A Great Night Out - Shit Whisky and a Singer Named Valentina Ploy...

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(Edited)

It's been a long time since I went to a gig. In Thailand we have live music at almost every restaurant and bar, every night of the week but generally speaking, Thai singing is akin to having the sound waves from a random tone generator combined with a cat in its death throes forced down your ear canals.

The constantly recurring problem with Thai is the tones. It's difficult enough to speak or understand it but when people start singing in Thai, you have the normal musical notes change which then are slightly sung 'off' to get the right word dependent on the tone.

The result is you find yourself listening to a never-ending mish-mash of off-tune warbling as the singer alternates incessantly between sharp and flat.

This is how it has to be. Five different tones can equal five different meanings to one word. Singing "I love my darling wife for ever" could quite easily become, "I shag my camel in the butt".

Hmm, perhaps not the best example but you get the drift.

The other problem with the 'turns' in Thai hospitality establishments is that they only seem to know a dozen songs. After over ten years here, even I know the words to some of them. None of them are good.

So with this background in mind, when my music hating wife mentioned that her friend had asked if we wanted to accompany her to a gig on Saturday evening, my fight or flight response immediately hit mach 2 and 40000 feet...until she mentioned that it was a small, private, registered guests only gig that was being sponsored by indi record label, What the Duck, and more importantly, Jameson's whisky. My altitude and and velocity dropped another notch when she mentioned that we would be there to see Valentina Ploy, a friend of my wife's friend who is an Italian / Thai singer-songwriter who sings in English and was a runner-up in the Thai heats of Miss Universe.

Intelligent I'm not. Fickle I am. It was time to land!

The event kicked off at a bizarre time of 4.30pm at a small bar in a 'garden' called Barden BKK and had half a dozen acts on, headlined by a band called 'Uncle Ben' who kicked off at 8pm. Valentina Ploy was on at 7pm. Luckily for me, I tutor 10 year-old twins at 4pm right across the city from the venue so didn't have to sit through the rest of the proceedings, making a 16 mile dash through the urban jungle on the bike, right in time to grab a chair and ready to enjoy a wee dram of Irish which no doubt the wife would have waiting for me. Much needed after 90 minutes with those little horrors.

Plastic queue control barriers and traffic cones. The signs of an important event!

Upon arriving, the security man kindly allowed me to park the bike right at the front of the venue and then further endeared himself to me by not blowing his whistle even once. He must have really wanted that 20 baht tip!

After having my name ticked off a list on a clipboard as any good groupie should have, I went inside to partake of my free bottle of happy juice.

One of the three girls in the centre of this shot is a fairly famous singer. Just guess which one as I have no idea. It struck me that these days, people queue up for a selfie but 'back in the day', we'd have been queueing for an autograph!

There were probably around 150 people there and the venue was basically a food court with a stage set up at one end. A tin roof covered the place and apart from a few tables and chairs, most were sat on the floor in front of the stage where Valentina Ploy was setting up and doing a sound check.

A small plastic cup of barely golden looking liquid was thrust into my hand by one of the Jameson's 'pretties' which I carried over to where the wife and her friend were sitting surrounded by empty bottles.

I knocked back my drink expecting a nice kick but it was just like drinking diluted golden syrup. The promotion was Jameson's new, ready-mixed whisky and soda and it was absolutely dreadful.

The wife and her mate obviously liked it...

Either that or the support acts they'd sat through since 4.30pm were not up to much.

"What do you think?" she slurred.

Just then, one of the 'pretties' carrying a tray and a bottle approached me.

"Would you like a drink?" she smilingly asked me. At least I think she was smiling as she was wearing her mask with pride, she was quite possibly smirking.

"Oooo, yes please." The wife glanced up at me in a barely focused gaze.

Give me a break here, these kids have to make a few quid. Anyway, I needed a drink and the bar wasn't selling beer.

Two 'pretties' by the bar recounting how they'd just mugged an old ferang with a bottle of shit.

I suppose we ought to do the serious part about the music...

As I mentioned above, Valentina Ploy is an Italian / Thai singer songwriter who had reached the finals of Italy's X Factor and The Voice - Thailand She plays violin and guitar (thank god she didn't bring the violin!) and although I'm not a huge fan of the genre (I prefer a few dramatic key changes, some drums and a bit of a crescendo ending with a few power chords so I can tell when to clap), live music can't be beaten, especially when its original and self-penned.

