Dionne Warwick ‘walks on by’ With No Encore

American soul diva Dionne Warwick teamed up with her eldest son David Elliott on Sunday night to wow Bangkok audiences and raise money for Thailand’s elephants.

Though he’s hardly known to Thai music fans, Elliott quickly had the audience on his side, thanks to a powerful singing voice, oodles of talent and a terrific sense of humour. Introduced by his mother right at the beginning of the show, he performed the first five numbers with a strong rhythm and blues flavour, including “I Can’t Tell You Why” and “Besame Mucho”.

He then handed the stage back to his mother, joking with the packed crowd at the Thailand Cultural Centre: “I know you are here to see my mum”.

Warwick took the microphone and segued into a series of her hits, kicking off with 1964 smash “Walk On By” and continuing with her signature R&B renditions of such classics as “I’ll Never Love This Way Again”, “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” and “Heartbreaker”.

The 69-year-old diva also sang salsa style on “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” and the Brazilian song “Aquarela do Brasil”, in tribute to country she now calls home.

Warwick, accompanied by her son and a band of five, is currently on an Asian tour that’s also taking in Tokyo and Singapore.

The charity concert on Sunday, titled “Take My Friends’ Elephants Back Home”, was organised in cooperation with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to raise funds for its “Smiling Elephants” project, which is aimed at stemming the flow of stray elephants into big cities.

Warwick and her son, a policeman and actor turned composer and singer, sang together on “I Say A Little Prayer” and “That’s What Friends Are For”, before leaving the stage.

The two hours of the concert had passed so quickly that the audience was caught off-guard by the sudden close. Most stayed in their seats appearing mother and son to reappear for an encore only to leave disappointed when it became clear that Warwick would not be returning to stage again that night.

with thanks to : NATION

Drop by “Twist & Shout” Exhibition By Nose Yoko, curator, Toyota City Museum

The relationship between Thailand and Japan is obviously good. In Thailand, the culture of Japanese youngsters such as Anime and Manga is widely accepted and has gained more popularity beyond our expectation. In Japan, a person who lives in a stressful competitive society is fascinated by Thai’s “Mai Pen Rai” culture and moves to Thailand.

They are widely known as “Sotokomori (Social withdrawal people who live outside Japan)”. At first when we planned to systematically introduce Japanese artists to Thailand, which has a special relationship with Japan, we had discussed which parts of various aspects of recent art we should point out.

As a result, we decided to introduce artists who were hugely affected by popular culture such as Anime and Manga and could see through their emotional conflicts about living in Japan at present day from their works, as well as artists who faced that situation and ran away from that place, trying very hard to take humanity back to the present. That is the origin of our exhibition, “Twist & Shout”.

“Sotokomori”, which some people believe to be one type of “Hikikomori” (Social Withdrawals), and lives mostly in Bangkok, needs to have some level of communication skills to live their daily lives abroad. Since they need to have interaction with local people and friends, so it is not quite accurate to say that they really are social withdrawals. At first glance, the word “Hikikomori” seems to be very negative about future prospects and productivity.

However, currently we have some word such as “Imagination of Hikikomori” which means extremely unrealistic, but their high level of purity and creativity open up an opportunity to create a magnificent world of imagination.

They have sharp feelings about twisted present society, and use their imagination to make it visible for others. The original source of extremely surreal imagination of Yanobe Kenji’s work (1965- ) comes from his childhood growing up along with Anime, Manga and SF film. From early 1990s, Yanobe started to create so many works under “Survival” theme, which is a robot that can move or equip, these works came from his fears of Nuclear attack in the “Cold War”.

However, Yanobe’s imaginative world started to change from his trip to Chernobyl after the explosion of the Nuclear Power Plant in 1986. Standing in front of the cruel world, Yanobe’s theme of “Survival” was changed to “Revival”. Even in a dreadful situation, he wished that people could look out for hope. After that, “Torayan”, which he created from his father’s ventriloquism doll with a small mustache wearing a radioactive protection suit, rampantly appeared in Yanobe’s world. In this exhibition, we have “Giant Torayan”, a six-meter-tall giant machine who responds to children’s voices and protects the children only, and also have little Torayan who seems to be mutated from the pollution.

