A fast-rising star in the R&B world, Khalid will perform songs such as “Young Dumb & Broke” from his first album, “American Teen”.

Tickets costing from Bt1,800 to Bt2,800 are now on sale at Thai Ticket Major counters, Call (02) 262 3456 or visit http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

Pop goes POP

Local band POP is celebrating its 20-year anniversary with two new songs and the “Period of Party 20th Anniversary Concert” at GMM Live House on the eighth floor of CentralWorld on November 34 at 7pm.

Fans can expect to hear such hits such as “Khae Dai Phop Ther”, “Yak Lup Ta”, “Dai Yin Khwam Rak Bang Mai” and “Rak Khong Ther Mee Jing Rue Plao” as well as new songs.

Tickets cost from Bt1,500 to Bt3,200 including a CD signed by the band at http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

Hot sounds in a cold climate

The must-loved Overcoat Music Festival returns for a ninth year to Jollyland Starlight Amphitheatre in Khao Kho, Phetchbun on December 9.

Among those taking part in the 2018 edition are Two Popetorn, Boy Peacemaker, Aof Pongsak, Nont Tanont, Da Endorphine, The Toys, Stamp, Jetset’er, Potato, Room39, Slot Machine, Lomosonic, and TJ Urboy.

Tickets are Bt1,600 at Counter Service, 7-Eleven. Find out more, visit facebook.com/overcoatmusicfest.

Nont’s a winner

Tanont Chumroen, winner of the first season of “The Voice Thailand” as well as the fourth season of “The Mask Singer”, takes to the stage of Ultra Arena Hall on the sixth floor of Show DC on November 24 for his first solo concert, “I Am Nont Thanont.”

He’ll perform such songs as “Mee Phol Tor Huajai”, “Fuen Tua Ang Mai Pen”, “Mai Sanit”, “Jeb Thi Yang Roo Suek”, “Plien Pen Rak” and “Chai Ther Chai Loey.”

The concert starts at 5 and tickets from Bt1,000 to Bt3,000 are available at Counter Service of 7-Eleven or through http://www.allticket.com.

For more information, call (02) 826 7788.

“Nutcracker” comes to town

The Moscow State Classical Ballet from Russia will be on stage at the Thailand Cultural Centre tomorrow afternoon at 2.30 performing perennial favourite “The Nutcracker”. The ballet is set on a sparkling Christmas Eve in a frost-dusted Edwardian London, when Clara and her enchanted Nutcracker doll discover a magical world where she battles with the Mouse King and meets a handsome stranger.

Tickets cost from Bt1,500 to Bt4,000 at Thai Ticket Major.

The “49 in Memory … Forever in My Mind” event will be held at at Quartier Parc, M floor, The EmQuartier shopping complex at 5pm on October 13, 14 and 15.

The concert is being held in cooperation with the Emporium and The EmQuartier shopping complexes, the Kitarat Founda-tion led by Dr. Patorn Srikranon, the Faculty of Humanities Kasetsart University, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Thailand, the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Boon Rawd Brewery.

The event is being held in remembrance of His Late Majesty King Bhimibol Adulyadej, expressing gratitude for His Late Majesty’s legendary musical artistry.

The concert will feature a number of musical artists and honorary guests performing extraordinary royal musical compositions.

Admission is free.

Born Martyn Jerel Buchwald, Balin was a folk guitarist in San Francisco when he founded Jefferson Airplane with guitarist Paul Kantner.

The group released its first album in 1966, but achieved its breakthrough a year later with “Surrealistic Pillow,” which went gold.

Balin, a tenor, wrote several songs for that album which also featured the singer Grace Slick.

The group cemented its reputation with a performance at the 1969 Woodstock festival.

Balin later left the band, but in the 1970s rejoined Kantner and Slick for what was then known as Jefferson Starship and which, according to Rolling Stone magazine, scored more hits than the original Airplane.

In 1978 Balin went on to a solo career.

His family did not specify the cause of death, but Balin had undergone open heart surgery in 2016. He later sued the New York hospital where he underwent the procedure, alleging he suffered multiple complications.

Now in a new phase of her music career, singer Tiffany Young, who made her debut as a member of Girls’ Generation more than a decade ago, now prefers “being cool” to “being cute”.

