Chillies, a young Vietnamese rock band, has just been nominated for the Dedication Award with their live concert Tren nhung may may - Photo: NVCC
"Rock artists still do not give up and do not stop creating. They are just waiting for the fire from the organizers and from the loving audience to be able to rekindle the spirit of Vietnamese rock" - that is the expression from the organizer of the VNLE Concert Just Rock concert, which will take place at Ho Xuan Huong Stadium (HCMC) on March 8.
This is a concert dedicated to rock in Ho Chi Minh City after a long time when rock artists mainly performed on small stages or shared stages of many music genres.
Y Garia (founding member of the band Vortexx)
Microwave, 7UPPERCUTS, Nam Toc, Nhan Dang... will reunite in a rock show with representatives of many generations - Photo: NVCC
Can't keep covering forever!
For many years, rock in Saigon has existed mainly in the form of covers at live bars, live pubs and most crowdedly at beer clubs.
In the past 5 years, rock venues have become more limited; bars, tea rooms, and rock stages are only "hidden" in small corners of Saigon. Rock bands often organize shows on a very small scale, following the spirit of self-playing and self-listening in the scene to keep the passion alive.
Mr. Henry Nguyen - representative of the concert organizer Just Rock - admitted that pure rock shows in Ho Chi Minh City have lost steam after the pandemic, and rock performance venues have also decreased significantly.
But the good news is that indie rock bands are very active, performing indie shows, finding opportunities to bring rock to different stages, not just rock stages, expanding their audience...
They were the ones who added a new flame to Saigon's rock scene.
Along with that, long-standing bands also gradually adapt to the market, separating each member to play on any stage.
"Most bands when performing at bars and pubs will play covers of famous songs to satisfy the tastes of the customers. But at big rock stages, rock fans really like to listen to the band's own compositions," commented Henry Nguyen.
The eight bands performing at Just Rock include Microwave, Chillies, 7UPPERCUTS, Nam Toc, Nhan Danh, MONOCYCLE, Vortexx, Mystery Band - representing many generations of rock music in Vietnam and especially Ho Chi Minh City.
They will sing pure Vietnamese rock songs, including both old hits and new hits.
If the "big brother" Microwave has been active for 23 years, Chillies or 7UPPERCUTS have been around for 6-7 years, then Vortexx Band and Nam Toc are two "brand new" rock bands founded in 2022.
Nam Toc is quite familiar with the media when following its own path of folk rock, spreading traditional musical instruments through rock music.
The band brought guitar, bass, drums onto the stage alongside the zither, bamboo flute, monochord, four-stringed zither, and drum...
Vortexx consists of five members: Y Garia, Y Vol, Thien Tai, Dinh Long, Tran Minh, of which YGaria and YVol are the two sons of the late famous singer-songwriter Y Moan. They have been active in music for a long time with the desire to bring Central Highlands rock to audiences across Vietnam and internationally.
Vortexx recently performed at the 2023 Ho Do International Music Festival. The band is preparing to release a new album in 2024 with eight songs composed by Y Garia himself.
Y Garia, son of People's Artist Y Moan, pursues his rock dream with the band Vortexx - Photo: NVCC
Singer-songwriter Y Garia had composed quite a lot before forming Vortexx. He always kept in mind that a rock band must have its own works.
Y Garia said: "Bands must try harder by releasing products that they themselves compose and mix, helping the public understand more about the color or material of the music genre they pursue. Vortexx hopes that in the future there will be many shows with a strong rock style in Vietnam."
Rock the market but not "losing the quality"
Among the new rock bands, it can be said that Chillies is the most familiar name in the market with easy-to-listen hits, combining famous pop singers and rappers in the market, with a young audience.
The band also has its own live concert On the Clouds, which has just been nominated for the 2023 Dedication Award in the category of Show of the Year.
MV Sun Avenue - Chillies
Whether a rock band is highly marketable is always controversial in the rock world.
Mr. Henry Nguyen commented: "There are many opinions about this direction of Chillies. The good side of the marketization is that Chillies has brought rock to more audiences, appearing more frequently and performing more shows. This is a good side for Vietnamese rock and for the band's activities in particular.
As for the concept of "losing its essence", in fact, Chillies or any band must have experience, experiment, fail, mature and succeed to produce works that bear their own mark.
I believe Chillies is experimenting with newer things to create better works, this is the path that every artist must go through to reach their destination in their artistic career.
The core of Chillies is still there, just more condensed, more refined and adapted to the reality of expectations from today's audiences."
“Big brother” Microwave praises talented young rock bands - Photo: NVCC
"The big brother of Saigon rock" Microwave innovation
Microwave Band - the owner of the big hit "Tim Lai" and has been active for 23 years - has recently performed many shows and just released a commemorative MV and a Tet music MV. They are considered the big brother of rock in Ho Chi Minh City and more broadly, rock in the South, after 2000.
"After more than 20 years of playing music, we have made changes to better suit the present. At this time, the band wants its music to be simpler, more rustic but more emotional. The band also has plans for new music products in the near future.
Rock is still alive and well in Vietnam. Young bands are now at a high level, possessing remarkable talent. Not only are they diverse in genres, they are also professional in composing, performing and promoting their products" - Microwave shared with Tuoi Tre.
Streaming - the new market of rock
Currently, Vietnamese rock - as well as other music genres - is having more popular channels through streaming platforms because this is a global trend, both generating revenue and helping to reach music lovers quickly and effectively.
Chillies is a Vietnamese rock band that has spread widely on Spotify - where pop and rap artists still dominate. Mascara was the most listened to song on Spotify in Vietnam in 2020. Just chill was successful in 2021, making Chillies the second most listened to group in 2021 in Vietnam, behind only Korean group BTS.
New bands and artists like Dau Van Tay, Ha Di, The 13th Floor, ChipPunks... are also making their mark on the Apple Music platform.
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