An Evening with Duran Duran

This is old news and I admit I'm a bit ("a bit"?!) tardy in posting these notes. But here they are anyway, finally frolicking in Jakarta again after 14 years of absence.

Photos:
Chicaluna: http://chicaluna.multiply.com/photos/album/364/
Lidiatanod: http://lidiatanod.multiply.com/photos/album/129/

Articles:
Kompas: Duran Duran, Pesona Ikon Masa Lalu (lots of mistakes in details *sigh*)
The Jakarta Post: Duran Duran returns with more than just a glorious past

Konsumen di Indonesia, jangan harap jadi "raja"

Sebenernya tulisan ini nggak akan ada kalau kasusnya cuma sesekali, maklum lah Indonesia. Tapi karena sepertinya hari-hari belakangan ini kasusnya lumayan beruntun, jadi 'terpaksa'lah menggelar sedikit unek-unek.

Yang pertama soal pemberesan SK Menteri HukHAM ttg kewarga-negaraan si Lindri. Hingga sekarang saya belum sempat ke sana lagi utk minta perbaikan nama dan tanggal lahir Lindri pada SK-nya (situ yang kerjanya gak becus, kok kita yang jadi repot?!). Bukan hanya bener2 nggak sempet, tapi juga enggan, mengingat 'biaya administrasi pengambilan SK' yang mereka kenakan, yaitu 500ribu rupiah per nama. Setelah tanya ke sana kemari, jelaslah bahwa nggak ada aturan resmi macam ini.
Suatu hari saya nemu artikel di Kompas Online ini: DepHuk dan HAM Paling Buruk. Intinya, saya cuplikkan demikian (penebalan oleh saya), "Departemen Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia serta Badan Pertanahan Nasional dinilai sebagai instansi-instansi yang paling buruk memberikan pelayanan kepada publik. Bahkan, di dalam survei Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi, petugas pelayanan publik di dua instansi itu masih berperilaku koruptif". Hah! Jadi kalau saya ke sana lagi, selain ngotot minta bukti adanya peraturan 500rb itu, saya akan sodorkan artikel ini di depan hidung mereka. Mempan nggak mempan, kita bisa liat nanti mereka masih punya malu atau enggak! Yang jelas saya nggak mau ngasih sejuta begitu saja ke para tukang porot ini...

Yang kedua adalah dengan PT Pos Indonesia (teman yang mengalami ini, kalau cerita saya nggak akurat, benerin ya :D). Seperti yang sudah dapat diduga, kami sedang (akan) sering2nya mengirimkan paket Curhat Tita ke luar kota, luar pulau dan luar negeri. Yang di dalam Indonesia mungkin nggak masalah. Tapi untuk yang keluar negeri, urusannya agak ajaib.
Jadi gini. Kita tau bahwa ada jasa2 pengiriman profesional seperti DHL, FedEx, TIKI, dsb. Tapi karena kita cari yang harganya paling pantes (yg dikirim cuma barang cetak massal gituloh), kita mau pakai jasa PT Pos Indonesia saja. Paling enggak pakai pos tercatat, biar bisa dilacak. Nggak usah pakai ekspres yang mahal2 itu, sebab paling murah pun 300rb harus dikeluarkan untuk menaruh paket2 tsb ke benua di belahan bumi lain. Eh tapi apa coba kata petugas posnya hari ini, "Pakai yang ekspres (mahal) aja. Kalo pake yang murah begini, kami nggak jamin bisa sampai atau enggak. Dan kalau nggak sampai, nggak boleh keberatan". What the...?! Kok dari awal udah niat nyasarin barang orang?! Ini Kantor Pos atau tukang gadai pasar selundupan?! Ndilalah kok ya pada hari yang sama saya nemu artikel ttg Kantor Pos ini di Pikiran Rakyat. Puah, mau "persaingan global"?! Kalo kelakuannya kayak gini, mau bersaing tingkat kecamatan pun pasti keok!
Jadi sampe sekarang kita masih nggatau mau ngirim pake apa keluar negri, yang harganya masuk akal dan layanannya bisa dipercaya...

