As Christmas time approaches and the the tourist season starts to kick in, live music gigs will hopefully become a more regular thing. This week and next is looking quite good - especially with the "return" of the
Stiff Little Punks and their 3 gigs. Also there are 3 international artists playing this weekend - all on different days - hence giving us the best chance to catch all of them.
Please note that the Bong Thom web site and their hard-copy publication, The Krawma
, is now taking an initiative to try to promote live music in Cambodia. The Krawma will have a
live-music gig-guide within their pages every issue. These publications will focus in on live music by giving special precedence to any shows featuring live musical performances. I will try to round up the gigs for the web site, the hard-copy and the
Leng Pleng blog every week. I hope this will help both the publications and the live music industry in Cambodia to some level of success and benefit.
Additionally I will now definitely move a head and start to organize a month (or so) long battle of the bands competition. There are 2 first steps that need to be taken. The first thing is to establish an organizing committee. This will allow a number of decisions to be taken in order to get lay the groundwork. The second thing to do is to attain a good level of sponsorship so as to have a significant prize pool. If you are interested in being part of the organization then drop me a line (Televisionted@BongThom.com).
The live music for this weekend follows:
- Tree again does a set of acoustic contemporary ballads at the Velkommen Inn on Friday starting at 8:00PM
- The Lazy Jazz Drunks are set to demolish Huxley's yet again this Friday. The gig they played at Rory's was really a great time for all those who stuck around. It usually turns into a fairly informal gathering by the end with a mix of musicians getting up and doing whatever works. I really encourage every musician to get down there. It is a great time and very relaxed.
- At the FCC this Friday there is an international band called Ratatat. They are billed as "Brooklyn electronic music" and are known for their ambient, electronic instrumentals and elaborate audio-visual stage shows. They have toured and recorded with some big names - you can see some more info at the FCC web site - http://www.fcccambodia.com/newsletter/1209/december.php?r=h
- On Saturday the FCC has another international act. The name of the band is I Heart Hiroshima and they are billed as one of the hottest acts to emerge from the blistering music scene in Brisbane, Australia. They play indie-pop apparently - cooool !
- Saturday also see's the Stiff Little Punks playing at The Tree. The Tree is a new venue that inhabits Street 118. Apparently there will be special guest appearances by Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler.
- Sunday will see The Hellhounds playing at Talkin' to a Stranger. This will be the last time for a while that you will be able to catch them as their full 5-piece set-up. Dan (bass) will be heading back to Sweden for the Christmas period. They will, however, be continuing on as a 4-piece for the interim period - more news on that later.
- Sunday has yet another international act - this time at The Chinese House. The Fun is third Australian act to hit Phnom Penh in the last 2 weeks. The members of this band also have a varied array of big names with whom they have played. They will perform an acoustic set on Mandolin, Djembe and guitar.
Coming Up:
- Stiff Little Punks at the Gasolina and The Cavern
- The Hellhounds new Friday gigs
- The Beer O'clock Band playing at Talkin' to a Stranger
- Mekong Pirates at the Chinese House
- Little Duke and Television Ted debut
For a round-up of the weekends gigs ==>don't forget to visit Scoddy's blog
Following the Applause at http://phnompenhgigs.blogspot.com.
Cheers and see you around the traps.