ESQIEF a.k.a. Syaharani and the Queenfireworks Live at Oranye Concept Lounge – The Report
What happened when the fans met their idol in a nice and intimate moment in a cozy place? The result wouldn’t be difficult to guess. Yes, it was fantastic. It could easily be spotted by many smiling faces full of satisfaction, both from the fans and the artist.
Last week (June 26, 2009) there was a very personal concert made by Syaharani and the Queenfireworks, also known as ESQIEF. They held an intimate concert with their fans, or what Syaharani used to refer as friends in Oranye Concept Lounge, located right at the corner of City Walk Sudirman 1st Floor Jakarta. It was a very cozy place to hold this kind of concert, because there was always no distance between the stage and the audience. Everything looked perfect from the start, and it went that way until the end.
ESQIEF a.k.a Syaharani and the Queenfireworks has been gracing the Indonesian music world for quite some time. Their music is a nice example of how nice a crossover between many genres or styles could be made and loved by the music lovers from various backgrounds. They are carrying each and every trends that are happening in Indonesian music today and deliver all of those in their own unique style. No wonder their tagline sounds like this: Light, Jazzy, Power Pop and Lounge Dance. They superbly blend jazz, pop, soul, blues, rock n roll to disco and techno together, producing the specific style of ESQIEF, which is always ear catchy, creates a chill-out mood and easily loved by music lovers across generations and genres. Easy listening, Entertaining and Everlasting.. that’s what they always like to associate themselves with, and that’s really who they are.
ESQIEF led by Syaharani, the current female jazz icon for more than a decade. Syaharani mentioned that ESQIEF is a community based group that always intends to stay close and tight with their fans. They never stop creating something new, they are innovative. This is one important aspect as their strength. They like to play around with the arrangements, presenting something fresh out of their song collections. They always try to fit the arrangement with the concept of any particular shows, resulting larger acceptances from different audience. That is why it always feels interesting to see their performance. Listening to ESQIEF, you will get the feeling that they are presenting something fresh, honest, dynamic, creative and communicative. But above all, every of these things are always based on a really simple philosophy, as how Syaharani once described in an interview with us as “less is more”.
Let’s back to see how the concert was. Home band from Oranye Concept Lounge performed first on stage. Around 8:00 PM, Syaharani and the Queenfireworks took over the stage. The cool concert was started. Besides Syaharani as the leading singer, there were Didit Saad on guitar, the senior guitarist Donny Suhendra, Kristian Dharma on bass, Fajar Trias on piano, Sihan B on drums plus Lawrence and Febri as backing vocals. ESQIEF opened the concert with “De Dia”. This song was presented in a slower beat than the album version. Syaharani appeared cute with a flowery mini dress, wrapped in a green cardigan plus white boots. The next song was “Mungkin”, a new single from their new album which is going to be released soon. Continued with “Kemareen” in a down beat. Syaharani took time to greet everybody in the room, and offered the audience to request any songs. They took John Legend’s “Save Room” from the request, presenting it in a lovely arrangement that helped to add more jazz nuance in this cozy atmosphere.
After “Save Room”, Syaharani introduced the personnel one by one. The classic song from 1938 which has been popularized by many jazz artists “The Nearness of You” was the next song. Although “The Nearness of You” has been recorded by big names such as Glenn Miller, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and many, many more, it still felt different on ESQIEF’s arrangement. The concert continued with “Kekasih Palsu”, taken from their previous album. As the concert was made due to Oranye Concept Lounge birthday, the cutting cake ceremony came right after. Another new song that will be available in their new album entitled “Anytime” came next. “Anytime” appeared in sweet tunes with cool lips scatting a la Syaharani. A popular Bee Gees hit, “Love You Inside Out” followed in joyful beat. The audience sang together.
Then it was time for a surprise. Syaharani offered the audience to request any song from Antonio Carlos Jobim’s songbook. And “So Nice” was the first song taken from Jobim’s collection. Surprisingly they pinned the song into a very different style, leaving the samba style and placed it into a happy up beat style. ESQIEF gave another Jobim’s classic, “Agua de Beber” in another fresh new arrangement. They carried on with another new song in down beat called “Kiranya” and continued with “Bermain Api” that made really different than the album version. ESQIEF closed the concert with “Tetaplah Disini”. Syaharani sat on stage and poured out her heart through the song.
It was a concert made personal, it was a well prepared concert, and most of all, it was lovely. It was a sweet treat to all the fans who have been supporting them all through their career, held in a cozy room with cool orange concept, a color which represents ESQIEF music style perfectly. Very familiar, friendly, interactive, close and intimate concert we should say. Syaharani and friends showed how a band should interact with their fans, no boundary, no distance. We hope there will be more concert like this to come. Thank you Syaharani and the Queenfireworks! We wish you all the best!
More Pictures:
Editor: Riandy Kurniawan
Photographer: Reska
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