Sometimes the little cute and weird Torayan humors us but it also warns us, by holding out its hands, it suggests us to create a better future together. Aida Makoto’s (1965- ) works arepictures of a beautiful girl from animation or manga or scenery of the city that it drowned in the whirlpool of the end of Capitalism with humor and cynicism. In the exhibition, the main part is the smiling girl who shows her wrist with so many scars from self-injuring, as well as a big collage picture of animation characters, bank notes, multi housing complexes, ramen, etc.

The thing that looks like “Kumade”, Japanese traditional bamboo rake decoration for prosperity in business, stands for desire in a Capitalist society which hides the desire of the children inside.

Then, there are some artists in contrast to “Anime and Manga Imagination” artists. They are facing the real present world, communicating with people and trying to pull the cooperativeness and souls back, and take a look again at humanity. Shiga Rieko (1980- ) got in touch with couples on a bike, which is often seen in Bangkok, and took many pictures of them. The man looked straight ahead while the woman hugged her man and looked toward us. Pictures of the moment when they looked at the camera from the sprinting bike. Shiga’s pictures are a love story that lasts long through time, and resurrects the universally bright feeling which seems to have disappeared from the current world.

Takamine Tadasu (1968- ) experiences the consciousness towards others, views of life, mutual understanding of the gap between Thai and Japanese from his play in summer, and plans to create new works installed from his experience.

From this exhibition, we hope to present Japan through other prospectives than the typical “Pretty” and “Land of Pop Culture”, but to show all problems that happen nowadays, newly born images and new power to face reality.

with thanks to : JFBKK

Pattaya’s Countdown To 2010 Announced To The World

The “Amazing Pattaya, Amazing Countdown Campaign” is underway again for the second year running. The campaign runs in coalition with a government project called; “Amazing Thailand, Amazing Value,” which is attempting to revitalise Thailand’s image and viability as a high class tourist destination.

Pattaya, the 21st of December 2009 [PDN]: This year’s countdown campaign is expected to bring over 500,000 tourists to Fun City in order to enjoy the festive celebrations that Christmas and New Year have to offer. The campaign hopes to raise in excess of 500 million baht for the city and its residents.

As a result of the successful event from last year, where the “Pattaya Countdown 2009″ brought over 400,000 visitors to the city, leading entertainment organisations such as; GMM Media, TOT, CAT and Thai Beverage Marketing are co-operating together with this years countdown in order to promote the event as one of the best tourism attracts globally. Once again an advertising campaign with world media corporation CNN has started in the attempts to get more international tourism into the country, especially from Europe and America.

The entertainment will be similar to last year, with live music by a variety of international and Thai pop/rock stars, including; So Cool, Paradox, Tik Chiro, Black Head, Slot Machine, Instinct, Boy Peace Maker, Buddha Bless, Playground, Pancake and all the stars from popular TV show, “The Star.” There will also be a food exhibition and Thai cultural show. The New Years Eve celebrations will feature a magnificent fireworks display that will be broadcast live on satellite and cable television from 10:30pm.

The campaign will be a 7 day and night event starting from Friday the 25th of December until Thursday the 31st of December, when the New Year is commenced.

Event Date: 25th — 31st of December
Time: 7.00 pm — 01.00am
Venue: Bali Hai Pier, South Pattaya

Activities: Christmas festival, lighting and decoration throughout, all star entertainment, fireworks, food exhibition, cultural displays and much more…

with thanks to :  PATTAYADAILYNEWS

All Flaked Out In Hua Mark

No matter how hot it gets on Saturday, music fans will find snow at the Rajamangkala National Stadium – oh, and bands too ; Punters going along to this Saturday’s poprock blowout  the Bangkok Winter Music Festival 2009 – at Rajamangkala National Stadium in Hua Mark -should take along a woolly or jacket to slip over their shoulders. Organiser New Inter Classic Exhibition (Nice) is predicting snow – at least during the ballads.

