night
life
As the 21st century has dragged out so have the nights, first from no man’s lands where all the potted plants were pulled in from desolate streets at 9pm, to one-horse affairs, where everyone knew everyone, mostly because they all went to the same bar. In the past few years, however, the landscape has changed. The short-lived experiments in different styles have yielded a more sustainable scene — with a number of world-class venues and bars in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, where people are actually willing to pay cover. And the acts they’re paying cover for no longer play cover songs; in the past few months, that list has grown to include Frank Turner, The Dodos, Shabazz Palaces, Japandroids, The Ghost Inside, Bwani Junction, Bonaparte, Okamoto, The Cribs, Bob Sinclar, Steve Aoki, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Grandmaster Flash and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. With this in mind we went out to capture a bit of the variety out there. It’s a special time right now, our Prague-in-1990 moment, and we wanted to make sure that we remember it.