SFC IN INDONESIA
Dear Journal...8-12-07 - We have been in Bali for about a week now. This place is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The beaches are amazing - a surfer's paradise. Our first night we met some Australian vacationers. Joe met his match with one of the blokes. They were going movie line for movie line all night. Pulp Fiction, True Romance, you name it. It was pretty hilarious. During th week we did tons of interviews. About one a day, somtimes two. The schedule has been pretty tight. On Thursday, we played at the legendary Hard Rock Cafe Bali. We were told that this was one of our best performances. The sound quality was amazing. It was a night to remember. The next day was a day of being a tourist. We went river rafting in river that looked like something out of Indiana Jones. After that we rode elephants. Anthony and Manny had the oldest elephant. She was 42 years old and thought she ran the joint. A couple of times the elephant went off course to grab a bite to eat and sent the two of them and the elephant rider jarring left and right. That was a pretty cool experience. Saturday we did our sound check for the Soundrenaline show. The rest of the day we relaxed and later went out on the town. Joe with some liquid courage decided to bungee jump at one of the bars we went to. Not just once but twice. Apparently it is one of the highest bungee jumping places you can jump at. This morning was a lazy morning. It was show day. We packed the gear and headed to the Soundrenaline location. It was in a rock quarry. The acoustics in that place are almost intentionally design for a rock festival. Similar to famous Red Rock.
With our last performance at Soundrenaline in Bali, we say goodbye to Indonesia. Today we poured our hearts and souls out on the stage. It was a bitterweet moment. The crowd was amazing as usual. There were not that many this time around, but the energy was none the different. We wore funky costumes and painted our faces. It was a celebration. We love the people of Indonesia. They have been so accepting and refreshing. We have travelled for over 3 weeks now and are sad to say goodbye. But on the other hand we are excited to go back home to our loved ones. Thank you to all who have sent their love and support, it truly has kept us going. Tomorrow we board our plane for home. Thank you to the beautiful country of Indonesia for their wonderful hospitality. Thank you to our sponsors on this trip that have gone hand over foot for us. But most all thank you to all you guys back home. We love you and will see you soon.
The end!
8-5-07 - We left Jakarta for Surabaya Saturday morning. The plane flight was a lot better than some of the other ones we have been flying. However, the landing was insane. Upon approach the plane accelarated like a NASCAR racecar and we all gripped our seats for the landing. When we hit ground the shocks and wheels took a hard hit. We almost didn't think the plane was going to stop. But it did, thank God and we are all safe. As we left the airport we were greeted with leis from the local. That was pretty cool. Then we joined the press conference and parade in Surabaya.
Oh my God! Oh my God! We played the best show of our lives today in Surabaya. There were at least 50,000 people in the crowd. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger and better and better. We had the privelege to play with super-legend John Paul Ivan, ex-member of the famous rock band of Boomerang acclaimed here in Surabaya. He joined us for the last song of our set. We played Puple Haze by Jimi Hendrix. The first time we met Ivan was last night (Saturday) at our sound check for the show. We all learned how to play the song at the sound check as well, despite the dismay of the other band. Ivan gave us his iPod for the night and we played Purple Haze over and over until we knew we had it. We got some remarks from the other bands that were waiting for us to finish our sound check that we should not play it. We looked at them and said f*** it! All we could think about as a band was how much we were going to rock the eff out of that song with our boy Ivan. We played our set to a crowd larger than the one in Bandung; by far. Then it was time to play with Ivan. He came out on stage to a standing ovation. He is legendary in Surabaya, a Jimi in his own right. He saluted the crowd and we started ripping. He approached the end of the stage during the solo of the song and was shredding and making his guitar sing. If Jimi was there he'd be in awe. Just when it looked like his strapped came undone, he switced the position of the strap and began to play behind his back, reminicent of Stevie Ray Vanughan. UNBELIEVEABLE! It was an honor and privelege to share the stage with him tonight. He was likewise impressed and will join us in the Soundrenaline festival in Bali. Pictures of Surabaya to come. To be continued…
8-2-07 - This is SFC checking in. We have had time to rest a little. Actually maybe a little too much. After all the excitement the last week or so it is a little weird to have some down time. Tonight we play a show a The Rock Cafe in Jakarta. It is a new venue that looks like a venue back in L.A., Sunset Blvd. The walls are covered with sick pictures of rock icons, like Mick Jager, Axel, The Police, Queen, and the list goes on. We just finished sound checking and it sounds really really good. Wish us luck! Tomorrow, we will be playing another venue called Backstage Cafe. This is an outside venue with a huge stage. This going to be a cool ass gig too. Some great Indonesia bands have played there like Slank, Gigi, and others. We are of course stoked. In a couple of days we leave for Surabaya for the next Soundrenaline show. We will keep you posted. Pictures to be added soon. Stay posted. To be continued...
