What’s On This Weekend?

Friday

Film

A movie must for indie music lovers, Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays covers the historic rise of northern England’s Factory Records which brought to the fore such highly influential bands as the ones in the title, plus New Order, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, James, etc. This documentary was made for the BBC in 2007 and includes interviews with Factory Records founder Tony Wilson as well as other “24 hour party people”.

7pm, Meta House, St. 178

Music

In the 1920s there was a wave of jazz musicians who moved from the United States to Paris, where they were influenced by the existing musical styles of Europe. The guitar and violin-heavy music of the Romani people (or “gypsies”) led to the invention of a new style – Jazz Manouche, or “Gypsy jazz” – a version of swing dance music. Experience Gypsy jazz for yourself at tonight’s performance of Jazz in the City.

7:30pm, Green Pepper, St. 370

The Antonio Trio, led by guitarist and singer Antonio Elchico, is all about the groovy tunes you already know that you love (aka covers! haha). They’re hitting up Alchemy’s open air stage tonight during the bar/restaurant’s dinner hours.

7:30pm, Alchemy GastroPub, St. 123

Robin Narciso will share his heart and youthful memories as well as his voice, singing alt and indie tunes from the 90s to today at LF’s outdoor garden. 

8pm, LF Social Club, St. 308

Art

“70 Years of Friendship in My Eyes”, a photo exhibition sponsored by the Royal Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, showcases the selected photos from a contest to mark the milestone in relations between Thailand and Cambodia in 2020. The exhibition is free, but get there quick as it closes on Sunday.

10am–5pm, FT Gallery, National Road 2

COVID has been hard, and its impact has been varied and widespread. “You’re not alone!” is a collective art experience, uniting stories from around Cambodia gathered by storyteller Pidor and InSTEDD iLab SEA (the organisation supporting the exhibition). It includes photos of frontline healthcare workers, digital design works and a short documentary. 

8am–6pm, Bophana Center, St. 200

Dance

Meta House’s weekly dance party Metatronic features DJs fin_lay and Shibui Q – and $1 beers. And it’s free. These guys like to play acid house, tech house and deep house.

9pm–3am, Meta House, St. 178

If you’re digging to dance to hip hop and R&B, head to Est. Lounge where DJ Moto has got you covered for the whole night.

9pm, Est. Lounge, St. 214

What Else?

Knowing that nobody has been able to indulge in a weekend getaway to Bangkok, Singapore or KL, Tomoka Cocktail Company has decided to whisk you away through drinks. Taking recipes from each of these locations, they’ll be serving up cocktails all night till you actually feel like you’ve flown away.

6pm–2am, Tomoka Cocktail Company, St. 75

Saturday

Film 

The Wild Goose Lake is hailed as a contemporary crime drama that harkens back to the days of film noir. As part of its street cred, it was selected to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival. Described as “gritty” by film critic Roger Ebert, it depicts a gangster hiding out from everyone who wants to kill him (cops and gangsters alike) in the lake’s rural setting.

8pm, The Flicks, St. 95

Music

Pay the Piper #4 will introduce new talent tonight, a collective called Face Slap that creates electronic beats through instrumentalisation. Joining them onstage in this double header is industrial electronic hip-hop group Funan Beat Empire. The $5 entry goes directly to the band and includes a free beer.

8:30pm, Boran House, St. 310

As part of their continuing Boxtoberfest, The Box Office has veteran musicians lined up for their stage tonight – The Blue Souls. Made of Italian Frank Scarfone on mic and guitar, Indonesian Vincent Noble Biputra on bass and UK drummer Adam Lane, the trio specialize in peppy, uptempo blues and soul.

7pm, The Box Office, St. 244

Big ska band Checkered Past equals big fun. They’re playing an “unusual” sunset session at The Exchange. Get pumped up at their show before heading out for a big night on the town (or home tuckered out from dancing).

