“It’s our first time in Jakarta. Thank you for making it a beautiful experience.”

Those words from St. Vincent to her audience summed up the collective feelings at Plainsong Live’s Joyland Festival Jakarta 2024. Around 45,000 festival goers descended upon the GBK Baseball Stadium Senayan from 22 to 24 November to witness an array of memorable and oft-times emotional performances. There were plenty of highlights to choose from, not least St. Vincent herself who overcame the major issue of all her equipment except her guitar not arriving as planned and delivered a truly thrilling set that was equal parts choreography and spontaneity as the U.S. artist unleashed songs from her multiple Grammy Award-nominated album All Born Screaming and led to the climactic moment of her crowd surfing while singing 'New York'.

Other main attractions on the Joyland Stage and Plainsong Live Stage were French duo AIR celebrating the 30th anniversary of their legendary debut album Moon Safari by playing it in full; beloved U.S. indie rockers Real Estate making the crowd sing along to the guitar intro of 'Darling' and other tunes from their back catalogue; Korea’s HYUKOH and Taiwan’s Sunset Rollercoaster joining forces to perform songs from their collaboration album AAA as well as their own respective hits; Japan post-rock titans MONO still sounding colossal on their fifth visit to Indonesia; alternative K-pop collective Balming Tiger creating a high-energy atmosphere onstage; Bombay Bicycle Club from the U.K. had the audience singing along from start to finish; and recently-reunited British indie pop combo Blueboy bringing together several generations of fans, bringing to tears those who had grown up on their music and never thought they’d get to see the band perform live. Rounding out the international performers on the main stages were Silica Gel, Bubble Tea & Cigarettes, Automatic, Surprise Chef, John Carroll Kirby, DYGL and Brainstory, all of whom managed to bring their A-games and gain new fans.

Not to be outdone, the main stages also saw special performances from beloved Indonesian acts such as Efek Rumah Kaca recreating last year’s Konser Rimpang along with its stunning stage installations to perform their fourth album Rimpang in full; Majelis Hujan Berduri bringing their new album Hujan Orang Mati to life with a theatrical flair including dancers and costumes; Pentas Sihir featured the combination of Lomba Sihir and Hindia with his current backing band Blue Valley Radio delivering non-stop bangers; and newcomer pop collective Bank – whose live debut was at Joyland Festival Bali back in March – marking the release of their debut album Fana by playing it in full. The sets by .FEAST, The S.I.G.I.T., Sigmun, Maliq & D’Essentials, Ali and The Adams also served as reminders that Indonesian fans will show up for their local heroes.

Meanwhile, the Lily Pad enclosure felt like an eclectic, non-stop party over three days thanks to the host of homegrown and overseas acts handpicked by curators White Shoes & The Couples Company. Now expanded into two components, the Lily Pad stage saw performances from Japanese rock icons The 5.6.7.8’s, who paid tribute to fellow Asian all-female rock band pioneers Dara Puspita by covering the latter’s 'A Go Go'; cross-generational Thai group Khun Narin Electric Phin Band’s unique take on psychedelic rock showed why they went viral on YouTube a decade ago; Korea’s Idiotape shook the crowd with their intense blend of rock and electronic music; The Panturas debuted tracks from their new Sundanese language EP Galura Tropikalia; Teenage Death Star remained a reliably chaotic live act; and Drizzly, The Cottons and Jeslla provided a glimpse of great Indonesian music waiting to be discovered. The performances were interspersed by DJ sets at the booth opposite the Lily Pad stage, with DJ Yesyes, Cami Layé Okún, Masaya Fantasista & Mikey Varot, Danniella Dee, Habibi Funk, Plastic, Prontaxan, Bosborot and Asa Kusumah providing the beats that kept the dancing going well past midnight.

“We are very happy to see that many were entertained by what was presented at Lily Pad this year. We received a lot of good responses, both from the audience and the performers,” say White Shoes & The Couples Company, whose members also performed as a band and DJs in addition to being curators. “Offstage, the performers also got to know each other, and made connections for the future. Our hope is that the good impact of this festival can continue to other places.”

All in all, Joyland Festival Jakarta 2024 was another memorable installment of the event thanks to the artists, crew, staff, traders, partners, audience and everyone else involved. As festival-goer Yehezkiel Sihombing described it on Instagram, “Joyland is our favorite festival. Not because it’s the biggest, but because it grows together with its audience. It’s not perfect, but every edition works to fix its flaws.”

“Organizing Joyland Festival each year doesn’t make the process any easier, and Jakarta 2024 was no exception. We design each edition wholeheartedly and consider numerous perspectives: the working teams, the talent, and most of all the audience,” says Joyland Festival Program Director Ferry Dermawan. “Many thanks to our friends and partners who care about - and grow with - Joyland! Our hearts are full.”