Hipsters of all ages were in for an aural treat last Thu (Jul 14) as the indie trio Vivian Girls threw a surpirse free gig at Opposite, a space across from WTF Bar & Gallery in Sukhumvit 51. We had the pleasure of chatting to the band's badass and soft-spoken frontwoman Cassie Ramone a few hours before the show (check out the clip below).

A little back story: the band wanted to do a show here, but had a tough time finding a willing sponsor. They ultimatelty had to bypass the usual, bureaucratic channels and decided to do it all for free before jetting to London the following morning for their ongoing European tour. Lucky us! And kudos to the folks at WTF/Opposite for daring to undertake this by-the-seat-of-the-pants show, proving that you don't need big sponsors and marketing hoopla to make a great show happen.

Opening the show was our own all-girl indie outfit Yellow Fang, who warmed things up with a few of their hits. Then the Brooklyn homegirls took to the stage, or, rather, a designated corner (they had to actually wade through the crowd to get there), and cranked out tunes from all of their three albums including "When I'm Gone," "Can't Get Over You" and "I Heard You Say," which sent the indie kids into a euphoric frenzy. 

The gig saw a great turnout despite a short notice and how relatively unknown the band is in Thailand. Now, if you haven't been to Opposite, it's set in a typical three-story shophouse building--great revamp and all, but it got so packed to the point of near suffocation. Thanks to the ad-hoc bar, though, we were hydrated throughout the night.

Of course, the sound could have been better, but we thought the venue, albeit small, was perfect for this kind of intimate show. We also heard from Cassie that another prominent indie band is also planning to do something similar right here in Bangkok. Sorry, we can't name any names yet, but promise to break the news once it's all confirmed. In the meantime, we hope all the indie bands we love will hear this success story and pencil in these one-off little gigs when they're vacationing in Thailand.

*A big thank-you to OMG/LOL for putting together a clip for us.