We know that you (including us) all rarely pray, but at least once in a year, you should thank god for a couple of things. Anyways, since we had too much during We The Fest 2017, we would like to thank god for….

1. For Becoming a Rainless 3-Day Festival

People might have doubted it when they heard that this year’s We The Fest will be held for three days. But against all odds, the team managed to deliver! Three days of great lineup, great fun, and most importantly great weather.

2. For Throwing Back The Life of Highschool

Who agrees that the last We The Fest reminded you to the time when you were still in highschool? Because, O LORD, there were a lot of teenagers (probably under 17s) who also jumped in at the festival and we suddenly felt like being taken to their pre-prom night party. Much love.

3. For Giving Us Instagram Stock Photos

What else in this life that matters the most than having shizload of instagenic photos? Kudos to We The Fest for the eye candy installments which make our photo props look artsy and make us look like a badass music fan. Finally a photo that can garner hundred of likes!   4. For The Opportunity to Wear Edgy Outfit

Did anyone REALLY shop for We The Fest? Because we did! We wore our super unique outfit like we just came out of indian tribe. We also love how most of the crowd were so stylish, even some wore heels, please let us know if your ankle survived.

5. For Moving to JIExpo

Not that we didn’t enjoy last year’s venue, but this year’s location was perfect! JIExpo was big enough to accommodate the large WTF crowd. Being at JIExpo allowed WTF to create much bigger stages for all performers. We’re also thankful for This Stage is Banana indoor stage. What a great way to cool off.

6. For Creating a Musical Melting Pot of a Festival We All Deserve

Music festivals are rarely cater to everyone’s like and need, then come We The Fest. But there’s something about this year’s line up that was extra rich. This year no one gets left behind. Bands like The Adams, Rumah Sakit, and LANY satisfied the rock n roll bros. Performers like Yuna, Daya, and Teddy Adhitya made the RnB seeker dance the heart away. For the always sappy soul, Raisa and Danilla were there to heal their broken hearts. Cash Cash, Epik High, and Ramengvrl for everyone with too many swagger in their system. Lastly DJs like Snakehips and Jonas Blue for the hardcore ravers, who couldn’t wait for DWP this December. 7. For The Super Comfortable VIP Arena We don’t know whether you will be thankful for this- BUT WE WOULD! The VIP Arena was just so splendid and we couldn’t think what on earth would happen to us and some celebgrams if this arena weren’t there to save our lives. 8. For Inviting Our Local Heroes

Sure, the international names were great. But you know who we were looking forward to seeing? Our local heroes! The local bands and performers were top notch this year. They got every genres covered. Our favorite would be Ramengvrl who’s swagger control the whole This Stage is Banana area. Watch out, this one is going places! Our other favorite? Potret. Melly Goeslaw sang songs from our teenage day and we couldn’t be more thankful for it. Singing ‘Salah’ and ‘Bagaikan Langit’ with your mates while dancing freely was the flash back we all hoped for!

9. For a Peek Under G-Eazy’s Shirt

Well to be honest, a peek is an understatement. A few songs in, the WTF heat finally got to Gerald and the shirt if off! Boy, did the ladies went wild. As if his live performance of “Mean It” and “Good Live” weren’t hot enough, he did the rest of his set shirtless. Well, shirtless or not, his set was ground breaking.   10. For Dua Lipa for Teaching Us Her New Rules that Blew Our Mind

One of the most anticipated performer this year was the British gal, Dua Lipa. Her set was upbeat and engaging. Dua especially turned the heat up during her new song “New Rules”. The song about how to get over a breakup seemed to be a popular one amongst the crowd. Well it’s no surprise, the chorus were so catchy and the beats after “I got new rules, I count them…” just made you want to dance. The performance blew our mind.

