Rock on, comrades

Saturday 19 January

Got up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, had a hearty breakfast and attended the press conference where My Chemical Romance, the biggest rock band ever to play in Vietnam, alongside Unlimited and Ngu Cung, the best young local bands, did a great job for the local media.

Took my new pair of Levi's to the tailor to get taken up then cruised the streets of central Saigon for a couple of hours on foot. Discovered a nice gelato place next to a roundabout, very piazza-like (what's a piazza?) and tucked into some great beef stew and french bread with a freshly brewed Heineken - yum.

Strolled back and cooled off in the pool for a bit before showering and heading to the venue - amazingly, the band weren't into the humvee limo we had secured for them, so I jumped at the chance and rode there in style, blown away by the juxtaposition when looking through the one-way windows at the dusty streets crowded with motorbikes outside.

The band had an autograph session for 500 screaming fans (mostly teenagers and the odd uncle) which made for a few laughs, followed by sound check as the sun went down. Danh and Vo took me out for dinner around 7pm and we had a good feast at Ly Ly (a mainstream beer garden) - pork, liver, noodles, quail eggs and these crazy whole fish whose bodies were totally filled with eggs!

Hit Seventeen Saloon for some draught beer after that, right downtown, then a bit further out for a couple of pint bottles at what they called a mainstream discotheque, something like the bars on Neil Rd but thankfully less aggressive. Again, most places close at midnight so I caught a cab home (much smoother at that time of night) and rested up for the main event!