No matter who you were, where you came from, or what you did, all the barriers of class, education and politics were torn down last Saturday at Pongsit Kamphee's 30th anniversary concert – "30 Years Kamphee: You're My Friend".
Please join us on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/bangkokpostlearning
30 years of Kamphee
Apipar Norapoompipat
No matter who you were, where you came from, or what you did, all the barriers of class, education and politics were torn down last Saturday at Pongsit Kamphee's 30th anniversary concert – "30 Years Kamphee: You're My Friend".
It was one of the loudest and emotional crowds ever heard at Impact Arena Hall, as almost 10,000 people of different ages and backgrounds became one – letting go of their worries and sorrows to the songs of life and love.
Pongsit (also known by many as Kamphee) is known as the godfather of songs for life (pleng phua cheewit) – a form of protest music that came about in the 1970s and centred on the hardships of the working class. For the last three decades, he's considered to be the voice of the voiceless – releasing 18 full-length albums full of heart-wrenching and soul-tearing songs on adversity, grief and the sorrows of life and love. With his simple yet poetic lyrics, an emotional and guttural voice paired with heavy rock or melodic riffs, his music resonates with Thais from all walks of life.
Even though he's toured non-stop and is the only musician to perform repeatedly in all 878 districts in Thailand, tickets to the concert still quickly sold out. Impact Arena Muang Thong Thani was packed with fans from all over the Kingdom wearing bandanas (Pongsit's signature), northeastern style scarves (where Pongsit hails from), and commemorative "30 Year Kamphee" T-shirts to celebrate the extremely rare arena performance that happens about every once in five years.
The lines to get into the concert hall were so long they snaked their way outside the arena perimeters, causing many (including myself) to miss the first few songs of the show. Walking into the hall, Pongsit, wearing a black bandana, a black jacket, jeans and flaming red Converse was already rocking out centre stage playing Raeng Yung Mee (I Still Have Energy) with 10-or-so people up with him dancing to the music.
The circular stage where he stood was located in the middle of the hall with the crowd surrounding him from all sides. Once a few more fast songs ended, he moved to sit at a different point in the circle with his acoustic guitar, drawing huge screams as everyone realised that they would all get to see him equally.
A song for Thailand's vocational students:
"My father isn't here today," he mused into the microphone while strumming his guitar. "But my mother is."
His mother appeared on the circular LED screen above his stage. The crowd roared, knowing his heartbreaking hit song Mae (Mother) was coming up next.
You can read the full story here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/music/1324031/30-years-of-kamphee
