Live Music Recap: The Black Lips and Skeleton Goode
Last week, Atlanta hometown heroes, The Black Lips played a small one off show here in Saigon after their gig at Coracle Music Fest up in Mui Ne. It was all a bit surreal as I’ve seen The Black Lips more times than I can probably count and it brought back memories of beer soaked ridiculous shenanigans years ago when I lived in the A. It was so good being able to hang out and relive some nostalgia while partying with the Saigon homies. Skeleton Goode opened up with their take on Psych rock and absolutely killed it. I only took my Fuji x100x anticipating maybe a few beers flying and wanted to avoid cleaning the Sony kit after night of rocking out, but it turns out Saigon has a bit more manners than Atlanta used to so everything stayed dry. Shooting with the Fuji was ….. not ideal. While this little camera is completely capable in travel and most everyday situations, it is not exactly fluent in autofocusing in low light situations. That being said, I loved the rawness of these frames and it matched the vibes of the show. It felt like the DIY punk shows I grew up going to nearly every week. I wish more of these type shows happened in Saigon. Based on some info I heard though, this may be changing in the near future. Fingers crossed. Now onto the images!
Last week, Atlanta hometown heroes, The Black Lips played a small one off show here in Saigon after their gig at Coracle Music Fest up in Mui Ne. It was all a bit surreal as I’ve seen The Black Lips more times than I can probably count and it brought back memories of beer-soaked ridiculous shenanigans years ago when I lived in the A. It was so good being able to indulge in some nostalgia while partying with the Saigon homies. Skeleton Goode opened up with their take on Psych rock and absolutely killed it. Super solid opening set. The Black Lips followed and played to an increasingly rowdy crowd as the night went on. Booties shook, rugs were cut, good times all around.
I only took my Fuji x100s anticipating maybe a few beers flying and wanted to avoid cleaning the Sony kit after night of rocking out, but it turns out Saigon has a bit more manners than Atlanta so everything stayed dry. Shooting with the Fuji was ….. not ideal. While this little camera is completely capable in travel and most other situations, it is not exactly fluent in autofocusing in low light situations. That being said, I loved the rawness of these frames and they definitely matched the vibe of the show. It felt like the DIY punk shows I grew up going to nearly every week. I wish more of these type shows happened in Saigon , but based on some info I heard recently, this may be changing in the near future. Fingers crossed! Now onto the images!
Skeleton Goode
The Black Lips
Saigon Punk Chronicles : Year End Fest - The E Killer, District 105, 7Uppercuts, Razor Leaf, Stupiz Kiz, Tariot
With the lunar new year approaching, First and Last Records held their year-end fest showcasing nearly their entire roster as well as the Singaporean melodic hardcore outfit, Tariot. To begin, DIY shows starting more or less on time here in Saigon blows my mind. With everything else here being 'time-flexible', and the habitual lateness of punk shows in general, this punctuality is noteworthy to say the least. High fives for that. That said, maybe I’ve become accustomed to things starting more. whimsically. So, unfortunately, I missed The E-killer. Next time, fellas.
With the lunar new year approaching, First and Last Records held their year-end fest showcasing nearly their entire roster as well as the Singaporean melodic hardcore outfit, Tariot. To begin, DIY shows starting more or less on time here in Saigon blows my mind. With everything else here being 'time-flexible', and the habitual lateness of punk shows in general, this punctuality is noteworthy to say the least. High fives for that. That said, maybe I’ve become accustomed to things starting more. whimsically. So, unfortunately, I missed The E-killer. Next time, fellas.
The rest of the line up was a mix of pop punk, moshy breakdowns, melodic hardcore and a rather hilarious pop punk cover of 'I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You.' The place was packed with over 200 people. Hats off to Soma Art Cafe for cranking the AC to keep it from turning into the usual sweatbox we’ve all experienced at shows in the past. Stage dives, high fives, and ridiculous sing alongs made for one of the most fun shows I’ve been to in a long time.
If this is your first time visiting the site, documenting the punk scene in Saigon is a part of a long-term project of mine and some of my favorite shots can be seen here. Make sure to keep frequenting the page for updates in the future. You could even subscribe to the RSS feed if you’re feeling fancy. Now on to the images.
District 105
7Uppercuts
Razor Leaf
Stupiz Kiz
Tariot
Since you made it this far, feel free to share this to social, comment, send good vibes or gifts and I’ll see you at the next show.