Terakhir, soal tiket konser Duran Duran yang mahalnya minta ampun. Ada artikel ttg konser DD di Kompas Online hari ini, tapi ngeja nama Nick Rhodes-nya salah sampe dua kali(!). Saya dan sepupu saya setuju utk beli tiket Festival Depan (750rb), sebab posisinya memang pas di depan panggung, menurut denah pada tempat penjualan tiket. Niatnya memang untuk ngibing, hehe. Tiket kami sudah terbeli minggu lalu, jadi tinggal nunggu Hari-H nya dengan tenang, bukan? Bukan.
Sebab baru tadi sore ini seorang teman lain mengirim SMS: dur, promotor nepthya brengsek. tadi malam ada selebaran, layout dirubah. paling depan vip semua, festival kebagean paling belakang. udah gitu tiket vip dihajar 2jt dan tidak dijual umum. payah. asli. ngecewain.
Saya: Idih norak! Dijual k member fanclub khusus kali ya. Booo
Temen bales lagi: protes gw. gw kan beli tiket based on layout yg pertama, yaitu depan panggung. skg kita jadi paling belakang. norak aja masa depan panggung penonton pada duduk?, emangnya gamelan! nepathya gw blacklist. di depan panggung mustinya crowd.
Huh, kecewa! Ada yang kenal nggak sama orang2 Nepathya ini? Kan namanya nipu (calon) penonton, yang udah keburu beli tiket! Sok2an mau jual tiket konser termahal di dunia, tapi layanannya kayak jual karcis layar tancep yang masih misahin antara inlander dan totok. Seperti yang saya bilang ke temen itu tadi: semogaaa konsernya sepi, jadi kita bisa ketemuan sama LeBon!

Dari tiga kasus di atas, keliatan kan kalo kita ini, sebagai konsumen yang harus dilayani dengan benar, malah nggak punya daya tawar di Indonesia? Peres aja terus, dianggap sumber uang, kayak yang pada nggak digaji aja. Bikin malu.


Sumber gambar: Kompas Online, Pikiran Rakyat Online, dan situsnya Nepathya

Duran Duran | Jakarta | 8 April 2008

Duran Duran to Play Jakarta

February 15th, 2008

Duran Duran has confirmed a performance at the Balai Sidang Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 8, 2008.

SEATED AND GENERAL ADMISSION STANDING SHOW
Seats are 105 USD
GA are 79 USD

PUBLIC ONSALE DATE: Feb 29, 2008

Ape Concerts

Stay tuned to Duran Duran Music for information on advance ticket and Ticket Package sales.

***********************************************************************

Haduhaduhaduhaduh...

SBS Holland sketch & scrap

Saturday, 11 November 2007, Sing Blue Silver screening for fans of Duran Duran was held in Utrecht. Here's my diary from that day, followed by drawings I made that were given away as lottery prizes and some photos I horked from our 'official' photo album.

Andy Taylor has left Duran Duran (again)

The last couple of weeks, speculations about why Andy not joining the Duran Duran East European and American mini tour at duranduran.com message board have been very varied. Firstly it was heard that he was ill.. later it was rumoured that he was actually quitting the band. A poster at the board even provided this 'ad' as a joke:


During that time, this issue has been endlessly discussed at the board, including reactions of any kind, not to mention drama and stuff. I admit I like to drop by the board since I am, more often than not, amused by these posts, especially the snarky - but witty - ones. Finally, an official announcement at duranduran.com confirmed the 'news':

To Our Fans



We know that there has been a tremendous amount of speculation over
the past few weeks regarding Andy Taylor's continued involvement with
the band and we are sorry that we've been unable to provide you with
more information until now. The past five years have been an incredible
journey for us all - and having the original five back together was
something that we had wanted to see happen for some time. As of last
weekend, however, the four of us have dissolved our partnership and
will be continuing as Duran Duran without Andy, as we have reached a
point in our relationship with him where there is an unworkable gulf
between us and we can no longer effectively function
together. Although obviously disappointed and saddened about this, we
are excited about the next chapter of the Duran Duran story and look
forward to seeing you all soon.



