Chick Mountain Music Festival

   I've had a slight obsession with Thai music lately. I honestly can't remember the last English song I've listened to. I'm hooked! When our friends informed us a few weeks ago that some of our favorites would be performing at a big festival in Kanchanaburi, we immediately sought out tickets. Sarah, Clare and I were more than a little excited to rock out to Suckseed, Jetsetter, Palmy and....BODYSLAM. Bodyslam is one of the most popular rock bands in Thailand, and P'Toon, the lead singer, is a legend here.

 

So last weekend, we made our way to the military training camp in Kanch and prepared for a day/night of Thai music fun at the Chick Mountain Music Festival (Man Gai Mak). When we arrived, we realized straight away that we were the only farang in attendance. Mai Pen Rai! We embraced it and I thoroughly enjoyed surprising the Thais with my appreciation for Thai music. 

The area was set up in military-fashion, for obvious reasons, and one could entertain themselves with some tower jumping and gun-shooting. Ya know- the typical concert activities. We passed and anxiously awaited for the music to begin...

Normal

But then, it rained. It rained a lot. 

Looking cute in our ponchos

Suckseed still opened the show on time and it was actually pretty fun to dance around in our ponchos, mud covering our legs, and thunder roaring in the background. The rain held steady for a few hours, but by the second act, it cleared up and we were able to enjoy the remaining 8 hours, rain-free.


All of the performances were incredible. It's hard to not be able to sing along, even if you know the tune, but it didn't take any of the fun away. Each performance proved better and stronger but no one compared to the magic that is P'Toon. 

Bodyslam put on an amazing show and Toon graced us with his beautiful voice and his rockin' songs. And then he took off his shirt and I died. His 8-pack glistened with sweat and I was in love. 

I'm Toon and I am beautiful

Hours later, we made our way back to Suphan, looking like quite the disheveled bunch, rain-soaked and covered in a disgusting amount of mud.  We plopped down on the early morning bus and our self-disgust was quickly replaced with sweet dreams of P'Toon. I've been riding on a wave of adrenaline from last weekend's music festival and the excitement of this coming weekend's Reggae on the Rock music festival, featuring none other than my favorite Thai band, 25 Hours!

EWWW!

Oh Hot Damn, This Is My Jam.

Learning to embrace the Thai music scene has been a challenge. If you asked me back in November how I was finding the music, I probably would have shook my head in disappointment and whined about the lack of good music. Or, I would have sang the Loi Krathong song, because that was on repeat in my head for an obscene amount of time. Very unfortunate. But song by song, and then band by band, I've been discovering really, truly good music. Of course, I am one of the least judgmental people when it comes to rating music (my Itunes varies from Backstreet Boys to the Black Keys to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to Ludacris- and I genuinely think they are all very talented and amazing), so me crushing on some of the Thai pop stars should come as no surprise. 

First, it was Gun The Star 6 who came into my life. Some of the M2 students fawned over him, so I obviously had to stalk it out, to find out he was a looker with a voice of an angel (yes, that is an exaggeration), but he was good! He is the Thai Enrique. And then, thanks to some friends, I found out about Bodyslam and 25 Hours and Singular, and my world was rocked. These bands are huge superstars in Thailand because they own the incredibly popular 'punk rock' scene here. Although I can only understand about 12% of the songs, I really enjoy their music. There is a huge gang of these rock bands, that are uber-hipster and ultra-cool, whose faces grace the the advertisements of everything from Pepsi to whitening cream to a bird's saliva health drink (vomit). And the cool thing is that I've seen a few of them in live performances. Superstars are a big deal here, but they are more willing to play a free concert for a big event. I've happened to be in the right place at the right time for a few of these shows, and they put on really good performances. A few months ago I was lucky enough to go to the Legend of Rock concert (Thanks, Wat!) and I was so impressed with their rock n' roll skills. Between their smooth moves, soothing voices and harmonious beats, I was sold on Thai rock. 

Toon from Bodyslam. So cool!

Gun The Star...what a cutie!

When it comes to Thai rock, however, no one does it better than Carabao, the most popular band of Thailand. And it's well deserved- their music is the bomb diggity and loved by everyone. If their music comes on the radio, everyone around will raise their hands up in Carabao pride and sign along. 

Carabao

And then there is Bird. The man who defies age with his fit body and killer dance moves. I believe he is 53 years old, but he looks like he is in his 30s. His music has been extremely popular in Thailand for the past 25 years and he shows no signs of stopping. One of his more recent songs, 'So Much, Too Much, Very Much Right Now,' has not only consistently stayed in the #1 spot on the charts, but it has also managed to find its way into every. single. conversation. because of it's catchy beat and English phrases. Well done, Bird, well done. 


So, ask me now if I like the Thai music scene and my response will be much more enthusiastic. I can recommend bands and tell you my favorite songs of theirs. Heck, I can even give the songs to you because I own them. I happily put them on my Itunes so I can rock out to them in my bedroom when I'm bored (yea, that happens). I wonder how this music would translate in America, but for now, I'm quite content making up my own words and dancing like a fool to Thai music.  


Here are the videos for some of my favorites!