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

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

Greetings:

It’s a great weekend for metal heads in Cambodia.  Friday at Atlantis in Siem Reap and Saturday at Noisy Chili in Phnom Penh, the Slam City Fest presents metal acts from the Vietnam and Thailand, along with local bands.   Then in Kampot the Pepperfest over two days presents a range of Kampot and Phnom Penh acts.

In Phnom Penh on Thursday find Adam Marsland at Villa Grange, Phil Javelle is doing a Corsican night at Au Marche and later The Extraordinary Chambers are at Oscar’s on the Corner.

On Friday in Phnom Penh Treble Entendre are at Craft, Lisa & Mark are at Botanico and Green Leaf Motif are at The Tin Hat. New venue Back Street Lounge in Tuol Tom Pong open up with Wind-Up Mice, while Aldvvin is at The Box Office, JunRockz is at Little Susie and Cardboard Li-Fi are at Voodoo Boulevard.  Boxchords play their farewell gig at Oscar’s on the Corner, followed by The Lark.  In Siem Reap, Rod & Chema are at Ubuntu.

Saturday in Phnom Penh sees Mr Zee at The Deck, Dan Reidy at Craft, Mark Mosley at Botanico, Stu Cottom at Little Susie and Alli G at Sundance and then later new band Shake 79 are followed by The Oscar Band at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Kampot, the grand opening of Funky Moon features Low Season Riders & Maxx Madi.

On Sunday, with greater or lesser acknowledgement of St Patrick, you can find Adam Marsland back at Villa Grange, Dan Reidy and Brooke Palmer at The Vine, Sunday Sundowners open mic at Tacos Kokopelli, Stu Cottom at Bar Oz, Moejark’n’Morton at The Waterside, Cove & Frank at Back Street Bar and The Oscar Band at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Kep, Kora Sunya & Alan Breen are at Raingsey Bungalows and in Siem Reap it’s choice of open mics at Pomme and/or The Mended Drum.

Looking forward to Monday – Rags to Rainbows play for Colin’s 77th Birthday Bash at Craft.

The LengPleng Feature Article 

All about the madness – The Deck’s change of plan

In the whack-a-mole game of live music in the Tuol Tom Pong district of Phnom Penh, The Deck has been punching above its weight.  Noise issues recently caused a change in the schedule, and co-owner Matt Blomberg (AKA Randi) sat down with LengPleng to talk about the venue’s commitment to weirdness and where that will be heading.

The current ownership – three partners – dates back a little over two years.  “My beard wasn’t grey back then,” says Randi.  “None of us have a background in hospitality.  Also we don’t have the specific knowledge of how to run a business in Phnom Penh.  No idea why we all thought it was a good idea.”  

Read the whole article here

Passing Chords – a few things you may not know about

Photo: supplied

Adam Marsland.  Adam spent over 25 years in Los Angeles and touring the U.S. and Europe as a singer, songwriter, musician and producer before leaving the U.S. for Asia in 2017, mostly on the lower rungs of the business but occasionally with bigger names like members of the Beach Boys, Rembrandts, Standells, Wrecking Crew and others, and placed two original music albums in Amazon’s top 40 sales chart.  Since then he’s divided time time between Cambodia, Philippines and Indonesia.  Besides live and online studio work, he maintains the KarmaFrog1 youTube channel which features music videos, the anti-travel vlog Adam Walks Around (50 episodes), and Beach Boys analysis show Pet Squares (19 episodes).  He plays around the traps in Siem Reap, and is in Phnom Penh this weekend for gigs at Villa Grange on Thursday and Sunday, and fronting new outfit Shake 79 on Saturday night at Oscar’s on the Corner.

Do you have a pet musical hate?

Not “hate,” but I don’t like the “karaoke-ization” of live music. It bothers me when I sometimes see individuals who take the stage only for attention and don’t feel like they need any other reason to be there.  Yes, we all want to share in the music.  But to me, you’re still putting yourself in front of people, so even if you’re doing it for fun or not super great it’s still your job to give them something back – entertainment, connection, genuine joy or some other authentic part of you, or if they don’t want to care, simply a mindful performance that you’re pleased with.  It doesn’t have to be perfect.  But it shouldn’t just be only about you wanting to be onstage.

