Keeping up with Kamikaze

Youngsters poured into Paragon Hall in Bangkok last Sunday night for the sixth edition of the annual concert by the teen talent under RS Promotion’s Kamikaze label, eager to see their favourite artists who for the first time this year, were joined by singers from other recording stables.

Despite organisers insisting that this year’s concert was centred on vocal duels between its singers and the guests, a concert title of “Kamikaze K Fight Concert” and a boxing ring at the front of the stage, the duels tended to be more in the style of duets, with neither side showing a real appetite for competition.

Those guests were The Richman Toy from Small Room, Saksit “Tor” Vejsupaporn and Ben Chalatit from Sony Music, and Lipta from LoveIs. Three members of the now defunct outfit K-OTIC also made a brief comeback to stage taking part in a number of medleys with 17-year-old dancer/singer  Dharmthai “Timethai” Plangsilp.

Fourteen-year-old Mister Min, or Min Yongsuwimol, made his concert debut with his new single “Overrated”. A former child talent and winner of youth reality show “The Trainer”, he’s one of Kamikaze’s most recent picks. Min duetted with 15-year-old Sinchanok “Thank You” Klaitae on “Honey I Hate You” before handing over the stage to the youngster to sing her hit “Unfriended Request”.

Quartet Demo Project also made a return under new name The Demo and with a new member, vocalist Arisara “Fah” Buaprang who replaces Arisara Caroline Rosendahl. They performed a number of medleys as well as their new single “Wai Roon Krung Diew” (One Time Teen”).

The four-hour concert, watched by around 5,000 fans, began with Four and Mod singing their new single “Yak Dai Faen Kao Phoem Mai?” (“Wanna Have Another Ex”). The duo was then joined on stage by The Richman Toy for a set and sadly the girls’ voices were all but drowned out by the live music.

Panyarisa “Waii” Thienprasit and Kunlamas “Khanom Jeen” Limpawutwaranon lent their powerful voices to “Tomorrow” before being joined by Ben for a fun set in which the three sang each other’s tracks. Ben was playful, joking around during his dialogue with the two girls, and playing up his gayness.

Twin sisters Neko Jump were up next and performed several songs, including their new single “Look Si!” which features a sample from the controversial song “Splash Out” by R-Siam bombshell Suteewan “Baitoey” Thaweesin. The sisters were later joined by duo Lipta, with vocalist Arom Phoharnrattanakul making good use of his characteristic humour to draw laughter and cheers from the crowd.

Trio Faye Fang Kaew wowed the crowd with a selection of their hits before greeting Tor, who sat himself down at his piano and played several numbers including the signature tune “Love You”. The four then got up close and comfortable on stage, with Tor flirting with the girls through his improvised lyrics and drawing loud screams from the young audience, when he mentioned the three girls' boyfriends.

Hip-hop trio 3.2.1 revved up the crowd in the final segment kicking off their set with “Splash Out”, which saw Baitoey returning to the stage after her recent dressing down from RS and performing her sexy moves as well as a long medley of high-tempo country songs.

3.2.1 then slowed down the pace with ballad “White Flag” and their hit “Want More Shawty”. The finale saw all 32 artists back on stage for a reprise of “Splash Out” before asking the crowd to come to the front of the stage for a photo op.

After six years, the annual Kamikaze concert might well have fallen into a routine with RS using it as nothing more than an avenue for promoting new artists and keeping the admiration of the young fans intact. The introduction of outside artists this year was a good idea, making the audience eager to see what new ploys will be used for next year’s event.