The Gratoners playing at Polygon as part of an event to get local and expat bands to play new venues. - Photo courtesy of NoiseHanoi

By Alex Reeves - (@afreeves23)

Oh, how I find myself longing for the halcyon days and nights of The Doors, the cafe-bar situated in one of Hoan Kiem’s many side streets was a beacon of raw, instrumental hope in a sea of repetitive, processed despair. The auditory and metaphorical soul of the Old Quarter was the real place to be for fans of live music in a scene saturated with DJs and Vinahouse. 

It’s been seven years since its very own doors closed and while reminiscing about those classic open mics or a night with the Hanoing Jazz Band at Sidewalk is a fun exercise in nostalgia, it does nothing but reveal my own ignorance of the city’s contemporary scene. The music never stops in a city like this; sometimes, it just needs to find somewhere else to be heard.  

To catch myself, and hopefully a few of our readers up, I got in touch with Oisin - a founding member of Noise Hanoi, the northern iteration of Saigon’s one-stop digital shop for all things music in the expat scene and beyond, to discuss what they do, their upcoming first anniversary and smashing through the algorithm. 

AR: So, what made you start up Hanoi Noise? 

Oisin: We owe our existence to Saigon Noise, who pioneered the concept. We reached out to the founder (George) as we felt Hanoi’s scene was disorganised and undervalued. There’s a vibrant community of amazing bands and venues here. From the outside, through Google or socials, it can appear there’s little to no scene here, but it’s inaccurate, and people often spot gigs they would have attended after the fact. The algorithm splits crowds and clashes shows. We wanted the website to cut through this and be helpful for bands, promoters and fans alike.  

AR: Was there a moment or some inspiration behind it all?

Oisin: Everyone in the team is a musician and our experiences of the scene definitely underpinned wanting to create this and curate shows. One inspiration was trying to bridge the gap between foreign and Vietnamese audiences. There is a separation between scenes for reasons we are still navigating. Local bands could benefit from expat crowds and tourism while foreign bands would benefit from the passion and size of Vietnamese audiences. So, there’s a humble goal to try to integrate things. 

You might not know it but the crowds are out there.

AR: How would you describe the scene here and what’s next?

Oisin: It’s perhaps best understood as a small cluster of scenes shared around certain venues, bands and groups of fans. Since it’s not uncommon for a musician to be in 2 or more bands, collaboration and crossovers happen. There’s always gigs coming up, so plenty to look forward to. 

So there you have it, if like me your finger has been misplaced from the pulse and you’re keen to get back out there and start enjoying live shows again, hit up noisehanoi.com, follow on socials and get down to their first anniversary gig at Kali (Tay Ho), on March 1st. See you there. VNS