Ad Makers Pub

Bangkok most certainly does not lack live music or the venues providing it, and a cursory glance at our gig guide should be enough to convince even the most doubtful of punters. The selection of music styles, despite heavy leanings toward pop in most venues, is also not too shabby and should be able to satisfy most, if not all. It is also no secret that Thailand has produced more than a handful of world class musicians, although they are not the ones performing regularly in clubs around town. However, there are several bands appearing regularly that are worth going out of your way for and hopefully we will eventually be able to cover them all and bring them to your, the discerning music aficionado's, attention. There are of course a handful of live music venues in Bangkok that have existed for over a decade primarily because of uncompromising standards in the selection process of the bands they showcase. Every now and again a new club opens that is able to rub shoulders with the established venues, but they are few and far between, not to mention most welcome. Having had an aversion to any club that provided what would be deemed pop by most people for longer than I would care to admit, I decided that perhaps this attitude was not fair and that it was time to pay a visit to a club where a quality band played pop. Band selection was crucial to this experiment and as such a little research was needed and duly conducted. The opinions of several respected musician friends, a handful of punters, and general hearsay all culminated in a decision to visit Ad Makers and catch the house band Big Boy.
Ad Makers has been located in Soi Lang Suan since the soi's heyday which featured a strip of clubs that stretched around the corner into Sarasin and all with a common denominator: live music every night. Most of those venues are long gone, with the heavy metal joint playing a leading role in hearing loss to a generation of hard core dudes before fading into the past with a final blast from the stacked Marshalls. Now, the soi actually seems to be in the process of being quietly overtaken by luxury serviced apartments, Italian Ristorantes, and others with names like Piri Piri and such. But, I digress.
Needless to say, Ad Makers has survived and continues to draw in the crowds. On the Thursday night of my visit most of the area around the stage was occupied but an area cleverly separated from the band by an open ended wall that still let the music through at lower volume was available. The venue is large with another area off to the side which was not opened for use that night. Making my way to the bar, I managed to get a seat with a direct view to the stage and Big Boy. Sounds a bit suspect when you write it like that so let's just clarify that Big Boy is the name of a band.
The menu features enough variations of Thai and International favorites to cover most occasions where you go a bar to drink and listen to music. The dishes passing by the bar every now and again looked well presented and appetizing. Admittedly I did not sample anything from the menu as dinner had just been done in one of the aforementioned ristorantes. The crowd was a good mix of locals and farang, with a couple of celebrities thrown in for good measure. The layout is friendly to guests and staff and my only surprise was the plastic trays, light blue, kept in large stacks behind the bar. They certainly did not match the décor but were probably there for a good reason!
The sound emanating from the stage was good, but fairly loud. Not that it was a bad thing, as the guys in the band definitely knew what they were doing. The song selection was good and kept the decent sized crowd entertained and responsive. The singer has an incredible voice and he certainly knows how to use it. Located in the center of the room, the stage easily accommodated the five musicians that make up Big Boy two guitars, keyboards, bass and drums. The singer doubles as guitarist and the lead guitar player likes his spotlight while attempting fret board pyrotechnics on the edge of the stage. Make no mistake, these are not some young hot shots but seasoned group that has seen years of entertaining the crowds in some of the top live music venues in Bangkok . The rhythm section lays down tight grooves allowing the other instruments plenty of room. Quite frankly I was impressed at the professionalism of this band and can recommend them without reservation. Pop music? In the words of the esteemed Austin Powers "it's not my bag baby". Having said that though, quality music, when done right, regardless of genre, is always worth going out of your way for.