Click here for an audio-visual look at the gig highlights

 

***for full gig listings jump to the bottom***

 

 

Greetings:

Thursday in Phnom Penh find Joe Wrigley doing a Buddy Holly tribute at Motodop, the open mic at Noisy Chili, and The Extraordinary Chambers at Oscar’s on the Corner. Note that the Jazz jam with Dr George at Tape Deck has moved to Mondays.

Friday night in Phnom Penh, Long Strong Prong Bong are at Motodop, Jazz Sauce with Rossco [see Passing Chords below] are at Khmer Funk Sky Bar, Randy Cataluna is at The Vine and Christabel is at Botanico.  DNA are at End of the Road, Scott Bywater hosts an open mic at The Tin Hat and Nestor leads a Latin jam at Stories by Little Susie.  Later and louder, The Extraordinary Chambers are at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Siem Reap, Scapegoat Candy are at Laundry and Joshua Chiang & the Dropping Shoes are at The Panthers Hut.  In Kep, Swing of Paris (Intan, Christophe & Phil) are at Les Papilles Enchantees.

Saturday in Phnom Penh there’s a classical Concert d’Amour by La Philharmonie Musashi at Chaktomuk Theatre, while Rossco & Cameron [see Passing Chords below] are at Tape Deck, Scapegoat Candy are at Motodop and Brooke Palmer is at Botanico.  Arome Khmer are at Penh House, The Broken Cymbal are at Au Marche and Two Country Drunks are at Tropico.  Later on, Montra are at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Kep, Swing of Paris (Intan, Christophe & Phil) are at The Wave: Kep West, and in Siem Reap Dos Sifones are at Mex’d Up.

Come Sunday, Brooke Palmer is at The Vine, Sunday Sundowners open mic at Tacos Kokopelli is hosted by Scott Bywater, Greg Beshers is at Hunt, and later on Scapegoat Candy are at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Siem Reap, The Little Squirrels are at New Leaf and Crash Boom Bang are at Laundry.

Department of Welcome Back

Scapegoat Candy, a collaboration between singer-songwriter Dean Wolf Bailey and party band Jam-Cha born in Siem Reap during the quiet days of COVID, are back (although they never really went away).  Dean is now based in the UK again, and for the second time this year is in Cambodia for a quick visit and tour after the recent release of their EP, All the Angels. LengPleng had a brief but enthusiastic chat with him this morning about the songs and the upcoming tour.

LP: Welcome back!
DWB: I’ll always come back and play, I love it here.  I’m really looking forward to this tour – Laundry in Siem Reap, Motodop and Oscar’s on the Corner in Phnom Penh, Monkey Republic in Kampot, and then Dave Fest on Koh Rong Sanloem.

LP: What can you tell us about the songs on the new EP?
DWB: All the Angels.  Rod [Tolentino] and I wrote that on his verandah while we were getting drunk during lockdown.  I was in a pretty bad place when I first recorded it, and I had to replace the original vocals.
Babyface was written after we’d done a few Cambodian tours – I’d just had a shave, and Chema [Rodriguez] said grow that beard back, you’ve got a babyface.  I said, hey, I was waiting for a new idea for a song.  It’s about absolutely nothing apart from me having a shave.    Actually it refers to an ayahuasca ceremony, which was part of my journey to sorting my head sorted out – I’d recommend that to anybody who’s depressed, it works.
Social Desease was probably the second song that Rod and I wrote together, and it’s my favourite, I love it.  It was originally called A-ha, because that’s what Rod is singing in the background, but in the end we thought we can’t call it that, everyone will think we’re from Sweden.  I just wish Rod could spell.

LP:  All recorded in Siem Reap?
DWB:  We put the tracks down with Steve Bloxham at 60 Road Studios.  An old mate of mine, Alan Wrench, who used to produce Manchester late 70s punk band Slaughter and the Dogs, stepped up and mixed the songs for us.  That’s basically it.  Really happy with it, and happy to tour it.  If Scapegoat Candy don’t release music this year and go on a tour then we’re talking and not walking.  I also have a project to get the lads to come to the UK, and having something tangible while applying for festivals and stuff will be helpful.  It’s probably Mission Impossible but I’m up for it!

Find Scapegoat Candy this Friday at Laundry in Siem Reap, Saturday and Sunday in Phnom Penh at Motodop and Oscar’s on the Corner, Wednesday in Kampot at Monkey Republic and at Dave Fest on Koh Rong Sanloem.  For more on the band see LengPleng’s interview from last January.