7-30-07 - Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long since we have updated the log. We have been crazy busy and have had a lack of internet access.
Here's the scoop…After playing Soundrenaline in Palembang we traveled to Jakarta. We released an Indonesian album last week, which consists of songs from Heartaches and Danger and some of our new recordings. To celebrate the release of the album we played a record release gig at a venue called Mezza 9 in Jakarta last Monday. It was an intimate show and was tons of fun. Earlier that same day we saw our album in the "Most Wanted" section in one of the three record chains our album is currently be sold at. What a trip! Wednesday we played an acoustic set live on Prambors 102.2 FM. In between songs we were interviewed on air by the Prambors D.J.s and answered questions from listeners. The following days were full of interviews with local magazines and TV networks. 6 AM on Saturday morning we packed up all our gear and headed to Bandung, the location of the next Soundrenaline show. It was about a 3 hour bus ride. We checked into our rooms, showered, and ate. Then we joined a caravan of cars and paraded down the streets of Bandung waving to the locals and tossing out Soundrenaline stickers to passerbyers. It was so amazing and so fun. After the parade we went to our sound check for the show…Then Sunday was the day of the show. The crowd was effen amazing. This crowd was twice, if not three times bigger than in Palembang. When we waved they waved, when we jumped they jumped. Manny even took a spill on stage and when he got up with a smile on his face. The crowd went wild. It was amazing.
The people here are awesome. We have met some wonderful people here in Indonesia, including some of the top bands. They are not only great musicians, but also great people too. We have been hanging out with Nidji, Steven and the Coconut Trees, Shanty, Dearest (Canada), Vox, and tons more. Indonesia is a great country. The people are so humble and this in turn this has been a humbling experience for us all.
If there is anything else you guys want to hear from us, please feel free to send us any questions and we will do our best to answer them. Thank you to everyone who has sent us all the wonderful comments and support. We love you guys and miss you. We'll see you all soon. To be continued…
7-22-07 - It's in the record books! Despite a mild drizzle, we rocked Pelambang, Sumatra. The wetness only fuel for the fire. What a crazy scene. Thousands of people crowded in front of us. Adrenaline was at high and the roar from the crowd after every song unimaginable. We had to date one of the best shows of our lives. We left the stage wondering if it was the weather/humity or our own sweat that made us so soaking wet. It was an honor to play with so many great bands and play in front of so many greatful and adoring fans. It is unreal. We are living it up as much as we can. Signing autographs and talking to people in broken conversations. It's awesome. We catch flight out tomorrow to Jakarta, where we will prepare for another Soundreline show and do all over again. Oh man, oh man! One down and many more to go. To be continued...
7-22-07 - The band has arrived safely in Indonesia. We have been travelling non-stop for like 36 hours. We took a 13 hour flight from San Francisco to Taipei, Taiwan. There we had a 3 hour layover. Then we took a flight from Taipei to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. There we had a 4 hour layover. From there we flew, airbus style, 1 hour to Sumatra, Java in a janking-ass plane that had faulty seatbelts and chairs that did not recline. From the airport in Sumatra we took a 1 hour bus ride. It was wild seeing swarms of people riding motorcycles everwhere; the wrong way, on sidewalks and whatnot. It was awesome and somewhat surreal to see our name on posters and banners all throughout the Mexico-like-jungle-island-village landscape. We got to a suprisingly nice hotel. I would call it a "diamond in the rough," an oasis if you will. All bands are staying at the hotel which is pretty cool. We had time to relax and have a refreshing cocktail with the kool kats from Saw Loser of Singapore at the hotel lounge while listening to a female Indonesian vocalists sing Celine Dion covers accompanied by a pianist on a "baby grand." Everyone's been really effen cool.
Today is the day of our first show. They are expecting over 80,000 people. Its going to be nuts. We are all so stoked and ready to rock and roll. To be continued...
7-20-07 - After a grueling 13 hour flight from the Bay, we arrived in Taipei for our 3 hour layover where we will move on to Jakarta, Indonesia. From there we have another 3 hour layover where we will arrive in Sumatra, Java. We will have some time to rest...drink...drink...and we have our first show on 22nd. We have pictures but due to the slow internet here at the airport we cant load anything. We will have pics and video up in the next couple of days. Ending on that note we thank you all for checking in with us and we will keep you informed...To be continued...
7.19.07 - Our bags are packed for Indonesia. Along with our luggage we take with us everything we have worked for, everything we have done to this point, and the love and support of everyone near and dear to us. There is no time to look back now as we move full steam ahead. Indonesia here we come!
**We will do our best to update and keep a current log of everything we are doing in Indonesia so you can all share our adventure with us! Fell free to send us any questions and/or comments. -scrapingforchange