Magic in Medan

We’re about three fifths of the way through the tour, and I have a new favorite show.

In our first workday in Medan (we had the first day off), we performed two concerts. Our later show was poolside at our hotel, the Hotel Danau Toba. It went incredibly well and we had the amazing opportunity to jam with members of the Band Komunitas Jazz Medan, who joined us on drums and guitar for “Don’t Bring Me Down.”

The earlier show, was a “Street Jammin’” gig with Medan street performers. In attendance, were dozens of locals and easily over 100 young children. While the kids did not immediately warm up to us (As is normal for me, I smiled and waved and a few babies cried in response), they became more responsive when Mark started offering high fives and Liz took a couple enthusiastic fist bumps (*ouch*).  As the kids warmed up to us, we began handing out Student Loan bumper stickers. Immediately, several dozen children mobbed us to get their hands on them. We fortunately had enough for all of them, and in a matter of minutes Student Loan stickers adorned everything from walls and shirts, to foreheads and shins.

What started out as light rain escalated quickly to a smattering, a drizzle, a steady downpour, and eventually an absolute deluge. Our concert crew demonstrated some quick thinking and rather impressive acrobatics as they set up a tent to keep us dry, but the rain apparently took it as a challenge. Eventually the stage was set up and the street musicians began their short set. They sang an original song and an Indonesian traditional song, and we didn’t let leaky umbrellas and an unrelenting rain stop us from enjoying it. They were fantastic, and we would have been even more impressed if we’d seen what awaited us on stage.

By the time we were ready for our set, the rain had turned to a full-on downpour and there was nowhere for me to stand to keep my feet dry, leading to me abandoning my waterlogged shoes and opting for bare feet. We did our absolute best (with some degree of success) to keep the instruments dry, and the electric upright bass simply wasn’t going to happen. With microphone cables sitting in standing water, a leaky roof, a river up to our ankles running under us onstage, and myself on acoustic guitar, we gave Orange Blossom Special the best shot we could. It probably wasn’t our best, but the crowd immediately erupted in dance and applause, needing no prompting whatsoever to get into the spirit of things.

My guitar skills not being quite ready for more burinin’ fiddle tunes, we slowed it down and opted to follow with “Wagon Wheel,” and closed with what has nearly become the anthem for our trip, “Country Roads.” We managed to save the instruments from water damage, but keeping our clothes dry was a lost cause. Chad later said that there’s a certain point where the heavy rain turns from frustrating to fun. We had definitely passed that point. Soaked to the skin, we gladly stuck around for photos, high fives, “Obama bumps,” and pinky handshakes with what may have been our most enthusiastic and crowd so far. The adults and especially the kids had a great time, and we even had an entourage of excited attendees (mostly children) follow us to our vans.

Pure magic.

-Julio