The weekend for the local music scene is definitely a 3 day thing now with Thursdays consistently offering up a great swathe of quality gigs from week to week. This Thursday continues the trend with an amazing array of gigs.
Big news is the official opening party tonight (Thursday) of the capitals newest dedicated live music venue. To be known as the Slur Bar, it is located on Street 172, in-between Pasteur (Street 51) and Norodom - close to Pontoon and the Heart of Darkness. Not only will there be a new vibe there but also a new band in the form of the roots-reggae beats of VibraTone. This new band will be in support to the Cambodia-Western fusion of Kok Thlok. Should be a totally great party. Tomorrow night at the same venue you can catch another of the scene's newest ensembles - Moi Teat - whose line-up sports a number of known members of various other local ensembles. Cool!
Just down the road and around the corner from there also on Thursday at the Latin Quarter . Again, a new band will play and they will extol the tropical, Caribbean beats of Ska. They are a band called Jahzad and they will feature the totally cool walking bass-lines of Sebastian Adnot.
Also on Thursday at MetaHouse, your chance to hear the "tasteful style and fresh sounds" of Tim King as he plays his guitar along with DJ Nico. Tim is well known as a DJ aboard the most famous of local radio station 97.5LoveFM. Cool!
Sharkys host The Underdogs this Friday. This is great band of young and totally professional, talented Cambodian artists. They formed in August last year after meeting each other at the Music Arts School (more about the great things coming out from this school HERE). They play a range of genres including songs from the golden era of Khmer rock, classic and contemporary Western rock and a number of originals. The same venue will host Jaworski7 on Saturday. Cool! Friday also sees the return of RNA to Paddy Rice on the riverfront as well as the wonderful duet of Lady & the Tramp at the Opera Cafe.
On Saturday you can catch the return of the Cambodian Space Project and welcome their totally grunge filled rock-psychedelia and unique Western-Khmer ballads back to their home turf. The band has been in Australia doing some recording and some touring, after which they went to Europe for a number of huge gigs before returning to the land of wrong-way drivers via on the famous Esplanade in Singapore. They will play at Equinox on Saturday and possibly another secret location on Friday - which I am not allowed to tell you about - you will just have to look around. Should be huge. The band will be in town for about 3 weeks before they take-off for a number of gigs in the U.S.
A more laid-back and subdued night can be heard on Saturday with the smooth, dulcet tones of Sebastian Adnot and Sylvie Izzo at the Opera Cafe or possibly the clssically beautiful vocals of sisters Sopea and Sopheak Chomroeun at MetaHouse. Cool! The Village rounds off the musical week with a couple of unique gigs on Tuesday, Gentle Winds, and Wednesday, the Briana Cowlishaw Quartet and the Gavin Ahearn Trio.
Huge amounts of music coming up too. Look for the Fête de la Musique next week when a number of huge gigs will appear - not the least of which will be the appearance by Mississippi Skip George at a qunitet of venues and finishing up at the famous celebrations of this annual event (with no less than 10 bands) at the Memphis Pub. Totally smokin' scene, totally cool place to be and and enjoy live music.
From Ted and I here in the back streets of Phnom Penh, have a great weekend, be cool with each other and see you around the traps. Here's this week's gig guide.
Latest Gigs
Thursday 13-Jun-2013
7:00 PM ~
The X-Rays at
The X-Bar in Siem Reap
8:00 PM ~ DJ Biggie Sin * at
Saint Tropez Lounge
8:00 PM ~ Jahzad at
The Latin Quarter
9:00 PM ~ DJ Nico and Tim King at
MetaHouse
9:00 PM ~ Kok Thlok and Vibratone at
Slur Bar
9:30 PM ~ DJ RLand at
Eclipse Sky Bar
Friday 14-Jun-2013
6:00 PM ~ Mayfly * , Alex Ung and Esther Mwuaka at
Le Jardin
8:30 PM ~ Sonhador at
The Village
9:00 PM ~ Moi Tiet at
Slur Bar
9:00 PM ~ RNA + Friends at
Paddy Rice
9:00 PM ~ DJ Tonle Dub , DJ Mercy and DJ Java Tech at
MetaHouse
9:30 PM ~
The Cambodian Space Project at
La Croisette
9:00 PM ~ Charlie Corrie and Linette Chhun Charm at
The Opera Cafe
9:00 PM ~
The Underdogs at
Sharkys
10:00 PM ~ DJ Gang and DJ Rob at
Pontoon
11:30 PM ~ DJ Juveris Tenisons The , Rhiannon Johnson and DJ Jack Malipan at
Nova Penthouse
Saturday 15-Jun-2013
7:00 PM ~ Sophea and Sopheak Chomroeun at
MetaHouse
7:00 PM ~ DJ Orawan * and DJ Tam at
The RiverHouse Lounge
9:00 PM ~ Ritchy & Phil The and Rhiannon Johnson at
The Groove
9:00 PM ~
The Cambodian Space Project at
Equinox
9:00 PM ~ Sebastien Adnot and Silvie Izzo at
The Opera Cafe
9:00 PM ~ Jaworski 7 at
Sharkys
10:00 PM ~ DJ Illest and DJ Bree at
Pontoon
Tuesday 18-Jun-2013
7:30 PM ~ Gentle Winds at
The Village
Wednesday 19-Jun-2013
7:30 PM ~
The Briana Cowlishaw Quartet * and the Gavin Ahearn Trio * at
The Village
Coming Up
Comedy Krem, Khem, Tep Boprek, Som Sodalin, Aok Sokunkanha and Chhorn Sovanreach at Dream Land
Dub Addiction at Equinox
Jahzad at Equinox
The Cambodian Space Project at Gasolina, The FCC Phnom Penh
Duo Allegro at The Opera Cafe
Gabi Faja, Sebastien Adnot and Silvie Izzo at The Opera Cafe
The Klezbodians at The Opera Cafe
The Rhiannon Johnson at The Opera Cafe
Scott Bywater at The Opera Cafe
RNA + Friends at The Village, Paddy Rice
Rock X-Press, Oscar's Band, Jaworski 7, Joe Wrigley, Vibratone, Kate Corr, Skip, FDM and Sweet Boys at The Memphis Pub
The Wanderlusters * at Equinox
Moi Tiet at Equinox
The Kimchi Collective at MetaHouse
Srey Chanthy at MetaHouse
Rom Bak - Break Dance Battle at MetaHouse
Masahiro Watabe at The Village
The Duo Band at The Village
Sonhador at The Village
Invisible Agent at MetaHouse
Sangvar Day and The X-Rays at Sharkys
The Knockouts * at Equinox
Mississippi Skip George at Various Venues
The Schkoots at Equinox
DJ F.U.D at MetaHouse
DJ Flo Trallala and DJ Funkelastiks at MetaHouse
Hydrophonics and DJ Tech 12 at Pontoon
DJ Tonle Dub, DJ Mercy, DJ Java Tech, DJ Cab and DJ Simon C Vent at The Show Box
= Live Music 
= DJ Gigs 
= Open Mic * = International
