Concert «Chạm làn môi em»: WILL + K.O at Cat&Mouse

   WILL and K.O are two voices from opposite edges of the Vietnamese pop scene: the first came out of the boy band 365 and has held the charts for a decade, the second belongs to a newer generation for whom a ballad sits closer to R&B.

   The programme is called «Chạm làn môi em» — to touch your lips — and it is exactly the repertoire people come to rooms like this for: slow, personal songs sung two metres from the listener.

   The essentials:

   — Cat&Mouse is a live house, not a club: tables, a live band, and a room that goes quiet during the song;
   — both artists perform on the same night, with joint numbers;
   — the room is small, the stage low, seating numbered;
   — the venue serves food and drink, and outside food is not allowed.

   Come if you want Vietnamese pop up close. This is not a stadium format: you hear the breathing and you see the singer fluff a line and laugh at it — which is what live houses are for.

   On tickets: sold through ticketbox, the lowest tier from 900,000 VND. The programme is in Vietnamese; the lyrics matter here, so some of the meaning will pass a non-speaker by — the music will not.

   The venue is on Phạm Ngọc Thạch, a step from Turtle Lake and five minutes from the riverfront, so the evening extends easily into a walk.

   One evening, two voices and a room where the stage is two metres away. If you are in Ho Chi Minh City this Friday, book ahead — the room is small.