“Promise yourself that one day you’ll wake up in Bali” is a quote that is attributed to nobody in particular and yet the favourite of every wanderlust dreamer I’ve met. The Indonesian “island of gods” known for its forests, volcanoes,temples, beaches and lush paddy fields is full of surprises. One of them arrived in early October, under a peachy sunset, in the guise of Wake Up Call, a music festival organised by the W hotels at its lush property at Seminyak, the island’s quaint southern part. The Wake Up Call festivals are held in different W properties around the world. On the evening of October 5, the Bali hotel was pumping with high decibel bass and percussion. Crowds thronged the dance venue, shaking a leg and losing themselves to the music. Further behind at the swimming pool, shaped like a Balinese paddy field, people rode on pool floats in the shape of large swans as they sipped on their martinis and looked on, while some dived in. Couples chilled on diwans, spoilt for viewing choice between stars, the moon, the sea and the stage, alive with the performances of artists and DJs. The air was wafting with the aromas of babi guling buns, W dogs, Balinese Poke Bowl, roasted pork and wood-fired pizza, among other delicacies. To those making a bee line for the drinks as they were being shaken, stirred and poured at the Woo Bar and the several kiosks scattered about the property, the night never appeared younger. The party had just begun.

Non stop

The line-up for Wake Up Call was an attraction in itself, particularly to the bulk of Australian tourists and the expat community living in Bali. With artists such as Tove Lo, FKJ, DJs Sam Feldt, Nightmares on Wax and Nora en pure, the crowd was the most excited about Angus and Julia Stone, the Australian folk and indie pop duo who set unbelievable sibling relationship goals. Do you ever fight before a show? I asked them at a ‘meetand-greet session’ that W hosts for the artists to get to know a few select W clientele and journalists. “Even if we do, we just perform like nothing happened. We save the fight for after,” said Julia. They have been performing together since 2006.At W they performed their hit numbers including ‘Chateau’, ‘Grizzly Bear’, ‘Cellar Door’ and ‘For You’. “Music has always been a part of our DNA from the beginning of W,” said Pablo Henderson, Global Brand marketing director for W hotels worldwide. While W launched in 1998, Bali has the first W Hotel that is home to a sound suite which has the brand’s music studio and writer’s room for professional recording artists, studio musicians, producers and hotel guests. “In 2016 we decided we wanted to experiment with a music festival. 2016 was the first WakeUp Call in Scottsdale, Arizona, in theUS. It was huge,” said Henderson.In2017,they started the process of planning a larger multi-city, moving music festival.

World music

This year has seen three WakeUp Callfestivals hosted at W Hotels — at W Hollywood (September 1-2), W Barcelona (September 21-22 ) and at W Bali — Seminyak (October 5-6). In early 2019, the festival will be held at the soon-to-open W Dubai in collaboration with The Palm. The organisers callthe series The World’s First Ever Music Festivals within a Hotel. Bali, said Henderson, saw a floating crowd of 5,000 people and 8,000 social media mentions while 8 million people tuned into the live stream on the night of October 5,the first day of the festival. W has for some years toyed with the idea of bringing the festival to Goa. “The festival is gaining momentum as it goes country to country,” says Henderson. The line up moves too. Thomas Jack, a DJ from Australia with a tropical sound, played in Barcelona and Hollywood. Tove Lo came to Hollywood as a guest but came to Bali to perform. The festival boasts of singer-song writer Charlie XCX and Bettie Hoo, African DJ Black coffee, Robin Shorts in previous locations as Tove Lo, Angus and Julia Stone, and FKJ stole the show in Bali. The unique discovery in Bali, however, was 28-year-old Singapore based French instrumentalist, Vincent Fenton who goes by the name French Kiwi Juice or FKJ. Moving deftly from saxophone to guitar to bass guitar to piano to electronic percussions, FKJ’s jazzy funky notes had everybody swaying. He played ‘Tadow’, ‘Losing my way’, ‘Lying together’ and ‘Canggu’. The audience wanted more. “What I think is really unique, he’s found a way to appeal to a broad audience, with a sound that’s soulful and jazzy, in a world where some of those traits are getting lost on a younger audience,” said Henderson. As the performances went into the wee hours of the morning, for those familiar with the magic,the night was merely another spectacular one to remember.

The author was in Bali at the invitation of W Bali - Seminyak.

Shriya Mohan

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