Alternative Live Music Places

[Ave]

So far the only alternative to the usual rock blues cover bands has been some mellow reaggae here and there. The jazz pit is good but too expensive and pretentious for my taste. I mean I like these styles and some of the musicians really rock! but I am missing the variety I had back in London and other towns famous for their music scene. I know, it's going to be difficult to match that. Also mixed places with men and women of all nationalities who can easily socialise without having to offer/buy any service, mainly to enjoy some fresh tunes. Fortunately the Thai modern music scene is evolving but a lot of bands focus on metal rock and a lot of them cater for teenagers. I'd like to find something a little bit different and I'm sure there must be something here as well as in Bangkok but in Pattaya especially I have yet to see that kind of place. Anyone there who could give me some advice? Soul, motown, glam, punk rock, old ska, garage, new psychedelia, experimental, ambient, indie, home made folk music, dub, african beats, drum and bass, world music, warm jazz, latin, just to name a few of my preferences. I'm not necessarily looking for some sophisticated underground music, just something different from the usual beach/second road regurgitated sounds.

[lor]

Jomtien Soi 6 on a Sunday evening from 7pm till midnight.

Live music from any one who wants to perform.

The stage is outdoors so you will not miss it.

Chris

[anothertorres]

fortunately for myself, i have the liberty of going home and packing in as many live shows as i can in Toronto. otherwise, i'd go crazy. there is certainly no love for anything indie anywhere in this country.

i did catch Phish, Miike Snow and Fleet Foxes last month in TO and that will have to be my fix until i visit home in XMAS. if you find anything yourself, let me know.

[Ave]

Jomtien Soi 6 on a Sunday evening from 7pm till midnight.

Live music from any one who wants to perform.

The stage is outdoors so you will not miss it.

Chris

Sounds good, thanks, though I'm not sure about Sunday evenings. I have to work in the morning..

What kind of music do they play?

[Ave]

fortunately for myself, i have the liberty of going home and packing in as many live shows as i can in Toronto. otherwise, i'd go crazy. there is certainly no love for anything indie anywhere in this country.

i did catch Phish, Miike Snow and Fleet Foxes last month in TO and that will have to be my fix until i visit home in XMAS. if you find anything yourself, let me know.

And what can I say..lucky you! As soon as I get a degree and a payrise I'll be able to go to the rain festival in Borneo and the desert festival in central America, then I'll try out all the little ones around the rest of the world..I'll catch up don't worry.. Oh! I forgot to say, there are some really good Thai bands you might have heard of, perhaps a bit too farang for some tastes...Caramel Camel and Tabasco are my favourites at the moment, but I also like Slot Machine and Paradox. Too cheesy for you?

[anothertorres]

And what can I say..lucky you! As soon as I get a degree and a payrise I'll be able to go to the rain festival in Borneo and the desert festival in central America, then I'll try out all the little ones around the rest of the world..I'll catch up don't worry.. Oh! I forgot to say, there are some really good Thai bands you might have heard of, perhaps a bit too farang for some tastes...Caramel Camel and Tabasco are my favourites at the moment, but I also like Slot Machine and Paradox. Too cheesy for you?

Slot Machine is excellent. CC and Tabasco are just too generic. it's just a copy of crap American pop rock that expired 8 years ago. with that being said, i'm a complete sucker for Wan or say, Namcha, so what do i know i'm sure there are some bleeding hearts out here but anything remotely close to radio-friendly is just so dam_n overproduced, more often than, with low end equipment.

are you familiar with Miike Snow or Phoenix or Passion Pit? i became entirely addicted to these 3 bands for an entire month. i listened to all 3 of their new albums more than once a day for a month straight. so that's about as Pop as i go so, what i'm waiting for is for some sort of Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear type scene to come out of Thailand. i'm afraid we are some time away from that happening. but dam_n, it sure would be interesting. ya know what i'm saying? enough with the 'kidteung ter' all the time. we can't leave it all up to Carabao for this so-called "life music", can we?

[Thaifan2]

Jomtien Soi 6 on a Sunday evening from 7pm till midnight.

Live music from any one who wants to perform.

The stage is outdoors so you will not miss it.

Chris

Sounds good, thanks, though I'm not sure about Sunday evenings. I have to work in the morning..

What kind of music do they play?

The same old farts are there playing every Sunday .Its ok if you live in Jomtien ,but i would not go out of my way to get there .

[SurferDude]

For live Thai pop, there is (in order of popularity)

- Kum Pun Pub, Soi 2 just past beer bars west of 2nd Rd.

- Tam Nan Khon Issan, across from the entrance to Leelawadee Hotel (more morlam than rock)

- Kow pa Daeng, Pattaya Tai about 500 meters east of 3rd rd

- Tawandaeng Pattaya, 3rd rd between Pattaya Nua and Pattaya Thai

If uncertain of the locations, ask any Thai person that has lived in Pattaya for awhile, they will know these places.

Edited October 21, 2009 by SurferDude

[Ave]

And what can I say..lucky you! As soon as I get a degree and a payrise I'll be able to go to the rain festival in Borneo and the desert festival in central America, then I'll try out all the little ones around the rest of the world..I'll catch up don't worry.. Oh! I forgot to say, there are some really good Thai bands you might have heard of, perhaps a bit too farang for some tastes...Caramel Camel and Tabasco are my favourites at the moment, but I also like Slot Machine and Paradox. Too cheesy for you?

