Penhstock Blue Moon New Year: 31 December

On the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, and marking the end of 2009, Sharky's outdid themselves with a sensational night.  No less than six bands, made up of around 20 performers, playing from 9 pm through to 2 am.  It was great not only to see several bands I've not been able to catch before, but also to be a part of such a friendly and enjoyable crowd. 

The night kicked off with the inimitable Bum'n'Draze who, we were told, had that day achieved the distinction of having a box of their CDs stolen from the seat of a car.  Be on the lookout for (a) pirated Bum'n'Draze albums at your local CD shop and (b) young Khmers turned on to their crazy Scandinavian subgrunge.  As the fella said: we'd rather be heard than paid.  And heard they were:  with two guests along, a third Finn who played some cool trumpet (never heard Sabbath's Paranoid with horns before) and Gildas McSwashbuckle contributing some mean guitar.  The throbbing madness was brought to a close with the destruction of a tv set.  All in a day's work.

Following on, out of France and Kampot, came JP and the Nurses, a very cool little outfit playing some post punk pop including covers of Zombie, a deliciously mangled Sweet dreams are made of this, and even Gildas McSwashbuckle and I contributed some backing vocals for With or without you.   Then with a minor change of line-up we enjoyed the Happy Cockroaches, playing a mostly French set with similar tight rhythms and a more continental punky feel.  I especially enjoyed I will survive. 

The Stiff Little Punks were in fine sweating form, again proving to be more than the sum of their parts.  The highlight of their set was undoubtedly the closer:  Holiday in Cambodia, of course. 

The boogie blues rock of Lost Highway took over the stage next, and they brought in the new year with their usual brand of enthusiastic sound: loud guitar, honking harp, augmented by (unfortunately   a bit lost in the mix) keyboard.  A broken guitar string created an opportunity for Tall Thom to show off some licks, and Ian the Punk contributed some vocals.

The Hellhounds were last on the bill, and we had some pretty hard acts to follow.  The crowd seemed to be on our side, though, and we cranked through some of our louder, faster stuff with Canadian Dave filling in on bass in the absence of the Swedish Ambassador.  After a while the stage filled up with Lost Highway personnel and the jam was on: I recall Stormy Monday and Ian the Punk helping out on a boisterous Honky Tonk Women - the night's not over until someone's played HTW.  And so went the jam until 2, when the curfew kicked in; the only downside of the night, as I'm sure the groove could have kept cruising for at least another hour.  But maybe it's not such a bad idea to finish when it's still good.  


There are already some great photos over at the Sharky's page; less impressionistic than these offerings.  


Thanks to the Sharky's crew for putting on the show, for making it work so smoothly, and making it so much fun to be a part of.   Penhstock continues with Lost Highway on 1 Jan and Plan B (from Australia) on 2 Jan.   


Seeya near a stage somewhere in 2010.

The view from behind the drums

Some fab images from the Stiff Little Punks gig at Frog & Shamrock on Boxing Day courtesy of "The Baron" Bruno Laurant

Mostly about a boat ride: 4 - 6 December

Another busy weekend as we lurch towards Christmas, opening with the Lazy Jazz Drunks at Huxley's on Friday night in what may well be the last performance with the Swedish Ambassador before his winter hibernation.  The unit proves to be getting at once looser and tighter - jazz influences are increasing in the form of the Ambassador's chord substitutions and my insistence on turning the end of a song into the beginnning of the next one.  The crowd was a little thin, it being a first Friday and the damn joker draw continuing to capture the imagination of punters, but those that were there seemed to enjoy themselves; although, as Tall Tom pointed out at one point, not as much as the band.  Still, we had a guest apprentice drummer, an impromptu Riders on the Storm, and a late finish.

Saturday was going to be a punter's night for me, but events conspired against this.  A pick up band comprising of Aussie Ken, the Swedish Ambassador, Phil the Fiddler and myself clambered onto a Tonle Sap boat late in the afternoon to provide entertainment for the children of an orphanage called Little Hearts (on the far side of the river, about 2 km north of the Japanese Bridge).  The kids had been taking part in PhnomPenhPhoto, assisting a couple of photographers to display their work at several locations around the city.  For the first half hour the kids sat quietly and ate while we played a range of stuff that we thought we all might know - Cottonfields, Goodnight Irene, Dead Flowers - as we wandered in that boatish way southwards.  By the time we were turning around to head north again, the dark was falling, and the kids were starting to take notice, and we had an inquisitive audience.  With the help of some tunes like Stuck inside of Phnom Penh with the Memphis Blues Again (It's not the Mississippi, it's the Mekong) and the perennial Johnny B. Goode, pretty soon the deck was a sea of gleeful dancers.  Aussie Ken had brought some hand percussion and a slew of old harmonicas, which only added to the fun.  It was magic.  Eventually a broken guitar string (the only one of the whole weekend) brought the band to a stop, but the night then turned into a 'try an instrument' session, as one after another the children took turns playing violin, drums, guitar and mandolin.  Eventually the recorded dance music came on, and the dancing continued as energetically as ever, as we headed up the river to the orphanage.  We poured off the boat and up the riverbank to their home, where there were some final remarks and thanks, then the volunteers returned to the boat and with a little instrument swapping we played as we all cruised back to town.

Check it out at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Little-Hearts/163479952110?v=info&ref=mf    or http://www.littlehearts.be/           Special thanks to Bart and Jean-Francois for getting the event on, and to Guitar Steve for being the liaison from his sickbed.


And so the night turned into eating, drinking and more playing, with the Swedish Ambassador giving drumming lessons to booksellers on the riverside, and some last acoustic fun at a somewhat reluctant little Khmer place near the Night Market.


The night was not over, and there was still time to catch a handful of songs at The Tree on 118 St by the Stiff Little Punks, who I can strongly recommend if you like it loud and fast.  They put on a fearsome show and I will be looking forward to catching more than half a set sometime soon.


The Hellhounds rode into Talkin' to a Stranger on Sunday for a couple of tight, energetic sets notable for some very tasty playing from Guitar Steve and the public debut of a new set of strings on the axe of Jimmy Hellhound.  The new material keeps rolling in, look out for some more unfamiliar tunes in the coming weeks.


I heard mixed reports about the two bands that played at FCC over the weekend, and was disappointed at missing the Khmer band at the Bodega.  Do we have any roving reporters that can bring me up to speed? 


See you in the funny papers.