Concert «Step Out vol.2»

   Ska is the kind of music that makes standing still physically difficult, and on Saturday it arrives at the coast: a Japanese ska orchestra from Ho Chi Minh City plays Vũng Tàu for the first time. Trumpets, trombone, saxophones, guitars and a live voice — the evening is built around a horn section rather than around a DJ booth.

   Hem★Hem SaiGon was started in 2012 by three Japanese expats working in Saigon, simply because they loved ska. Over the years the trio grew into a fourteen-piece orchestra with trumpet, trombone, saxophone and flute, as Saigoneer described the band. They play ska, rock and reggae, their early model was Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, and the name comes from the Vietnamese word hẻm, an alley: for the members it stands for connecting people to people and people to place. Their «No Rice, No Life» motto once went far enough that they brewed a rice IPA with Pasteur Street Brewing.

   This is the second edition of Step Out, a series the band runs itself: the first one took place on 7 March in Saigon, with a Japanese dance team and a Bollywood troupe sharing the stage. Vũng Tàu is new territory, and this time the organisers have announced the band and nothing else — no running order, no guests.

   The night is for anyone who misses brass and likes seeing actual people play on stage: fans of ska, punk and reggae, followers of the Japanese scene in Saigon, and visitors looking for something in Vũng Tàu beyond the beach and the seafood. If you are down for the weekend with your family, it works too: guests under 19 get in free.

   There is no advance sale — entry is paid at the door and costs 150,000 VND, and the bar opens half an hour before the music starts. Beyond that the organisers say nothing, and New Peace Bar itself leaves little more than an address online, so treat the rest of the evening as a surprise.

   A ska night by the sea is a chance to hear music played rather than pressed, and if you are still deciding where the weekend goes, this is a fair reason to stay in Vũng Tàu until Saturday night.