11. For a Dry, Rainless Phoenix Set

After their incomplete set at Love Garage back in 2014, people were looking forward for the return of this France quartet. This time, everything was the opposite of Love Garage. The band headlined the second day of the festival sans rain, sans technical difficulties, complete encore, and lots of happy and dry, dancing crowds. 12. For the Craziest Rave Party by Charli XCX When we heard Charli XCX will be performing at this year’s WTF we expected a party, but she gave way beyond that. Once we saw the crew installing two “car commercial” inflatable waving men, we knew we were infer a treat! It was just her and two gals, well and those waving men, but it felt more. The swagger that Charli had on that stage made up of the lack of band. For her first time in the country she had made a great and raving impression. 13. The President’s stamp of approval

It seemed that we’re not the only ones who’s thankful for WTF17. The number one person in the country aka The President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo was there to show his appreciation towards the festival. The camera was on him in the middle of Charli’s ‘Fancy’ number. Between, Charli’s rapping Iggi Azalea’s verse and the sight of the President on the big screen, people were confused who they were cheering for.

Well all in all, WTF17 had been proof that We The Fest is one of the greatest, if not the greatest festival in the country. From expanding to three days to getting the President’s stamp of approval, WTF17 has done the impossible. See you next year!

2 local bands, Protocol Afro and Jirapah have been granted a duty to kick-start the festival, and then afterwards, 2 British artists, Zero 7 and Fenech-Soler, have taken over the DJ booth and started to drop mesmerising tunes that satisfied the crowd. During Fenech-Soler’s set, a heavy rain started to pour. January and February have been known as the peak of rain month in Indonesia. So that is why, the promoter has provided a lotsa raincoats for the crowd. But sadly, the rain hasn’t showed a sign of stopping even right before Phoenix were going to start their set. However, the show must go on, right at 10.30 pm, Phoenix came on stage and started their set with “Entertainment”. The crowd went nuts straight after the first note of the iconic intro was played. No matter how hard the rain was, they crowd didn’t seem to care. They were just trying to mimic the sound of the iconic intro and sang their hearts out to the chorus of “Entertainment”. There’s no break yet, because straight after “Entertainment”, and iconic, heart-thumping drum intro of “Lasso” was played followed by a long chord of crowd singing. Afterwards, another iconic intro was played, this time it was an iconic intro of “Lisztomania”, a hit from their Grammy-winning album, “Wolfgang Amadeus”. “Long Distance Call”, “Too Young/Girlfriend”, “The Real Thing” and “Fences” came straight afterwards. Phoenix came again with another medley from their brand new album, “Trying To Be Cool/Drakkar Noir/Chloroform”. The rain has stopped for a while during a mash-up of “Love Like a Sunset Part I & II” and “Bankrupt”. The screen on stage began to show a video of Street of Paris in 1970s. Phoenix’s guitarist, Laurent Brancowitz once said in an interview that the best place to listen to music is in a car. Probably that is why the visualization at the screen was from a point of view of a car. However, straight after the song ended, the rain began to pour again. And it was a heavy one. I’ve never experienced that kind of wet again since the last time I had my first wet dream. A hit from their 2006 album, “Consolation Prizes” followed by “S.O.S in Bel Air” and “Armistice” was played straight afterwards. During their next song, “1901”, no one thought it could be their last song of the night.

(c) Richard Sandy/IsmayaLive

Thomas Mars was standing right in front of the crowd, if it wasn’t for the rain and the sea of plastic raincoats, he must’ve been jumped into the crowd. The rain began to pour much longer and way stronger. Finally, the song ended and Thomas said, “Thank you so much, Goodnight”. Even though the crowd began to shout for an encore with their hearts out, there is no sign of coming back from the boys. The gig has ended. Turns out that Phoenix still has two more songs on the setlist, “If I Ever Feel Better” and “Rome” but for safety reason they opted to end the set right after “1901”. For some people, it might be a disappointing end of a great show. But Phoenix have showed their capacity and tried to conquer the rain. Even though they were struggling to cope with the weather and the stage condition. Deck was forced to play his synth right next to the drum set because of the rain, Christian had some difficulties to play some of his guitar part and Thomas Mars was soaking wet. They have tried to deliver their best, brotherly love and Jakartans should’ve been thankful for having them, again.

Love Like Sunset (An Introduction to Love Garage 2014) by Svanamix on Mixcloud

Phoenix might not be the first French rock band, but they are the only French rock band who made their name into the big league of rock bands. This fuour Frenchies will be one of the headliners on Ismaya Live’s Love Garage 2014.  It’s our tradition to give you guys some fun facts about the band before they rock your world.

