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