That was the message she gave to her fan meeting in Thailand last week, when she sat and chatted with some 4,000 of her supporters inside Thunder Dome, most of them clad in Tiffany’s favourite colour of Pink.

The huge turnout – achieved despite a change in both date and venue for the fan meeting – marked an impressive start for the 29-year-old singer’s Asia Fan meeting tour.

Tiffany melts fans’ hearts with her smile. 

And for Tiffany, it was seemingly an amazing reunion with her Thai fans. Deafening screams echoed across Thunder Dome when Tiffany first appeared on stage in chic white attire and performed “I Just Wanna Dance”, confirming she was still their queen.

She then greeted the crowd with “Sawasdee kha” and smiled happily at her collaborators for the evening – DJ Jem – Jittrin Kulkallayadee, who took the role of MC, and Lalin Ketsilp, who served as interpreter.

Born and raised in the United States until the age of 15, Tiffany spoke in English but also sprinkled her interview with some Korean and Thai words to get closer to the audience. Her Thai fans, after all, first fell in love with her when she was a diva from one of South Korea’s most famous girl groups, Girls’ Generation.

During her years with the South Korean music label, she came to Thailand on many occasions, the last time being back in 2016.

“I am happy to be back,” Tiffany said, “I was very excited to perform for you”.

The singer gets ready to create a special design on this white shirt.

She eagerly waved at members of the audience, some of whom were dressed up to the nines, even inviting one of them to stand in the spotlight to show her pink traditional Thai attire.

Tiffany said she enjoyed a fan-meeting event, because it gave her opportunities to really talk to her fans.

And so the audience heard a lot about Tiffany, who has now transformed herself into a solo artist and is signed with American music label Transparent Arts.

The South Korean singer asks her fans to sing along to “Over My Skin” rendition.

“I feel supported. My fellow band members and fans had long known I wanted to go back home,” Tiffany said of her decision to leave South Korea for the US, adding that she still chatted with the Girls’ Generation members everyday. “Being apart makes us closer,” she quipped.

She also spoke about writing the lyrics of her new album’s just-released first single, “Over My Skin”.

The fan meeting then moved into the “Remember Me” segment, which featured Tiffany’s exclusive photos. Not only did she look gorgeous in the pictures, but she also shared with her fans why each of the shots was special to her. Two of them, for example, were pictures taken when she was a guest on the US radio programme (“KIIS FM”) and a TV programme (“Good Day LA”) for the first time after being a fan of both since childhood. There was also a photo of Soo Young and Hyoyeon, who volunteered to portray Tiffany’s best friends in her MV. As many as four Girls’ Generation said they were free on the day of the shoot, but these two were chosen because their funny character matched well with the song’s romantic-comedy theme. Tiffany added that she had recently visited Soo Young in her new house and tasted homemade budaejjigae, a well-known Korean dish.

The stage then shifted to Tiffany’s Big Data, with the star allowed to choose a word that appeared on screen and answer questions about it within five seconds.

Her first choice was “Thailand”. Asked what she loved most about Thailand, her answer was “Being here with you” and it drew loud cheers. Asked about her favourite food, she replied, “Thai candy floss”.

Tiffany dances to her song.

Asked how to officially call her fans, Tiffany suggested it should be “Young One” because the sound resonated with her Korean name and sounded like the words that meant “Forever” in Korean.

Next, Tiffany was challenged to add a design of her style to a white shirt within three minutes. She did it nicely by painting its collar and sleeve rims with pink. She then wrote a line of her upcoming song, “Teach You”, on the pocket. A lucky draw was held to determine who among the audience would get this unique shirt. More lots were also drawn for the exclusive gifts Tiffany had brought along that were designed for her Asia Fan Meeting tour.

Tiffany then took a break while fans watched behind-the-scene footage of her music video. Back on stage, she performed “Talk” and “Fool” from her “I Just Wanna Dance” album.

Speaking directly to her fans, Tiffany told them that this was the first big-scale show she had performed in one year.

She then crooned Lauv’s “I like me better”, telling the crowd at the end that she chose this tune because of its meaningful lyrics – “I like me better when I am with you”.

