Taylor Weik/OC Weekly
If you grew up before the age of iphones and ipads, and are Vietnamese-American, chances are you might know the likes of singers such as Lyndra Trang Dai, Thai Tai and Trizzie Phuong Trinh. They were a few of the pioneers of New Wave in Little Saigon and now, decades later, they are reuniting on a tour to give their fans a taste of their youth. Now, more than 30 years later, five of the biggest new wave stars picked up where their careers left off and reunited to form the New Wave Tour, performing for longtime fans around the globe and spreading nostalgia wherever they go.
From bottom left to right: Tommy Ngo, Trizzie Phuong Trinh, Thai Tai, Lynda Trang Dai, , and Henry Chuc. (Photo: Vietnamese New Wave Tour)
The New Wave trend soon caught on, and throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s, Vietnamese American cover artists began flocking to Little Saigon to book clubs and variety shows like Paris by Night. Henry Chuc ventured from El Monte, Trinh came from Redmond, Washington and Tai moved from Dallas, Texas to finish high school. Eventually, even singers from Vietnam would have to come to America to catch their big break. “Orange County was the Hollywood for the Vietnamese music industry,” Trinh says. “Even the biggest Vietnamese production companies are here.”
And then, as all music revolutions tend to do, Vietnamese new wave slowly began to fade away. By the mid ’90s, new wavers had retired from singing and pursued other careers, though the strong community ties kept them in Orange County. Chuc, a Sinatra fan with a penchant for ballads, booked singing gigs at weddings. Trinh became a businesswoman and opened several lounges in Garden Grove. Dai never quit singing, but split her time between performances and running her own café, Lynda Sandwich.
Then in early 2015, Dai got a call from a longtime Vietnamese new wave fan who was organizing a charity event in Dallas. She wanted Dai to perform. “I’d been wanting a new wave reunion for a long time, so I thought of the most famous singers from back then off the top of my head and called them up,” Dai recalls. Everyone immediately jumped at the opportunity to join the revival tour, and to their surprise, the shows began selling out right away.
“I would look out into the audience and see everyone singing the words,” Dai says. “I was shocked at how much people still remembered and love new wave. They never forgot about us.” From Texas to Connecticut to Canada, the New Wave Tour completely packed each venue with their primarily Vietnamese fans, all reliving their 1980’s memories together with cover performances of songs like “In the Heat of the Night” and “Cherry Cherry Lady.”
For the singers, who are now married or divorced and have kids approaching the age they were when they fell into Vietnamese new wave, getting reacquainted with their stardom is a surreal experience. “This is very rare in the Vietnamese community that we managed a comeback,” Trinh says. “I think it’s rare for anyone to have a good comeback,” Tai adds.
The New Wave Tour is part of the Grand Concert at the Tet Festival (Main Stage at the Alamitos Building) at the OC Fair & Events Center, 88 Fair Dr., Costa Mesa. Tickets are $6 at the door and the singers will perform on Sunday, Feb. 14.
To read more, click here: http://www.ocweekly.com/music/reviving-the-history-of-vietnamese-new-wave-in-oc-6945289
