Weekly Gig Guide: Commencing Thursday 31st October 2013

In the land of my birth, folks are turning back the clocks and switching on the winter heating. Meanwhile, in South America they are preparing candles and flowers for the Day of the Dead. Here in Phnom Penh this week, lots of people are getting dressed up and going to parties for something called ‘Halloween’ (not sure what that is about). At Leng Pleng Towers, however, the first weekend of November means only one thing... HIGH SEASON has arrived!

Cue fanfares, bright lights and dancing girls. We’ve waited a while, but this week the Cambodian music scene is kicking up a gear. Now every single day brings a great gig opportunity, just take a look at the listings below. With new venues opening up, and increased dates at existing venues, Jack Diamond will have a hard time staying ahead of the curve.

The ‘soft’ opening of new venue Cabaret Restaurant slipped by me last week. Located on Street 154 near Central Market, this leafy lounge promises live music every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Tonight you can catch some funky 1960’s style jazz with Marsyas.

Yes, this week’s roster of gigs really has it all. New bands in magical new venues, old hands in famous haunts, a dozen buskers bubbling in a melting pot and... a tedious wash of spooky puns and hastily thrown-together Halloween-themed evenings.

Jack doesn’t really go in for this Halloween nonsense but I am pleased that someone woke the sleeping beast that is Psychotic Reactions. If you have not yet witnessed the sight of an English biker-punk in a corset, singing hardcore music with a band of musical heavyweights, you have two chances to see Psychotic Reactions this week. Thursday at the Memphis Pub Halloween Party and Monday at Equinox. These guys are great and they know their stuff.

One chance, and the last chance, to see Scott Bywater’s Moi Tiet! on Friday at Doors Phnom Penh. The well renowned and well loved Phnom Penh songwriter will be leaving The Kingdom soon, and this will be the last performance of his band, proudly playing an all-originals set.

www.kenedgar.com

With admirable drive and work ethic, ‘Scoddy’ has achieved something quite unique in the live music landscape here. Where others rehashed the same old covers, the prolific songsmith and tireless performer chose to stick to his own material. Over a period of time, he installed tunes such as ‘It’s not the Mississippi, It’s The Mekong’ or ‘Flying into Pochentong’ into the collective musical consciousness of Phnom Penh gig-goers. Over hundreds of shows, Bywater achieved that which is normally achieved with large and expensive media campaigns. You can see the result for yourself on Friday, when you are bound to hear the song ‘Phnom Penh Driving School’ being requested a number of times.

As if one really cool original gig in a weekend wasn’t enough, Doors turn to the Klezbodians on Saturday night for some outrageous Klezmer dance music. Bun Hong’s clarinet, Giacomo Butte’s accordion and Jose Encinas’ Spanish guitar combine with Ali Benderdouche’s dumbek and Luis Arambarri’s percussion to weave a flowing tapestry of sound. You really have to hear this rather than read about it, but I can tell you that the musicianship is exemplary and the sound is something well out of the ordinary. I have heard the Klezbodians give amazing shows in venues where the sound system was sadly lacking in quality, therefore I eagerly look forward to hearing them through Roberto’s brand new top-of-the-line PA at Doors.

www.kenedgar.com

If you’re in Siem Reap this Saturday don’t miss Cambojam at a special afternoon event in front of the Shinta Mani Hotel. Like fellow fusion luminaries Dub Addiction and Kok Thlok, Cambojam are a very long-running and well established collective of musicians from both inside and outside Cambodia’s borders.

Following the success of Battle of The Bands, Sharky Bar will continue to smash the limitations of presenting a large number of performers in one night with Saturday’s Battle of The Buskers. Sharky’s is possibly the only venue in Phnom Penh that could pull this off – 12 name acts line up to perform short sets and compete for a cash prize. You can see 12 different acts without leaving your bar stool! If there were any cover charge I would say that Battle of The Buskers represented very good value for money.