She is pretty popular, regularly hitting half a million plays per month on Spotify with her most played track, 'See You in Life', having just shy of 20 million plays.

I'll drop all her social and music links at the end

She ran through a set of seven of her own songs, accompanied at times by a fella on accoustic and despite my misgivings about the tin-roofed venue, the sound was pretty good. If I had one small criticism, it would be that the accompanist's guitar was a little loud.

Her voice was clear and smooth and she never missed a note and most importantly, she was loving performing live. The smile barely left her face, even when singing the usual fayre of broken hearts and unrequited love.

I can't ever remember sitting cross-legged on the floor anywhere since infants school, even then I'd have struggled to get up. It's the natural position for Thais. Thankfully, I had a chair.

Her latest single, Camera Roll was rather good and had what I thought was really well thought out, and very original lyric backed up with a laid back and chocolately vocal and relaxed accoustic guitar. She does the quirky titles really well. Another track is entitled 'Drunk Sleeping in Taxis'

The crowd loved her, cheering and clapping each track and they were loved back by a girl doing what she obviously loves the most.

I wish we could have heard more of her guitar parts as her guitar looked really unusual to me, a kind of electric / accoustic hybrid. I think it's time to call the Hive mad axemen, Messrs. @steevc and @meesterboom to identify it for me.

With her set finished, she put her guitar and mike into her bag, slung it over her shoulder and came over to chat with us but with fans milling behind us and wanting their pictures, she left to do her duty, happily and graciously.

She wisely declined a bottle...

The thing is, in a past life, I met a fair number of pretty famous, and not so famous actors and almost all were the most self obsessed, insecure bunch of divvies you could imagine. I also met a few musicians, and they were always just about the music. Passionate and in love with their art and Valentina Ploy was just the same. On a real high after her show and absolutely loving it, naturally and without any airs and graces.

In an obviously very, very different environment, it reminded me also of days in the distant past, gigging the pubs and clubs of Yorkshire and Lancashire and the Showcase nights, the local Entertainment agents used to run. Throwing up your gear, doing a couple of songs and then back in the old Maestro van for the trip home. Like I said, Bangkok isn't anything like a frosty and wet November night in Batley but the spirit was the same.

Happy fans and just a girl with a guitar.

'Uncle Ben' began to set up for their headlining performance but the now rather pissed music hating wife was ready for home. Her friend, our long term house guest had left her motorcycle downtown to be fixed so it was a case of 1 motorcycle, 1 helmet, 3 people, a dozen bottles and a 20km trek back to the burbs and thankfully this time, we didn't have to stop for the wife to puke...

'Uncle Ben' setting up with quite a lot of space down the front. I would have liked to have seen a full band in there...if they were singing in English!

You can't beat live music played by talented people who love their chosen art form and I had a great, albeit rather short, evening and wish every success and happiness to Miss Valentina Ploy.

As promised...
Valentina Ploy on Social Media
You Tube
Instagram
Spotify



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30 comments
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I've met some pretty cool celebrities and some not cool at all ones.

What's up with the masks, you guys still have to wear those?

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Outside, they are no longer a legal requirement but at 'gatherings' they still are. As it was a restaurant we didn't need them but anyone serving or shop assistants still wear them. I think most people will keep them on forever!

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Fair enough. You know they're not even required on airplanes anymore right?

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(Edited)

Lol we do! It's a bizarre society here. On one hand, they're still carrying on wearing masks even without the legal need to, on the other they refuse to wear motorcycle helmets and generally choose which laws they adhere to and which they don't.

It's all extremes. They don't show emotion or temper in a disagreement until such a point when they'll either shoot or stab you but in general, it's easy living without interference...unless you piss someone off in which case things rarely end well.

As for actors. I used to do a bit years ago and you'd meet other cast for the first time and the first thing do is look at you to see if they recognised you and then start bragging about 'what they'd done' and then when you didn't reciprocate, they'd eventually say 'and what might I have seen you in?' lol...the answer for me was 'nothing' but they were so insecure!

You'll love it ;-)

Hope you two are both doing well.

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I am pretty sure you had fun there because the place looks really nice and attractive for people to be there

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I only heard Thai music in the radio or when it was played one time at a Khaosan road bar so I didn't actually notice how different they sound.

Five different tones can equal five different meanings to one word. Singing "I love my darling wife for ever" could quite easily become, "I shag my camel in the butt".