The diva said she was not good at public speaking and thus felt more at ease to deliver her messages via her songs, a statement she proved by singing “Remember Me” from the Disney animation “Coco”.

Another clip was then screened showing the singer preparing for her MV while in real time she prepared to perform “Over My Skin” live. When she returned to the stage, she was in a tigerskin-pattern outfit, her voice powerful and her dance moves sensual.

Then it was time to say goodbye and Tiffany asked her fans to pose for a picture together.

But to her surprise, Thunder Dome suddenly fell dark and the giant screens lit up with a clip she had never seen – a compilation of pictures and VDO recordings of her on various occasions with “Remember Me” as background music.

Obviously made with love, Tiffany was moved to tears, sitting on the stage with her eyes glued to one of the screens. It was only when the clip reminded her to look back whenever she needed support that Tiffany turned to find all her fans waving messages reading “Keep our love alive” and “I’ll never fade away”.

By then, despite trying her best to look cool and repeatedly saying that she would not get “emotional”, she shed tears of joy.

And so, just like Tiffany herself said, the fan meeting in Bangkok was “unforgettable”.

Henderson’s touring trio features Romain Labaye on bass and Archibald Ligonniere on drums.

Seats cost Bt2,200 at http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com and (02) 262 3456.

Sugizo saves the world

J-rock band Luna Sea’s guitarist Sugizo will be talking about life, saving the environment, helping refugees, volunteering for disaster relief and the messages in his music at Bangkok’s Aksra Theatre on November 3 at 4pm. “Music, Thoughts, Life and Soul” will be Sugizo’s first such “leacture” held overseas.

Tickets cost Bt2,000 to Bt2,500 at http://www.OVDCoin.com. Find out more at (02) 203 04235, info@ovdcoin.com, and http://www.Facebook.com/ovdcoin.

Bambii does the Jerk

Toronto-based DJ-producer Kirsten “Bambii” Azan will be introducing the “Jerk” format she invented to improve her DJ skills and give fans a place to hear diverse sounds, at Beam at 72 Courtyard on Saturday.

It should be a night of quality R&B, dancehall and house. Pay Bt300 at the door. Learn more and book a table at (02) 392 7750.

‘Beyond’ means Hua Hin

The “Fly Beyond Tonight” party sponsored by Grey Goose Vodka returns to Hua Hin on Sunday, occupying both Le Colonial Beach Club at the Intercontinental Hua Hin Resort and the Holiday Inn’s Vana Nava Sky Bar.

Worldclass DJs Jonas Blue, SNBRN, Cesqeaux and Jvst Say Yes and Thaitanium will perform. Call (032) 616 999.

Formed in 1984, the Canadian metal band released a demo titled “Blood Upon the Altar” in 1989 and their debut album, “Fallen Angel of Doom”, the following year through Wild Rags, a record label they had signed to while touring the United States.

Their second full-length studio album was 1993’s “Gods of War” released through Osmose Productions and that same year saw them head off on tour through Europe with Immortal and Rotting Christ.

Blasphemy was then inactive for several years. In 2010, the band headlined the second installation of the Nuclear War Now! festival in Germany.

Blasphemy’s song “War Command” has been covered by Beherit and the cover appeared on Beherit’s 1999 compilation album “Beast of Beherit – Complete Worxxx”. Blasphemy’s “Winds of the Black Gods” was the opening track on the 2004 compilation “Fenriz Presents… The Best of Old-School Black Metal”.

Thai metal outfit Impiety opens the show.

Tickets cost Bt2,000 including free A2 poster at the door.

For more, go to Facebook.com/events/2127752597458100/permalink/2212118765688149/

Kim Nam-joon, better known as RM, said, “No matter who you are, where you are from, your skin color, your gender identity, just speak yourself,” expressing support for sexual minorities.

The group’s six-minute speech kicked off the launch of the UN’s new youth initiative Generation Unlimited, a program designed to tackle the global education crisis and make education more accessible for young people.

BTS is the first South Korean act to address a UN session.

During the speech, Kim reminisced about his happy childhood in the city of Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, in South Korea before he began to worry about what other people would think and eventually “shut out” his own voice.

