Sharky Bar & Restaurant

Sharky Bar & Restaurant

Friday, May 25, 2012

Penhstock III (Day Three, Sunday 13th May, 2012)

Penhstock III (Day Three, Sunday 13th May, 2012)

No rain today. Nothing but bright sunshine. So what better way to start the day than a bit of rockabilly punk (The Cramps) - courtesy of Goo Goo Muck Muck & The Zombies ! With Ian The Punk, singing his little cotton socks off - the small, but vocal crowd enjoyed great versions of ‘What’s Inside A Girl,’ ‘Save It’’ and ‘Strychnine.’ The final day had started with a bang !

Exit ‘’The Zombies’’ and entrance ‘Gang Barang’ - a new, rock covers band from Siem Reap. With the lovely Gaby on vocals, and backed up with some fine musicianship and power drumming from Olivier. They belted a fine set of classic rock covers including great renditions of Black Sabbath’s ‘”Paranoid’’ and ‘’Iron Man’’ Tyrone on lead showed some neat touches and the first encore of the day was duly called for ! Great set by Gang Barang - and hopefully they will be back very soon ! Awesome guyz !

Probably, the only disappointment so far at Penhstock III, had been the late withdrawal of Khmer Rap Metal Band ‘Millennium’’ on the Friday night, due to the work commitments of lead singer Karona.

However, in order not to let us down, the drummer from Millennium brought his splinter band Aesthetic to the party – to compensate. And by crikey, weren’t we lucky that they did ! The subtle heavy metal licks of the guitars, were played together with some fine singing and rolling bass, to give us a brief insight into another of the new Khmer bands to hit the circuit ! A short but brief set from the boyz - but a nice appetizer all the same! Great stuff !

Bop P. & The Schkoots took to the stage during the short turnaround. Featuring Jan and Benoit from Dub Addiction on drums and bass – and the legendary Bob Passion on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. A veteran of all three Penstocks’, Bob played his customary French Punk/Pop much to the delight of the now very large crowd. He even found time for a bit of Iggy Pop (I Wanna Be Your Dog) and this of course was lapped up (no pun intended) by the bi-partisan crowd ! Great set by Bob - and some fine support playing by the Dub boyz ! Maybe we can twist their arms and get them back at Sharkys ! Hope so !

The crowd was now building very nicely and more than getting into the festival spirit. Oscars Band (our friends from St.104) took to the stage next and turned in a superlative array of musical medleys, that had the big crowd entertained from start to finish ! Be it James Brown, Lynard Sknynard, Chuck Berry, Wild Cherry or even The Carpenters, Oscars Band had them in palm of his hand, as he rocked his way effortlessly through his 25 minute set. The shouts for an encore were of course denied because of the time restraints - but a great set all the same by Oscar ! Brilliant Set !

Not to be outdone, local rock n blues legend Curtis King and his assortment of harp players, trumpet players and guitar players, crowded the stage and played a twenty odd minute boogie-jam - that only Curtis can do ! The crowd were enthralled and they loved every minute of the interplay between him on guitar, Kristain and the Japanese Harp player Fumi - San, which was ‘something rather special.’ They even found time for a bit of U2 - and this was complimented by their guest singer from The Philippines’ ! A great rock n roll boogie performance from Curtis King. He is definitely ‘’The Main Man ” !!!

 The Penhstock III crowd was now at fever pitch and the debut performance from another Siem Riep band – Cambo-Jam was greeted with wild enthusiasm and reveling ! They ‘rocked the house’ with a varied array of tunes that included Sting’s Englishman In New York (with the odd words changed) and even a bit of Hip Hop, that had the Khmer contingent, not to mention the bar staff, cheering and dancing in sheer delight ! The stand-out track though for KC, Aya, Fabian, Bertrand and Phillip, was a powerhouse version of Franz Ferdinand’s ‘’Take Me Out.” Absolutely superb and a great way to round off a great debut performance at Sharkys ! One of the best performances of the night ! Terrific !!

