Concert «Yêu trở thành thương 4»

   A garden stage instead of a big hall, with names on the bill that audiences here have been hearing for two decades. This is the kind of night where you sit close enough to catch the breath between lines, rather than watching a performer on an LED screen.

   This is the fourth edition of the «Yêu trở thành thương» series, staged at Tram Coffee with Siu Black, Bằng Cường, Bảo Anh Gemini, Bảo Trân Gemini and the MTV band. Ngọc Tiên hosts. According to the organisers this is the first full-scale concert Tram Coffee has staged, rather than one of its regular acoustic evenings. The series is produced by Bang Cuong together with IVYHUB Entertainment and 87 Opentetainment, with seating distributed through the 1ZONE platform.

   What stands out on this bill:

• — Siu Black, the rock voice long associated with Central Highlands material on Vietnamese stages
• — the MTV band, which has carried Vietnamese listeners through several album generations
• — Bằng Cường alongside the two singers Bảo Anh Gemini and Bảo Trân Gemini
• — the garden setting of a coffee house rather than a theatre auditorium

   It is aimed at people who grew up on Vietnamese pop of the 2000s, at groups of friends around Ba Ria and Vung Tau who want a night of live singing without driving up to Saigon, and at anyone who prefers a tea-house atmosphere to a big stage.

   One thing worth knowing before you set off: the venue is in the Ba Ria area, not on the Vung Tau seafront, and the two are about half an hour apart by road. If you are coming from the coast, add the travel time.

   A garden space always seats fewer people than an auditorium, so the good spots tend to go first. Book early, and arrive before the singing starts if you want to choose where you sit.

   Songs that have followed you for years, sung again at close range. Hold a seat for yourself.