Referring to the intro track from the group’s EP “O!RUL8,2?”  which includes the line, “My heart stopped when I was maybe 9 or 10,” Kim said, “Looking back, I think that is when I began to worry about what other people thought of me and started seeing myself through their eyes.”

Despite the hurdles that he faced even after joining BTS, Kim said that he has come to love himself for who he is, who he was and who he hopes to be. He urged fans to speak up for themselves and tell their stories.

Breaking taboos in K-pop

Monday’s speech saw BTS become one of the few K-pop acts to express support for sexual minorities.

In contrast to how open many American pop singers are about their political views, K-pop acts are often careful about expressing their views when it comes to topics like gender identity.

Singers like Amber of f(x) and Jo Kwon from 2AM are among those in the K-pop scene who have had to deal with online criticism over their looks not conforming to traditional gender expectations.

In a rare move in June, singer Tiffany from Girls’ Generation thanked the LGBTQ community for the love and inspiration it has showed, in an open letter she wrote for Billboard.

Warm reception from fans, first lady

The self-love-themed speech received a warm reception both at the venue and online.

South Korea’s first lady Kim Jung-sook, who sat next to BTS during the event, said she was proud of the group and congratulated it for topping Billboard’s albums chart.

The first lady also thanked the band for lending strength to young people who struggle with fears and worries about their future, through its music.

Meanwhile, fans took to Twitter with #BTSxUnitedNations.

“Words can’t describe how proud I am to be a fan of such an amazing, well rounded, hard-working and inspiring group who are doing their best to make a world a better place,” one Twitter user wrote.

Another user wrote, “People should start realizing that BTS isn’t your typical boy group, but more of a movement to the youth. They’ve been using their platform to speak on issues they believe in, including the hardships they’ve gone through as an idol and individually.

Ambassadors of self-love

The UN’s choice of BTS as a speaker was not a coincidence as the group has been advocating self-love for quite some time.

In November, BTS and its label launched the two-year anti-violence donation campaign “Love Myself” designed to help UNICEF’s global campaign “#ENDviolence.”

The proceeds are used to protect and support child and teen victims of domestic and school violence as well as sexual assault around the world.

The funds also provide education to local communities for violence prevention, according to the campaign’s official website.

The campaign falls in line with the group’s “Love Yourself” trilogy spanning multiple records, with self-acceptance and self-love as the main themes.

Since its debut in 2013, the group has not been shy about touching on social issues through its songs.

In its 2014 song “No,” the septet touched on the hardships faced by young students.

“Dreams disappeared, there was no time to rest/It’s a cycle of school, home or an internet cafe/Everyone lives the same life,” read the lyrics of the song.

In another song, “Baepsae,” which was released in 2015, the group sings, “They call me a try-hard/Our generation has had it hard/Hurry, chase ’em/Thanks to those that came before us I’m spread too thin,” seemingly addressing generation gaps.

 Fans can expect to hear tracks of the band’s second album “Cool Like You” produced by James Skelly and Rich Turvey. It peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and at number 1 on the Official Vinyl Albums Chart.

Blossoms was formed in Stockport, a town just outside of Manchester, England, in 2013 by school chums Tom Ogden on vocals, guitar and Joe Donavan on drums, who later incorporated Charlie Salt on bass, Josh Dewhurst on guitar, and Myes Kellocks on keyboards. Their sound was pigeonholed as psych-pop, which the band didn’t like: rather, they hit a sweet spot between The Doors and Arctics Monkeys, combining a knack for classic pop songwriting and moody organ atmospherics with a youthful energy.

2015 saw the release of two EPs “Blown Rose” and “Charlemagne”. As the band gained exposure, they released another EP, “At Most a Kiss”, in 2016. The four-song set featured some new elements to the band’s sound, including prominent synths and a more driving urgency.

The band’s self-titled “Blossoms” was released in summer 2016, topping UK and Scottish charts. It has become the best-selling debut of the year and the eight concerts on the UK Tour sold out in a very short space of time.

Tickets cost Bt2,300 at http://www.TicketMelon.com/very/blossoms.

The 35-year-old Underwood, who is pregnant with her second child, is on a roll after suffering a nasty fall at her home late last year that required her to get dozens of stitches in her face.

