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Back to the age of our parents, music came to families via radios or speakers hung on electric poles or through music shows at public sites. If you are young, you can't imagine what that age was like. At that time, foreign music was something…well, foreign. Abba and Boney-M bands were perhaps the whole world of music. People didn't have any concept about rock or rock style.
In parallel with the country's development and open-door policy, all kinds of music were imported into Vietnam, including rock. Rock cafes opened everywhere. A rock café on Dinh Tien Hoang street, HCM City, was always crowded with youth, who sat and swung their heads and bodies to the sound of rock.
The first time I visited San Ga café on Le Duan street, HCM City, my ears were buzzing because of the rock music from the great speakers in the corners of the establishment. Vong Quan and Huong Dau Mua cafés in Hanoi witnessed the ups and downs of many rock bands. After their performances, rock bands often gathered in these cafes. Many rock bands rose from these cafes. Meanwhile, parents worried about the influence of rock music on their children. They were afraid that their children would lose other hobbies that they used to love, for example reading, movies, etc. Their worries have gradually been abolished and rock has gained fame in Vietnam.
The glorious time of rock music was in the early 1990s in HCM City and several years later in Hanoi. At that time, rock festivals and performances were organised frequently. Rock bands like Yellow Skin, Atomega, Rock Alpha, Three Cats became idols of students. Newcomers like The Wall, The Light and Desire quickly became "stars" as well.
Rock fans can't forget the burning performances by The Wall in its 9+ live shows recently or trans-Vietnam rock shows held currently. Rock is always smoldering, waiting for opportunities to ignite. That smoldering fire is the grounds for the appearance of a new generation of rockers like Microwave, Small Fire, Burtinox and Unlimited.
The development of rock in Vietnam can be divided into two schools, Saigon and Hanoi, with different orientations.
Rock in Saigon was professional at the beginning. Saigon rockers earned their living by rock, with famous names as Quang Thang, Nguyen Dat, Le Quang, Thai Ngoc, Tuan Khanh and Phuong Uyen. However, rock in Saigon has gradually declined and these rockers have to live by other means or still by music, but not rock. For example, rocker Phuong Uyen and Le Quang now work as song writers. Current Saigon rockers are students, including Microwave, Metronome, Atmosphere, Unlimited, Lazee Dolls, and these bands are developing professionally.
In Hanoi, rock is more popular and develops as a campaign at universities. Some amateur rock bands have been set up by students and they gradually have become semi-professional bands, for instance The Wall, The Light in the past and now Small Fire and Buratinox.
When reputed rock bands like The Wall and the Light are dismissed, Hanoi will have new rock bands, but at present, these bands don't have favourable conditions to develop.
The position of rock in the local music life is low but rockers are waiting for a renaissance to turn rock into a centre of music, with jubilant nights from north to south. A golden chance for Vietnamese rockers came with a national contest for rock in late 2007, called Tiger Translate - Rock Your Passion.
This contest ran through big cities in Vietnam as part of a global cultural event named Tiger Translate, an initiative of Tiger Beer to bring Asian contemporary culture to the world and help Asian artists learn from leading world artists in various fields of arts.
The contest woke up the passion for rock in Vietnam. After Tiger Translate, some other rock concerts and contest were held, promoting the position of rock in the music world of Vietnam.
This article first appeared on www.english.vietnamnet.vn
June 11, 2008
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