As if 2020 couldn’t get worse, perhaps the best dive bar in Southeast Asia, Zeppelin Cafe in Phnom Penh, is closing its doors after 19 years, at the end of October and the legendary DJ Jun will move back to Taiwan.
If you want to do him an ultimate favor, ask him to play anything from Uriah Heep. His first album he ever bought.
Zeppelin Cafe closes down after 19 years
Zeppelin Cafe closes down after 19 years
Damn...
Is this the one that used to be on 51 then moved over to bkk1 and had some kind of laundry shop attached to it?
- Lucky Lucan
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I think it was originally on St 86, the street that led to Boeung Kak Lake/ St 93. It was a much bigger premises than the later one on Pasteur.
Romantic Cambodia is dead and gone. It's with McKinley in the grave.
Before my time I think LL. I seem to remember it next to Walkabout though.
- Lucky Lucan
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You remember the Walkabout? That's a distant memory but by the time it closed I hadn't been there for years.
Romantic Cambodia is dead and gone. It's with McKinley in the grave.
Zeppelin was indeed next to the Walkabout and then moved to 278 next to Anise above the laundry shop.
Of course. It closed in - what - 2014 or 2015.Lucky Lucan wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 9:13 pmYou remember the Walkabout? That's a distant memory but by the time it closed I hadn't been there for years.
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Many, many memories of late nights listening to metal after stumbling in at 2am. Whenever I walked in Jun would always play Black Sabbath shortly after my arrival, as well as whatever band I had on my t-shirt -- usually something very heavy, depending on the shirt, splatter, grindcore, doom, etc.. The man has an eagle eye and excellent musical tastes.
Another Phnom Penh legend passing into history, going to miss Jun and Zeppelin.
Another Phnom Penh legend passing into history, going to miss Jun and Zeppelin.
====================
Why are the gods such vicious cunts?
Where is the god of tits and wine?
Why are the gods such vicious cunts?
Where is the god of tits and wine?
It was originally located on St. 51 (Pasteur) corner of St. 174 just beside the defunct Walkabout,Lucky Lucan wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 8:46 pmI think it was originally on St 86, the street that led to Boeung Kak Lake/ St 93. It was a much bigger premises than the later one on Pasteur.
That was its 3rd location. It opened on Street 86 but I don’t know where it moved before 51 and finally 278.Slow Delivery wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 9:44 pmIt was originally located on St. 51 (Pasteur) corner of St. 174 just beside the defunct Walkabout,
From Cambodia Daily:
For Those About to Rock We Salute You
By John Maloy -January 1, 2005
Rock and roll ain’t noise pollution, hard rockers AC/DC told the world in 1980, nearly 25 years after Chuck Berry told Beethoven to roll over.
Since then, the world has been steeped in new popular music forms from gangsta rap to house music and prefabricated pop.
But in Phnom Penh, a Taiwanese man known simply as Jun continues to offer all the joys that three chords and the occasional drum solo can offer.
Dance music and Khmer pop are staples in dozens of Phnom Penh bars. The Rolling Stones and The Doors can often be heard drifting out of late night haunts along Street 51, and last year’s indie hits can be heard all along the Boeng Kak backpacker strip.
But possibly the best music to grab a drink to can be found at Rock Zone: Zeppelin Cafe on Street 86, just west of Monivong Boulevard.
There, Jun, originally Cheng Shih-pin, spins records from what has to be one of the best vinyl record collections in Southeast Asia: around 1,150 albums spanning the rock spectrum from the 1960s through the 1980s.
Sitting tucked in his corner of the bar amidst his records, Jun’s love for music couldn’t be clearer. Each record is almost ritualistically cleaned before every play, and he said that, despite decades of collecting and playing records, almost all his vinyl is in excellent condition.
Typically quiet and reserved, he quickly springs to life when the subject turns to music. “This is my second wife,” Jun said recently, patting a shelf of records. “Maybe you can say my first wife.”
