Cambodian and American rock band Dengue Fever announced today that its previously announced South East Asian “Electric Mekong” tour, has confirmed dates, cities, and venues for this November. This is the band’s third tour of the region in its career. Additional tour dates are still to be confirmed.
Hello loyal blog readers, Eric here. Our final day in Timor-Leste was one of the highlights of the tour so far. We started the day with a visit to “Arte Moris”, a free art school and commune in the middle of Dili. The story of this place forming after 25 years of Indonesian occupation is fascinating and inspiring- check out what these guys are up to at www.artemoris.org
Join us for an evening jam-packed with some of Hanoi's best live bands and DJs in aid of Support Carl Bart. on SATURDAY 24th September.
Hanoi Rock City will be rocking from 7pm until 2am – come along early and join us for a proper British BBQ and stay for some great tunes, a prize laden raffle and our very own Support Carl Bart shooter girls!
Big thanks to Hanoi Rock City and Synergy and to all the bands and DJs for giving their time to help this cause.
What is the story behind the name of your group, Bleed This Skyline?
The story begins with us completing the line up for the band. We tried figuring out a name for the band and came up with a lot of names...but none of them felt right for our concept and music. It took us quite a while, and this was before Bamm and DD join the band. One night, Jick was out with his cousins and "History" was playing in the background. It is a nice old song by Funeral For A Friend, and the chorus goes "Let's bleed this skyline dry, your history is mine". It randomly hit Jick's mind, he suggested it to the band, and they all agreed to the name. It felt right for the band, suiting our personalities and our love for post-hardcore music. We are now better known as "BTS".
Viva the Jazz
Interview and photography by Vincent Sung
The Living Room at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel celebrated its 10th anniversary as Bangkok's premier jazz venue this past June with an extraordinary world-class live jazz event. Vincent Sung had a chance to sit down for a chat with two of the renowned international musicians: pianist Jeremy Monteiro, dubbed the “King of Swing”, and two-time Grammy award winner Ernie Watts.
In Part I of this series I pointed out the extent to which the press has portrayed Dylan's history, and particularly his political history just so damn wrong. Well, it's only gotten worse, much worse.
The mainstream press continues to play up Dylan's non-existent connection to the anti-war movement in the U.S. Thus Margie Mason writes for the Associated Press:
If one were looking for symbolism in Dylan's first concert in Vietnam, one wouldn't have to look any further than the venue itself. RMIT University, located 20 minutes from downtown Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City's District 7, is a spanking clean campus of hip modern architecture and well manicured lawns surrounded by the coffee shops and housing that would typify any small university community in the developed world.
Bob Dylan is set to play a concert at RMIT University in Saigon on April 10. In the early press for the concert it was billed as part of a tribute to Trinh Cong Son, "Vietnam's Bob Dylan", who died ten years ago.
The announcement of Dylan's concert has made headlines, which, it is hoped. will help sell out the 8,000 seat venue in Ho Chi Minh City's District 7. Interestingly, most every article which has appeared attempts to connect Dylan in some fashion to the movement against the war in Vietnam, screaming headlines such as "Anti-War Bard to Perform in Vietnam"
At the end of a dusty, half-abandoned mall, Parkway Studios is a multi-tiered concert hall hewn from a thick concrete that gives it a subterranean feel. Early in the evening, Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” was blasting over the crowd as KlapYaHandz prepared to take the stage. Loosened-up Expats were putting in dance work, as you’d expect. The more conservative Cambodian half of the crowd was mostly standing still or taking iPhone pictures – again, as expected.
For the last month, 8ctopus’ “French funky world music” has been echoing through the streets of Phnom Penh as the brass band makes its exuberant rounds of the city. Perhaps you’ve heard their songs floating over rush hour traffic by Russian Market, or maybe their horns have already rattled your pint glass at a local bar. If you’re one of the kids at Sok Sabay, a residential shelter for children rescued from abuse, you’ve grown used to hearing this carnival of music every day and playing some yourself.