“We’ll have more than 20 snowmaking machines producing flakes and blowing them into the air during the slow songs,” says Somsak Malang, managing director for Nice, a company that up until now has restricted its activities to organising events for the real estate business

“The global downturn continues to have a negative economic impact on the real estate business,” adds Somsak, who’s been organising events for 16 years and is enthusiastic about the firm’s debut on the showbiz scene.

“There are lots of music festivals taking place outside Bangkok during the winter but many city folk can’t go to them because they don’t have the money to pay for travel and accommodation on top of the expensive tickets. “I’d like this to be an annual event, just like the Pattaya Music Festival.”

Saturday’s festival has a concept that revolves around the number nine: It runs for nine hours and features nine artists  Palmy, Moderndog, Groove Riders, ETC, Friday, Flure, Zeal, Lipta and Paradox  with proceeds, after expenses, going to nine charities (the Foundation for Rural Youth, the Thammarak Foundation for HIV Children of Wat Phrabat Nampu, Ban Kru Noi, the Christian Foundation for the Blind in Thailand, the Sataban Saengsawang Foundation, Friends of the Asian Elephant, the Foundation for Stray Dogs, the Children Cancer Fund, and the National Sports Development Fund of Sports Authority of Thailand).

“Each artist will be on stage for a full 40 to 45 minutes rather than just performing two or three songs as at other festivals,” he says.

The 39yearold MD has invested Bt25 million in his first showbiz project, of which more than Bt10 million is going on the stage production. Bt3 million is earmarked for artist remuneration and the remainder is being spent on public relations and promotion.

“We have a team from Leo Sound System handling the production. They worked on the Honda Winter Fest and they’ll be responsible for the sound and well as for bringing in new equipment like loudspeakers. The stage is 25metres wide and 80metres long with one 12metre catwalk at the centre. We have one large LED there and two smaller ones on each side.

“And, of course, there’s the snow. It’s only a gimmick but I want it to be talk of the town,” he explains.

Surprisingly, Nice’s first project has not picked up any sponsors, so the company will be picking up the entire tab.

“That’s because we were really late concluding the project and sponsors had already closed the accounts for the 2009 budget year. Our tardiness was due to the selection of artists and the venue,” he says.

The festival is expected to draw a crowd of 40,000 people. Some 450 policemen will be on duty inside the stadium and an as yet undisclosed number outside.

with thanks to : NATION

Skatalites And Ska Cubano Bring Big Smiles To ‘Smiley’

Saturday’s reggae feast in Pattaya is voted a massive success ; The end of the year traditionally comes with festive events and lots of festivals and last Saturday was no exception with Pattaya’s Baan Amphur beach playing host to authentic ska at the Smiley Festival, one of the best outdoor music events held so far this year.

That was largely due to the line up. Unlike most so-called ska and reggae music festivals that disappoint with jazz or even pop and bore the audience to death by bringing in the same acts over and over again, Smiley Fest stayed true to its concept and brought only real ska, reggae and rock steady acts to perform.

The headliners included must-see international talents such as the sensational Ska Cubano from the UK, legendary group the Skatalites from Jamaica, ska and rock steady veteran Little Roy, and aspiring newcomers Prince Fatty and Babyhead from England, along with aspiring bands from Thailand and Korea. The price to see and listen to all these great performers? Just Bt800.

The festival set-up was convenient, functional and very organised. There was plenty of space in front of the stage to do the crazy ska dance and more space on the beach to sit down and enjoy the show. Tables and chairs were spread over the remainder of the festival site for those who wanted to grab a bite and rest their ears and weary legs for a while. Each zone was nearly divided and no matter where you were in the festival, you could always hear and see what was happening on stage thanks to the massive screens installed all over the area. There were more than enough toilet cubicles not too far from the venue and they were surprisingly clean. Food and drinks were reasonably priced and were available all night.