Slot Machine is excellent. CC and Tabasco are just too generic. it's just a copy of crap American pop rock that expired 8 years ago. with that being said, i'm a complete sucker for Wan or say, Namcha, so what do i know i'm sure there are some bleeding hearts out here but anything remotely close to radio-friendly is just so dam_n overproduced, more often than, with low end equipment.

are you familiar with Miike Snow or Phoenix or Passion Pit? i became entirely addicted to these 3 bands for an entire month. i listened to all 3 of their new albums more than once a day for a month straight. so that's about as Pop as i go so, what i'm waiting for is for some sort of Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear type scene to come out of Thailand. i'm afraid we are some time away from that happening. but dam_n, it sure would be interesting. ya know what i'm saying? enough with the 'kidteung ter' all the time. we can't leave it all up to Carabao for this so-called "life music", can we?

I understand what you are saying about Tabasco and the likes, at least Slot Machine sing in their own language although I couldn't categorise their music as purely Thai, it's still very farang, sometimes they remind me of Super Furry Animals..! Hey! Carabao is not bad though, he's a big part of Thai folklore, like having Paris with the Eiffel tower, whether we like it or not. I often listen to music for fun but also to appreciate others' creativity even if it's not exactly my kind of music.

I don't know any of the bands you mentioned but thank you, I needed a refresher. It must be my age..Also, I've been living in isolated areas of Thailand for five years up until recently therefore I need a thorough update,will tube those bands and find out what you are talking about. Now that I have a computer I can download lots of obscure tunes from jamendo.com and listen to God's Jukebox by Mark Lamarr. That's as far as I'm going at the moment.. I'm looking forward to the next Fete in Bangkok, last time I went it was quite entertaining.

[raro]

Jomtien Soi 6 on a Sunday evening from 7pm till midnight.

Live music from any one who wants to perform.

The stage is outdoors so you will not miss it.

Chris

Sounds good, thanks, though I'm not sure about Sunday evenings. I have to work in the morning..

What kind of music do they play?

The same old farts are there playing every Sunday .Its ok if you live in Jomtien ,but i would not go out of my way to get there .

I've played there....

But agree, it is rather mellow there. Leo's Blues Bar in Nakluea Soi 18 as a bit more drive, just make sure you show up after 10 pm. Before that it is also rather old fart mellow stuff Jam Session every Friday.

[dhupads]

For live Thai pop, there is (in order of popularity)

- Tam Nan Khon Issan, across from the entrance to Leelawadee Hotel (more morlam than rock)

If uncertain of the locations, ask any Thai person that has lived in Pattaya for awhile, they will know these places.

Do yourself a favor and stay away from Tamnan Kon E-Saan (a.k.a. Tamnan Isaan) in Pattaya. The food is lousy, the drinks' expensive, and there are long breaks between shows to siphon off more money.

The very LAST time I went there, my girlfriend and I went to attend a somewhat famous Isaan singing group. After only 1 hour, after paying an entrance fee, eating their food and drinking a few bottles of beer, we were asked to leave. The reasoning was, we were sitting at a 4 person table, and we were only 2 people. Either we needed to pay for the additional two tickets, or leave. B.S. huh?

Of course we were kicked out before the act we paid for even appeared (this is 1:30am, BTW). In retrospect, I should've asked for a refund on the tickets, but I figure I had a chance in hel_l to get that.

So be careful if you ever want to go to Tamnan Isaan. If by chance it is somewhat of a decent night, and they actually get crowded, you may be asked to leave just so they can get new eaters and drinkers in.

[aussiechick]

Jomtien Soi 6 on a Sunday evening from 7pm till midnight.

Live music from any one who wants to perform.

The stage is outdoors so you will not miss it.

Chris

Sounds good, thanks, though I'm not sure about Sunday evenings. I have to work in the morning..

What kind of music do they play?

The same old farts are there playing every Sunday .Its ok if you live in Jomtien ,but i would not go out of my way to get there .

I've played there....

But agree, it is rather mellow there. Leo's Blues Bar in Nakluea Soi 18 as a bit more drive, just make sure you show up after 10 pm. Before that it is also rather old fart mellow stuff Jam Session every Friday.

and at Leo Blues Bar on a Saturday night very often as well.

Plus I don't think the guys in their 20s would like to be called "old farts" Plus we are all reasonably friendly

Edited September 14, 2010 by aussiechick

[Phil Conners]

I've played there....

But agree, it is rather mellow there. Leo's Blues Bar in Nakluea Soi 18 as a bit more drive, just make sure you show up after 10 pm. Before that it is also rather old fart mellow stuff Jam Session every Friday.

and at Leo Blues Bar on a Saturday night very often as well.

Plus I don't think the guys in their 20s would like to be called "old farts" Plus we are all reasonably friendly

I could be wrong but it was my impression the OP explicitly asked for alternatives to this type scene ("So far the only alternative to the usual rock blues cover bands has been some mellow reaggae here and there. ")

[anothertorres]

hey, speaking of music, aussiechick, where is Martin's now? sup?

[craigt3365]

Being from NYC and Vegas, the music scene here sucks. Bangkok was fair...at least there are 3-4 decent jazz places. And concerts every once in a while. But here in Pattaya...not much. If you have time, Carabao will be here Nov 8th. Great fun if you have never been to one of their concerts...plus, proceeds go to charity...

[aussiechick]

hey, speaking of music, aussiechick, where is Martin's now? sup?

opening soon in the same area but new building. will let you know as soon as I have news