One Saturday night a month ago, my friend and I attended Synchronize Fest, an annual multi-genre music festival that attracts tens of thousands of spectators, at JIExpo Kemayoran. This year, guests were entertained by the best and favorite domestic musicians from the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and 2000s who performed a diversity of live music on four stages for three days in a row. Nearly all genres, from pop, R&B, rock & roll, blues, folk, jazz, punk, heavy metal, hiphop, reggae, to ska, and even dangdut, were represented at the festival.

Ebiet G. Ade, a legendary Indonesian singer and songwriter, was one of the musicians to appear that night. His musical styles are pop, ballad and country. He has released 21 studio albums and 25 compilation albums. We watched him perform and got goosebumps when members of the audience, most of them youths, sang along to Ebiet’s renditions of his ‘70s hits.

The audience was singing along to Ebiet’s Camelia when someone in the back shouted, “PAK JOKOWI!” Yup, you got it right. Mr. President was at the festival!

Well, it became even more interesting when Ebiet started to play his most famous song, Berita Kepada Kawan. Everyone in the audience, including the President, sang along to the famous tunes …

Perjalanan ini

Terasa sangat menyedihkan

Sayang engkau tak duduk

Di sampingku kawan

Banyak cerita

Yang mestinya kau saksikan

Di tanah kering bebatuan

…..

What a night!

And I was lucky enough to shake hands with Pak Jokowi. And a selfie of course! :P

Picture/Kompas.com