Passing Chords – a few things you may not know about

Ross “Rossco” Kessler, in town for a series of dates with his friend now Phnom Penh resident Cameron Smith.  His latest album, I Married a Shrink is available on CD and Spotify / YouTube.   “Toowoomba doesn’t have a lot of bands and venues, but like in Phnom Penh there’s a lot of inclusion.  My band Rossco’s Jazz Funk and Groove Jam plays once a week – I like writing simple funky songs that everyone can play along with.”   Find him with Jazz Sauce at Khmer Funk Sky Bar on Friday and with Cam Smith at Tape Deck on Saturday.

Do you have a pet musical hate?

Cliquey people.  I was born and bred in Toowoomba, then I left for about 20 years, running an international surf camp.  One of the ways I entertained the attendees was through music.  I wrote a bunch of really simple two-chord songs for people to join in around the campfire with shakes and kazoos, and when I returned to Toowoomba I used that to break through the rather cliquey scene that had formed.  Music is a beautiful thing.  In Phnom Penh everyone is extremely welcoming, and they want you to play.

A private musical indulgence:

I love funk, so a lot of my playing and listening is around funk and jazz.  I’m a huge Frank Zappa fan – he’s got it all.  I used to drive for seven hours from the surf camp to visit my parents listening to Frank.  I was brought up on Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Jethro Tull.

The year you first came to Cambodia:

This is my first visit.  I’ve been here for six days and it seems like six weeks.  I haven’t stopped playing since I’ve been here.  I used to visit Bali every year but since a shoulder injury I can’t surf anymore, so it’s just the music now and I think I’ll be coming here instead.

An early music memory:

My dad was an amazing, world-class gospel baritone, so I grew up listening to that.

The last thing you had to eat:

I’ve been eating a lot of fruit.

Stagefright – yes or no?

Not anymore.  Early days I did a little bit, but I realised: practice, practice, practice.  Know everything backwards and you go up there fully confident.

A country you want to visit:

More Cambodia.  I’ve been fortunate to travel to many places around the world.  I spent a lot of time in Chile, also Argentina and Peru, Indonesia.  I’d be interested in looking at Estonia, Belorus, places like that.

A book or movie you keep going back to:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.  I’m not a big reader.  I like action movies.

What languages do you have?

Australian.

Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:

My first instrument was piano, when I was 9, with a nasty teacher.   I picked up the guitar when I was 14, and for the last 30 or so years I’ve been playing pretty constantly.  I once had a go at trumpet, didn’t last too long.

Something people might be surprised to know about you:

I try to live a life of love, you’ll find that in my music everywhere.  I believe to have lived a life of love is to have lived the best life you can.

You have a time machine and a magic ticket to one gig or festival in the past. What do you choose?

I would go back to the early years of Bob Dylan, or Frank Zappa.

A question from the last participant: If you had to come back and be a musician again, but you couldn’t play the instrument you mainly play now, what instrument would you play?
I would have a real crack at trumpet.

Department of Other Activities

Check out partner restaurant guide Bongnham.com for dining suggestions near live music venues and elsewhere.

Also lordpenh.com for the world beyond live gigs.

And for reports from the gigs themselves check out NightPilot.

Department of Mutual Support:  Friends of LengPleng

Thanks to The Deck and Tape Deck for signing up for another year; also new pizza joint Bong Appetit – page coming soon.

Being a Friend of LengPleng is open to venues, acts, and even private individuals; if you value the service we provide please consider assisting us financially.   For a modest contribution ($25 for three months, $40 for six months, $75 for 12 months), you get the logo of your choice into the weekly email and onto the weekly wrap page, and an automatically click through to a page on our website for further information, photos, videos and so on – we like to think of it as an alternative to Facebook.

We also pay special attention when you have a good story for us – an upcoming event or an artist you wish to highlight.  Email gigs@lengpleng.com for further details or bail up Scoddy wherever you see him, or Guillermo if you can find him.

 

Steve Porte Photo of the Week

 

Joe Fogarty of Drunk on Champagne at Noisy Chili, 7 November 2026.  Thanks for your contributions and safe travels!

 

 

If you wish to receive a notification for the new edition of LengPleng in your inbox every Thursday please send a subscribe email to gigs@lengpleng.com.

Musicians, venues, punters:  if there are things you know that LengPleng should know, please tell us and we’ll do our best to tell the world.

See you around the traps.
your correspondent,

 

 

Guillermo Wheremount
LengPleng.com
gigs@lengpleng.com (mailto:gigs@lengpleng.com

 

Weekly Gig Guide – week commencing Thursday 12 November 2026

 

 

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Thursday


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Sunday

 

Monday


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Wednesday

 

By Weekly Wrap