7pm, The Exchange, St. 47

Baffled Shores are two men with guitars, playing US Indie Rock, Post-Grunge, Britpop, Post-Britpop, and the 1990-2000s. And they’re playing Botanico’s outdoor garden tonight.

7pm, Botanico Wine & Beer Garden, St. 29

Alchemy is showcasing Filipino big band 17Crush Band at its outdoor garden stage. 17Crush is a six-person outfit that plays a wide range of genres from rock, pop, R&B, jazz, top ’40s, ’80s, ’90s and “slow rock”.

7:30pm, Alchemy GastroPub, St. 123

Latin music duo Aguita E Coco are back at Ege Bar. Yes, it’s a live music show, but it’s also a dance party so get ready!

9:30pm, Ege Bar, St. 460

Art

SaSa Art Projects is having a special (and very cool) dual open house and art exhibition. Aspiring artists are welcomed to show their work, works in progress or to seek advice from 4 to 6pm. Then the gallery will its first “Angkor Hangover”, a slide project of photo stories by 30 photographers who participated in the 2019 Siem Reap photo workshops.

4–7pm, SaSa Art Projects, St. 340

What Else?

For the final weekend of its Eco-Tourism Fair, Farm to Table is welcoming “forests and Mekong mysteries” tour providers CRDTours, Sam Veasna Conservation Tours and BeTreed Adventures. The purpose of the fair is to introduce the natural wonders of Cambodia and let people explore them responsibly. It’s also on Sunday, including a Trivia Game at 4pm ($5 buy in goes to the organizations, includes a free drink and the winners get a free round and gift certificate for dinner).

10am–2pm, Farm to Table, St. 360

Wanna start exploring Cambodia’s natural splendour, like, RIGHT now? SVC Tours is giving a sunrise bird watching walking tour across the river to spot the Cambodian Tailorbird, Blue-tailed Bee-Eater and Indochinese Paradise Flycatcher in their natural settings. The expert bird guides provide binoculars as well as knowledge. The $62 includes morning coffee, pastries, brunch buffet and bottomless beverages at Farm to Table, and perhaps more importantly, it supports the conservation efforts of SVC, which have hit hard financial times due to COVID.

5:30–11:30am, Farm to Table, St. 360

Sunday

Film

Crime drama Seules les bêtes (Only the Beasts) uses five unreliable narrators as a jumping off point to uncover what happened to a woman who disappeared – and why she’s missing.

6pm, The Flicks, St. 95 

Circus folk, magicians and puppeteers all lived together in a (presumably magical) neighbourhood in New Delhi for over forty years until the government said they’d be kicked out in 2013. Their slum was going to be bulldozed to make way for new development. Documentary Tomorrow We Disappear captures a dying era with an enduring spirit.

7pm, Meta House, St. 178

Music

Craft brewer Botanico and Century 9 Smokehouse BBQ Project are teaming up today to deliver a completely ‘Merica’ experience (the good kind) – country music and brisket (delicious meat). Packing in three sets in four hours, The Country Dudes will perform classic Americana from Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson (the good kind of country music). Dishes range from $8-12, but the music is free.

10am–2pm, Botanico at Odom Garden, Norodom Blvd.

What Else?

Locally and ethically made clothing company Dorsu is launching its newest line today at Sundown Social Club’s rooftop garden bar. What sounds better than rounding out the weekend with cocktails and buying clothing with a conscious? 

Noon–4pm, Sundown Social Club, St. 440

The I Am a Daughter event series is wrapping up with this weekend with a very important panel discussion: what to do when you experience sexual harassment in the workplace? And how do we help victims rather than blame them? The talk is free and open to men and women. If you can’t come in person, you can also watch it streamed live on Facebook. In person, the discussion is preceded by a performance of an original play, “I Am a Daughter”. 

2–5pm, Meta House, St. 178

That’s All For Now Folks. Keep Up To Date On Instagram: @Whatsonphnompenh