An Escapee With Architecture In Helsinki

Just finished their show in Big Day Out Festival in Australia and Mosaic Music Festival in Singapore, Architecture In Helsinki were brought to Jakarta by Beyond Prod on March 10th 2012. This concert in Jakarta is their last show after touring through Europe, USA, and Australia.

Before getting to the “main course”, Bottlesmoker warmed up the crowd with their sort of cooling down session yet energetic. Showed up with an unusual costume(Angkuy wore an astronaut/space suit and Nobie wore an Indian hat), this duo from Bandung played some of their top notch tracks, such as Frozen Scratch Cerulean, Boredom & Freedom, and Slow Mo Smile. Using a custom and toy musical instrument, they produced a lick of tunes that you might have never heard before. When they performed Saturday Love, you could just veg out on the couch (just in case if you found one at Fairgrounds haha) and listen to the sound from bells which was very comforting. If you glimpsed to the screen or even really paid an attention to it, you could see an artwork drew by a french artist, Sebastian. Couple of days ago, we heard through the grapevine that Bottlesmoker are going to have mini tour in Thailand and Vietnam, and they officially declared it before they ended their performance with a song tittled Le Voyage.

Right at 10.00 PM, Architecture In Helsinki started showing their appearance on stage. Began the show with a song from their latest album, Desert Island, the crowd was heated up. Followed by HoldMusic, Like It Or Not, and Souvenirs, we jiggled and danced to the beat. The band which also have done some tours with Death Cab For Cutie and The Go-Betweens, teared Fairgrounds down when they played one of their meanest hits, That Beep. The thing that was very very interesting to be seen is their signature synchronised dance. So Cameron, Gus, Kelly, and Jamie danced synchronously to the song. Getting more heated with their performance, AIH kept “forcing” us to dance like there’s no tomorrow especially when they played their hook, Escapee. This song is mostly known because it is also featured in game FIFA 2012. And the party doesnt end on there yet, the crowd who was been shook by about 8 songs seemed like just got fueled up their dancing engine when IT’ 5 hit them.

Another interesting way that they used to refresh us is they kept switching their formations in every three or four songs, so you would see Sam standing in the spotlight and in the next song Gus is there! (well, if you wonder how they did it, it had nothing to do with magic, and how come that thoughts cross your mind haha). And then, they performed a cover of Kim Carness’ hit, Bette Davis Eyes and then followed by Contact High. They wrapped up the night with two songs for the encore. Heart It Races and Maybe You Can Owe me, the song that is taken from their second album which was chosen as The Best New Music on Pitchfork.com.

If you are an avid fan of new wave music, this is the show that you should not be missed. Their latest album which was four years in the making giving you a listen of their nicest effort in doing music. And also the concert gave us a jubilant performance and succeed to make us busting a move . Their footwork (especially Gus’) reminds me of Jake Shears from Scissor Sisters and you definetely cant get over the “Sprinkle the holy water” handwork that Camero did thru the show. If you missed their concert and you regret for not making it on that night, well you got to wait for a bit longer, because as what Cameron stated, they will do a hiatus after their show in Jakarta and rest their dancing muscles in their hometown. (AA)