Lepas Rindu Ala Epik High In Jakarta

Epik High is Here in Jakarta, Kota Kasablanka, (photo: doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The experience of cramming into a crowd and singing at the top of your voice without being blocked by a mask during a concert has become a luxury when a pandemic occurs. Before the corona virus hit the world, musicians from the country of Ginseng took turns holding concerts in Indonesia, meeting directly with their fans in Southeast Asia.

Epik High also briefly greeted his fans in Indonesia just before the pandemic, to be precise in February 2020 at a music festival located in Bandung, West Java.

At that time, Epik High shared the stage with local and international musicians such as Agnez Mo, Sheila on 7 to Phum Viphurit from Thailand. Of course, the songs that were sung at that time were not too many. But the reception for Epik High was still overwhelming.

Shortly after they greeted Bandung, the first case of COVID-19 was found in Indonesia and everything was no longer the same. Music performances are held virtually to maintain health, reduce the risk of transmitting the virus.

After going through various attempts to live in the new normal, events that invite crowds are starting to be allowed, including music concerts.

"Finally Epik High is here again!", perhaps that's what the audience who was busy prancing around enjoying the performance of Tablo, Mithra Jin and DJ Tukutz, at The Kasablanka Hall, Kota Kasablanka, Jakarta, Saturday (16/7). The presence of a hip hop music group from South Korea which debuted in 2003 was warmly welcomed, the seats provided for all the audience were unused. Almost all of them immediately stood up, jumped, pranced, and shouted loudly even though they were wearing masks considering that the COVID-19 pandemic was still not over.

Not only fans who miss listening to Epik High's music directly, the three members of this group also expressed their longing for Indonesia. After unceremoniously performing "Here" and "Prequel" from their latest album "Epik High Is Here (Part 2)" as well as "Fly" from the album "Swan Songs" which hit the top of Korean music charts when it was released in 2005, Epik High introduced himself accompanied by jokes, the theme song "Avengers", and Korean which was quickly translated by Tablo.

After DJ Tukutz showed off his dancing skills like a member of a K-pop group, and Mitra Jin introduced himself in a calmer style despite his position as the youngest in the trio.

Tablo immediately switched roles as both a narrator and a translator, translating what his two colleagues said in Korean into English, while adding humorous descriptions. Tablo joked that Mithra, who turns 39 this year, is the youngest member who is the cutest, and has the hairiest body.

​It was Tablo's turn to introduce himself and at the same time let go of his longing.

"It's been a long time since I've visited my second hometown," said Tablo, who had lived in Jakarta as a child, in English. "The place where I grew up is Jakarta," continued the 41-year-old musician.

Tablo said he wanted to visit Indonesia at least once a year, but the last time Epik High performed was right before the pandemic started.

The past two years have not been easy for everyone, but the important thing, said Tablo, is that today they can meet face to face, sharing energy in the same room.

"And for you... Epik High...is...here!"

They again performed songs from their 10th studio album such as "Face ID", "Rosario", "In Self-defense", "Super Rare" as well as songs from old albums such as "Burj Khalifa", "Love Love". Love", "Don't Hate Me".

The simple stage is still fun because Tablo and Mithra Jin are busy jumping up and down, or running here and there, changing formations so that each side of the stage is never empty.

Not only being behind the DJ table with the words Epik High written on it, DJ Tukutz agilely moves his body, dancing to a stomping rhythm that really makes the body want to keep moving. Tablo jokingly introduced what DJ Tukutz would describe as "true K-pop dance" before encouraging everyone to capture the moment as part of history.

​The atmosphere heated up when the group that performed at Coachella this year performed a simple but powerful choreography, a fairly compact running movement, while performing the song "Fan".

Towards the end of the concert, they signed a t-shirt on stage, and threw it at the screaming crowd, hoping it would be thrown at them. Before giving the T-shirts to the lucky spectators, Tablo in a humorous manner reminded everyone to be careful so that no one was hurt when trying to get the merchandise.

"If the shirt is pointing at you, and your strength is high, don't jump over or attack the person next to you. This shirt isn't worth much, to be honest it's a pretty cheap shirt," joked Tablo.

The show of about 1.5 hours closed with "Born Hater", a 2014 song released in the original version with other rappers such as Beenzino, Verbal Jint, BI, Mino, and Bobby. In Jakarta, some of the lyrics of the song, whose video clip has been watched 22 million times on YouTube, were performed by DJ Tukutz.

The show in Jakarta is the culmination of the first phase of the 2022 Asia Pacific tour. Before arriving in Jakarta, Epik High had already rocked the stage in Singapore, Australia and Thailand.

"We purposely saved the best at the end!"