New Normal in Bangkok

Beyond my immediate neighborhood, I ventured into the city again on Thursday last week to meet my libertarian friends, one of the events I most look forward to.  I time my travel on such adventures to avoid all rush hours on public transit and any crowds in movie theaters.  (I don’t ever do weekend crowds if I can help it; I’m a lifelong misanthrope of sorts, a loner.)  The trains were not packed, and, in the theaters, there were at most two other people in the entire room.  Restaurants and pubs follow our New Normal safety rules during this Plague Era, as do all the above services.  Masks; track and trace registration, etc. 

And live music at The Rock Pub, once again.  This last Thursday I could only arrive late on my way home before closing, and I hoped to hear at least some music.  I sure did!  Mundee was the closing act.  The crowd was small – as it quite often has been on Thursday nights in the past – but the band was hot and I really wanted to hear as much as possible from this favorite band of mine. 

Recognizing me as I came in the door, they played one they knew was a personal favorite of mine: “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake (a power-ballad from the 1980s).  This song was on the radio at a time when I had my first hope of escape from the bondage of an unbearable relationship.  It helped give me the courage to eventually strike out into freedom: 

“Here I go again on my own,

  Goin’ down the only road I’ve ever known,

  Like a drifter I was born to walk alone. 

  I’ve made up my mind,

  I ain’t wasting no more time.” 

Next, they played an excellent Led Zeppelin favorite from the very early 1970s.  Then, they asked for requests from the small crowd, and, not wanting to hog the show with a Zeppelin monopoly, I shouted, “AC/DC.”  They played “Highway to Hell”, in a great rocking rendition.  Then they played Zeppelin again with “The Immigrant Song” (“Valhalla, I am coming!”).  Next to last was “Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream, a great favorite from my teenage years.  They finished the night with Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll”, which everyone at the Rock Pub knows is my all-time favorite since the song encompasses the entire span of historical Rock experience – “It’s been a long time since I Rock and Rolled....” 

It was one of the greatest live sets I’ve ever heard – worthy of Valhalla. 

-Zenwind. 

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