Red’s Diary : Sleepless in Semarang

It was 3am when I arrived at Semarang’s Train Station. My eyes were red since I barely slept on the train. 6 hours travel time from Jakarta to Semarang. But I didn’t really care, I was looking forward to watching something that night. JKT48 Concert Live in Semarang.

Semarang (pronounced [səˈmaraŋ]) is a city on the north coast of the island of Java, Indonesia. It is the capital and the largest city of the province of Central Java. Having a lot of old buildings from the colonial era, this city offers a lot places to visit as tourist attractions.

Unfortunately, I had no time to visit all those interesting tourist attractions. After a short visit to my friend’s house to take a shower, we rushed to Jatidiri Sports Complex, which would act as the venue for the concert.

When we arrived, it was already crowded by fans, not only from Semarang but also from East Java and Yogyakarta. Some were trading photosets or selling fanmade items. The merchandise booth was selling some goods such as photosets, lightsticks and others. The special item was the concert t-shirt ($12.5) and a picture keychain ($4).

At 5pm, the crowds started to wait in front of the venue. My friend (Adi, a fellow Viny-oshi, who rushed from Yogyakarta to Semarang with only ten bucks in his pocket ) and I waited in the VIP queueing line but the crowd was the same with the tribune. At 6.20pm, the gate was opened, we rushed in. The seats were not numbered, the only plus side was that the VIP seats were “air-conditioned”. And to be honest, several big fans lined up in front of us. No protest from me though, it’s cool >.<

While we were waiting for the concert to began, some videos were shown. First there was a so-called Semarang Fanbase project video, explaining their motivation to support JKT48, followed by their own Koisuru Fortune Cookies dance cover project. Listening from some fans chit-chat behind me, that dance cover part was shot that same morning of the concert. Judging from the quality, it was excellent. Then they showed 3 JKT48’s PV (Heavy Rotation, River and Yuuhi wo Miiteiruka?)

Well, here’s the setlist of the show.

Kageana : Melody

M00. Overture
M01. RIVER
M02. Gomen ne Summer
M03. Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara
During this song, I realize that their microphone was on. Well partially…

———–MC—————–

Usual introduction session. The theme was “Changes after joining JKT48”
Cindy Gulla : Before I couldn’t dance but now I can. And today, I also have you guys who are supporting me.
Rica : I went through many changes. First, before, I was 12 years old but today I’m 13 years old. (Common joke about Rica, she often makes fun of her own age since she’s the oldest member.) Second, not only learning dance moves and singing techniques but also learning how to socialize and interact with fans. It’s like school all over again.
Melody : I was a common college girl before but now I’m in JKT48. Today, I have not only one little sister (Note : Frieska) but many sisters in JKT48.
Cindy Yuvia : I’ve progressed a lot. Before I was only performing in the theatre but now, here I am in Semarang; performing in my first out-of-town concert ever.
Shania : Before I entered JKT48, I was still a young girl, a cute one indeed. But now.. I’m still cute xP. No one looked at me before (I entered JKT) but now everyone looks at me.
Ayen : I wasn’t really able to speak in front of great audience before but now, I can. Also, releasing our own inner beauty.
Ayana : I was no good at singing and dancing but now I can. Before I was a shy girl but now I’m interactive. And I had only friends from school before but now, I have many friends.
Sonia : At last, I can return to my hometown. Usually I was able to return only once a year but now I have a job in JKT48. I want to eat Semarang speciality dishes once more!
Sonya : I have new family, I learned to be a professional idol and I have you all.
Viny : I have new friends. I have new place to do my hobbies and I met you all.
Natalia : Before I had only a few followers (on Twitter) but now I have a lot hahaha.
Ghaida : I was boyish but now I’m learning to embrace my feminine side.
Delima : I couldn’t singing while dancing before but now, I can.
Ikha : I had no little sisters before but now I have many. I also have new friends.
Naomi : Before I was no one and now people recognize me. (14-secs).
Kinal : I’m stronger than before (I didn’t really get what she said here, the sound was terrible).

M04. Tenshi no Shippo (Cindy Yuvia, Cindy Gulla, Rica Leyona)
It was the first time I saw WCindy on stage. They were both trying to impress the fans with their charm. Rica also performed well in this song.

M05. Boku to Juliet to Jet Coaster (Shania Junianatha, Rona Anggraeni, Natalia)
A surprise that Shania had already tweeted to us. As a center, Shania did a great job. While Rona and Nat didn’t not lose and did a great job like they do usually while performing this song in Boku no Taiyou. The only minus for this song was the cold reaction from fans, since the song is not really popular to them.

M06. Heart Gata Virus (Ayana Shahab, Sonya Pandarmawan, Sonia Natalia)
Not really a surprise combination. But they performed really well. And Ayana did the monologue.

M07. Temodemo no Namida (Melody Nurramdhani Laksani, Ratu Vienny Fitrilya)
To be honest, their performance was standard. But since they’re both my oshi, I was really happy. Viny did a great job as a mirror position.

M08. Kagami no naka no Jeanne de Arc (Devi Kinal Putri, Riskha Fairunnisa, Shinta Naomi, Ghaida Farisya, Delima Rizky)
This was a good combination of 1st Gen’s Kagami team (Kinal, Ghaida, Delima), 2nd Gen’s Kagami Team (Ikha) and Pajama Drive Revival Show Kagami Team (Kinal and Naomi). Well done.

———–MC—————–

It was a game session between Yuvia, Gulla, Rica, Shania, Ayen and Nat. Yuvi lost the first game; she had to dance to Javanese dance. Then it was Rica’s turn to lose the game and she had dance the Caesar Dance.

Talk Session
How is it feel to perform Tenshi no shippo?
Rica : I was surprised when I saw the setlist, I was paired with two most cutest girl in JKT48.
Shania : So you felt like you’re the eldest?
(Audience Laugh)
How is it feel to perform Boku to Juliet to Jet Coaster
Shania : I only did this once in the Jakarta Concert but as a center, this was my first time. I’m also afraid to make mistakes since I was accompanied by the “sesepuh” (elders) of the song (Note : Referring to Nat and Ayen as they are the usual performers of the song in Boku no Taiyou.)

M09. Baby! Baby! Baby!
M10. Ponytail to Shushu
M11. Oogoe Diamond (Shania Center)

———–MC—————–

M12. Hikoukigumo

ENCORE

EN01. Aitakatta

———–MC—————– (Melody, Shanju and Viny)

EN02. Heavy Rotation (Viny in Cleopatra’s position)
EN03. Koisuru Fortune Cookie

The whole stadium danced to the music. This KFC dance is so easy to dance ^.^

Fancams from JKT48FC : http://www.youtube.com/user/JKT48FC/videos

My comment :

Overall, a nice show. But it had several minus points for me.
1. The show was not sold out, the festival area was only half-full. The Tribune area was not full. It’s not really good for publicity. Especially since I heard that some of concert tickets in other cities haven’t really sold yet.
2. The audio was mediocre and the big-screen turned out to be not so big at all.
3. There have been criticism about some of the concert operational staff, who were also fans and had abandoned their professionalism and went nuts in the media area. Well, I don’t know the details.
4. The venue was located south of Semarang with less access of public transportation. Maybe that was one of the reasons the concert was not booked-out?

After an hour of walking and being sleep-deprived, I got a taxi and rushed to the train station. The train “Majapahit” was ready to bring me back to Jakarta. That’s it, real sleepless in Semarang. Adios Semarang, till we met again.