Concert «Trung Quân» at Mây Lang Thang

   An open-air stage in the pine forest about twelve kilometres out of Da Lat: the audience sits on wooden terraces while mist settles over the slope as the music starts. That is how a Mây Lang Thang night works — the Da Lat crew has been staging Vietnamese pop evenings on its hillside venues since 2020. This concert takes place at its Mây in The Nest stage; the city's second venue, Thung Lũng Mây ("Cloud Valley"), sits nearby.

   The night belongs to Trung Quân — and it is a homecoming in the literal sense: the singer grew up in Da Lat. Vietnam Idol made him famous, hence the stage name Trung Quân Idol. He is a lyric tenor — a light, bright, soaring voice — with three nominations for the Cống hiến music award and a 2024 studio album, «Người đang yêu». It is his second night here this season; the September date has already been played.

   Expect the "rain series" first of all — the ballads «Dấu mưa», «Chuyện mưa», «Gọi mưa» and «Thả vào mưa» — along with «Trót yêu» and the winter duet «Cô bé mùa đông» recorded with Thùy Chi.

   The essentials:

• — Live backing: On Air Band, with vocal group Cadillac
• — Four seating tiers: PREMIUM, VIP, STANDARD 1 and STANDARD 2
• — Five per cent off for groups of ten, ten per cent for twenty
• — A shuttle runs from the city centre for a separate fee

   The show starts in late afternoon while the plateau is still bright and ends in cold darkness — a warm jacket is standard kit here, as every regular will tell you.

   Seating is tiered by distance from the stage: the entry level has a restricted view, the top tier sits closest and includes a drink.

   Open-air music in the highlands is the one thing Da Lat does better than anywhere else in the country.