For five years now, Jun and his actual wife, Chea Eik, have been offering good tunes, cheap drinks and excellent fried dumplings. Jun said that in the coming weeks, he plans to expand his food service and keep the bar open every night until 4 am in the hopes of making it a late night destination.
The bar itself is comfortable and roomy, with rock memorabilia and images adorning the walls everywhere—from a large Lynyrd Skynyrd flag to a prized bottle of wine bearing the logo of the stadium rock group Kiss.
But Rock Zone’s main attraction is not the ambience, it’s the music.
If it has loud guitars, Jun probably has it: Be it 1980s rock like Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend;” the lo-fi hardcore of The Misfits’ “Teenagers From Mars;” or the drunken fracas of “That’s All You Need,” by the Rod Stewart-fronted Faces.
And he’ll gladly take requests, covering anything from Elton John to Iron Maiden.
Despite having an expansive taste in all rock genres, Jun’s most beloved music is the hard rock of the late 1960s and early 1970s. His favorite artists include staples like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Jimi Hendrix as well as lesser-known acts like Uriah Heep.
But a more recent foray into the world of compact discs—vinyl being difficult to find in Cambodia—has also opened him up to rock music from the 1990s to the present. The grunge act Mudhoney is a particular favorite.
The 48-year-old Jun said he had no experience with rock music growing up in Taiwan until he happened to hear Uriah Heep’s “July Morning” on the radio when he was 17.
“After I heard it,” Jun recalled, “I went right to the record store, and the guy there said, ‘this is rock.’”
“I fell down in a rock fantasy, and I can’t go out,” he added.
His record collection was all for his own enjoyment until a rough stretch cast him into the unexpected path of bar ownership.
First coming to Cambodia in 1992 to work for a Taiwanese hotelier, Jun moved to Phnom Penh permanently in 1999.
“I was never rich, but before, I made really big money here,” Jun said. He eventually lost his job and then nearly all his savings at the casino.
For a time, Jun was unsure how he was going to get by, until a friend suggested that he open a bar around his record collection.
Five years later, he shrugs off the troubles of the past.
Rock Zone has also introduced him to all manner of people whom, he said, he never would have gotten to know in his previous career.
“Before I opened this bar, I never had any Western friends. But now I have many,” Jun said. “The music has no nation.”
And seemingly no lack of variety: Rock Zone has to be one of the few places in Asia where you can hear a string of tunes like “Breaking the Law” by Judas Priest, followed by T-Rex’s acoustic cover of “Summertime Blues,” followed by the primitive riffing of The Stooges’ “No Fun,” or The Beatles.
But is there any song that a man who enjoys both Cheap Trick and Megadeth won’t play?
“‘Hotel California,’” Jun said. “The Eagles are okay…but ‘Hotel California’ is a song I really hate.”
Nobody - and I mean nobody - can hold a candle to LL when it comes to PNH history. He could write the book. The fella is a huge asset to 440.
- Lucky Lucan
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Thanks, I try my best but that's not really accurate! I've had an interest in the country for a long time but I've only lived here full time for 15 years, which was long after it had already become very normal. I met a guy recently who posts here and he's been here 30 years, other people like Michael Hayes and Al Rockoff are still around and were here first in the early 70s. I'm a total newbie!
Romantic Cambodia is dead and gone. It's with McKinley in the grave.
But how will he get his huge collection of discs back to Taiwan? I had an interesting collection of LP's and singles when I moved here about 18 years ago. I left them all behind, and regret it till this day.
It's going to be expensive, for sure, but he knows that. Assuming he had most of them shipped there in the first place.frigidaire wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 11:29 pmBut how will he get his huge collection of discs back to Taiwan? I had an interesting collection of LP's and singles when I moved here about 18 years ago. I left them all behind, and regret it till this day.
When I left Cambo last year I shipped a box of a dozen or so books back to the US with DHL. Cost more than I care to say but they had sentimental value. Considering his records have been his livelihood and passion for decades he probably won't mind shelling out for shipping and insurance.
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