Simon, John, Nick and Roger

[posted 10/25/2006 U.S.A.]

There it goes; 1985 repeated all over again. More reactions came in and the board gets busier than ever. Some demand to know exactly what the problem is. Andy disagreeing the music direction of Timbaland, Duran Duran's current producer, and Andy not getting along with the colaboration with Justin Timberlake are the most popular speculations. Well, it has always been evident that Andy is more a hard rocker than the rest of the band. The bolder sound of Power Station seems like where he really belonged (while, in the same era, Arcadia seems to be the 'alternative' soul of DD).



Then there was the question of who will replace him as the guitarist. Bring Warren back! No more Warren! - these cries have been heard a lot lately. I personally don't mind who will take Andy's place as long as the band is still intact and is making more music. But of course some posters at the board have also speculated that it won't be long until DD fall apart completely, again. One more album and then gone. The board doesn't lack nasty posts and threads (trolls, attention whores and drama queens are everywhere, mind you) - however, I never take this kind of posts seriously.




I regret that Andy fell out of the band again, of course, because for
me 'the Fab Five' is the line up of Simon, Nick, John, Roger and Andy.
But what happens happens; they're a band who will develop their works,
not a static entity. More importantly, it's up to them how to go about
their business (i.e. making profit), so who am I to agree or disagree about the kind of music they will produce? If I don't like it, I won't buy it; it's as simple as that. True, I'm not as attached to DD now as I was in my teenage years, but I still diligently update myself
with whatever is going on there. Can't fight my schoolgirl
sentiment, apparently.



Anyway, regretable as it may be, I fare Andy well to pursue his own musical notion and I just hope to hear the new DD album soon (they've been postponing it long enough!). Thanks to Andy for all the music, the fun memories and the rocking performance! I'm glad my first and only DD concert (May 31st, 2005, at Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam) was performed by 'my' version of the original line-up! Cheers, all!





Images are horked from DD.com message board
(Teajay is one of my favourite photographers there)

Duran Duran icons, etc. from Tigerbeat

http://www.tigerbeat.nl/icons.htm
Tigerbeat is a site dedicated to John Taylor, but of course there's more than 'just' John Taylor in there. They offer icons, wallpapers, stats, etc. of Duran Duran for free (non commercial, or personal use only).
That's John Taylor in the Sunrise video. The rest are:
- A clip from The Reflex(?)


- DD Manga, clips from Careless Memories (they used this animation during shows, projected at the background screen)


- John Taylor in A View to A Kill (hey, I've always liked this part!)

Suntory Whisky commercial, feat. Duran Duran

A commercial from the 80s for Suntory Whisky in Japan, featuring Duran Duran. I wonder if this really ever boosted up their sale.

"Nightboat" by Simon Le Bon and The Smashing Pumpkins

Version of Duran Duran's "Nightboat" by The Smashing Pumpkins. Simon Le Bon as the guest singer. Nightboat has been one of my favorite Duran Duran songs, and I like this version even more. Many thanks to DuranDuran.com message board, where I found this clip from :)

I came, I saw, I MET! (for Duran Duran fans only)

The day seemed to last so long..
Bigger drawing here

I'm no longer a Duran Duran-concert-virgin since last Tuesday, May 31st. I went to my first-ever DD show at Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam. Here's my record of the moments in drawings (words will come later.. busy busy). BTW, here's my journal that is relevant to this series of drawings. And these photos were made by Ayu

The setlist of Tuesday 31 May is as follows:
SUNRISE
HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF
PLANET EARTH
UNION OF THE SNAKE
ASTRONAUT
I DON'T WANT YOUR LOVE
SOUND OF THUNDER/I FEEL LOVE
COME UNDONE
WHAT HAPPENS TOMORROW
REFLEX
TIGER TIGER
CHAINS
ORDINARY WORLD
SAVE A PRAYER
BEDROOM TOYS
NOTORIOUS
NICE
CARELESS MEMORIES
WILD BOYS
--------------------------------

COME UP AND SEE ME
GIRLS ON FILM
RIO

My DD Confession (for Duran Duran fans only)

I was so happy - no: excited! elated! - when I read the news about Duran Duran going to perform in Amsterdam. I'll finally be able to go to their concert!

