UL – Crazy and Obsessive Dai Lam Linh

Hanoi Grapevine is pleased to introduce Uyen Ly, a new columnist who will join KVT in offering thoughts, reactions, insights and reflections on events in the local art scene that catch her eye.
In her first piece, she reports on her visit to the Dai Lam Linh concert last week.
Enjoy!

Dai Lam Linh filled me up with extremely sad, extremely lonely, and extremely confident feeling.

Dai Lam Linh – the Vietnamese contemporary music group left an unforgettable impression on the audience on the night of December 11, 2010 in Hanoi. The theatre was filled up with audiences of different ages, professions and tastes thanks to the debate-that-never-end on the artistic quality as well as the craziness of Dai Lam Linh. The debate was aroused this summer among online newspapers, music websites and forums after millions of audience saw the band singing on national TV, channel 3 in a music program called Bai hat Viet (Vietnamese songs). This is one of the most popular TV programs in Vietnam.

Unsurprisingly, I saw few audiences left with embarrassing faces not long after the show started. What happened on the stage was too much for them. Two female performers screamed, cried, shouted on top of sounds attacking the ears from piano, guitar, saxophone, percussion, violin, and many other unnamed instruments. Rhythms and lyrics were broken and twisted. Uneven. Dramatic. Insane. Who couldn’t take it just simply left.

The ones who remained seated hold their breath, stuck their eyes to every move of the performers, broaden their ears, so that they were not going to miss any act. In front of their eyes, on the stage, the artists were surrounded by darkness. Oil lamps were placed here and there next to the musicians. Music started softly, piece by piece from different instruments, and became incredibly noisy but sexy that grabbed my ears and did not give anybody any time to rest. The music challenged my senses, also mind, and how wonderful, my heart.

Even though the song lists of the show was not very new as Dai Lam Linh’s fans could easily name songs from their last album: Lost, Eclipse, Bamboo Chopsticks, Afternoon, Nomad, Dream, the show was still a surprise, thanks to the artists’ non-stop experiment on using music materials. The violin group, Ca tru Thai Ha – Vietnamese folk music group, Danish saxophonist Lotte Anker, pop singer Ha Linh and the monks’ praying enriched the sound variety of the show. Vocalist Linh Dung and Thanh Lam were not as angry as they used to be in their last recorded album. They were calmer, but stronger in creating expressive sounds portrayed the spirit of the songs (and portrayed themselves, of course). In addition to that, their physical performing style was powerful. Nun trees – the last song was a perfect weapon of the show. It drilled into my heart and filled me up with extremely lonely, extremely sad, and extremely confident feeling.

The show could be even better if the stage was more carefully set-up, light was more precise, and the sound system was more satisfying. Music pieces could have been more attractive if the composer had been more aware of the harmony among music ingredients. The violin group did not create impressive effect despite the fact that the group was big on stage. One or two pieces of music distracted the audiences by too many instruments. However, this distraction could also be the composer’s experiment. I does not blame him for that.

Dai Lam Linh is not a group of musician and singer. It is a group of art creators exploiting its own world. Its works are not simply songs. It’s about music and sounds to dance, to act, to communicate, to play, to react to what’s happening in this contemporary life.

I would like to give a higher mark for Dai Lam Linh‘s last year show for the simplicity of how to make good art. However, It does not mean that this show is less impressive. Let me explain. It is always impossible to mark the challenging spirit of Dai Lam Linh, which is always very strong from show to show. They have been moving forward despite the fact that there are number of people who think their music is crazy and unacceptable. Dai Lam Linh, I would like to thank you for being crazy.