1. Thomas Mars, Deck D’Arcy, and Christian Mozzalai met in elementary school. They began recording when they were 11.

2. When they were 16, Laurent Broncowitz joined the band and they became Phoenix.

3. They grew up in Versailles, France. This city is also known as the pre-revolution capital of France.

4. Before Phoenix, Broncowitz was in a band called Darlin’ with Daft Punk.

5. Sofia Coppola – Thomas Mars’ wife, features Phoenix in every film that she makes.

6. In the past, they were shunned from playing in France because they only sang and wrote their songs in English. Fortunately that changed.

7. Phoenix has a rule that every record they make should be under 40 minutes.

8. The band used Oblique Strategies (a set of flash cards that is supposed to help artists break creative blocks by encouraging lateral thinking) to help them write their breakthrough album Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

9. As Big fans of Michael Jackson, Phoenix bought the recording console used on Thriller to make Bankrupt!

10. Remember last year’s Coachella when Phoenix and R Kelly did Ignition mash-up? Phoenix are big fans of R Kelly. Brancowitz said in an interview that they’re part of a secret society of R Kelly.

We have been making a list of ten and because a list of ten is too mainstream, we have listed nine best comebacks in 2013! They have appeared and named themselves in the music industry, they took a hiatus, and they finally made their resurrection in 2013. From those who took an olympiad, a decade, or even a score, we have them all on the list. (the list is sorted in a random order)

Justin Timberlake

Who doesn’t know Justin Timberlake? The multitalented guy, he can sing, he can dance, he can be an actor, he can do a comedy show, and he was even mentioned as the best Saturday Night Live host in decade. Since his solo studios album ‘Justified’ in 2002 and ‘FutureSex/LoveSounds’ in 2006 he always amuses us with his glorious sexy pitch voice and his sick dance moves. Then he took a hiatus in the music industry. In 2013 he brought that all back! 20/20 Experience – The Complete Experience is unquestionably the sexiest album in 2013. He drags us to the catchy beats, expertly written lyrics that speak one word : flawless.

Beyoncé

Katy Perry did her ‘Roar’ promo for her album and Lady GaGa stormed the social media for her ‘ArtPop’. But Beyoncé? She lets her music do the work. After all of the silence since her last album in 2011, Beyoncé dropped the balls. Her comeback is a big deal. She literally broke the Internet when she decided to surprise the universe with her new visual album entitled ‘BEYONCÉ’ last week. With no single, no advance hype, no publication, and then BAM! She admitted that the toughest part about making her latest album was keeping it a secret. Though her hardwork is paid off when her fifth album sold nearly a million copies in three days. Beyoncé’s comeback has made it a good icing in 2012.

David Bowie

“Time may change me. But you can’t trace time.” And Yes, he was right. Time has changed his music to a better version. The last time he released an album was in 2003. The rumour of his return has been growing in the last five years, after suffering from a minor heart attack in 2004 and turning down many offers (He did turn down an offer to perform at London Olympics 2012 closing ceremony), he decided to pick 2013 to rehook us with his ‘The Next Day’. His album peaked two on the Billboard 200 and number one on both top digital albums and top modern rock/alternative charts. And he was favourited to win The Mercury Prize in 2013 (the winner of the prize is James Blake’s Overgrown). Whatever may come, David Bowie is the father of all the musicians. No one can beat his charm.

Daft Punk

How to start it with Daft Punk? Uhm, Okay, their helmets have evoluted to a one hell of a sophisticated gear. And their music does the same thing. Their comeback was mysteriously aired on the commercial break of Saturday Night Live and then their teaser appeared at the main stage of Coachella 2013. Daftpunk definitely made it big for their comeback, with Julian Casablancas, Pharell Williams, and Niel Rodgers on their shoulders, ‘Random Access Memories’ has exploded their name once again. And wait for the big things to happen in 2014 since the electronic French duo has swept several nomination for Grammy Awards.

My Bloody Valentine

It didn’t take a year or a decade, but it took twenty two years for My Bloody Valentine to return in the music industry. The Dublin-based band made a critical return with their album ‘MBV’. It’s followed by a good critic from several music magazines. The thing that made it lost the momentum is the fact that the band didn’t get nominated for this year’s Mercury Prize. But still, My Bloody Valentine have grabbed their fans back and no need to win the awards because they have won our hearts.

Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor, the frontman of Nine Inch Nails (NIN) should be given a huge credit for NIN’s return in the middle of 2013. Reznor worked his ass off to co-produce ‘Hesitation Remarks’ and scored the album as his best work to date. The band also managed to make a tour movie of their comeback (posted on Vevo’s serials). The album which was released a week before its original schedule also received a good feedback by David Fricke, the senior editor of Rolling Stone Magazine.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Karen O and the gang have been hailed as one of the most influential bands in the 2000s. With a hattrick nomination for Grammy Awards, the band finally bangs the door with their latest album ‘Mosquito’. As the band have gone much wiser both in age and act, their latest album also marks as the hardest album that they have worked so far. Eventhough the band’s latest work didn’t earn them another Grammy Nomination, we are still in an awe with Karen O’s current feature : Blonde hair.

Lilly Allen

Every story has crossed Lilly Allen, from her miscarriage, cussing Justin Bieber, and being fought back by Bieber’s fans. Well, it was not an album that Miss Allen released for her return, but it’s her single ‘Hard Out Here’. Her comeback is followed by her strong statement which she sent through her music video. The bold music video is mocking the current sexism culture that has been around in the pop music world. Lilly Allen has put her spices to spark because she’s ready to set her album in 2014. And we don’t know whether it’s going to be baggy or not.

Phoenix

One of the hardest tasks most successful band has to endure is making a follow-up to an album that catapulted them to success. In this case, Phoenix have succeeded with their recent album “Bankrupt”. Instead of using the same formula that rocketed them to stardom, they have made a different album compared to Wolfgang Amadeus. Even though this album wasn’t turned out to be their best album to date, A headlining spot in some major festivals such as Coachella and Lollapalooza is inevitable. Once again they have stole thousands of people hearts with their jingly-jangly tracks and their cute accent.

We have spent the last eleven months by listening to a stack of music albums. To close the year, we’ve listed our ten best albums which definitely have put us to the cloud nine while listening to their musics.

10. Arcade Fire – Reflektor :

If only the albums was as good as ‘The Suburb’, we would put them sitting on the peak of the chart. But we didn’t say the album is bad. Reflektor still kicks it with some of the Suburbs’ rhythm, which we really love, and the album still has a strong rock roots with an intertwined of dark tunes. The lack of emotion from the album might take you a couple of times to really get the sense of Arcade Fire.

Recommended Track : Reflektor

9.Disclosure – Settle :

The band have been hailed for their dance music and given an outstanding call-out. ‘Settle’ is 100% a sugar land for a fan of Groove Armada or Artful Dodger. Knowing that ‘Settle’ is the duo’s debut album, we are blown with its content. What not to love! The album itself will give you the finest house music, 90’s electro and some modern dance music. Somehow, it also gives us a chill that their music is reflecting the era when Basement Jaxx were dominating the dance music industry.

Recommended Track : Disclosure ft. James Woon – January

8.Phoenix – Bankrupt! :

They have catapulted into the big leagues with “Wolfgang Amadeus…” The hardest task is to maintain their album quality and their popularity. Instead of making Wolfgang Amadeus part II, they’ve decided to make something different with their own touch. Layered thick synth flavored with heart-thumping drums and the way their vocalist Thomas Mars pronounce exotic words such as “Drakkar Noir” and “Oblique City”, that’s just the Phoenix way of maintaining their lovely status among their fans.

Recommended Track : Tryin’ to be cool

7. QOTSA – Like Clockwork :

Like Clockwork is the long awaited album from Queens of The Stone Age after their hiatus in 2009. In August 2012, Homme with his band mate began to record their sixth album. Like Clockwork is the first independent album from this California based band. However, it doesn’t shrink the musical quality, they still creates fantastic album from astounding songwriting, badass guitar riff in full effect, and not to mention the great musicians who collaborated with them such as Alex Turner, Jake Shears, Trent Reznor, James Lavelle, and Sir Elton John.