First, a short flashback of my affairs with Duran Duran. How long ago was it - 20? - when I first heard their songs, being a fresh 13 junior high school girl, and liked them rightaway. My cousin Chica was even a member of the Fans Club so I was lucky to be able to enjoy her photos, books and all. My parents used to bring us teen magazines when they went abroad and I was sooo happy to get them. Sadly, some of the magazines got confiscated (along with a couple of MAD magazines) because I brought them to school and, sadly, never got them back. Anyway, pictures in those magazines were my first models when I started learning to draw celebrities - most of the times on requests from friends - and Duran Duran was amongst the most wanted ones.

By then, in my early teens, you supposed to pick one band member as your favorite. Chica picked Nick and I at first picked Roger because I thought he was the coolest one. But since Chica's (then) best-friend already picked Roger I had to pick someone else, so I picked John and stayed faithful to him . I remember also that my wallet was like a mini photo-album, full of DD and John photographs and only a bit of money. So one day, when that wallet was picked from my pocket in a city bus, my greatest loss was that photo collection (the amount of money was only 4000 IDR - or barely 0,50 EUR). I hope the pickpocket liked DD, too, so he's not too dissapointed .

I remember a rather embarrasing scene: we had a big official family dinner but I insisted on wearing my yellow DD polo shirt. I really refused to go unless I'm allowed to wear that shirt to the dinner and that has caused a fight with my brother (nothing new here, but still..). Finally my parents let me have my way and so we went to the restaurant to meet my aunts, uncles and cousins, who were all wearing proper dresses and shirts. Of course my outfit started some discussions and I quietly asked my cousin Chica (who was wearing a pretty maroon dress) why she didn't wear her awesome Nick T-shirt and she said, "What?! My parents would kill me first!". Luckily I didn't get nagged at all by anyone for what I did so I supposed they could see how embarrased I felt that night..

My parents used to bring us Duran Duran LPs from abroad, while I was happy to buy cassettes out of my earnings. Then we moved to another house when I turned 16, exactly when I started going to senior high school. My bed at one corner of my room looked like a Duran Duran shrine, full of their photo's all over the bed shelves and sides. It was 1991 when I moved to another house, in another city. By then my Duran Duran knowledge has blended with my other 80s memories..

Life continues and I heard about them on and off, whenever broadcasted on the radio news.

2004. I'm married (2 children), currently living in Amsterdam and pursuing my study. I heard about their reunion and saw the news about their tours on TV. I found Nick's and Simon's account on Friendster, applied to them and was accepted, sent my testimonials and were accepted - only to find much later that those accounts are not actually theirs! *another embarrasment* But from a respond to my testimonial at 'Nick's' Friendster I found out that they actually did perform in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1995! No wonder I had no recollection of that, since that was the year I spent in Germany, working in a design office. Boy did I miss something!

Therefore, I thought I have to go to this show in Amsterdam, 31 May 2005. When else do I get the chance?! Because I plan to move back to my home country next year after finishing my study here and surely DD won't have a tour around South-East Asia in the near future?! After purchasing a couple of tickets (one for Ayu if she can make it) I rightaway got hooked up at the Duran Duran website, their Message Board and the mailing list of Dutch-speaking DD fans. The photo's I put here are from the DD website and there are some drawings of mine concerning my recent aDDventure here. I'll surely post more, approaching the concert and afterwards

DD Sketch (for Duran Duran fans only)

Got Ticket! is about my first experience ever in purchasing a ticket for a concert at Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam. I really didn't know that GWK sells concert tickets!

My current aDDventure towards Duran Duran concert in Amsterdam, May 2005