Carabou!

Last night I was lucky enough to go to what is already my second Carabou concert. This one was at Kuchinarai High School right in my town (I work at the rival, Buakhao High School.) Carabou is a huge Thai rock star (who actually sings what they call "Puah chee-wit" or "music for life") and though he often sings about the plight of the poor people in Isann and Thailand, he's a bit of what we in America call a sell-out. He's extremely commercial and though he doesn't have his own clothing line yet (that I know of) he has his own energy drink. After witnessing his hardcore fans, its evident that they not only have a love for his music, but they also enthusiastically drink his version of Red Bull as well.

Driving up to the concert there were so many people, cars, and bikes that I had no clue where to park. There were several people selling parking into their front yards. It's strange, the random things that make you homesick. Thinking back to Michigan football games and the Ann Arbor Art Fair, I drove past all of these places looking for cheaper parking farther from the entrance. After I drove through the chaos without finding any free parking,I gave up and decided I'd just pay for the best parking right outside the entrance. Seems I forgot where I was living; parking was just 10 baht. 25 cents. Sa bai, sa bai.

Police searched all the men who entered the concert for weapons while the women walked in unchecked. Though knives and brass knuckles were confiscated, large buffalo skulls with the Carabou symbol painted on the forehead were, of course, permitted. While I was being searched, I heard some huge explosions going off and immediately assumed violence had broken out someplace. Then, seconds later, there were huge explosions of fireworks in the sky. These were no baby fireworks. It was like the 4th of July. The funny part was that they weren't being set off from far away, but instead just in the corner of the field with nothing keeping people back from walking right up to them.

The set up for the concert was literally the inverse of what we have in the states: seating on the grass in the front and center of the stage, with dancing and mayhem fenced to the outside. Those who brought their buffalo skulls (I forgot mine at home) hailed them in the air to the beat of each song. Others sported the same look as Carabou: a Thai moustache, long hair, bandana, torn jeans and some form of leather jacket or vest.

Just as our poor falang butts were getting sore from sitting on the ground so long, Carabou made an anouncement, that he would like to thank the falang for coming out to his show, and that he was then going to sing them a song in English. He asked them to please stand up. We didn't really understand what he was saying but all of the people around us we signaling for us to stand. We stood up and gave an embarrassed wave to the crowd, then quickly sat down before he began to sing a song he wrote, in English, about Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma. Though we didn't understand all the lyrics, it was rocking song calling for the world to unite and free Aung San Suu Kyi. Maybe I'm wrong, and I hope I am, but I swear the chorus was "world, unite and kill Aung San Suu Kyi." I have to believe I heard the lyrics wrong, though I know for sure that the song after that had a chorus that consisted of, "Sticky Rice!! Som Tam!! Papaya pok! pok!" Just when I thought Carabou had been rocking out some heavy lyrics, he was singing about the regional food of Isaan.