I think on the average performers now spend too much time focused on their phones or themselves, not enough on internalizing the song and connecting it to the audience. If it’s a regular part of your repertoire, even if it’s your go-to karaoke tune…memorize it! Make the song a part of you that you can give to the crowd, not just something that you’re always relaying from a screen.  Because of the ease of the tech this is just how things are now, I’m coming from the old school and I know I’m in the minority, but it really does bother me. To me, you can’t be in the moment if you’re always tethered to a screen. If everyone’s doing that all the time, we’re all losing a vital part of the life music experience.

A private musical indulgence:

I really enjoy learning new things.  Even though I’ve played forever, my main focus lately is classical guitar and I only started playing that about five years ago.  I love sitting down and running patterns and enjoy how much easier it is to play the wide fretboard with my huge sausage fingers.

The year you first came to Cambodia:

Early 2016, just for three days.  Then, successively, for longer and longer stays.

An early music memory:

Being three years old and dancing in the living room to Abbey Road  by The Beatles and Stand by Sly and the Family Stone, both of which I loved, though the family was a bit horrified when I started singing the lyrics to Don’t Call Me N******, Whitey around the house, having no clue what they meant.

The last thing you had to eat:

An omelette, mushrooms, toast and some sweet potato contraption.

A country you want to visit:

Ireland, Iceland, and I want to return to Laos and Japan.  I’m also always happy to *visit* the U.S., provided someone else is subsidizing the trip with work.  I have no desire to live there again.

A book or movie you keep going back to:

A movie I’ve seen several times and keep wanting to watch again is Dances With Wolves, but I’ve been waiting to convince someone to watch the four-hour director’s cut with me, which is more patience than most have.

What languages do you have?

I can speak Japanese and Indonesian fairly well, and Tagalog and Khmer a lot less well.  I can read French ok but can’t speak it.  I speak my native language, English, incomprehensibly to most people and they just nod and pretend they know what I’m on about.

Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:

I started playing piano when I was three and didn’t get any good at it until I was about 16, after 13 years of childhood sucking at it I have the most basis in that.  I think my best skill now is rhythm guitar.  I’m pretty average on lead, but give me a funk riff or a thick acoustic groove and I’m-a make it happen for everyone.

Something people might be surprised to know about you:

I like being in the back banging on a tambourine just as much as I like being frontman. I just want to make good music and be a part of it.

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

Buddy Holly’s last show.

A question from the last participant: what is your come-down routine after performing?

I am usually covered with sweat so getting the gear home and showering is first priority.  By then it’s usually too late to go out but if I’m invited I’ll always try to go.  Nothing better for me than a drink and gab with friends. If not, then I’ll just do yoga and listen to a podcast.

Department of Mutual Support:  Friends of LengPleng

Good luck this weekend to Friend of Leng Pleng Slam City Asia – a two-day metal festival in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh featuring bands from Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being a Friend of LengPleng gets your logo 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 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

Newcomer to Phnom Penh town Cameron Smith sits in with Electric Muxu Orchestra at Oscar’s on the Corner, Sunday 10 March, 2024

 

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 14 March 2024

** 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:

  • Miss Sarawan & Scoddy, 6.30 pm, 22 March, Farm To Table
  • Los Del Sur Latin Trio, 6.30 pm, 22 March, Craft
  • Geography of the Moon, 8 pm, 22 March, Back Street Bar
  • Stu Cottom, 5 pm, 23 March, The Deck
  • Boat cruise with Geography of the Moon and Japan Guitar Shop, 6 pm, 23 March, Tacos Kokopelli – tickets $7.50
  • Joshua Chiang, 8.30 pm, Cloud
  • Miss Sarawan & Scoddy, 2.30 pm, 24 March, Villa Grange
  • Geography of the Moon, 5 pm, 24 March, The Deck
  • Summer Lee Carlson & Mute Speaker, 9 pm, Voodoo Boulevard
  • Woody Dares & the Frog Eaters, 5 pm, 30 March, The Deck
  • Summer Lee Carlson & Mute Speaker, 8 pm, Meta House
  • Miss Sarawan & Scoddy, 5 pm, 31 March, The Vine
  • Brooke Palmer, 5 pm, 31 March, The Deck
  • Summer Lee Carlson & Mute Speaker, 8 pm, 2 April, Karma Traders (Kampot)
  • Silver & Taylor, 2 pm, 6 April, The Deck
  • The Fallen Apples ft Mirasol & Randy, 2 pm, 7 April, The Deck
By Weekly Wrap