The only problem, like at many other big festivals, was garbage. Folks were either too drunk or lazy to dump it in the bins so many punters were forced to dodge large piles of cans scattered about the dancing area.

The audience was a nice mix of Thais and foreigners. International acts attracted the foreign crowd, while the Thais were there to catch yet another gig by Thailand’s homegrown ska outfit T-Bone. Somehow, during the night, the fest suddenly evolved into a big music class. For many Thais, the fest added a greater dimension to the approach to ska music, allowing us to catch “post grad” artists like the Skatalites and Ska Cubano after too many years of listening to “high school” acts. Old school ska, roots, dub and ska with Cuban traits were unanimously appreciated that night, thanks to the energetic and soulful performances of the international talent.

And more than a few young people went home understanding at last that ska has its origins in Jamaica, and not Africa.

with thanks to : NATION

All Flaked Out In Bangkok – Bangkok Winter Music Festival

No matter how hot it gets on Saturday, fans will find snow at the Winter Music Festival ;If you’re going to Saturday’s Bangkok Winter Music Festival, take a parka or jacket. Maybe even mittens or gloves. Organiser New Inter Classic Exhibition (Nice) is predicting snow – at least during the ballads.

“We’ll have 20 snow-making machines producing flakes and blowing them into the air during the slow songs,” says Somsak Malang, managing director of Nice, which up until now has organised events for the real-estate sector.

“The global downturn continues to have a negative impact on real estate,” says Somsak, who’s been organising events for 16 years and is enthusiastic about his debut on the entertainment scene.

“There are lots of music festivals outside Bangkok during the winter but many city folks can’t go to them because they don’t have the money to pay for travel and accommodation on top of the expensive tickets. “I’d like this to be an annual event, just like the Pattaya Music Festival.”

Saturday’s festival has a concept that involves the number nine: It runs for nine hours and features nine artists – Palmy, Moderndog, Groove Riders, ETC, Friday, Flure, Zeal, Lipta and Paradox. Proceeds, after expenses, will go to nine charities – the Foundation for Rural Youth, the Thammarak Foundation for HIV Children of Wat Phrabat Nampu, Ban Kru Noi, the Christian Foundation for the Blind in Thailand, the Sataban Saengsawang Foundation, Friends of the Asian Elephant, the Foundation for Stray Dogs, the Children Cancer Fund, and the National Sports Development Fund of Sports Authority of Thailand.

“Each artist will be on stage for 40 to 45 minutes rather than just two or three songs as at other festivals,” he says.

The 39-year-old exec has invested Bt25 million in his first showbiz project, of which more than Bt10 million is for the stage production. Bt3 million is earmarked to pay the artists and the remainder ifor promotion.

Leo Sound System, which worked on the Honda Winter Fest, is handling the production. The stage is 25-metres wide and 80-metres long with one 12-metre catwalk at the centre. A large centre LED screen two smaller ones on each side will ensure everyone gets a look at the performers.

“And, of course, there’s the snow. It’s only a gimmick but I want it to be talk of the town,” he explains.

Surprisingly, Nice’s first project has not picked up any sponsors, so the company will be picking up the entire tab.

“That’s because we were really late concluding the project and sponsors had already closed the accounts for the 2009 budget year. Our tardiness was due to the selection of artists and the venue,” he says.

The festival is expected to draw a crowd of 40,000 people. Some 450 policemen will be on duty inside the stadium and an as yet undisclosed number outside.

WHITE NOISE

The Bangkok Winter Music Festival is at the Rajamangkala National Stadium in Hua Mark on Saturday from 5pm to 1am. Tickets are Bt300 to Bt2,000 at www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

with thanks to : NATION

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