Author: jimmyc1968

Gigs from Abroad Part 13 – Vietnam Part 1

I have been fortunate in my lifetime to undertake two long haul trips, the first to Australia in 2007 and then subsequently to Vietnam over Christmas and New Year in 2014/15. We flew via Doha in Qatar and firstly had a 4 day sojourn to Singapore. We had previously visited with a quick stopover on the Oz trip but wanted a longer timespan to investigate the city more fully.

I have a fondness for Singapore as it is a very commutable city and has plenty of distractions. It also has some very fine food with the Hainanese Chicken Rice from one of the stalls on Chinatown Food Street being heaven on a plate, but with the Singapore Tea being right at the other end of the preference spectrum.  

Singapore skyline. Image Credit wallpaperup.com

We then flew onto Ho Chi Min (previously Saigon). Now where I do I start with this remarkable city, maybe let’s go right back to the taxi ride from the airport to our hotel where you receive your first sight and sounds of the busiest traffic I have ever witnessed, though remarkably I did not once witness any crashes or fist waving from the road users.

Crossing the road is a science in itself with in some places no natural crossing point. Thus, we navigated across and then returned over a four lane highway by the dubious process of copying the locals and just stepping out and waiting for cars and coaches to stop, which was in equal parts both scary and exhilarating and was nothing like the Green Cross Code!  

There were scooters everywhere, even on the pavement! They were multi-purpose modes of transport as we saw at different times on individual scooters a family of four, a tree trunk and even a fridge freezer!  In a novel concept the shops in particular streets are allocated to certain trades, so for example you would have a book street or an electrical goods street, makes it easy I guess to know where to head if you need a new washing machine!    

Quiet street in Ho Chi Minh. Image Credit blogspot.com

Vietnam’s past is well documented, so I won’t repeat here. The locals I encountered encouraged us to explore their history, but they were strictly eyes face forward regarding the future. In that respect, we attended the Independence Palace which was the site of the Fall of Saigon in 1975 and also visited the remarkable Chi-Chi tunnels. 

The musical background and heritage of Vietnam is a veritable melting pot. It was initially interlinked with religious festivals and utilised devices such as flutes, harps and zithers. There was also royal court music called Nha nhac which incorporated an instrument called the Cham drum. There is always in South Asian culture the influence of colours, and this is reflected in the names of Red and Yellow music, the former the layman’s name for revolutionary music conceived during the French colonial period.

There are more recent western influences in the conception of the polished V-pop genre resulting in many previous underground artists receiving international acclaim. This has also contributed to the huge upturn of interest in hip-hop and resultant game shows.

One direct musical influence that remained after the Vietnam War was an increasing popularity of rock and heavy metal, due to American music being introduced to the country. One modern band from Ho Chi Min who owe a debt to this are Microwave, so intriguingly named I had to have a listen to them, and they sound as if they have been influenced by Metallica. 

Microwave band. Image Credit youtube,com

Manchester Venues 110 to 112

When in attendance at the Sounds from the Other City festival (SFTOC) over the years we have found some interesting stops for food because as a Northern chap I view ‘tea breaks’ as hugely important! We have had pastel de nata from Porta Tapas, tasty offerings from Caribbean Flavas and the best ever Chicken Fried Rice and Curry Sauce from the infamous Chungs Chippy. On my first visit in 2012, Uncle George and I headed to a chippy nearby to the Salford Arms, sadly neither the pub nor the chippy are still operational.

As I perched on the windowsill waiting for my food, I started chatting to the lady sat next to me who was also wearing a festival wristband, I looked up and realised I was parlaying with the Salford resident and fine actress Maxine Peake. I have always a lot of respect for our Maxine as in my view she has a sound moral compass and is also a big muso.  She was at the point of time starring in the excellent TV drama Silk and the last I saw that day was her wandering off down the street to the next venue whilst hoovering up a bag of French fries!  

Maxine Peake in Silk. Image Credit BBC.

The venue next door was the Manchester Chapel Street and Hope United Reform Chapel which was built in 1819 and was Class II listed in 1980. I had read recently there are current plans to convert the site into a complex of flats and community centre.

I first visited there in 2012 and you accessed the building around the back before entering the main room. The band on stage was a Brighton duo called Peepholes who created synth led post-punk sounds.

My only other visit was at the 2017 festival where I recall Gill and I first encountered the colourful Cloudwater brewery cans that were on sale. Cult Party are a Manchester collective founded by multi-instrumentalist Leo Robinson and whilst we were watching they announced the next song would be an epic. They were true to the word as 15 minutes later we left the building, and the sprawling track was still meandering its way to its conclusion.

Cloudwater beer can. Image Credit shop.cloudwaterbrew.co.uk

Further down Chapel Street towards the city centre you will find Manchester Black Lion (downstairs venue) pub on the corner with Blackfriars Street, it is located across from the Sacred Trinity Church.  It is a grand old building dating back to 1776.

In 1889, the Van Dwellers Protection Association was formed there with the primary purpose of safeguarding and protecting fairground workers and barge dwellers who were at that stage being targeted by a local evangelist who carried a lot of political clout. This organisation evolved into the Showmans Guild in 1917, which still represents the business to this day. This commendable work was recognised on the centenary in 2017 with the introduction of a plaque on the pub wall.  

Black Lion pub. Image Credit itravelapi.com

In the downstairs area an act called Work Them were playing and in between a DJ set unexpectedly but gloriously played the little heard track ‘I Don’t Want to Be Friends With You’ by the Shop Assistants, containing the brutal line ‘but I don’t want to be civilised, you leave me, and I will scratch your eyes out’.

I went over to congratulate them on this song choice as I have always loved this short lived band, and they remain my favourite C86 combo and the best support act I have ever seen when they surpassed the headliners Jesus and Mary Chain with a stunning shoegazey set at Blackburn King Georges Hall in 1986.  

In that visit in 2012, we attended the other room, Manchester Black Lion (upstairs venue), where we saw a decent three piece shoegaze band from Manchester called The Shinies. They had at that stage only released one single prior to the issue of their one and only album ‘Nothing Like Something Happens Anywhere’ in 2015.