It’s all just a warm up compared to the blockbusting Penhstock IV: 3 Days of Peace and Music, taking place November 8^th-10^th. More than 30 bands (yes, 30 bands!) will be in attendance at Sharky Bar to create a legendary weekend of music. Phnom Penh should see an influx of music-lovers on this second weekend of November, as Penhstock IV is complimented and contrasted by the 10^th International Music Festival Phnom Penh, taking place at the InterContinental hotel, Meta House and various other venues. Don’t worry, Jack will give you the detailed low-down in next week’s gig guide.

For now Jack has more pressing issues on his mind, like how am I going to find time to see Sliten6ix and Splitter at Slur Bar on Friday night? This gig should be absolutely blasting, as the recent Sharky Bar Battle of The Bands winners Sliten6ix face off with their fellow death-metalheads. Safe to say it will be an outrageous and energetic combination, and the loudest gig yet at Slur Bar.

Are these Phnom Penh venues trying to kill me? Now I hear that Slur Bar are adding regular live music on Monday nights, and Cabaret Restaurant will be hosting a Diego Dimarques residency on Tuesdays. Also, the incredibly talented MWAUKA will be singing at The Village each Wednesday! What a nice problem to have, no days off.

I’ll leave you with a quick glimpse of the audacious Psychotic Reactions at a previous Memphis Pub gig. Also the cautionary words of my landlady, housekeeper, and surrogate mother Mrs Sovann, who is starting to get a bit worried about my full-time carousing... “Take care your health, Bong”.

JACK DIAMOND

Latest Gigs

Thursday  31-Oct-2013

• 6:00 PM ~ Die Lumpen * at Hotel Cambodiana
• 7:00 PM ~ Jaworski 7 , Ringtail and Adobo Conspiracy at The Sundance Inn & Saloon
• 7:00 PM ~ Marsyas at Cabaret Restaurant
• 7:00 PM ~ Scott Bywater , Jerby Salas Santo , Joshua Chiang , Lisa , Chuck Villar and Leonard Reyes at The Aquarium Bar
• 8:30 PM ~ Halloween Open Mic Night - Jam Session & Face Painting at Paddy Rice
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Mariano Noguera at The RiverHouse Lounge
• 9:00 PM ~ Halloween Like Never Before at The Village
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Dynomite at Nova Penthouse
• 9:00 PM ~ Top Banana Halloween Party at The Top Banana
• 9:00 PM ~ Rock X-Press , Jaworski 7 and Psychotic Reactions at The Memphis Pub
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Al Mundo at Meta House
• 9:00 PM ~ Ritchy & Phil and Euan Gray at The Groove
• 10:00 PM ~ DJ Illest , DJ Rob , DJ Lefty and Alex Shaman at Pontoon

Friday  1-Nov-2013

• 5:30 PM ~ Contemporary Songs from Germany & France, Performed by Students at Meta House
• 6:00 PM ~ Die Lumpen * at Hotel Cambodiana
• 7:00 PM ~ DJ Dan Beck The and Kimchi Collective at The The Irish Place Pub
• 7:00 PM ~ Bong Man of Cambodia at Le Jardin
• 8:00 PM ~ Halloween Romp Party at The Show Box
• 8:00 PM ~ Ringtail at The Village
• 9:00 PM ~ Ace Trio at The Groove
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Bree and DJ BBoy Peanut at The Eighty8
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Helen at Nova Penthouse
• 9:00 PM ~ Holliday In Cambodia at Paddy Rice
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Donabelle at The RiverHouse Lounge
• 9:00 PM ~ Graham Cain * and Michelle at Sharky Bar
• 9:30 PM ~ Moi Tiet! at The Doors
• 9:30 PM ~ Leon Kondo Quartet at The Slur Bar
• 10:00 PM ~ Java & Stitch at Backstage Cocktail Bar

