Before performing today in what is being billed as Cambodia’s first ever international pop concert, Danish pop band Michael Learns to Rock took a day out of their busy schedule Tuesday to promote de-mining issues.
They also found time to stop by the Council of Ministers for a meeting with one of the country’s most powerful politicians.
Sitting in a restaurant at the InterContinental hotel, the band’s guitarist Mikkel Lentz and drummer Kaare Wanscher said they were looking forward to the concert, and excited to see how their Cambodian fans would react.
“What this is really about is that we are the first band in the world to play in Cambodia. That is a great honor for us,” Wanscher said.
“We are actually exited about it. We don’t know the size of our popularity here,” he added.
The same two band members on Tuesday visited the Development Technology Workshop, an organization producing de-mining equipment, to put focus on Cambodia’s land mine problem. Lead singer Jascha Richter stayed at the band’s hotel during the trip, reportedly saving his voice for the concert.
“We live safe and well [in Denmark] so it is great for us to do something,” Lentz said of the visit to DTW.
“I think it is kind of a duty for us as famous pop stars who come here, to say we support your local problems and are aware of them,” Wanscher added.
A few hours later the band members, now joined by Richter, met with Deputy Prime Minister Sok An at the Council of Ministers’ building. “We talked about Cambodia,” Wanscher said. “They see great opportunities in promoting tourism through stuff like this.”
Michael Hosking, managing director of the band’s promotion company, Midas Promotion, said the band, best known in Cambodia for their hit “Take Me to Your Heart,” would be the first but probably not the last international band to visit Cambodia.
“If Thailand, Vietnam and India can have shows why can’t Cambodia?” he asked.
“Hopefully this will be a positive story about Cambodia. No politics but the first Western pop concert.”
