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

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

Greetings:

Double Hugos this Thursday night in Phnom Penh with Hugo St Leger leading an open mic at The Box Office and Hugo Marcellesi playing Samai Rum Distillery; for non-Hugo entertainment there’s Loopy Reggae at The Big Easy, while Larry Lowinger is at The Silk Route and The Extraordinary Chambers are at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Kampot Christian Herve is at Old Market Skybar, George Town hosts an open mic at The Bay and Fishtix are at Madi Bar.

On Friday in Phnom Penh find Melissa Lesnie at Craft, Sarah Gee at Tacos Kokopelli, Loopy Reggae at Botanico, Yusbel & Pablo at Mealea Restaurant / Palace Gate and Agent P & The Resistance at The Box Office.  Chi-Town are at Hometown Hangout , Kodi Hudson is at Little Susie and later on Cambodia Country Band are at Oscar’s on the Corner .  In Kampot, French duo Onda Roja are at The Bay, while Frankie Teardrop Dead are at Bong’s on Koh Rong Samloen.  In Siem Reap, Rod & Chema are at Ubuntu.

On Saturday afternoon in Siem Reap, Sojourner House host the Dance Garden Music Festival featuring Brooke Palmer, Rod Tolentino and DJs, while in Kep in the evening Intan Andriana is at The Wave and Geography of the Moon is at The Bay in Kampot.  Saturday night in Phnom Penh sees the debut of duo Tsungirirai at The Deck, Rags to Rainbows [see this week’s feature article] at Craft, Cardboard Li-Fi at Courtyard by Marriott, Loopy Reggae at The Tin Hat and Jazz Sauce at Aquarius.  Also find Mikayla at Botanico, Passion Soda at Vinoteca, Bustaka Band at Bat Muk Yu and Mosaic at Samai Rum Distillery.  Jave is at Little Susie, Clay George is at Tropico and Aguita E’ Coco are at Duplex.  Later and louder, on offer is After God and Reign in Slumber at Hometown Hangout and Shake79 at Oscar’s on the Corner.

On Sunday we see the debut of alt.rock trio Lee, Sam and Lola at Meta House, while Stu Cottom is at Paparazzi, Miss Sarawan & Scoddy are at Villa Grange and Cardboard Lo-Fi are at The Vine .   Later, Montra are at Oscar’s on the Corner.  On the coast, Phil Javelle is at The Wave in Kep.

The LengPleng Feature Article

Lyrics in the background – a short history of Rags to Rainbows

A Phnom Penh band that has been punching on regularly for several years now is Rags to Rainbows, featuring Colin Grafton (harmonica), Keiko Kitamura (percussion) and Gaby Courroux (guitar).  LengPleng thought it was time to sit down and see what’s going on, and to find out where the name came from.

LP:  My perception is that Rags to Rainbows came along after Pavel Ramirez returned to Sweden and Blues Routes came to an end.

Colin:  That left a big hole.

Keiko:  We were doing the Chapei Diary show, Pavel needed to leave and spoke to Gaby about taking over, but Gaby was so busy.  Then we were able to get together for a gig at Bouchon on a Wednesday.

Colin:  Because it was a Wednesday, Gaby’s off day.

Read the full article here

Passing Chords – a few things you may not know about

Sarah Gee.  New York-based singer-songwriter Sarah used to be a frequent open mic participant in Phnom Penh (particularly Alley Cat/Tacos Kokopelli) in 2015 and 2016; she’s back for a short visit.   “My first album is coming out soon – nine songs, all with the same producer.  I’ve recorded things with separate producers before who didn’t quite have the right vibe for my music.  It’s called Men, The Man, and How They Done Me Wrong, and will be released in April or May.”  Sarah plays solo at Tacos Kokopelli this Friday.

Do you have a pet musical hate/pet peeve?
A number of times this has happened, especially at open mic nights or with people who don’t perform often.  I will offer a compliment, and they will say, oh well, I sucked, I screwed up a million times.  Someone recently told me: actually that was the worst performance I ever played.  How about “thank you”?

A private musical indulgence:
Sometimes I will go away all by myself in my room and dance to certain songs.  Big Dick Energy by Latto, The 7th Element by Vitas, Song Away by Hockey.  Random songs that I love to dance to.

The year you first came to Cambodia:
I travelled here in probably 2014, visiting Siem Reap with a friend, the first time in Asia for both of us.   Even then I had a resume I was handing out.  I moved here in 2015.

An early music memory:
My dad’s secretary Judy made a cassette tape of songs by The Beatles, which included the song Anna, which is my sister’s name.  Then she felt bad that there wasn’t a song with my name, so she added Sara by Bob Dylan.  I’m five or six years old and exposed to Sara – a very thought-provoking, melancholy song.  Now it’s one of my favourite songs, I love that album, Desire.

The last thing you had to eat:
I just came from Hummus House – I had hummus and a fried mezze plate, fried things with feta cheese and spinach and felafel.

Stagefright – yes or no?
Yes.  Absolutely.  It takes a lot of preparation for me not to feel nervous.  I always feel nervous.  I have to think back on past performances – I’ll make mistakes, things will happen.  Until I’m on stage and I sing that first note of the first song I’m nervous to do it.

A country you want to visit:
A lot of them.  Morocco.  And what might happen sooner than that – India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, I think I can maybe do that as a trio.  Egypt, Ireland, Scotland.  There’s so little time…

A book or movie you keep going back to:
There are so many books that I still need to read that are sitting on my shelf.  Movies – the Jump Street movies, 21 and 22 Jump Street, dumb comedies, but if those are on they’re staying on.  They can be in the background and I don’t have to pay attention to them.

What languages do you have?
English.  I’m disappointed in myself.  I’ve tried to take basic Spanish courses, in college I studied Polish, and lived in Poland, but still not good with the language.  My Khmer is super-basic.

Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:
My primary instrument is my voice.  I used to write melodies in my head.  I played piano growing up, and dabbled with a few instruments.  Then I sat down and forced myself to learn guitar when I was in my 20s.  Now when I write songs it’s with the guitar.

Something people might be surprised to know about you:
I was in law school, Ohio Northern University Pettit School of Law.  I didn’t know what to do after undergrad.  At the very last minute I panicked and applied very late, had to pay an extra fee, and I got in.  I was there for one semester and then moved to Cleveland.  I’m working on a boat now, tourism/hospitality in New York harbour.

You have a time machine and a magic ticket to one gig or festival in the past. What do you choose?
Woodstock, the first time Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young played together.  In reality it probably sucked a lot – it was hot, no one had anything to eat, no one brought water, too many people.  But to see that gig, that would have been really cool.

A question from the last participant: If you could go back and change the instrument that you learned to any other instrument, what would it be?
I wouldn’t change the guitar but I would start learning it earlier, and properly rather than just chords.  Or the keyboard – for the added versatility.

Department of Mutual Support:  Friends of LengPleng

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.

      

 

 

Steve Porte Photo of the Week

Aymen and Daria with Maki Orkestr at the One For The Road concert, Chew & Bash, Saturday 8 March.

 

If you wish to receive 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 13 March 2025

** residency/weekly

For DJs and clubs, we recommend Phnom Penh Underground

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

*Note that Wednesday events are often not announced until early in the week – check back here for updates*

Coming soon:

 

By Weekly Wrap