Recommended Track: If I Had a Tail

6. James Blake – Overgrown :

The second album of James Blake is unequivocally an amazing job. The album is being written beautifully with a nice touch of dub step, we really think James Blake is one of the most genuine artist who can describe dub step in a very classy way. The album also takes some hip/hop and soul music to make it classier. As a result, Overgrown has earned him a Mercury Prize and got him nominated for Grammy Awards 2014.

Recommended Track : Retrograded

5. Justin Timberlake – 20/20 :

The new king of pop, Justin Timberlake is bringing the sexy back again with 20/20 experience. His third solo album takes over the number one spot both in the UK and US charts, it has reached nearly a million in its first week sales. The former leader of the famous boyband *NSYNC is probably the only singer who can make a seven-minute track without making the listeners feel bored with his falsetto voice, groovy beats, and skillfully written lyrics. Nonetheless, 20/20 Experience cannot beat the massive success from Timberlake second album Future Sex/Love Sounds that helped him get four Grammys. It’s hard to keep the 21 years of experience in the right track, but we must say that Timberlake has successfully nailed it.

Recommended Track: Let The Groove Get In

4. Foals – Holy Fire :

Foals’ third album, “Holy Fire”, is a solid proof of their hardworking career. They could’ve easily followed their signature sound that they have created in “Antidotes” and “Total Life Forever”. But now, they were trying to capture the energy and improvement outside their comfort zone. Most new bands have copied Foals’ signature guitar sound but they’ve failed to reach the stage where the Oxford guys have reached. There’s a simple explanation, it is mainly because most of the bands don’t have the character and maturity that Foals gained in the past few years.

Recommended Track : My Number

3. VW – Modern Vampires of the City:

When the guys from Vampire Weekend said that their third album would be ‘darker’ from the first two that preceded it, they didn’t mention that it would sound better too. Vampire Weekend entered the music industry with the image of a group of preppy, young college graduates singing about (mostly) their days at the campus, but this year they had shown people that it’s not the only thing they’re good at. Modern Vampire Of The City is full of well-crafted, beautifully threaded tracks.

Recommended Track: Hannah Hunt

2.Daftpunk – Random Access Memory:

Random Access Memories was probably the most waited album of 2013. The excitement that was following its release was tremendous. Featuring collaborations with renowned musicians such as Giorgio Moroder, Julian Casablancas, and Pharell Williams, the album is filled with musical twists and turns. It’s also probably Daft Punk’s most personal work, what with them trying to maximize the use of natural sounds. Random Access Memories is a mix of disco, soft rock, and progressive rock, with some Broadway-style pop on the sides. With twenty years up their sleeves, it seems that the helmet-wearing duo have been getting better and better at what they do.

Recommended Track: Give Life Back to Music

1.Arctic Monkeys – AM :

Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys is now an invalid question because, really, who doesn’t know Arctic Monkeys? Especially after their fifth album release which raised much raving reviews. The twelve tracks in AM have been threaded so perfectly that every aspect, from the guitar riffs to the glam-rock stomps, is simply irresistible. A wordsmith that Alex Turner is, the well-written imagery becomes highly seductive at no matter what pace. Slick slow-burning groove, infectious riff-rockers, a dash of R&B and hip-hop; genre no longer defines Arctic Monkeys as now they can make anykind of music and make it their sound.

Recommended Track: No.1 Party Anthem

We all knew that Phoenix were about to have a show in Jakarta since someone posted a screen capture of Phoenix’s latest tour list on Twitter, but it was “who will be the promoter” that will bring them to town. So, after all of the rumours spread out, Ismaya Live tweeted an official statement on their Twitter that the Versailles-based band will be the headliner of Love Garage 2014 on January 17th 2014, “@IsmayaLive : #confirmed PHOENIX for #LOVEGARAGE14 in Jakarta 17th Jan 2014. It’s definitely gonna be a great ENTERTAINMENT!! cc: @IsmayaLive @future10”.

Phoenix will kick of their tour in 2014 by visiting Osaka on January 12th. And this will be the Versailles-based band’s second time to have a show in Jakarta, their first was on August 1st 2009 at Bengkel Night Park (now Potato Head Garage). Phoenix are an alternative rock band from French who were formed in 1999, the band consist of Thomas Mars, Deck d’Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz. The band have released five studio albums and one of them won The Grammy Award in 2010 for ‘Best Alternative Music Album’ by defeating Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Depeche Mode, Death Cab For Cutie, and David Byrne and Brian Eno.

