Rock me baby,
rock me all night long,
I want you to rock me baby,
like my back ain’t got no bone.
B.B. King
Whether the name was originally inspired by the blues bar concept, B.B. King, the Latin “beebees” meaning to drink, or the antipodean “you bloody beauty”, Jakarta24 discovers that any of the above could claim creative credit as the source of the name of Jakarta’s one and only BB’s. Cameron Bates reports.
It’s knock-off time on a Friday and as usual the ground floor of 12 Bar Blues (BB’s) in Menteng has filled with a gentle mix of ethnicity and backgrounds – sandal-wearing bapak smoking kretek, trendy bright young mas sucking down Marlboro Putih, business men and women consuming medicinal doses of wine, and diplomats going native, knocking back glasses of Bintang, which are occasionally served flat.
The normally excellent Acoustic Band, which on this particular night played a musical hodgepodge, and the pool table compete for the early evening limelight. Those in the mood for chatting gather in semi-lit areas around the bar, at tables or lounge in the dark across pillows or friends on Balinese-style bale-bale.
In just five years, BB’s in Menteng has become a Jakartan, if not an Indonesian institution, catering to a market starved of genuine live performance venues and bars with a friendly, diverse clientele.
In the words of Indonesian reggae maestro Tony Q, “It doesn’t matter if you are white, black, yellow or brown, people just want to come here, to listen to the music and play. They know about the atmosphere so they come to relax and enjoy the people … everyone is close, a family.”
BB’s, the five-year-old brainchild of former high-flying Indonesian public official Richard Claproth, is divided between three floors, with varying degrees of usage and financial success.
On the First Floor, where the price of a plate of one of the nine different types of pasta (including Fettuccini Bar Blues) or five varieties of nasi goreng is slightly more expensive than the Rp 25,000 beer, guests mingle in an ayam-free environment. And it remains possible to talk above melodic Batak versions of popular Western songs, to be heard on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Wednesday night and the Third Floor is the domain of Tony Q ‘n’ Rastafara and the steady flow of amateur and professional musicians who flock in from around Jakarta and further afield. They join the band onstage belting out original songs that are enjoyed as much as the Indonesianised Bob Marley anthems.
Audience participation is as much a part of the show as the bands themselves. On the Wednesday Jakarta24 didn’t bother knockin’, the band was joined by “family” from Yogya, in the form of a wonderful seven-piece reggae/ska band Shaggy Dog, and singing Frenchman Yann Brault, who recently recorded a song featured in the Indonesian movie, Eiffel, I am in Love.
However, Friday nights are the most popular. As it nears 10.30 pm the Third Floor is strictly standing room only. The Bob Marley posters have been replaced with pictures of Jimi Hendrix and what little dance area there was has been filled with additional tables and chairs occupied by drinkers eagerly anticipating the night’s headline act, the Big City Band. Below, on the second floor, Tony Q ‘n’ Rastafara is warming up its army of devoted dread-locked youth, and more than the occasional bule wanita enjoying the music in a hassle-free environment.
While downstairs on the reggae floor they Get Up, Stand Up, upstairs they don’t. Age has something to do with it, as does the lack of space, but so does the sheer quality of the musicians – the audience can only sit, smile and gape. None is more impressive than Richard’s son Arya Satria, who pounds the keyboards with such improvised vigour that one fears either his fingers or, more likely, the Japanese keyboard will disintegrate. A note for note exchange between Arya and lead guitarist, Gugun, a fill-in for the night, results in the crowd rising to its feet to clap, cheer and whistle.
Big, bouncing lead singer Sue Bonnington, who tonight opts to be blonde, sparks the crowd with an enthusiasm that belies the fact she’s been playing music here for 12 years. She is in her element. “The crowd is a total mix, it’s wonderful,” she beams.
And the feelings are reciprocated, as the crowd taps its feet to the blues-inspired melodies of Howling Wolf to B.B. King, Elvis to Led Zeppelin.
As one obviously satisfied punter was overheard, yelling above the music at that embarrassing moment when the music stops, “They’re one of the best bands in Indonesia.”
