The Rock Pub: Bangkok’s House of Rock

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Back again!  The curfew has finally been lifted, so nightlife in Bangkok is slowly getting back on its feet.  I hadn’t been to the Rock Pub in a long, long time, and finally got my chance. 

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I had taken the express boat into town at noon and soon had a rucksack packed full of books, making my back ache badly.  I then met with good friends in Bangkok for dinner conversation, the high point of every month for me.  But, as everybody was going to leave for home early, I made quick plans for an alternate location to get a taxi home.  I took the Skytrain straight to the Rock Pub, which is on the way home with good taxi spots. 

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I walked into the Rock Pub at 23:00 hours sharp, and the band had just ended a number.  Only a half dozen people in the whole place.  I went to an empty front table, put down my heavy pack, stretched my hurting back, and ordered a beer.  I was horribly thirsty and in great need of pain relief. 

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The band was Munson and they immediately started the next number:  “Smoke on the Water” (“fire in the sky”).  I knew that I had found the right spot.  Then it was AC/DC’s thundering “Highway to Hell,” and I knew I was on that old familiar road.  The beer was cold and went down well. 

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Munson are masters of Rock.  Long hair right out of the 70s, they looked like they were tough veterans of the Rock and Roll wars with years under their belts.  I walked into a perfect time warp.  Without missing a note or a beat, they pounded out great covers of 70s and 80s Rock.  The sound was a torrent of thoracic-thumping, Heavy Metal thunder, shaking right through to my core.  It was a beautiful night. 

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I don’t know all the details of Heavy Metal songs or bands, because I wasn’t collecting albums in those days.  I only heard the songs on car radio while on the road.  So I can name only a few bands or tunes covered from Munson’s set:  Metallica.  “Iron Man.” “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (by Bob Dylan, but a Guns N Roses cover).  AC/DC.  “Sweet Child of Mine.”  Guns N Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle.”  And on and on with great Heavy Metal covers until 01:00 closing time. 

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Rock lives on! The Rock Pub endures!  

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-Zenwind.

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