Minishow «Đàm Vĩnh Hưng»

   Some voices are recognisable from the first line, and a rasp is exactly that kind of marker: it cannot be trained in, only lived with. On Saturday the small stage in Đống Đa belongs to one of the loudest names in Vietnamese pop, and you will hear him from a table a few steps away rather than from the back of an arena.

   In brief:

• — headliner Dam Vinh Hung (Đàm Vĩnh Hưng), known in Vietnam as «Ông hoàng nhạc Việt», the king of Vietnamese pop, and to his audience simply as Mr. Đàm
• — more than thirty years on stage
• — a true minishow: live sound, a close stage, none of the stadium machinery
• — guests sit at tables, seats go by advance booking

   People come for the hoarse, unmistakable timbre and for the habit of spending everything down to the last note. His name was made by «Say Tình» and by the ballad of love and forgiveness «Xin lỗi tình yêu» — the songs by which he is recognised from the opening bar. The set list for this particular night is not published by the venue.

   The evening works both for long-standing fans of Mr. Đàm and for anyone just getting to know Vietnamese pop: in a room where the tables touch the stage the voice reaches you with nothing in between, and you can hear how he handles the register changes. The songs are sung in Vietnamese.

   The room matters here as much as the set. Trixie Cafe & Lounge in Đống Đa has been running minishows by Vietnamese singers for years, and Đàm Vĩnh Hưng is not new to this stage — he has sung here before. The same small stage has hosted Mỹ Tâm, Hồ Ngọc Hà, Tuấn Hưng and Vũ Cát Tường. By day it is a garden cafe; by night it turns into a tea room with live sound.

   The venue has not announced a price for the night: its listing gives the performer's name but neither an entry fee nor a table surcharge, so ask about the terms when you reserve a seat.

   Hearing a senior figure of Vietnamese pop from a few steps away is reason enough to claim a table early.