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

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

Greetings:

Two significant refugee support fundraising live music events are taking place this weekend – at Cloud on Friday, the Samaki Sound Music for Peace and Solidarity event featuring After God, Doch Chkae, Alli G & TheQuilas, Vince & Pervez ($4 entry), and on Saturday night in Siem Reap at The Pizza Garden featuring PMac, Corey Ruan, Joshua Chiang, Carlos Alonso, Graeme Quirk & Mike Mahalo, and Evert Sholtz.

 

Elsewhere on Friday night in Phnom Penh find Packo’s Busking Kings celebrating Pete’s birthday at Front Bar, Ex-pulse helping along celebrations for International Craft Beer Day at The Box Office, Miss Sarawan at Botanico, French singer Marianne Medley at Stories and Alli G & TheQuilas featuring Cameron Smith at Oscar’s on the Corner.  In Siem Reap, Pablo & Chema are at The Panthers Hut and Rod & Gerard are at Ubuntu.

On Saturday night in Phnom Penh witness the return of LDLP at Noisy Chili, and see Noel Woodrow make his first appearance at Botanico, while Chris Garcia is at Cloud.  Clay George is at Tropico, Zolo is at Le Manolis, Who U are at Stories, Chanvinith & Daro are at Uniga and Montra are at Oscar’s on the Corner.  On the coast, Karona Chan is at The Wave: Kep West and further afield Kodi Hudson with Fred Piguet & Scot Aird are at Koalama on Koh Rong Sanloem.

On Sunday in Phnom Penh, John Peter is at Botanico, Cardboard Li-Fi are at The Vine, the Sunday Sundowners open mic at Tacos Kokopelli is hosted by John Memery, and Stu Cottom is at Bar Oz.  Later on, Cambodia Country Band are at Oscar’s on the Corner.

Looking forward to Tuesday, Vort-X, The Melody & Stu Cottom will celebrate Gary’s birthday at Bar Oz, and on Koh Rong Samloen Kodi Hudson will be at Wine at Mine.

The Leng Pleng Feature Article

Kickstarting newcomers – Acoustic Battle commences

Of interest tonight, Thursday 31, at Botanico is a talent show with something of a difference.  Acoustic Battle will feature six little-seen performers (at least in solo acoustic context), each presenting one original song and one cover.  LengPleng sat down with host Alli G, one of the organisers of this new project, to find out what’s afoot.

LP:  Tell me this isn’t just another talent show.
AG:  Actually I’m copying something that I was involved in when I was in Malaysia.  I was in a group of young musicians who didn’t have much of a chance to perform in the regular venues.  We wanted to play our own songs, but we were fearful that places are just going to ask us to play Smoke on the Water, Hotel California, Stand By Me and so on. So what do we do?  We picked a night to show what we could do, all six or seven of us, brought in our friends, and made it like a competition to attract more audience.

Read the full article here

Passing Chords – a few things you may not know about

Kodi Hudson, a Siem Reap–based musician and music educator from central Canada.  Known for his rich vocals and rhythmic ukulele playing, Kodi blends classic covers with creative reinterpretations, with a broad repertoire spanning jazz, pop, rock, oldies, folk, country, indie, and Canadian heritage songs.  Kodi performed in Canada as a trombonist, singer and keyboard player, most notably opening for Canadian hip-hop group Swollen Members and performing at the 2013 Red Gorilla Festival in Austin, Texas.  In Cambodia, Kodi has performed in several bands including Fresh Beets and Wat Bo​ Boogie.  He is currently on tour – Thursday he’s jamming at Madi Bar in Kampot, and is joined on Saturday by Fred Piguet & Scoit Aird at Koalama on Koh Rong Sanloem.  Dates in Phnom Penh to follow next week before he returns to a string of gigs in Siem Reap.

Do you have a pet musical hate?

When musicians use the “shave and a haircut” motif as a song ending more than once in a performance.

A private musical indulgence:

Not so private, but one artist I’ve been borderline obsessed with recently is Jason Molina. An obscure artist from the American Midwest, Molina’s song writing is as deep as the ocean and his performances are raw, lo-fi and unadultered. His story is a sad one, dying in 2013 from alcohol-related organ failure at the age of 39.   You can expect to see a Jason Molina tribute project in the coming year; it’s something that’s been on my mind since I first heard Molina’s music.

