Saturday night, on a quiet corner of Wilshire Boulevard, the lights of The Deco Building dimmed and the building’s main room roared to life. Music poured off the stage as Indonesian musicians from Los Angeles and beyond performed. The charity music event, Harmoni LA, organized by the Association of Indonesian Students at USC and the L.A. chapter of the Indonesian Student Association, PERMIAS L.A., began. 

This year, ASIS collaborated with PERMIAS L.A. to put on their traditional annual concert. 

“We really needed to set a price that would be affordable to the people here,” said Jesslyn Rahardjo, a senior majoring in business administration who worked ticketing for the concert with PERMIAS L.A. 

Their collaboration helped the concert to grow and attract more attention, selling out tickets. The organizations had to negotiate with the building for extra tickets, which sold out within a matter of minutes.

“We didn’t expect that it would sell out so fast … but we’re glad we did it because even when we sold out in the first tier and the second one too, people were messaging us,” Rahardjo said. “We’re just really grateful that a lot of people are excited about the event too.”

The concert gave L.A.’s Indonesian community a chance to celebrate their culture and music. 

“We made it a concert to bring together Indonesians across L.A. for a night of giving back and also listening to music,” said Britney Halim, a marketing officer for ASIS and a sophomore majoring in business administration.

The concert boasted popular food companies such as Indomie and Tehbotol Sosro as sponsors, a sold-out audience and an iconic musician in their lineup. The organizers credit their incredible turnout to the very community their event aims to celebrate. 

“The networking in an Asian community in L.A. is crazy … We just asked people, ‘Does anyone want to sponsor our event?’ and we just [kept] forwarding the message and eventually we ended up with five sponsors,” Halim said. “I feel like people will be more inclined [to help out] knowing it’s a charity event.”

The concert’s proceeds are dedicated toward Indonesian-based charities such as Yayasan Bhakti Luhur, Rumah Teduh Suryo, Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa Foundation and Komib, which fight for issues such as patient care support and environmental sustainability. 

“The cherry on top is that this is a charity event,” said Joseph Leo, a sponsorship officer in ASIS and a sophomore majoring in computer science/business administration. “Back home in Indonesia, it’s just our way of giving back halfway across the world.”

For the concert itself, PERMIAS L.A. and ASIS assembled four opening artists and one headlining act. The four openers are of Indonesian descent and from all over Southern California: the duo Angel & Bryant, UCLA student Nicole Kyra, The Gitz and singer-songwriter Jeanette Sims. 

“What’s great is [the openers] played a lot of Indonesian songs from different artists,” Leo said. “It was awesome because we got to hear so much more than just one artist defining Indonesia, defining the music landscape back home … It’s a wave of nostalgia.”

Now for the headliner of the concert: Tulus. The pièce de résistance with nearly 9.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify who performed as the main act of Harmoni LA.

“He released a lot of viral songs in Indonesia. He’s like our go-to Indonesian karaoke song artist,” Halim said. 

From the way the audience roared the moment Tulus stepped on stage, it was clear he was a household name to the crowd. 

“[His songs are] on the radio a whole lot. At home, they’re anywhere from malls, radio stations, streaming in bars, clubs, everywhere,” Leo said.

Everyone at the concert knew every line to every song, singing so loud and proud the building itself seemed to grow a voice and hum along. There is no feeling as comforting and unique as when an entire community sings your favorite songs with you. 

The students in ASIS and PERMIAS L.A. work that sense of belonging into their respective organizations; from the delicate and precise nature in which the event was organized and the passion poured into every part of the concert, it’s very easy to tell that ASIS and PERMIAS L.A. worked to translate their friendships and community into a tangible medium. The event’s demand of time, energy and love necessitated these clubs to be not only invested and dedicated to each other, but also close friends. 

“Even outside of the club, we all eat together, we hang out together … Even though we met through a club, it’s just nice to have a friend group out of the club,” Halim said. “In an event like this, because we understand it’s giving back to our community, we’re just taking it very seriously to make sure this event is perfect.”

Not only has the concert become a way to bring people together, but it also provides a safe space for Indonesians to feel at home. 

“Our members, they have been the loveliest people ever,” said Rahardjo, talking about her time in PERMIAS L.A. “We really know the struggles being away from home and having people that we’re surrounded with that have the same struggles, it feels very comforting.”

In one night, these two organizations managed to bring the comfort of home, the safety of community and the fun of good music to a massive audience. 

“[I’m] so far from home and it felt just like home in there,” Leo said. “That’s a feeling that’s hard to replicate. It’s very valuable, it’s very fleeting, but its impermanence is what gives it value and meaning.”