She has since released a smash hit album, “Cry Pretty,” recorded a new theme song for the National Football League’s flagship Sunday broadcast and will head out on a major tour in the United States and Canada in 2019 after giving birth.

“How is this my life?” a tearful Underwood told the crowd outside the Capitol Records building in Los Angeles. “How does a girl from Checotah, Oklahoma end up with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?”

Singer Brad Paisley compared Underwood to legend Dolly Parton, saying: “Carrie Underwood is really in many ways this generation’s Dolly — the person that the world looks at as Miss Country Music.”

“I just don’t think we could ask for a better ambassador,” he added.

Simon Cowell, who was part of the judging panel that propelled Underwood to fame on “American Idol” in 2005, said he “couldn’t be more proud” of her.

Underwood is part of a small group of superstars produced by the reality show, along with Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, pop singer Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert, who now tours with Queen.

Marilyn Lopez was one of many fans who attended the ceremony.

“When she dropped her first album, I remember going to the public library and renting it out and I just used to listen to it all the time,” Lopez said.

Underwood has won seven Grammys and sold more than 60 million albums, according to her website. She also has won 14 Academy of Country Music awards.

KCon – the world’s largest Korean culture convention and music festival – is coming to Thailand for the first time.

It’ll be at Impact Arena and the Impact Exhibition Centre on September 29 and 30, bringing K-fashion, K-beauty, K-food, K-dance and K-drama by day and then K-pop by night.

“It’s certainly meaningful that KCon has chosen Thailand as the first country to visit in Southeast Asia,” says Shin Hyungkwan of CJ ENM, which created the touring event.

“Given that Thailand has frequent cultural exchanges with neighbouring countries and has its own strong cultural influence across Southeast Asia, this will be an exciting opportunity for fans to experience a variety of Korean cultural content.”

KCon started in California in 2012 and has since drawn 687,000 fans worldwide. There have been festivals in Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, Paris, Mexico City and Sydney, Australia.

In the K-pop lineup for Bangkok are Got7, Wanna One, Monsta X, Pentagon, (G)I-dle, Golden Child, Stray Kids, Sunmi, the Boyz, the East Light, Chung Ha and formis_9.

Got7 recently proved their worth with a tour taking in 17 cities around the globe. They’ve been all over Thailand before, but it’s expected they’ll present a different show this time. Last year they took their Nestival tour to four different Thai cities and this year they sold out Impact Arena three times.

Wanna One is an 11-member boy group formed by CJ ENM through the 2017 TV reality show “Produce 101”, whose viewers voted to choose the members and the group’s name. They too have done a world tour, performing tracks from the albums “Energetic”, “Boomerang” and “Light”.

Monsta X played 20 cities from May through August and were just here in June.

The members of Pentagon write their own songs and produce their own albums. (G)I-dle will perform their self-composed debut song “Latata”, a No 1 hit on the K-Pop charts. Golden Child was named one of the 10 Best New K-Pop Acts of 2017 in Billboard magazine.

Stray Kids have been recognised for their potential to be the next global K-Pop stars, picked by Billboard as one of the Top 5 New K-Pop Artists to Watch in 2018.

Sunmi, now considered synonymous with top K-Pop female solo artists, has a charismatic stage presence and gives a classy performance. Chung Ha, formerly of IOI, is famous for her uplifting voice and strong singing, as heard on her hits “Roller Coaster” and “Love U”.

The Boyz are comparative rookies but sold nearly 100,000 copies of their debut album. The East Light are a young, dynamic boy band with exceptional songwriting talents and a thrilling performance.

Sweet and cheerful fromis_9 arrive in Thailand on the heels of a successful showcase at KCon LA this summer.

The rise of hallyu (Korean culture) in Southeast Asia will be everywhere in evidence at the festival, from fan-engagement experiences to workshops, talk shows and presentations on popular beauty products and dishes.

The prices for the evening concerts start at Bt1,800 and include free admission to the convention. Passes for meet-and-greet sessions are also on sale. Go to http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com or the official site, http://www.MWave.me/kcon.

There’s more at http://www.Facebook.com/kconglobal  and Twitter.com/kcon_global.