The year you first came to Cambodia:

May 2016 – after backpacking India for 5 months, I vegetated in Phnom Penh for two weeks before heading to Siem Reap where I’ve been based ever since.

An early music memory:

When I was as young as 4, my family would spend every other Christmas at my father’s childhood farm.  We’d eat, play games and at the end of the day, after his lazy-boy nap, my Uncle Oliver would pull out his accordion.  My grandpa’s best friend, Niel Eddie, was a part of our family and an important influence on me.  He played guitar and sang traditonal American folk songs like Beautiful Beautiful Brown Eyes.  These songs still find their way onto my setlists today and I’ll never forget those spontaneous free-spirited performances as the two of them sang around the wood stove.

The last thing you had to eat:

My love and I are lucky to be visiting Kampot and Kep, so we just ate some small grilled squid with Koh Kong sauce.

Stagefright: yes or no?

If it’s a normal solo gig, no.  If it’s a project I’ve put a lot of work and heart into, then I get nervous about my execution.  But I never get nervous in front of a crowd. I tell my students to focus on their work and not care about any hypothetical negative feedback from the audience. I always want listeners to enjoy themselves though and that can make me feel some pressure if the crowd is big.

A country you want to visit:

China has been on my bucket list for a long while, particularly the Southwest.  I have a little dream itinerary in mind; starting from Kunming, through Dali and Lijiiang, then heading to Chengdu to see some youthful music and art culture, eat spicy hot pot, and laugh at the goofy pandas.  Throwing in Tibet wouldn’t be awful!

A book or movie you keep going back to:

The Essential Rumi is a collection of poetry by Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, better known as Rumi. His poetic musicality and emotional depth have always inspired me in song writing and other creative endeavors.

A Muppet Christmas Carol is a cinematic masterpiece that I watch every December.  The timeless story is made even better with Paul Williams’ original songs that pop into my mind throughout the year.

What languages do you have?

Im a English speaker with terrible French. My Khmer has improved over the years but it’s not great.  I’m confident at markets and restaurants or chatting with Cambodians about their family and work while waiting for a bus.

Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:

I started playing the trombone at age 11. I did the band camp, competition, provincial honor band thing, then studied classical and jazz trombone at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada.   Singing was always my true love.

Something people might be surprised to know about you:

I don’t really listen to music. Occasionally I’ll get obsessed with an artist, but most of the music I listen to are songs my students want to learn or songs I’m learning to perform.  When I need to relax, I prefer to watch a great sci-fi series or movie, or rot my brain on YouTube.

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

3: Any of Mozart‘s early improvised performances!

2: In the Columbia Records Studio 1959 for the Dave Brubeck Quartet recording the Time Out album.

1. Bobby McFerrin performing Chick Corea‘s Spain in Bratislava in 1986.

A question from the last participant: As a musician it may be that you love another art form or creative indulgence.   What is that for you?

I love cooking, gardening, graphic design, and writing. I approach everything in the way I do music. I collect concepts and skills, and use those to express myself by creating something that is more than the sum of its parts. For me, it’s really all the same game.

Department of Cambodian-related Releases

Now available on Bandcamp is a Cambodian song, Aprey Te Roub, by Osaka Music Lovers Band, a Japanese outfit led by Aya Urata Yamanouchi who spent many years in the music scene in Siem Reap.  Full version is here, and B side Dub version is a remix by Professor Kinski.  Also available on vinyl!

Department of Mutual Support:  Friends of LengPleng

Please welcome our newest Friend of LengPleng: one of the longest running live music venues in Phnom Penh, Tacos Kokopelli, who will be celebrating 20 years of operation – through thick and thin – in December.

 

    

 

 

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

Tsungirai sitting in with Zakk Zoot at The Vine, Friday 25 July 2025

 

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 31 July 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:

Friday 8 August

Saturday 9 August

Sunday 10 August

Tuesday 12 August

Friday 15 August

Saturday 16 August

Saturday 23 August

Sunday 24 August

  • Low Lunar Orbit, 4 pm, New Leaf (Siem Reap)

 

By Weekly Wrap