Lmao we also have words that has different meaning when you say it differently but that is quite extreme hahah. I feel bad you had to drink that shitty whiskey and they don't sell beer. Quite odd since almost all restaurants or bars we have visited there have beers. :D Also sitting on the floor feels comfy for me haha

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Its so natural to sit on the floor in Asia, I'm surprised Ikea has even bothered coming to Bangkok or Manila. Just sell rugs!
I'm glad you went to Khaosan, its touristy but a great night out and I'm glad its getting back to normal. We have an odd night out down there, the last time was a couple of weeks ago and it was getting back towards the good old days when it would take you an hour to get through the crowds from one end to the other. We went down during the pandemic and it was deathly and sad. I hope you got a spray can out and went down one of the back alleys to add a tag?

No beer just because it was being sponsored and paid for by Jameson's I guess but no freebies!

Hope you're well and the vacuum cleaner batteries are still holding up! Best wishes :-)

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The guitar looks like a Fender Acoustasonic. I've not played one, but they look cool.

!BEER

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Thanks for that @steevc . It did look really cool and caught my eye straight away as it was also very unusual (to me at least). It sounded well too, the little I heard.

Thanks again! More Iona pics please. My Mum was due to go middle of June around the Fjords but then had a fall and had to cancel so would love to see more pics. Cheers :-)

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Acoustasonic Telecaster I've just found out! You need one of these @steevc !!

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Ack I miss live gigs but not the ones in bars and resto's because of the same reasons as you. Tho I wish the celebs and artists here were just as humble as her because she looks like she's the same in public as she is while performing

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Yes, she was a just genuinely nice. Are they still playing 'Hotel California' and 'Sweet Child O' Mine' ten times a night in the restos and bars in downtown Manila or have they got some new favourites after all these years? lol

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Omg how did you know that 🤣🤣🤣 have you been to manila before?
They play those in every resto and bar, including "My way" and that has started a fight way more than anyone would even expect

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I was going to add 'are people still shooting each other over My Way' but thought no, surely not after all this time!
I spent an awful lot of 2006-2010 bumming around the Philippines. Best times of my life :-)

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So they actually did shoot outs before 🤣🤣🤣 I thought that was a joke since there's been a gun ban, but apparently it was a thing, heck-

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(Edited)

The first time I ever stuck my 10peso coin in a karaoke machine, someone warned me, "Don't sing My Way"! lol so funny :-)

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I can imagine why 🤣🤣🤣🤣 it's a trigger, I swear

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It's a fender alright but it ain't nothing like my electro acoustic fender. It looks more electric!!

Sounds pretty good after all apart from that horrible preprepared new combo drink slop!

I am laughing at the horror of the way you describe thai singing :0D

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It was a really nice night despite my old man cynical bitching. Their live music scene here is alive and kicking (if you like Thai style) and many big name acts now call in on world tours. Guns N Roses are back for their second visit of the year in November but the price of tickets are well beyond the reach of average Thais but these lovely warm evenings sat outside and having dinner are the bit that make living here like one long holiday...until the morning when you suddenly realise you have some proper grown-up things to do and its 35C and you're sweating your rocks off and can barely breathe!

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I suffer terrily from the old man bitching. Things can be magic but in my head I am like wah wah wah with moans. Lol.

I like times that seem like a good holiday and they must be magic until the need to do stuff kicks in!

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I highly admire artists like that, celebrities who are down to earth and are all about the music and their craft plus she's pretty as well. You got me curious about Valentina Ploy. Now off to check her music on Spotify.

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Cool singer, I'm now following her on Spotify, thanks for that.

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Oh thank you, next time our paths cross I'll tell her she won some new listeners! She is a laid back and relaxing listen and very humble with it. Thanks for dropping by! You take care and have a great day :-)

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Were you the only expat old git there? Is that why they got you a chair to sit on and let you park by the entrance?
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Just watch one her Camero Roll video, she's good!!

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Hahaha. Yes I was both the only expat and old git there. I like to cover all bases! The wife and her mate were at a table so I sat on a step next to them but one of the delightful pretties brought a chair over for me!

I like to sit on steps, I do it everyday outside coffee shops, in fact I once got thrown out of a shopping mall outside a Marks and Sparks in Hong Kong for sitting on a step in the mall whilst gorging myself on their expensive, but delicious chocolate teacakes lol

I'm going to be well looked after here when I get a bit older lol ;-)

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