 Just as the crowd were catching their breath, local Khmer band and Green Day sound-a-likes ‘’Anti-Fate’’ exploded onto stage with their own firebrand brand of Alternative Rock. Not be outdone, the healthy Khmer section of the crowd were very vocal in supporting their local heroes - and there wasn’t a ‘’foot or hand’’ that wasn’t ‘’tapping or clapping’’ in the house - when their best song ‘Ámerican Idiot” sounded out ! A truly great version of that song - and proof that ‘’The 2011Battle of the Bands Winners’’ are a force to be reckoned with in Cambodia ! Great power set from Propey and the boyz !

Twenty-eight bands and counting, surely the next two bands can’t keep this electricity going ? Wrong ! Still to come The Stiff Little Punks and Bum N Draze !  Two of Phnom Penhs legendary cult bands! Better reset your pacemakers and pack some more protein pills. Cause none of these guys take prisoners !

With their guitars turned up high and the decibels louder than everyone else that had gone before – The Stiff Little Punks – battered the crowd into punk submission with lively versions of Sonic Reducer (Dead Boys), Hong Kong Garden (Souixsie & The Banshees) - and of course being Penhstock III – they just had to play Holiday In Cambodia (Dead Kennedys). Brilliant ! There was even time for a bit of 20th Century Boy (T.Rex.) Rock on !!! A great loud, entertaining set by SLP - and hope to have them back very soon at Sharkys !

Well, how can you finish Penstock III with all what has gone before ? Answer: With their final performance of their‘ ’DEATH OR TCHI TCHI TOUR 2012’’ who else but the inevitable Finnish Heavy Rock Superstars - Bum N Draze !!!!

What can you say about Pasi, Youni and Jet ? Are they Mega-gods or just simply drunken nutters ? Who cares ? Complete with Sexy Dancer (Asa) and a Seven-Foot- Black-Coffin waiting to be prised opened – always expect the unexpected from The Flying Fins !

The wailing guitars of the Bum N Draze classic song‘’If Mekong Was Whiskey’’ had hardly subsided when bass supremo Pasi approached the coffin with guitar menacingly in his hand– and as it slowly opened – out popped a scantily clad Welshman with a large three-foot inflatable dick between his legs ! He was in turn then severely beaten by a large man wearing welders goggles and brandishing  a baseball bat ! All done in the best possible taste of course !

The final part of the coffin act – finished with band members smashing their guitars on top of the coffin - with the Welshman and his battered dick - retreating into the confines of his burial for the last time !!

Great macabre fun ! Bum N Draze ! Who else ! And what a smashing way (literally) to finish Penhstock III – three days, of Peace, Love and Music.

And Big Mike (Sharky Boss) at the end of the night, typically, just waved to the crowd and thanked everyone enourmously for their support - as well as his crew and his bar staff for a job well done. He knew all the time, it was going to be a success. He just knew. Big Mike. He just knew. Was there ever a doubt !

Penhstock III was brought to you by the following Sharky Bar Management Team.

Big Mike (Sharky Boss, MC, Chief Soundbyte and Inspiration)

Rossy ‘’Ramone’’ Hounslow (Entertainments Manager, MC Extraordinaire, Chief Sound Technician and Vocalist - Sharky Ramone Blitzkrieg)

Curtis King
(Musician, Asst. Sound Technician, Rock N Roll Boogie Guy, The Main Man)

Dave The Punk (Music Manager, Guitarist for Clash City Rockers, Shambollick-69, Sharky Ramone Blitzkrieg, Goo-Goo Muck Muck & The Zombies and Stiff Little Punks)

& our lovely, hardworking Sharky Bar Staff !

Thanks to all of you (Muscians and Penshtock III crowd)  for ‘’History In The Making’’ at Sharky Bar …… it was all down to you !

Cheerz !!!!!

........ and Penhstock III Video to follow !!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment