of the 27 compilations he’s put out (never mind the 41 productions and 18 remixes) over his 17 year career, as well as spinning all over the world. www.djpippi.com

Marques Wyatt
When it comes to deep, soulful house, Marquess Wyatt is the West Coast’s guardian. The L.A based DJ/Producer was largely responsible to switching the West on to the music that had taken root in New York and Chicago, planted by the likes of Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles. That was way back in the eighties. These days, his club, DEEP, is pretty much a West Coast institution hosting some of the hottest DJs in the house scene. This is the realness. House music with soul. www.deep-la.com

Nicolas Matar
Last year, Nicolas Matar was one of the mainstays of the Junction, Bali. As those who heard his sets last year can attest, he has a penchant for deep, vocal house, NY Garage and classics. You could look at him sort of like an East Coast counterpart of Wyatt – he owns and plays at Cielo Club, one of the homes of quality house music in New York, renowned for its impeccable sound system and proper house credentials – after all, Francois K is one of the three residents. www.cieloclub.com

Seiji
DJ Seiji is one of the founder members of UK broken beat collective Bugz in the Attic and a prolific producer and remixer of innovative electronic music. He’s worked under a range of monikers, but whatever he calls himself you can be assured of deep, soulful drummatic flavours. He recently produced Roisin Murphy’s new solo album and continues to put out soulful house under the name Homecookin’ London stylee people.
www.myspace.com/seijimusic

Rounding off the line up are DJ B out of Singapore and one of the pioneers of house in Jakarta, DJ Anton, cohorts Hogi and Cream, Kudeta’s Donni One plus Mamsa and Downey.

Saturday 11 August – Kudeta – Day Party DJs Nicolas Matar & Donni One
Thursday 16 August – Niksoma Hotel – Sunset Party 1500 - 2200 DJs Nicolas Matar, Pippi, Anton 200k
Thursday 16 August – F-Lounge – Night Party 2300 – 0600 DJs Seiji and Cream 50k
Friday 17 August – Sentosa – Sunset Party 1400 -2200 DJs Marques Wyatt & Hogi 150k
Friday 17 August – F Lounge – Night Party 2300 – 0600 DJs Downey & Marques Wyatt 50k
Saturday 18 August – Daydream – Sunset Party 1600 – 0300 - DJs Pippi, Seiji, Anton 150k

Obsesion - Black & White FunkadeMix

Black and White funkademix, truly serve the perfectly blend of fun. With some important essence of sexy dancers, live bands by Fantuzzi, The Flexyble and Thunder band, chased by the mixture of Electro funk & RnB groove presented by DJ K the latino maestre

Ku De Ta - Annual Birtday Celebration

Ku De Ta’s annual birthday celebration proved to be a grand occasion once again. For Seven years now Ku De Ta has maintained a privileged position as the venue that others aspire to, as the KDT team continues to build the brand, concept and quality to share with the rest of the world. Ex Noiseworks and INXS front man John Martyn returned for an encore performance, flurries of snow-foam rained around, while the chic and the fabulous cut rugs on the specially erected stage in front of the swimming pool. Another groundbreaking year for everyone’s favorite Belle on the beachfront.

Double Six - Trance Fever

Local trance hero Helmy got the crowd warmed up before headliner DJ Jonas (Holland) came on at 4am. His well produced ecstatic trance kept the crowd going strong until 5am in the morning before a sudden torrential downpour slowed things down. After that minor glitch it turned out to be a heavy night and the Belgium DJ closed the show at 6.30am.

ESC & Sky Garden - 1st Anniversary

It’s rise on the Kuta scene has been meteoric and we mean that literally as well as figuratively. ESC & Sky Garden have helped redefine the Kuta landscape, with their upward reaching, multilevel food and entertainment concept. The anniversary celebrations were off the chain, with special guest out of Vancouver, Johannes Gerhard joining regulars Andy Deluxe and Brent Burns on the one and twos, while Orange Productions flipped flames. Reaching for the skies, people.

