What’s happening in Thailand’s music landscape this week

BON IVER LIVE IN BANGKOK (JAN 20)

There is great excitement among local indie music fans as celebrated US indie-folk outfit Bon Iver play Bangkok for the first time tomorrow at Moonstar Studio. The show is part of the group’s Asia tour, which also takes in Jakarta, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo. These are their first Asian dates since their hugely successful 2016 tour. And if their recent US dates are anything to go by, it promises to be an unforgettable evening.

Fronted by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon, the Grammy Award-winning band has been described as chamber folk, due to their use of acoustic guitars, horns, piano, synthesisers, woodwinds, organ and seamlessly blended vocals, on top of which they also lay electronic and experimental elements. Expect to hear many of their spellbinding hits, such as Skinny Love, Blood Bank and Holocene.

Tickets are 2,230 baht at the door, and available at ticketmelon.com/ VIJI/BONIVER, or call 02 026 3235.

FUTUREFEST 2020 (JAN 25-26)

The Link Asoke-Makkasan will be transformed on Jan 25 and 26 for FutureFest 2020. Hosted by the Future Forward Party, this is the second edition of the mini-festival, with this year’s theme being “Change The Present, Change The Future”. The line-up features 12 popular music acts: The Yers, S.O.L.E., Vega, Sanim Yok, Stoic, Dogwhine, Scrubb, Hugo, Yena, R.A.D., Bomb At Track and Anatomy Rabbit.

The festival will also include a zero-waste market and installation art. Concertgoers are also invited to take part in discussions on the exportation of contemporary Thai culture, the environmental crisis in the 21st century, and the local brewery scene.

FutureFest 2020 runs from 2-11pm on both days at the Link Asoke-Makkasan, MRT Phetchaburi or Airport Link Makkasan. Tickets are 890 baht for two-day access, or 450 baht for Sat and 550 baht for Sun, and are available via Eventpop at bit.ly/2rYZFpy.