Best disco in Jakarta for me, Stadium can be extremely crowded on
week-ends and for
special events. It has four flours, each supposedly with different themes but tribal techno/progressive is dominant. Stadium is big enough to get you lost and so dark you could not recognize your mom if she was dancing 1 meter away from you.
The atmosphere inside the club is unique: A melting-pot of human misery with an underground feel and with drugs and prostitutes easily available (just ask the waiters). You will find all kind of people partying hard in Stadium: taxi drivers, socialites, bosses, students, expatriates, etc...As it is open until very late in the morning (9am during the week, later during the weekend), it is where all the nightlife ends in Jakarta, once all the other bars and clubs have closed. It has the reputation of staying open 60 hours non-stop from Friday to Monday morning, but this is true only for the karaoke.
If you come for the music, you will need to go to the 4th floor, the famous "lantai empat". Most foreigners stay on the left of the podium, near the DJ. Many gays are just below and the rest of the dance floor is mostly packed with young people. On the corners, in the dark, dealers, prostitutes and pimps. Older clients usually go downstair in the karaoke room and take ectasy/shabu-shabu with some girls. The crowd is at best on Sundays afternoon I think, because many youngsters who do not have permission to spend the night out clubbing do it during the day.
Great DJs came here, in particular Ame and Luciano, plus some Ibiza DJ such as DJ Pippy. It is currently hosting more and more international DJs, at least once a month or two.
Our french blog has more photos and more infos about Stadium and nightlife in Jakarta:
Click here! and
click here!As with other nightclubs in North Jakarta, most of the clubbers inside Stadium take drugs, in particular ecstasy. Beer is enough for me, but if you decide to take something stronger, you have to know about the potential risks. There are police raids occasionally, but the management of Stadium is usually informed before they occur and they can prevent anybody to deal inside its premises on these days. People can get caught more easily outside the club, and therefore you should be extremely discreet and you should not keep anything on you when you leave the building. The worst thing that could happen to you is having your urine tested, and it happened (
see this news article to know more about drugs in Indonesia). If you don't take drugs, you can ask for a drink called Barracuda (Rp200k), which is known to be quite strong. The Cendana cocktail is popular as well.
4000 or 5000 people can fit in the whole club, but there is only 1 fire exit, so pray hard and nothing will happen. Pickpockets are another
safety issue, with the primary target being cell-phones left in the rear pocket of your pants... you may be high, but others aren't and they are much aware that you are an easy prey..
At last, the taxis located just outside of the club should be avoided at any cost. Walk along Hayam Wuruk for at least 200 meters, then catch a Blue Bird or an Express.
Update July 2009: There were a few people injured and one dead in a fight that took place in Stadium. Apparently, the attack was led by a group of young people in white shirts who wanted to close down the place. In spite of that, I don't think it's unsafe to go there by yourself, the biggest danger you might encounter is being ripped off by a taxi driver.
Update March 2011:As some readers commented, there are indeed some nude dancers in Stadium now.. I took a photo that I voluntarily censored:
For the music, Stadium is setting the tone for most of the other discos in Jakarta. Some tracks are so easily identifiable that when they are played in other places, you'll see people go "Stadium song!". Here are some sample:
Another "Ecstasy" song.
This one may not have started in Stadium, it's a bit more housy, but you hear it everywhere (the remix is not the original one but it's the best I could find).