Saturday  2-Nov-2013

• 4:00 PM ~ CamboJam at Shinta Mani in Siem Reap
• 6:00 PM ~ Die Lumpen * at Hotel Cambodiana
• 7:00 PM ~ WASH at Meta House
• 8:00 PM ~ La Kookie Rauncha at The Alley Cat Cafe
• 8:00 PM ~ Jahzad at The Latin Quarter
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ D'Zier at Nova Penthouse
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Stroke at The RiverHouse Lounge
• 9:00 PM ~ Diego Dimarques at The Groove
• 9:00 PM ~ DJ Wez-T , DJ Funkelastiks and Alan Ritchie at Meta House
• 9:00 PM ~ Vibratone at Equinox
• 9:00 PM ~ Battle of the Buskers at Sharky Bar
• 9:30 PM ~ The Klezbodians at The Doors
• 9:30 PM ~ Sliten6ix and Splitter at The Slur Bar

Sunday  3-Nov-2013

• 5:00 PM ~ Alan Breen at Le Jardin
• 7:30 PM ~ Coqaroo at The Sundance Inn & Saloon

Monday  4-Nov-2013

• 8:30 PM ~ Graham Cain * at The Slur Bar
• 10:00 PM ~ Psychotic Reactions at Equinox

Tuesday  5-Nov-2013

• 7:00 PM ~ Diego Dimarques and Diego Latin Trio at Cabaret Restaurant
• 7:00 PM ~ Gym Bar Open Mic at The Gym Bar
• 8:00 PM ~ Joey Paz at The Village

Wednesday  6-Nov-2013

• 7:00 PM ~ Box Poetry Slam at The Show Box
• 8:30 PM ~ Two Shots and a Chaser at The Slur Bar
• 8:30 PM ~ Joe Wrigley and MWAUKA at The Village

Coming Up

• BeatboxCoex * at The RiverHouse Lounge
• Carin Levine, Anna Steckel and Stephan Rahn * at The Intercontinental Hotel Phnom Penh
• Mari Jinnai at The CJCC
• Carin Levine, Anna Steckel, Stephan Rahn * and DJ Pieter at Meta House
• Stephan Rahn * , Etienne Chenevier * , So Sronos and Rong Sereyvann at The Intercontinental Hotel Phnom Penh
• 10th International Music Festival at CJCC
• Dub Addiction at Equinox
• The Grass Snake Union at Equinox
• Kasey Taylor at Pontoon
• Kok Thlok at The Show Box
• One Year Anniversary Masquerade Ball at Show Box
• Joe Wrigley, Mealea Lay and Keith Kenny * at Equinox
• Martin Jacobsen, Vinh Lê and Duylinh Nguyen at The Doors
• Gabi Faja and AI Iawasaki at The Doors
• Euan Gray at The Doors
• GTS Sextet at The Doors
• The Klezbodians at The Doors
• Kin Jazz at The Doors
• Vibratone at The Doors
• The Underdogs at Equinox
• Sangvar Day and The Adobo Conspiracy at Equinox
• Jaworski 7 at Equinox
• Frisco Tony, The Beatniks, Dr. Wah Wah, DJ Nights and DJ Nicomatic at Meta House
• Laura Mam at The Village
• The Kimchi Collective at Emergency Room
• Rom Bak Battle at Slur Bar
• DJ Jedie * at Pontoon
• Hydrophonics and DJ Tech 12 at Pontoon
• DJ Phatt Controller, DJ Cab, DJ Polaak and Salmon All Star at The 3Mangos Guesthouse
• DJ Nico at Meta House
• DJ Moodydann at Meta House
• DJ F.U.D at Meta House
• DJ Flo Trallala, DJ Wez-T and DJ Chris Quixote at Meta House
• DJ JO at Meta House
• DJ Tonle Dub and DJ Mercy at Meta House
• DJ Flo Trallala, DJ Wez-T and DJ B-Fox at Meta House
• Dina Chhan and Invisible Agent at Meta House
• DJ Flo Trallala, DJ Wez-T, DJ Funkelastiks, DJ Lefty and DJ Lion at Koh Rong Samloem in Sihanouk Ville
• DJ Phatt Controller, DJ Polaak and Salmon All Star at The Show Box
• DJ Tonle Dub, DJ Mercy and DJ Polaak at Dusk till Dawn
• Antonio Pineda, James Speck, Tim King and DJ Nicomatic at Meta House
• DJ Dan Beck, The Kimchi Collective, DJ Simon C Vent and Steve Goddard at Otres Beach in Sihanouk Ville