Fresh off the success of their Jakarta edition last year, Joyland returned to Bali for the island edition of the Indonesian festival.

Plainsong Live brought Joyland Bali to a new location this year – Peninsula Island – and showed us one of the best live productions of the year so far. The stellar lineup featured the likes of impressive headliners: Phoenix, M.I.A., and Sigrid to a range of homegrown acts from GAC to Hindia.

We kicked off the summer with three days of fun and music in Bali, here’s what went down at Joyland Bali 2023.

MUSHROOM MEADOW

Setting up camp in its new home at Peninsula Island, Joyland Bali welcomed guests with colourful, vibrant, and creative installations across the venue. One of the most memorable things we noticed were the mushroom-shaped installations scattered around, providing much-needed shade for festival goers.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Creative workshops, activities and entertainment for all ages were plenty on White Peacock – from Instagram-worthy workshops such as sashiko hand stitching, linocut, and finger knitting to activities such as tarot reading, face painting, and hair braiding. Kids and parents, couples, as well groups of friends had a blast exploring their creative sides.

LAUGHS AT THE SHROOMS GARDEN

The Shrooms Garden was a special stage featuring stand-up comedy curated by Soleh Solihun. The amphiteathre showcased Indonesian comedians from the likes of Muhadkly Acho, Arie Kriting and more.

FUNKY MONKEY

This year’s Joyland Bali was a family-friendly festival, so they separated the smoking and drinking areas and created a strictly 21+ section with 21 Monkeys. The audience grooved to DJ sets from day to night, dancing by the DJ booth or chilling on the grass with their friends.

JOYLAND STAGE

The Joyland stage saw some of the most exciting sets of the weekend, where we saw heartfelt performances, circle pit and incredible showmanship from the artists.

One of the biggest Indonesian pop artists, Yura Yunita embraced us with her heartwarming set. Donning a modern spin on traditional Indonesian clothing, she performed songs like fan-favourite ‘Bandung’ and tearful ‘Tutur Batin’ to her crowd of adoring fans.

American band Crumb took us into the night with their psychedelic stylings and dreamy soundscapes on the Joyland stage.

Fresh off of his Manusia album tour, Tulus went straight to the Joyland Stage. He treated the crowd to new cuts from his latest album, as well as hit tracks ‘Sepatu’, ‘Kelana’ and ‘Hati-hati di Jalan’.

For Andien, performing in Bali was like a homecoming. The Indonesian pop artist stated that Bali is her first home, and paid tribute the island with ‘Janger’ before launching into songs like ‘Sahabat Setia’ and ‘Moving On’.

Nation’s sweetheart Raisa just got back from the first woman performer in Gelora Bung Karno for her solo concert. She enchanted Peninsula Island with her lovable voice and soulful delivery with her hit ‘Serba Salah’, ‘Bahasa Kalbu’, ‘Kali Kedua’ and her recent single ‘Nyaman Tak Cukup’. Raisa stated that she liked to see male crowds singalong to her mellow songs.

black midi picked up the pace after Raisa's performance. The British experimental band, who was one of the most highly anticipated performers at Joyland Bali, delivered an intense performance with their dense, dissonant sound.

They fired up the crowd with ‘John L’, with lots of headbanging and forming a circle pit for ‘Sugar/Tzu’, ‘Dethroned’ and ‘Near DT, MI’. A particular highlight was drummer Morgan Simpson, who played furiously on ‘Welcome to Hell’.

The crowd was quietly waiting for the neaxt, as soon as they heard the groovy music of CHAI playing, they rushed to come to the Joyland stage. The Japanese quartet wowed the audience with an explosive, agile performance – running and dancing around the stage, with the crowd returning the energy by dancinf their hearts out. 

PLAINSONG LIVE STAGE

The scenic sunset and beach provided the perfect backdrop for the Plainsong Live stage. The stage showcased a range of local and international acts – from exciting rookies and comeback artists to pop legends. 

John Paul Patton of Kelompok Penerbang Roket and visual artist Arswandaru's recent project, ALI showed Bali a different kind of performance. The duo played Middle Eastern and North African, Anatolian scale Hamam House-inspired sound that was unique to the audience. From ‘Dance, Habibi’ to to ‘Shoreline Transit’, ALI brought a smorgasboard of sounds to the Plainsong Live Stage.

Black Country, New Road music kind of needs time to get accustomed to, but that wasn't the case for their Joyland Bali performance. The London–based band enthralled fans who showed up for their set. Frontman Lewis Evans paid tribute to their host country sporting a t-shirt featuring Indonesian emo band Vvachri. BCNR played new songs from their film concert Live at Bush Hall such as ‘Up Song’, ‘Dancer’ and ‘The Boy’. 

It was a reunion kinda day for GAC (Gamaliél Audrey Cantika). After 3 1/2 years, we were lucky to witness the Indonesian R&B trio back on stage. In time for their comeback performance at Joyland Bali, they performed their newly released single ‘Baru’ and shared that they will be dropping more new music soon. “We never leave you guys… Thank you for waiting for us for the last 3.5 years” said Gamal. 

THE HEADLINERS

British rapper M.I.A amazed the Joyland Bali crowd with her impressive headlining set. Paying homage to Indonesia, she opened her performance with a ‘Janger Bali’ sample and LED screen on stage showing saman dance from Aceh. She sang her hits such as ‘Bad Girls’, ‘Paper Planes’ and closed the night with ‘Marigold’.

Norwegian pop singer Sigrid ended Day 2 with nuremous tracks from her 2022 album How to Let Go and hits such as ‘Sucker Punch’ and ‘Strangers’. At one point she bantered with the audience about how they checked out her tour setlist and jokingly quipped that they were "cheating" for knowing what song she will sing next, before closing the set with ‘Mirror’.

One of the most highly anticipated performers at Joyland Bali, Phoenix officially wrapped up Joyland Bali on Sunday night. With all the stunning lighting (thanks to lighting director Pierre Claude) and pristine sound production, the French band started the show with 'Lisztomania’ and picked up the pace with drum banging ‘Lasso’, ‘Ti Amo’ and ‘After Midnight’. This wasn’t the band's first time in Bali, and the audience gave them the warmest welcome by dancing and singing along.

Vocalist Thomas Mars stated that Joyland Bali marked end of the Asia leg of the Alpha Zulu tour and that the festival had the "best crowd." “It’s a pleasure to end our tour here in Joyland Bali,” shared Mars. Phoenix played their earlier hits such as ‘Rome’, ‘Funky Squaredance’ and closed with ‘1901’. Towards the end of the concert, Thomas Mars treated fans to a crowd surf. The front row swiftly lifted him up, bringing around, and back to the stage. Phoenix delivered a stellar performance worthy to close Joyland Festival Bali 2023.