Gig Guide - Week Commencing Thursday the 5th September 2013

Phnom Penh’s music lovers have some real treats in store this week. Jack predicts a very high frequency of excited social media posts, over-stimulated conversations and shaky youtube gig clips over the coming days. Looking over this week’s program, even I am starting to forget my cool exterior and get dizzy like a jumping bean.

All of the excitement will be centred around The Village on Thursday night as they host The Leng Pleng Mix – a musical revue of historical proportions that brings together legends and luminaries to help us celebrate Cambodian musical culture and the crossover between East and West. Thrakha Band! Cambodian Space Project! Blind Nyel! Conrad Keely! ...I’m getting over-stimulated naming just a few of the acts confirmed for this event.

The boys at head office didn’t mess around when organising the launch party for the Leng Pleng mobile app. They took a four-wheel drive up to Mondulkiri in the rainy season and came back with a group of Bunong Musical Masters. They booked a legendary Khmer-Rock band that has been playing together since the 1960’s. They even convinced Princess Soma Norodom to host the event! Proceedings begin at 7.30pm and with dozens of performers, the party will surely carry on into Friday.

Le Jardin offers a chance to recover and unwind with their Sunset Sandpit Sessions. This weekly night has been continuing over the summer, featuring acoustic music early on Friday evenings. This week’s edition includes a warm-up show from Holey Bucket Union, a new act paying tribute to the songs of the great Hank Williams. Fans of Grass Snake Union will recognise a few familiar faces in the line-up.

Have you recovered well enough to see another genre-munching, cross-continental group of musicians? Good, because later on Friday The Klezbodians are playing at Slur Bar. This band combines multiple instruments to build a wall of sound that must be heard to be believed. They play Eastern-European Klezmer music that will evoke a Jewish wedding in your mind, while your body will be drawn inexorably to the dancefloor.

Vibratone play Slur on Saturday night, and if this is anything like their gig a couple of weeks ago, the dancefloor will be filled with smiling patrons bopping along to some very tightly performed dub-reggae. The band writes all their own stuff and Maia always gets a good reaction when she starts singing ‘Phnom Penh Fire’.

Up on the roof of the FCC Phnom Penh, The Cambodian Space Project say farewell until Christmas. Their show on Saturday will be your last chance to see the amazing Diva Srey Channthy and company before the spaceship heads to Australia for touring and recording.

Farewells can be tough. On Sunday at Sharky’s, all and sundry are warmly invited to an event specially organized by the venue's management. It is a benefit gig for former General Manager & Entertainments Manager Ross Hounslow. As all of those musicians and patrons of Sharky Bar will know, Ross has been very ill of late and has had to get back to Australia to undertake a full recovery. Over the 8 years that Ross has been here his support for the local music industry has been full of a love and passion for great music. His broad smile and sense of humour has filled the hearts and minds of the musicians, management, patrons and staff of Sharky’s with a lot fun and laughter over many years. He is always totally appreciated by those people who have had the pleasure of knowing and working with him.

To wish Ross a speedy recovery and to help him cover the huge expenses he has garnered over the course of his illness, please join Mike, Packo, Dave and all the staff this Sunday at Sharky’s from 8:00pm onwards.

Sharky Bar is also a great choice for Friday night, when Moi Tiet! take the stage there for the first time. Refreshingly, the band plays 100% original material, and with local singer-songwriter Scott Bywater at the helm, you are bound to have a few songs echoing in your head during the tuk-tuk ride home.

Even as we say goodbye to old friends, new ones are always arriving around here. Say hello on Wednesday evening to Akhia, the talented Phnom Penh singing sensation creating a buzz at Doors Phnom Penh.

Say hello, if you can (and you will miss a great night if you don’t) to the truly wonderful Bunong musicians visiting us this week to perform at The Leng Pleng Mix, tonight, at The Village, from 7.30pm. It’s an opportunity to experience music that is unique, inspiring and moving. Here’s a little  excerpt of what we found when we went up to the mountain:

Latest Gigs

Thursday  5-Sep-2013

• 7:30 PM ~ The Leng Pleng Mix at The Village
• 9:00 PM ~ Euan Gray at The Groove
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Maurice at Backstage Cocktail Bar
• 9:00 PM ~ Batuque 40 Degrees at Naga World

Friday  6-Sep-2013

• 8:30 PM ~ The X-Rays at The X-Bar in Siem Reap
• 9:00 PM ~ Moi Tiet at Sharky Bar
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Strike and Linda Asha Aboalla at The RiverHouse Lounge
• 9:00 PM ~ RNA + Friends at The Village
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Poly at Meta House
• 9:00 PM ~ Holliday In Cambodia at Paddy Rice
• 9:00 PM ~ Diego Dimarques at The Groove
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Strike , Linda Asha Aboalla and Jesmine Sok at The RiverHouse Lounge
• 9:30 PM ~ The Klezbodians at The Slur Bar
• 10:00 PM ~ DJ Gang and DJ Rob at Pontoon

Saturday  7-Sep-2013

• 2:00 PM ~ Ringtail at Number 9 Hotel
• 9:00 PM ~ Ritchy and Co at The Groove
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Filth at Meta House
• 9:00 PM ~ Vibratone at Equinox
• 9:00 PM ~ The Cambodian Space Project at The FCC Phnom Penh
• 9:30 PM ~ Two Shots and a Chaser at The Slur Bar
• 10:00 PM ~ DJ Blue and DJ Gang at Pontoon

Sunday  8-Sep-2013

• 8:00 PM ~ Bum N Draze , Steve Murray and Sonic Detergent at Sharky Bar

Tuesday  10-Sep-2013

• 7:00 PM ~ Swing Penh @Doors Phnom Penh at The Doors

Wednesday  11-Sep-2013

• 8:00 PM ~ Akhia Cyxtiel at The Doors

Coming Up

• Station to Station at Paddy Rice
• Two Shots and a Chaser at Sharky Bar
• The Koolers at The Slur Bar
• The Grass Snake Union and Joe Wrigley at Equinox
• WASH at Equinox
• Moi Tiet at Equinox
• Jahzad at Equinox
• Gabi Faja, Toma Willen, Barry Speirs, Sebastien Adnot and Leon at The Doors
• Amanda Bloom at The Doors
• Khmera at The Doors
• Splitter at Sharky Bar
• Akhia Cyxtiel at The Doors
• Holliday In Cambodia at Paddy Rice
• RNA + Friends at Paddy Rice
• DJ K'Dam, DJ Tonle Dub, DJ Kaotek, DJ Mercy and DJ Polaak at Meta House
• DJ Tonle Dub and DJ Mercy at Meta House
• Invisible Agent Label Night at Meta House