What do you do in Phnom
Penh during the rainy season? The Cambodian music scene forges on
during August, September and October, albeit a little diminished in
players and punters. South-East Asia is not the most popular tourist
destination during the monsoons. To make matters worse at this time
of year, many expats become possessed of the strange notion that
spending a few weeks or months back home in the Western World is a
good idea. Television Ted and I say 'poppycock' to this idea and
batten down the hatches at Leng Pleng Towers, bedding in for the
season. We wouldn't want to miss any great gigs!
![]() |
Rhiannon Johnson – pic:
www.kenedgar.com
|
Rhiannon Johnson
will be giving a special live performance at Samai
Distillery in Phnom Penh
tonight (Thursday). Samai
is a specialist rum-maker, only opening its doors to the public once
per week. In
keeping with the boutique and salubrious setting, Rhiannon has chosen
the crème de la
crème of
Phnom Penh-based
expat musicians to
accompany her on the gig: Phil
Javelle
(keys), Euan
Gray
(sax) and Lewis
Pragasam
(drums/percussion).
Smooth
and sultry soul and funk will be the order of the day.
![]() |
pic – Aura Thematic Hostel Trip
Advisor
|
Eluvium
Lounge is a rooftop bar
on Street 19. The newly-furbished live music venue has
kicked-off a weekly open mic
night, to take place
each Thursday between 7pm and 10pm. Eluvium
has a stage, a drum kit, a small PA and – most importantly – an
awning to protect open mic-ers from the rains. Enjoy.
Slur
Bar is once again
hosting live music on
several nights of the week.
Under new management, the music policy has changed to focus on local
Cambodian bands. The pick of
these is Batbangers
Band, a
fine Khmer-rock group who
will be playing at Slur
Bar on
a regular basis.
Slur Bar
management
let Leng
Pleng
know that they are working in conjunction with Lewis
Pragasam's
Starworks Academy
(based
in Boeng Trabek, Phnom Penh)
to
develop and promote young Cambodian talent. Sounds cool! Check
out the Leng
Pleng
weekly gig guide below to find out the latest information about the Slur
Bar
live music schedule.
![]() |
Brazen and Busy Bodhi - pic:
http://kissthefunkymonkey.com/cambodia-calling/
|
The
wooden-structured Bodhi
Villa was
always a cool place to be
during a
Kampot rainstorm.
Bodhi
closed earlier this year, after eleven seasons of raucous Friday
night live music parties. Kampot Playboys
lead singer Sok Chiet
(also owner of Madi's Bar)
has since taken
over the reigns at the
riverside venue. This coming
Friday, a riverbed-shaking re-launch party will be held. Goodbye
Bodhi, hello
Banyan Tree.
Live music comes courtesy of
legendary local Cambodian-Western fusion kings Kampot
Playboys and awesome rock
covers power-trio Mr Mammoth.
Leng Pleng
has
also heard a rumour that there will be a special Banyan
Tree
opening party performance by a scaled-down iteration of raggamuffin
specialists Dub
Addiction.
Also,
DJs
Mute Speaker and
Korsan will
be spinning tunes long into the night.
In case you had forgotten
the awesome, camera-wobbling power that Friday-night Bodhi
gigs could muster, here is a video clip of the song '2000 Riel' taken
during a Grass Snake Union gig a few years ago.
Party on!
Whatever you're up to over the next few days, stay safe out there
and... see you around the traps!
Joe
Wrigley
No comments:
Post a Comment