Original music night «NO COVER» Vol. 25

   A night of original music in a lantern-strung alley in District 1: no covers, no DJ set — songs written by the people singing them.

   NO COVER is one of Saigon's longest-running original-music series, put on by the volunteer songwriter community HCMC Originals, and this is edition number 25.

   The essentials:

• — The series runs roughly monthly; volume 22 landed in April and the two-year anniversary edition in June 2026
• — The stage is for writers performing their own material, newcomers and long-time players on the same night
• — The same organisers run a second series, Songwriter's Circle, at The Orient pub

   For edition 25 the organisers have, for once, announced a special guest: progressive metalcore band Rendezvouz (rdvz.) play a No Cover stage for the first time. The project grew out of guitarist Phúc's experiments with soundscapes inspired by Periphery, ERRA, Meshuggah and Monuments — a sound the band describes as «aggressively happy». The line-up: Phúc (leader, guitar), vocalists robjn and Nam Duy, Trí Toàn (treetwan) on bass and Khoa Vang on drums.

   Come if you want to hear what musicians in this city — Vietnamese and expat — are actually writing, rather than the familiar playlist. It is also the easiest way to meet the local songwriting scene in one room.

   The rest of the line-up traditionally stays under wraps until the night itself, and no door price is published anywhere — people simply turn up and listen.

   The alley begins right behind the backpacker street, though the music inside comes from an entirely different city.