Payung Teduh, the local act who were chosen to be the starter for the international bands, were up on stage at 6.33PM. Heated on the crowd with their sweet melodic and of course, shady tempo. The atmosphere was pretty calm and very comforting when they performed their swinging set, even more the festival was filled by fifty people only at that time, which made Payung Teduh’s show became very intimate.

The local listeners had been soothed by the local act, it’s now the Radio Dept.’s turn. That night was the third time for them to be in Indonesia and their second time for Jakarta. The swedish’s pals transferred their traditional indie and dream-pop sounds through an electronic haze. The band performed the dreamy shoe-gazy to the crowd (with their shy yet solid acts). The songs blended together evethough there were some technical difficulties in the middle of their performance.

If you were at their show in Jakarta in 2011, last night was actually your perfect time (and maybe the band’s time) to pay some redemption after the lame experience of seeing them live (as if you remembered the event was poorly organized). All in all, the shoegaze listener would give them an “A” for last night.

From shoegaze to alternative dance! Delphic, the second international band highlited the crowd into some dancing scene. The band who released their second album, Collections, in January, seriously had some business to do in mixing all the crowd to stomp their feet and bust the moves. They also performed their mixing skills by playing some remixed intros over the songs. If you are not familiar of them, we are that you could easily get along (or even tap your foot) with the beats as the drummer , Dan Hadley, dropped some hook over and over again. Songs like “Doubt”, “Counterpoint”, and “Halcyion” were performed flawlessly. And yes ,they performed the energy which most of the bands on their genre would pretty much end up in showing just an “OK” show.

Here comes the king of the show, The Kooks! After experiencing a long wait and as we saw some people started yawning for getting a real sleepy for waiting them, the Kooks finally arrived on stage. Luke Pritchard cs’ appearance invited the big cheer from the crowd. The crowd erupted into screams as lead singer/guitarist Luke Prichard who showed up wearing a lurik clothes ( Indonesia’s traditional costume), jumped onto a higher stage, shaking his hips in Mick Jagger-like fashion.

They picked “Ooh La” from their debut album, Inside In Inside Out, as the first song. Luke totally performed a good communicative skills to the crowd and his pampered dance. For song “Seaside”, he did an acoustic solo and followed by a crowd’s choir to the song, it was a pretty smooth move. Hugh Harris’s vocal also strongly shone and balanced the performance. The singing along’s session still much happening for the rest of the songs, especially for “How’d Ya Like That”, “Sway”, “Shine On”, and “Do You Wanna”. After performing “Do You Wanna”, the encore’s typical shout out was cheered massively, the crowd seemed still hungry since the band had not performed their hit songs from their previous albums. After shouting for a couple of times, the band returned to the stage again then played the riff of “Junk Of the Heart”. The crowd went into a jiggling-machine and bobbing their heads to the song. Without having a time to catch a breathe, the band played their hit-maker song, “Naïve”, which was the icing of the show. The Kooks totally nailed the night and they surely knew how to make it “big” for “Road To Big Sound Festival”. Despite the fact of the not so crowded, Road To Big Sound Festival has given us something what the young listeners have been waiting for a long time. And remember, this is not over yet, since Big Sound Festival will be up in May 15th with the Temper Trap, Van She, Tegan & Sara and the legendary, Blur, to mark the history in your 2013’s concert list! See you ate Big Sound Festival 2013!

The first stage we saw after gate check-in is Demajors Stage where Speakeasy, Adam Says, Tristan, Adrian Adioetomo, Kunokini, and Matajiwa had their gigs. Inside the building was the Jansport Stage where The Experience Brothers, Payung Teduh, The Adams, Rumah Sakit, and Efek Rumah Kaca lined-up. Around 6 pm the crowd was still easy, probably due to the heavy rain. We could enjoy the performance while sitting around the room, or go back to Demajors Stage to get some food or warm breeze, for food and smoke were not allowed in Jansport Stage.

By the time The Experience Brothers walked on stage, the crowd’s getting intense it was not enough to just sit around. Everyone’s starting to move forward for Heart Painted Black. Then we heard the girls were screaming as they saw Iga Massardi on stage. The crowd got bigger, She’s Allright chanted louder. As if it’s not enough, they explosively played a medley Black Sabbath’s Iron Man – Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit – The White Stripes’ Seven Nations Army.

To soothe down the burning sensation from The Experience Brothers performance, up next was Payung Teduh. Sungguh berbicara denganmu tentang segalanya yang bukan tentang kita, selalu bisa membuat semua lebih bersahaja.. Is (vocal) invited Icha, their feature for the new song, Mari Bercerita. Lovely song, adorable duet. Then came the intro of Berdua Saja and the whole room sang along, even without Is. Another surprise was the appearance of Ade Paloh SORE who joined in the song Menuju Senja.

Eventhough The Adams hasn’t produce new album since 2006 , their live performance is still as lively as ever. Selamat Pagi Juwita, Halo Beni, Waiting, Hanya Kau, and Berwisata have triggered everyone’s nostalgic side. Just like the previous band with their featuring partner, The Adams invited Cholil ERK in Konservatif. It’s also their first time playing other than acoustic version of Glorious Time, which was pretty good!

The 3rd Music Gallery also presented the resuming journey of Rumah Sakit. The band which was founded in 1994 has recently had their comeback. Playing eight songs from Datang until Hilang, Rumah Sakit has given one of their best show to their loyal listener.

Last to perform was Efek Rumah Kaca and their alter-ego, Pandai Besi. If you haven’t know who Pandai Besi is, they are basically ERK personnels with additional players in bass, guitar, piano, trumpet, and backing vocals who recreating ERK’s songs by inducing new arrangement. Kau dan Aku Menuju Ruang Hampa, Menjadi Indonesia, Jangan Bakar Buku, Balerina, and Di Udara were played by ERK and Pandai Besi back-to-back. The 3rd Music Gallery was wrapped to the end by ERK’s famous Desember, and  the clock showed 00.30am.

 Overall, The 3rd Music Gallery has noticeable improvements than their predecessors. The show, the crowd, the system, the vibes: it’s all been great. MCs of Jansport Stage were highly entertaining it made a fun additional show to the event. So when some believe that third time is the charm, to you we’d say, agree to that! (Tiara Ayuwardani)