Syndicate - Grand Opening

Replacing the old Papparazi lounge, the groovy urban Syndicate held a grand opening last Thursday. The entrance was lined with pimped out cars and guests were greeted with free flow beer, wine, champagne and tapas. There was also a summer fashion show by Mooks and Rusty, fireshow and DJs XLP, Mikey Moran, Patricia and Jerry were behind the decks, dropping oldskool alongside nuskool - Grandmaster Flash to Sir Mixalot to T.I to Michael Jackson. A new hotspot, no doubt.

Hu'u - DJ Brendon P

DJ Brendon P, one of the mainstays of Singapore’s house scene since the early days, was in Bali once again for an encore night of deep house, classics and other assorted soulful delights. The long serving Zouk resident had the dance floor jumping like he does till the wee hours.

Kudos - 4th Anniversary

Celebrating 4 years of non-stop fabulous entertainment, Kudos marked their anniversary with a night full of fantastic performances from the venue’s divas and go go dancers. The packed room stepped lively throughout to the DJs non-stop selection of hits. Happy Birthday, Kudos!

Kama Sutra - Rosa - July 2007

She may be petite in stature, but Indonesian diva Rossa can belt it out like the best of them. Performing the headline slot in front of a 75% capacity crowd, she wowed her fans with hits ranging from the smooth, tear jerker ”Aku Bukan Untukmu” (I’m Not for You) to the up tempo “Pudar” (Faded). Judging from the luke warm response to warm up newcomer act Intan Nuraeni, it appeared that Rossa was definitely the pull that night.

F Lounge - Fort Knox Five

JohnH of Washington nu-funkateers Fort Knox Five threw down a set of genre busting break beats that was tighter than…well, Fort Knox really. Every DJ likes to proclaim how eclectic they are in their tastes, but JohnH managed to keep a seamless flow that ventured from obscure rock to classic soul to hip hop to funk and back again. Half the time you couldn’t tell which were the originals and which had some added bottom end. No matter, the floor was filled. Stellar.

Hard Rock Cafe Bali - Samson

We predicted last edition that this event would be a crowd magnet and it was. Fans start to fill the venue from 9pm to watch the second performance of the Samsons’s promo tour for their sophomore album “Penantian Hidup”. The opening show by local band: Panglima, didn’t ignite anything, but as soon as The Samsons took the stage, the fuse was lit and ready to blow. They played the gamut from classics to new gear, including “Kenangan Terindah” (Sweetest Memory) and “Kisah Tak Sempurna” (Imperfect Story). We enjoyed the atmosphere of pop-rock romance and the photo shoot session, right until lead singer Bam’s girlfriend Nia showed up to take some photos of her boy…with a bouncer at her side!

Double Six - Sandra Collins & Vella Virkhaus

World Renowned DJ Sandra Collins and moving image master Vella Virkhaus put together a mind boggling audiovisual performance at Double Six. With a huge screen hanging behind the booth featuring constantly changing images of everything from dragons to strange figures to anime style scenarios and abstract patterns, in tune with Sandra’s smooth, progressive flow. Pushing envelopes.

MBarGo - Escape From Alcatraz

A squad of cute dancers dressed in skimpy law enforcements outfits and sporting plastic firearms danced across the MBarGo bar as MC G-Voiz (himself dressed as an undercover narc in Kevlar vest) kept things live on the mic while DJ Gust kept it going on the floor with his bombastic hip hop beats. Stilt walkers and free flow Bintang sealed the deal for what was an arresting night of raucous fun. Ring the alarm!

July 12th 2007

The Wave - Chainbreaking Bulldozer

A massive event strictly for the hardcore, with Australian band Last Warning headlining as part of their “Chainbreaking Bulldozer” SE Asia promo tour. Jakarta Painkiller was a stand, with Tasha’s guttaral scream putting her predecessor’s attempted devil howls into the shade. Dji Hard and Suicidal Sinatra both set the scene. Last warning got the mosh pit moshing with the shoulder length hair doing 360’s everywhere you looked. Heavy.

July 11th 2007