According to Ismaya Live, Love Garage 2014 will have another names to be announced and the tickets will be on sale on November 9th. The first presale is IDR 490.000, second presale is IDR 590.000, and the normal price is IDR 690.000. The festival will also bring up “Love Can Save the Universe” as their theme for next year.

In the previous years, Love Garage had Two Door Cinema Club, Royksopp, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs to headline the annual festival, and Ismaya Live are promising the 2014’s Love Garage will be bigger that the last editions and will take place at EX’s Park.
Well, we have got our clams ready to welcome Phoenix in Jakarta!

“If ["Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"] was [Radiohead's] ‘The Bends,’ this ["Bankrupt"] is ‘OK Computer’.” – Simon White, Phoenix’s manager

In my opinion, Phoenix’s brand new album, ‘Bankrupt’ is pretty much like ‘The Bends’, instead of ‘OK Computer’. Why?

Phoenix went on to grab their mainstream prize in 2006 with their album “It’s Never Been Like That”. An album that created a shape of their ideology and style (after 2 albums of jingly-jungly catchy synth-pop). “It’s Never Been Like That” catapulted them into the airwaves, with a massive airplay around the world (in Indonesia, Napoleon Says and Long Distance Call were one of their hits which you could found on the radio playlist).

But their 2009 album, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”, was their BOMB.

They’ve shaped everything perfectly. They’ve created their own style (in 2006, they’re pretty much like The Strokes). They’ve created a huge fan base, they got a song in a major commercial, and then went on to win the Grammys. “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” is pretty much like Radiohead’s “Pablo Honey” and to overcame the success of a massive album is a massive task. Every huge bands knows that.

Phoenix’s “Bankrupt” is one of the hardest task ever. In this album, they have to follow the success of “Wolfgang Amadeus” and improve their musicalities at the same time. Well, Phoenix has drowned in the music industry for more than 10 years. They’ve proved us with their four studio albums, and most of them showed us an escalation from one to another. But on “Bankrupt”, they have to choose between going for “Wolfgang Amadeus II” or making a completely different new album from their last (which they usually do) and hoping that it will sparks into the atmosphere (again). On “Bankrupt”, they’ve decided to go for the latter. Radiohead has chosen the same way while working on “The Bends”. They’ve decided not to make “Creep vol. 2″ but go with a different hits such as “High and Dry” to achieve bigger success.

“Bankrupt!” still got some of the key formula from “Wolfgang Amadeus” such as Heart-thumping drums (provided by Thomas Hedlund) and Thomas Mars’s signature, his repeated words. But still, this album showed us a major difference from their past albums.

First track from their album, “Entertainment”, is a mixture of a layered synth and a chinese-like theme song. It was their first single off and it was a perfectly crafted song. The energy, provided by Thomas Hedlund’s crazy drumming, is one of the attractions of the song. Meanwhile the sentence “I’d rather be alone” at the end of the chorus is the cherry on top. Their decision to put “The Real Thing” and “S.O.S. In Bel Air” right after “Entertainment” was a good call. Both of them sounds similar and lovely at the same time. The fatty synth is the red line.

Unlike “Wolfgang Amadeus”, there are some of the songs from the album which was pretty hard to digest, such as “Oblique City” and “Bourgeois”. The track “Bankrupt” was also a letdown compared to their similar song such as “Love Like A Sunset”. Meanwhile, “Trying To Be Cool” and “Drakkar Noir” are a potential hits that will remind you of a layered thick synth from Michael Jackson’s classic, “Thriller”. The lead synth on “Trying To Be Cool” and the way Thomas Mars pronounce “Drakkar Noir” are one of the highlights of the album.

“Bankrupt!” is an album that will took some time before you finally realized that you love it. Despite the fact that this album doesn’t have a capacity to overcome the success of “Wolfgang Amadeus”, this is the album that will catapulted them into the big leagues.

Well, they’ve headlined Coachella and some of Europe’s major festivals. They’re in the big leagues now.