Lao PDR

Wednesday 7 May

After a break from travelling in April, I got up at 5am today and headed to Vientiane in Laos via Bangkok. With me was Don, DJ and promoter extraordinaire, and Antz, illustrator/designer/graffiti artist/all-round dude. Loading up the plane with turntables, serato gear, markers and a bag full of spray paint, we made it out of Changi safely and spent an hour or two chillaxing in the Bangkok airport lounge.

About to board our connecting flight to Vientiane however, we suffered a small setback when the airport staff said we couldn't take the 27 spray cans onboard! They had a fair argument (even though Singapore had no problem with it) and after twenty minutes of pleading on the tarmac to no avail, we said goodbye to the paint and jumped on the one hour flight to Laos.

95% jungle, 6.5 million people, very developing and largely Buddhist, Laos is the location of our latest venture and I have the enviable task of helping the team get Tiger Translate off the ground here! Greeted by Tina and To at the aiport, we hit the ground sans spray paint and with a slightly damaged turntable. Not to worry, we proceeded to check in to the hotel and had half an hour to stroll down to the Mekong River, low and dry at this time of year. The guys had a coconut juice while I tried the local Beerlao, a tasty wee beverage with 99% market share here.

From there we went to the event venue, a high-end disco called Marina. The crew were setting up in earnest and had a range of action lined up; video walls, artwork on display, a pimped out Tiger Translate DJ console, the whole nine yards. Don spent a few hours testing out the sound system and dropping his 'educational' tracks (like KRS-One and Gang Starr) in amongst the jiggy crowd-pleasers. In my bones I can feel this is going to rock.

Meanwhile the question of the spray paint was looming heavy on my mind - To had sent some guys across the border to Thailand to get Antz' preferred Nippon brand, but after some questions and searching, we managed to get hold of paints by a local brand ATM that seem to be mainly used to customise motorbikes. Antz was happy so I was happy. We proceeded to the mansion of Lao Art Media's boss where three canvases were set up, and Antz drafted out his piece called 'Golden Tiger' based on traditional Chinese kids' masks. Watching this guy in action is like listening to John Coltrane, his skill makes it seem all too easy. With Antz psyched and more paints lined up for the next day, we returned to the venue where Don was finishing up.

After a quick shower and change of threads, we headed for dinner at a lovely restarant called KCD ('kop chai de' means 'thank you' in Lao) with the whole brand team including Phong and Binh, plus the GM Danny and a radio DJ who'll be our MC. We feasted on sticky rice, tom yam soup, salad, pork and of course Tiger to our hearts' content, before heading to D-Tech, a local disco behind the Novotel. It was definitely more ghetto than fabulous, dark and loud with groups of guys and girls drinking beer with ice from quart bottles, and some dancing at the safety of their cocktail tables.

From there we headed back to Marina which was pretty quiet, cats were singing karaoke which sent Don into a sonorific trance. I sent the two guys home after that, then had a couple of beers with Binh at Wind West, Vientiane's first pub and Tiger's strongest supporter. Back at the hotel at a reasonable hour, I heard some thumping beats around the corner and thought I would investigate before going to bed. Turned out to be D-Tech again (with it's freaky sign at the entrance saying no singlets, shorts, guns or children - there's obviously a big problem with sex tourism in Laos) and was much more packed now. Had a Tiger to wind down and some friendly locals invited me to drink with them. Turned out they were a little on the agressive side and when my light bulb flicked on that they were actually working trannies, I took my leave without saying goodbye!

Gave Don a call as I knew he would be burning the candle at both ends (turned out he was working on his set and Giles Peterson's Worldwide Fetival till 7am!) - and chilled in his room for a while; brainstormed some tracks to drop and shared with him the Flight of the Conchords 'Business Time' and 'Distant Future' for light relief. The guy is working like a madman, and extremely psyched at this chance to play for a new crowd in Vientiane. Made it to bed safely before 2am, making it a 20+ hour day.