Silent Gig #3 // Everybody Loves Irene

The Return of the Magenta Lampan

16.03.2013

The LAMPAN – that’s the name of Ikea’s most popular table lamp – is actually red, not magenta. But for them it was always pictured as magenta, and when it’s turned on, the rest of the world is black and white.

That was how the world changed when Jakarta-based Everybody Loves Irene took the stage. The other lights were turned off, and the only light that came through was from the lamp.

And such a nice surprise to see them performing again, after three long years of hiatus. The event was Silent Gig, a regular gig which accommodates bands in the genres of post-rock, ambient, and in ELI’s case – trip hop.

where have you been?

i’ve been in hell, babe

The band opened their performance with their latest song, called Let War Begin. They claimed that they had composed three new songs, but that night they only played one of them. It was great to see them reuniting, with original* line-up of Erin on vocals, Yudhi on guitars, Dimas on bass, Adi on drums, and Aul on keyboards.

aul

The next songs were “Crop Circle Me” and “Lullaby Show” from their debut album ‘The First Thing You Need to Know About Flying is Gravity’. Followed by two songs from the sophomore album “On Second Thought, I Might Wanna Change Some Things” — ‘Solitude Dialogue’ (with instant choir from the audience), and the very catchy ‘Blood in a Rush’.

setlist

Performing in a familiar ground (Aul used to work at Demajors), they seemed to be very relaxed. They didn’t even had a soundcheck and made some jokes including that they claimed that they were a comedy band (or literally they said ‘band srimulat’ – and Srimulat is a famous comedy troupe from Java) instead of a trip-hop band.

The crowd was also very familiar, mostly were good friends who were so enthusiastic to hear about their reunion. And in the end, there was nothing I wanted to do more than to take their photo as a group and along with their friends.

everybody loves irene

everybody loves irene and friends

the familiar crowd

*original as in the most popular “original” line-up, after Aji left but before their manager Widi substituted Adi in drums (and sometimes served as an additional player as well)

ps: Mas Tirta recorded “Memento Mori” for Bystanders. here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBkudoxyqE8